The Rolling Stones didn’t have quite the instant popularity that the Beatles did in America. They had put five songs on the Top 40 before they had their first number one and only two of those were Top 10. When “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” hit number one, suddenly everyone was paying attention to this “other” band from England. But, now that they had had a big hit, the only thing people could talk about was, “what’s next.”

Much like Lennon and McCartney, “Get Off of My Cloud” was written by Keith Richards (melody) and Mick Jagger (lyrics.) The song was written in response to all of those who were after them to top “Satisfaction.” The next hit had to be bigger and better than the last. So, they wrote “Get Off of My Cloud” as sort of a protest song. In other words, quit bothering me, I’ll come up something when I’m ready. It’s built on a riff from the Kingsmen song “Louie Louie” which was a number two song in 1963.

When “Satisfaction” was a hit and the Stones toured America, they were treated just like any other rock group, which is to say, badly. They didn’t get many good gigs, they ended up providing their own travel accommodations and playing places like state fairs. Just before they recorded “Get Off of My Cloud,” they negotiated a new contract with Decca Records which gave them more money and greater status when they traveled. They were introduced to a New York accountant named Allen Klein (he was Bobby Vinton’s manager) who made sure they were getting the royalties they deserved and that they traveled in style. They now had two number one songs in a row and were finally considered a super group. The Stones would go on to become the second biggest group to come out of the British invasion.

“Get Off of My Cloud” was number number one in the United States, England and Germany and they hit number two in Ireland and Australia. They were on their way to a total of eight number one songs in their career. And, of course, they are still going strong today, even though they don’t hit the charts anymore.

“Get Off of My Cloud” entered the American pop charts on October 16, 1965 and spent two weeks at number one.

The quality is not great on this video, but I choose it because it shows the band live in 1965.