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duparker's review against another edition
2.0
Welcome to pop music 101. There is not too much to keep you in the mood to read this, other than a general curiosity. There are far better books out there on the topic, though most of them don't start as early in history as this one does and most are going to be as British about pop music as this one is.
davidb71's review
informative
4.5
Very interesting, informative and enjoyable. There's a dizzying amount of information here, exhaustively researched. I came away from it with a broader and deeper understanding of the technologies and trends and societal influences that have shaped popular music over the last 100+ years. It's long and densely packed with information but it's very readable, written with a lightness of touch and a vim and a spark that always makes it very enjoyable to read. If you are at all interested in the history of popular music - particularly from a UK and USA perspective - then I highly recommend this book. Excellent.
muninnherself's review
5.0
I love reading about music, and this is a great overview of the history of popular music 'from the gramophone to the iPhone' (nice). The early stuff was probably the most interesting - I've read lots about music from the fifties on, so it was good to learn more about ragtime and swing etc. and think about what my great-grandparents might have listened/danced to.
When we get to the stuff I'm more familiar with it's not quite so thrilling, but that would be me, rather than the content. It's about popular music, of course, so as he says in the foreword 'it may not contain your favourite artists' but that's fine.
I love anything that reminds the reader that society and even 'the music press' (remember that? Ha) has always reacted with horror and revulsion to whatever the kids are into. Even though with hindsight it's impossible to imagine people being outraged by Frank Sinatra, they were.
When we get to the stuff I'm more familiar with it's not quite so thrilling, but that would be me, rather than the content. It's about popular music, of course, so as he says in the foreword 'it may not contain your favourite artists' but that's fine.
I love anything that reminds the reader that society and even 'the music press' (remember that? Ha) has always reacted with horror and revulsion to whatever the kids are into. Even though with hindsight it's impossible to imagine people being outraged by Frank Sinatra, they were.
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