Selects ten songs recorded between 1956 and 2008 that embody rock and roll as a thing in itself--in the story each song tells, inhabits, and creates in its legacy.

"Feeding Back: Conversations with Rock's Alternative Guitarists from Proto-Punk to Post-Rock offers a counter-history of rock music through the lens of interviews with musicians including Richard Thompson, J Mascis, James Williamson, Bob Mould, Tom Verlaine, Lydia Lunch, Lee Ranaldo, Johnny Marr, and John Frusciante. Individually, the book's in-depth discussions explore these subjects' ideas and innovations; taken together they document an alternative-guitar...

"Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture examines the relationship between geek culture and popular music, tracing a history from the late 1960s to the present day. The term "geek rock" refers to forms of popular music that celebrate all things campy, kitschy, and quirky. In this collection of essays, contributors explore the evolution of this music genre, from writing songs about poodles, girls, monster movies, and outer space to just what...

The arrival of the Beatles was one of those unforgettable cultural touchstones. Through the voices of those who witnessed it or were swept up in it indirectly, The Beatles Are Here! explores the emotional impact—some might call it hysteria—of the Fab Four's February 1964 dramatic landing on our shores. Contributors, including Lisa See, Gay Talese, Renée Fleming, Roy Blount, Jr., and many others, describe in essays and interviews how

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While Farmer Joe is at the National Tractor Society Conference in Reno, his animals go on tour in a broken-down van, performing as the band called Punk Farm.

"A tribute to an independent record label and the people who helped build it, this story encapsulates the zeitgeist in popular music that washed through Vancouver in the 1990s and 2000s. As a label, Mint Records helped launch the careers of the New Pornographers, Neko Case, the Evaporators, the Smugglers, the Sadies, the Pack A. D., and countless other acts and in doing so, not only shaped the sound of Vancouver at the end of the 20th century, but...

Danko Jones may be a straight-forward rock band, but their story is anything but. They're a band that has roots in many different music communities - the North American indie-rock scene, the Scandinavian garage-rock scene, the European metal scene - but belong to none of them. They're the only band that's toured with both Blonde Redhead and Nickelback, and they're the only band whose biography could attract a cast of characters that includes Lemmy...

"Once you're dead, you're made for life. --Jimi Hendrix Hendrix. Janis. Morrison. Elvis. Lennon. Cobain. Garcia. Their reckless brilliance held the key to their self-destruction. Their deaths had much in common--and, surprisingly, so did their lives. From lonely childhoods marred by loss to groundbreaking music and turbulent careers that ended tragically and suspiciously, David Comfort explodes the myths as he probes: *The sinister roles of Hendrix's...

Collects four stories recounting the adventures of Horrid Henry as he torments his younger brother, ruins Moody Margaret's sleepover, irritates his teacher, and tries to trick his family into seeing his favorite band.

"Capitol Contingency chronicles a unique time in a uniquely vibrant music scene: Washington, D.C., 1991-1999. Punk was broken; the Internet had yet to engulf society; the major label compact disc marketing system was in its greatest -- and final -- era of dominance before its file-sharing-imposed collapse. And the nation's capital, already ground zero for some of the nation's best hardcore punk and post-punk sounds, was once again emerging as an incubator...