06-07-2024, 12:27 PM
This is a long (around 600 pages) look at popular music of those years. It's mostly UK focused, with chapters around certain scenes, labels or styles. My major complaints are that he spends a lot of time on obscure bands that he clearly likes but who had little influence, and only a few chapters deal with American music.
The book is split into two parts. The first covers 1978-1981 and could be considered the experimental phase. Many people became disillusioned with punk as the style hardened into orthodoxy and wanted to do something different. He frames it as pretty much a complete rejection of what rock had been before. Many of the bands were unskilled and often interested in just making noise, using the crude synths available for that purpose. Needless to say, most of these bands were not very successful. He also spends the most time on American music here, with chapters about Akron/Detroit (Devo & Pere Ubu), The Talking Heads, New York No Wave, and the San Francisco experimental scene (mainly the Residents and Tuxedomoon).
The second half of the book shifts to what the Brits called "New Pop," which in the US was called "New Wave" for some reason. Around 1981 there was a shift away from punkish noise and toward more melodic (and skilled) music making. Partly this was because the bands wanted to make some money. And here I knew most of who he was talking about, except for some who never cracked the US but I had vaguely heard of (like Orange Juice and A Certain Ratio). About the only mention of the US in this half was a chapter about SST records. A lot of interesting trivia. The ending date seemed rather arbitrary to me, but it was a big book already so perhaps that was for the best.
I'd say not DOOM recommended unless you want to read about some bands you like.
The book is split into two parts. The first covers 1978-1981 and could be considered the experimental phase. Many people became disillusioned with punk as the style hardened into orthodoxy and wanted to do something different. He frames it as pretty much a complete rejection of what rock had been before. Many of the bands were unskilled and often interested in just making noise, using the crude synths available for that purpose. Needless to say, most of these bands were not very successful. He also spends the most time on American music here, with chapters about Akron/Detroit (Devo & Pere Ubu), The Talking Heads, New York No Wave, and the San Francisco experimental scene (mainly the Residents and Tuxedomoon).
The second half of the book shifts to what the Brits called "New Pop," which in the US was called "New Wave" for some reason. Around 1981 there was a shift away from punkish noise and toward more melodic (and skilled) music making. Partly this was because the bands wanted to make some money. And here I knew most of who he was talking about, except for some who never cracked the US but I had vaguely heard of (like Orange Juice and A Certain Ratio). About the only mention of the US in this half was a chapter about SST records. A lot of interesting trivia. The ending date seemed rather arbitrary to me, but it was a big book already so perhaps that was for the best.
I'd say not DOOM recommended unless you want to read about some bands you like.
the hands that guide me are invisible