Product Description
This book explores the development of a range of cults of popular music as a response to changes in attitudes to meaning, spirituality and religion in society. At a time when fundamentalism is on the rise, traditional religions are in decline and postmodernity has challenged any system that claims to be all-defining, young people have left their traditional places of worship and set up their own, in clubs, at festivals and within music culture. "Pop Cults" investigates the ways in which popular music and its surrounding culture have become a primary site for the location of meaning, belief and identity. It provides an introduction to the history of the interactions of vernacular music and religion, and the role of music in religious culture. Rupert Till explores the cults of heavy metal, pop stars, club culture and virtual popular music worlds, investigating the sex, drug, local and death cults of the sacred popular, and their relationships with traditional religions. He concludes by discussing how and why popular music cultures have taken on many of the roles of traditional religions in contemporary society. ... Read more

Product Description
The Music Theory series is designed from the ground-up to explain the terminology and musical structures needed for modern applications. Level One is an introductory course which covers music notation, key signatures, basic scales, intervals, modes, diatonic relationships and 3-and 4-part chords. Level Two is an intermediate-level course covering larger chord forms, "definitive" chords in major and minor keys, substitutions, analysis of key centers in tunes, "upper structure" chords, voiceleading, and pentatonic and blues scale applications. Both levels include reference appendices, a complete glossary of terms, and hundreds of written theory exercises with answers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

I'll add a voice to the chorus.
If you're trying to teach yourself piano in one or more popular styles, you can't go wrong with anything written by Mark Harrison.

This book is no exception.

I bought this book even though I already own "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory". Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, but it doesn't compare to Harrison's treatment of the subject matter in this book.

It's the difference between a good presentation and a great presentation.

I've looked at a few treatments of elementary music theory, and although they all cover the same ground more or less, Harrison's book shows the logic behind the suff you have to memorize. That's what separates this book from the others.

For very beginner
It is the first of three volumes but I can say that if they had used a little smaller font sizes, all volumes can be in a mid-size book. And the information in all volumes is just for the very beginner. If you got his The Pop Piano Book so don't get them - just a waste of money. It's bad that in the text the writer is always offering you another book of him, sounds like 'i never teach you anything if you don't buy all of my books'. And after all he's got 6 books but the other 5 except the Pop Piano Book, are useless: Don't let the very big font sizes fool you, all the page have only 15-20 sentences, so with a normal size font it can take only 40-45 pages. Buy just a little book about harmony for beginner and you'll get what you expect from this one.

Good for jazz theory, but not concise - skips music notation
I teach college level music and was experimenting this semester with this text. I was initially drawn to it because I was looking for a little more modern approach as I also strongly gear students toward being able to play by ear as well.I thought that it would be a good reference for my students to have later in its explanation of theory, too.
But I was very disappointed when I got to the section about the Circle of 5ths. It's diagram explains it so that the flats circle clockwise and sharpes circle counter-clockwise. This is backwards to me! I could not teach my students something I felt was unconventional, so I had to avert to a supplemental text.Also, it totally skips introducing music notation (counting rhythm of notes,etc in written music) in the first book entirely!Even though I agree that contemporary and jazz music is best expressed by introducing chord structures,and jazz music is more liberal than what is just written. I just can't personally totally eliminate rhythm altogether and ignore it as if it weren't a foundational element.
Also, overall I found it too wordy to make reference to while explaining the topic during class. Good for individual study but not classroom. IT was not concise enough and on some topics skipped around illogically on explaining it.

Excellent for self-teaching and classroom work
I am using this book to teach music theory with highschool students. The text is very readable, the graphics are very intuitive. His methodology is very helpful for broad understanding. I highly recommend this book for individual learning or classroom support.

Good teaching; poor typesetting
"CMT - Level 1" serves it's purpose wonderfully.It taught me many things clearly where other books failed (such as intervals, and the Circle of Fifths/Fourths).Mr. Harrison is a good teacher, and I would recommend this book to my friends.But I will keep the praises brief seeing as there are many reviews here that do just that for me.

The reason I give this book four stars rather than five is because of the typesetting used.The text is very large, and there is a *lot* of wasted real-estate on each page.If the typesetting had been improved, this book could have been truncated by at least 100 pages, allowing for cheaper production, and finally, a less expensive book for the public.If it's any revelation, I was able to complete this book in only four days, with two-three hours each day(this includes doing half of the exercises).

Also, there is one more complaint.Mr. Harrison is a great teacher, but is not as fortunate in his writing skills.Although this does not take away from the things learned, it is a bit annoying at times.For instance, about every other sentence is terminated with an exclamation mark.There were times I felt like I was reading a chat log from an AOL channel.Also, there are numerous places where paragraphs (and sometimes several pages) were copied and pasted into another area of the book, with a few [music] notes changed here and there.About one-third of the book is a result of copy and pastes from the other two-thirds.

All of that aside, it did exactly what it was meant to do: give me a clear introduction to music theory. ... Read more

Product Description
The beloved tale of Maria and the von Trapp family comes to life in this spectacular pop-up format! From the peaceful abbey to the breathtaking Austrian Alps, this masterpiece is sure to enchant young and old readers alike. The stunning keepsake also includes mini-pops on each page featuring classic song lyrics from The Sound of Music, making this the perfect addition to any family's library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Gorgeous Pop-Up
If you are looking for a piece of art - look no farther! This is a beautiful piece for adults or children. If you are looking for a storybook, keep looking - the story is long and doesn't keep the attention of children. The Sounds of Music Pop-up Book would make a lovely coffee table book or gift for any music or art fan!

Bruce Foster, Master paper engineer
Delightfully entertaining with magical pops, this story told through song verse was another triumph for Bruce Foster.

Absolutely gorgeous!
Got this for my 5 year old dd who is a huge fan of the movie musical.The pop-ups are all lifted from scenes in the movie.Every page has additional lift the flap sections with lyircs and history.dd will have to be very gentle with this book, but i was so glad to find this new title for her!

"THE SOUND OF MUSIC" AS A CHILDREN'S FAIRY TALE

Rodgers and Hammerstein's mega-hit "The Sound Of Music" reduced the true life saga of the Trapp Family to a musical fairy tale. Now, everything has come full circle-- and the musical has been transformed into a fairy tale pop-up book for children. I think a pop-up book is a rather odd way to celebrate the musical's 50th Anniversary. But the pop-up version, featuring illustrations by Dan Andreasen and paper engineering by Bruce Foster,is surprisingly successful-- at least in terms of its artistry and artwork. On another level. however, the pop-up is a bit of a disappointment and a cop-out.
The Andreasen/Foster depictions of the Trapp Family Villa, the wedding scene at Nonnberg Abbey, and the final scene of the escape across the Alps, are especially vividand impressive. The pop-up features six major scenes, with mini-pop-ups also included. The lyrics (by Oscar Hammerstein II)to several songs--"The Sound Of Music," "A Problem Like Maria". "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi", "The Lonely Goatherd", "Climb Every Mountain", "So Long, Farewell" and "Edelweiss"-- are included within the mini-pop-ups. Bert Fink's story adaptation is odd and problematic. Fink retains the sugary/sweet elements and characters (Maria, the nuns, the Captain and his seven children) while completely removing any trace of dramatic arch or substance.
The characters of Elsa, Max, and Rolfe, the boy who later became a Nazi-- indeed, the Nazis altogether-- are completely absent from the pop-up version. Some may sensibly state that the Nazi occupation of Austria, so integral to the Trapp Family story and the musical itself, has absolutely no place in a pop-up book. The pop-up book merely says the Trapp family are chased and must escape out of Austria. But, by never explaing the reasons WHY the Trapp Family MUST escape, the pop-up book renders the entire story pointless and nonsensical. "The Sound Of Music's" detractors will have a field day; happilypointing out that the pop-up literally illustrates how pointless and nonsenical the musical was and still is. Fans and children will likely care less. Children will love the bright, pop-up colors; and fans will be delighted with yet another way to celebrate one of their favorite things. ... Read more

Product Description
Fifteen more hits exposed to millions on this smash show: And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going * Dancing with Myself * Defying Gravity * Don't Rain on My Parade * Endless Love * I'll Stand by You * Imagine * Jump * Lean on Me * My Life Would Suck Without You * Proud Mary * Smile * Sweet Caroline * Taking Chances * True Colors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Glee arrangements
We were VERY disappointed in this book.We assumed it would be the arrangements of the songs as they were performed on the TV show Glee.They are not.It is just the sheet music of the original songs, NOT in any way, shape or form the way they were performed on the show. ... Read more

Product Description
".a timely book that.sets a standard for a new field of study and therefore deserves to be read widely.[the volume's] contributions contain fascinating material for further study."*International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter "Steven Brown and Ulrik Volgsten haveput together a valuable collection of essays on a consistently interesting theme. The book constitutes an important resource for the future development of this theme."*Music Perception ".fascinating and challenging.this book, illustrates the diversity, the depth and the potential of the field of the sociology of music. As much as these texts enlighten, they also highlight the vastness of the research yet to be conducted. However, this book is far more than just a compilation of papers presented at a conference, they are relevant discussions to anybody who turns on the radio, purchases or downloads a record or even sings a lullaby."*Leonardo Digital Reviews Since the beginning of human civilization, music has been used as a device to control social behavior, where it has operated as much to promote solidarity within groups as hostility between competing groups.Music is an emotive manipulator that influences attitude, motivation and behavior at many levels and in many contexts.This volume is the first to address the social ramifications of music's behaviorally manipulative effects, its morally questionable uses and control mechanisms, and its economic and artistic regulation through commercialization, thus highlighting not only music's diverse uses at the social level but also the ever-fragile relationship between aesthetics and morality. Steven Brown is a researcher in cognitive neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. He received his doctorate at Columbia University in New York, and has done research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. His research deals with the neural basis of human communication, including the arts. Ulrik Volgsten is a research fellow in the Department of Culture, Aesthetics and Media at Goteborg University in Sweden.He received his doctorate in the Department of Musicology at Stockholm University, and has published papers on both musical and philosophical topics. Volgsten's multidisciplinary research mainly focuses on human communication in different medi ... Read more

Product Description
Clark has masterfully collected thirteen essays that discuss the various aspects of Tex Mex, Central American and Latin American music.Major personalities from these musical cultures the are discussed in detail range from Bob Marley to Carmen Miranda.Vast in scope, the contributors engage with divergent musical styles such as Latin dance and the national rock of Argintina. ... Read more

Product Description
Announcing the third annual collection of the year's best essays and articles on music. It's "music-geek rapture."- Entertainment Weekly

It's here: the third and latest volume in the series that you have come to rely upon for your music-reading fix. The 2002 volume will celebrate the year's best writing about music and its culture, as selected by Jonathan Lethem, best-selling novelist, music hound, and self-confessed closet rock-writer. With pieces on a dazzling array of topics from more than a hundred sources, the collection brings you remarkable essays by journalists and authors who are as serious about writing as they are about music. It's required reading for anyone who loves either art.

Past contributors have included:
David Rakoff
Mike Doughty
Lorraine Ali
Greil Marcus
Richard Meltzer
Robert Gordon
Sarah Vowell
Nick Tosches
Anthony DeCurtis
William Gay
Whitney Balliett
Lester Bangs
Rosanne Cash
Susan Orlean
Eddie Dean
Selwyn Seyfu Hinds
Alec Wilkinson
David Hajdu ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

worth it for the Rosanne Cash essay
brilliant writing by a brilliant under-appreciated artist/writer/ songwriter who transcends the limits of many genres, boundaries, expectations

Francisco Franco is still dead...
...and Frank Zappa is still wrong:rock music journalism does not have to be people who can't write interviewing people who can't speak for people who can't read.This installment of the Da Capo "Best Music Writing" series features a wide range of pieces both stylistically and in terms of subject matter.Nik Cohn's article "Soljas" on the New Orleans rap scene, originally published in Granta, is an astonishing piece of writing and would deserve to be in a collection of "Best Writing of 2002," music-oriented or not.Three other contributions are striking for their biographical writing, illuminating broader, non-musical themes:RJ Smith on the LA enigma Korla Pandit, Michael Hall on Texas psychedelic rocker Roky Ericson, and Matthew C. Duersten on jazz diva Anita O'Day.There are more traditional musicological contributions (David Cantwell "Help Me Make It Through the Night") and humorous satire from the Onion.A very enjoyable volume.Would make a good gift for anyone interested in popular music or just good writing.

A series which hand-picks the year's best music writing
Da Capo Best Music Writing 2002 is the third volume in a series which hand-picks the year's best writing about music, covering all genres and providing a host of literary articles reflecting on music's personalities, evolution, and content. From a survey of the underground New Orleans rap scene from an insider's stand to a composer of haiku for Eminem and details on Bob Dylan and Louie Armstrong, Da Capo Best Music Writing 2002 holds something for everyone. ... Read more

Product Description
From the Archies to Britney Spears, bubblegum music has excited every generation of music lovers. Featuring interviews with many of the genre’s major creators, this ambitious anthology dismantles the worst myths about how bubblegum is produced and identifies the gum tendencies of artists as various as the Sex Pistols, Abba, the Monkees, and the Ramones. The book reveals the light and dark sides of the music, telling bitter tales of litigious backstabbing, pistol-wielding producers, and the perversities behind the jingles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

great reading for anyone interested in pop music
This book has a fresh quirky writing style that is intoxicating. In each chapter we are brought into the recording and sometimes television studios
to learn the subversive craft of selling culture to the youth. Fascinating
and insightful.rock history

I love this book!!!
This is truly an amazing book.As a young kid in the 70's, I grew up on AM radio hits: The Osmonds, 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Archies, and so on.What I had no idea was that a majority of those groups were the brainchild of a producer and the recordings were made up of studio musicians.Half the time, no such band ever really existed.This book documents the different groups and songs, the successes and failures, and the product cross-marketing of all those hits that used to come through the radio (or on the 45 single that I'd buy with my allowance money).This is essentially a group of assembled essays and they are very well written.I feel like it's a pop (bubblegum) music history lesson.The interviews with the many people who contributed to the genre are also very informative.I honestly have to pull out this book periodically and read it cover to cover, it's that good.

Bubblegum
I haven't read it...it's a gift. A sadly overlooked area of music. At a time in ones life when everything is fresh and new,Bubblegum music is forever fondly,if jadedly, remembered.

Letter to the Editors
The following is a copy of a letter I wrote to the editors of "Music Is the Naked Truth" - it says all I can say about the book:

I'd been looking forward to reading your book
"Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth" for several years
and finally got hold of copy and read it last month.

I felt like I needed to contact (you) the editors,
if only to express my major disappointment.

Your book is advertised as a dark history of bubblegum music
and I was looking forward to some sort of logical outline and
readable history of bubblegum (a type of music I don't know much about)

However, immediately upon reading the introduction and first few
tentative essays, I could see it was going to be rough going.

While planning the book, I'm sure you all thought it would be cute for
your contributors to use as many kooky and coy references
to gum, candy, sugar, sweets, etc as possible.

While delving into your book, initially the candy
references were annoying...then they became plain
excruciating... and then painful. The painful candy references
on almost every page made reading the book an almost impossible chore.
But I'd paid good money for it, so I struggled through all the "gooey,
chewy, yummy" references

Another glaring annoyance in "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth"
is the fact that there are NO color photographs inside...and what photos you
do place in the book are all 2 X 2 inches and in gray-ish black and white

Oh, wait...I forgot...there IS a large forlorn photo of a Monkees lunch box...
...but why are all the other photos the size of large Puerto Rican postage stamps?

A book about bubblegum music without color photos is
beyond ridiculous. Something along the lines of a thick,
colorful, well-written glossy would have been preferable
and you may have sold a few more books.

I'm sure by now your book as become the "textbook"
on bubblegum music...however, it's clearly not.
And I'm sorry I paid money for it...and I would
feel guilty loaning it to friends or even donating
it to my local library.

Thanks for reading and better luck next time

Give me more, more, more of that bubblegum music
This is a collection of essays about (yes) bubblegum music.Most of them are very interesting.If you like to interested in the lighter side of rock and roll, this book should interest you. ... Read more

Product Description

"A variety of approaches are brought to bear on fascinating repertoire, but with the underlying aim of better understanding some brilliant music. There’s nothing more exciting in music writing than something which entices you to listen to what’s familiar to you in a new way, and this collection brings such excitement in abundance."
---Allan Moore, author of Jethro Tull: Aqualung and Rock: The Primary Text

"These essays bring together a remarkable range of tools and perspectives to such diverse topics and contexts as the behind-the-scenes collaborations of composers, performers, arrangers, producers and engineers; pop culture; narratology; and race, politics and gender. The reader continuously benefits from a complementary lineup of sensitive ears that discover novelty in the familiar, exposing the heart of many rock and pop classics through imaginative and authoritative prose."
---Walter Everett, author of The Foundations of Rock and The Beatles as Musicians

The nine essays in Sounding Out Pop work together to map the myriad styles and genres of the pop-rock universe through detailed case studies that confront the music from a variety of engaging, thought-provoking perspectives---from historical to music-analytic, aesthetic to ethnographic, with several authors drawing liberally from ideas in other disciplines. The range of bands and artists covered is as vast and varied as the more than fifty-year history of pop and rock music, from the Coasters and Roy Orbison to Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Beck, Genesis, Tori Amos, and the Police. Together these diverse essays cover a broad spectrum of studies ideally suited for classroom use and for other readers interested in gaining a deeper knowledge of the way popular music works.

Mark Spicer is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. His writings have appeared in Contemporary Music Review, Gamut, Music Theory Online, twentieth-century music, and other scholarly journals and essay collections.

John Covach is Professor of Music at the University of Rochester and Professor of Theory at the Eastman School of Music. He is the author of the college textbook What's That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and Its History and the coeditor of Understanding Rock, American Rock and the Classical Music Tradition, and Traditions, Institutions, and American Popular Music.

Cover art credit: © iStockphoto.com/Aleksandar Dickov

Product Description
If you ever need a quick reference on any recording artist from the last 60 years, here is your book. From the best source in the business, this handy bio book includes vital statson every artist who had even one hit on the Billboard charts. Over 8,000 entries! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (18)

Best Book on Rock, bar none.
Can't remember how I first found this book, but it has been my favorite ever since I picked it up.I was only buying extra copies on Amazon to give as gifts.Personally I prefer Nick Kent to Lester Bangs, but that is just a taste thing.

Buying The Dark Stuff and Please Kill me would bookend a fabulous book collection on late 20th Century Pop Music.

Rolling Stone - When it was edgier
This book is a collection of stories and interviews of artists from the 60's all the way through the present (the updated edition).As someone who used to be a habitual Rolling Stone reader, and not longer is as a result of the change in people covers (which is a reflection of music today) this book is a reminder of the good old days before publicists, when artists did not hide and gave full access.The stores are great, and not necessarily flattering, as a result of the honest nature.This book is a great way to learn more about music history in an entertaining way.

Brilliant
Ok so he had a fascination wikth Keith Richards and sometimes tended to identify a bit too much with his heroes. However he was a most brilliant writer at the best rock weekly ever, the NME. This book is brilliant and could have been longer.

The expanded 2007 edition
The Dark Stuff was first published in Britain in 1994 and always available in the USA since its 1996 publication. In the UK the book had been out-of-print for eight years until the 2007 edition appeared. Compiled from 1970s interviews for the New Musical Express plus 1980s magazine articles, this new edition includes the essays Sly Stone's Evil Ways & Phil Spector's Long Fall From Grace, a portrait of French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg, a recent interview with Iggy Pop and a concluding essay titled Self-destruction in Rock and Elsewhere. All in all twenty-two of the most talented and self-destructive artists in rock history are profiled.

Kent was the New Musical Express's star attraction in the 1970s at a time when the publication was selling 300,000 copies per week. It was at the forefront of reporting on the punk explosion, punk personalities, the style and its offshoots. The NME's influential position gave Kent unique opportunities as a rock writer. Kent may be older & wiser but there's something to be said for the energy and enthusiasm of youth, since the recent stuff amongst the new additions is less gripping than the original writings from the 70s and 80s for NME and magazines like The Face, Arena and Spin.

The value of each chapter is directly proportional to the communication skills of those interviewed: that is why the Guns 'N' Roses piece is a complete waste of time and paper and shouldn't even have been included, whilst I loved the Roy Orbison interview although I've never really been into his music. I found the Brian Wilson piece too long and disagree with the author's assessment of the Rolling Stones after the 1960s. Kent seems to think that Jagger and Richards produced their best music in the late 60s and early 70s because they were tormented by the 'wild women' Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull.

There's a thought-provoking chapter on the ill-fated Brian Jones (Tortured Narcissus) that discusses his contribution to The Stones, his decline and death. Kent's view of Kurt Cobain is a bit harsh and the non-interview with Roky Erickson rather pointless. Kent's 1988 portrait of Serge Gainsbourg is sad and pathetic but he concludes it by graciously praising the French singer's musical legacy. I loved the pieces on Jerry Lee Lewis, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and Miles Davis and in my opinion the book's crowning glory is the chapter titled Neil Young and the Haphazard Highway that leads to Unconditional Love. Young's care and concern for his disabled child impress more than a thousand stories of excess and substance abuse.

Most of these rock stars thought that they were exempt from the law of cause & effect, with the predictable disastrous consequences. What amazes me is how some of these artists managed to consistently produce sublime music while they were abusing themselves physically and mentally to such a gruesome degree. I suppose that is one of the messages of this book: no matter how low down you are, you can always pull yourself together again. It certainly demonstrates the ability of the soul and the body to restore themselves.

This is great rock writing, on a par with the work of Lester Bangs. The stylistic difference is that Kent's writing is character-based & analytical: looking at musicians in the context of what they're doing and how they're living in order to analyze how this context influences them. Bangs on the other hand wrote from a more intimate, personal perspective, an angle that describes the effect the music had on him, often in stream-of-consciousness prose.

Other classics of rock writing that I recommend are James Young's Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio, alternatively titled Nico: The Last Bohemian, Clinton Heylin's From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock, Gerri Hirshey's Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Let It Blurt by Jim DeRogatis, Scars of Sweet Paradise by Alice Echols, Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Marianne Faithfull, Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus and Angry Women in Rock by Andrea Juno.

Dark and delicious
A large part of the seemingly eternal appeal of rock music is the seamy underbelly of the movement itself. Kent is a master at exploring this underbelly, mainly (it seems) because he lived it himself. The man briefly toured with the Sex Pistols, befriended some of the most disturbed musicians of the 1970's, acquired and beat some serious drug addictions, and never lost an inch of his literary edge. The articles, essays and interviews in "The Dark Stuff" are compelling, exciting, repulsive and entertaining all at once. Kent knows who to write about: he chooses the pioneers, the masters and the mysteries. Some of the best music journalism of our time. ... Read more

Product Description
The first documentedhistory of the music America listened to from the Gay Nineties to the RockinÕ Fifties, taken from a variety of popular music charts. Artist Section lists each artistÕs charted recordings in chronological order, with each recordingÕs highest charted position, date first charted, total weeks charted, original label and number, total weeks in the #1 or #2 position, and much more. Includes a wealth of facts and notes about many recordings and artists of popÕs early years. Complete Title Section cross-references all titles alphabetically with significant chart data. 6 inch. x 9 inch.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Last edition?
I checked it out at the library first, so I knew I would love it.I wish it had songwriter credits, but I understand that Whitburn is not going to update this book because there is no demand.

Flawed but useful
I've been buying Mr. Whitburn's books for decades nowmy own personal copy of this book is in tatters due to much use in a project just recently finished.
By using the debut dates and chart positions in this and other pop books from Mr. Whitburn, I made my own true chronological Pop database for all charted songs from 1890-2010. A Pop Annual approach but more chronologically exact using the actual debut chart date for each song instead of the year.
I have all songs from the period charted in MP3 format(1890-2010 excepting about 600 songs mostly from pre-1920) in the same chronological order by debut date (then decending chart position within the debut date then total weeks on chart to break position ties) in order to accurately portray musical trends and developments throughout chart history. All MP3s have been dubbed to DVD-Discs in order to provide a companion set to his books making any song seconds to locate. I've also included all Bubblers from 1959-present. (One missing from 1979).
Many of the songs within the book are on the internet in some fashion-it just takes time to find them and a little patience.
The one flaw Mr. Whitburn's Pop Memories has, which I knew going in was that the chart data before July 1940 is flawed as Billboard did not publish a chart before that date-in fact no one has. The data is taken from a variety of sources then computed using whatever formula Mr. Whitburn's staff uses to constitute chart position-so quite frankly the "chart" information is arbitary.
However, since this is the ONLY publication that has this type of information for US charts (the Brits have also published chart books) then this will have to suffice.
For biographical and pictures of the artists I suggest Tim Gracyks excellent book "Recording Pioneers" which is also a bit expensive but priceless.

Great Reference Book
This is a great book to have, it helped me find music to add to my collection.
It has tons of info.

Worth every penny
So far, this book has paid for itself. It came in excellent condition, was a much better price than what I originally expected to pay, which was around twice as much. It has been extremely helpful. It could be sent back now and have served its purpose. Luckily, that is not the case and it will continue to be an excellent resource for years to come!!!

A very useful reference book
Whitburn has delivered a very useful and very informative book that i use a a reference book for my research on music from the beginning of the 20th century. He gives enough information on the artists and the chronological list of all # 1 hits in the end is very handy!
This book is recommended to anyone interested in musical history. ... Read more

Product Description
No one can deny the impact that X Factor judge Simon Cowell has made. His acerbic put-downs and witty one-liners have sparked international debate whilst at the same time earning him a legion of admirers. Cowell's own story has all the brutal honesty you'd expect. I Don't Mean to be Rude, But...is as compulsive, entertaining and hard-hitting as his trademark insults. With tips and advice on becoming a star from the man who knows how to make it happen, this book is the ultimate through-the-keyhole view inside the music industry. But it wouldn't be complete without setting the record straight about those trousers, and the truth about the women in his life. In the fully updated paperback edition of I Don't Mean to be Rude, But...Simon predicts the future for the X Factor winners and dishes the dirt on American Idol. It's a complusive read and as compelling as the man himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great!
Fantastically entertaining throughout most of it, however, towards the end Simon changes subjects dramatically. The beginning is a fun, and interesting look on how he grew up, and how he worked his way through the music industry. Then, the story shifts from his personal life and successes, to all of his experiences working through American, and Pop Idol. I found the end boring, but this is most likely because i was just so absorbed from the first half of the book and expecting it to only get better.


Overall, I believe it to be a fantastic read.

Wheres the autobiography, Simon?!!

Good Career Overview, Filled With Simon's Typical Egotistical Comments
This book is a combination life story of Simon Cowell and his opinions on the American Idol process.It is a very quick read as he breezes through his life story.Some of it makes complete sense--he was a rich kid, growing up spoiled in a household with three servants, including a live-in nanny.He failed boarding school, never went to college, quit job after job when he got bored with it...and somehow worked his way up the record business.

There aren't a lot of specifics here.He doesn't give you insights into lessons he learned or how he was able to pick artists or songs.He just keeps saying that he knew it by whether the person had the "X factor."It would help if he would try to explain what his talent truly is.

The book seems ghost-written but there are no credits that acknowledge a co-writer.It's hard to believe that he would sit down and write this.It also could use some editing--he talks a lot about British artists that no one in the U.S. will recognize and even a few American artists he brought to England that no one here knows.

Every once in awhile he will take a full page to comment on the music business (Madonna, Michael Jackson) and his snarky criticisms aren't very deep.Similar to what he says on Idol.

So it's worth reading just to capture a little insight into why he is the way he is--but in the end you're still let wondering how such a cocky, self-loving person ever made it so big.

Excellent advice and informative
I really enjoyed this book. I respect Simon's opinions and he certainly knows the music business in and out. If you plan on auditioning or going into the music business this information would be very helpful to you. You should absorb every single criticism and word of encouragement that comes out of his mouth and then you may just succeed.
I mainly wanted to read the book because I have such great respect for Simon as a no nonsense type of guy who arrived at his trade the hard way, all the time knowing exactly nothing but the TOP would be good enough for him. He never quit he just kept right on forging ahead.I admit that I found out way more about the music business than I cared to know but the book was a good read. I have to give him such respect for suffering through all of those auditions which obviously were very painful. He is absolutely right! Having watched the auditions myself on tv. For each one who can sing and has talent worth pursuing there are hundreds and thousands which are completely deluded and fooling themselves or else they think it's funny to make complete fools of themselves before the whole world. Or maybe they just want to be on TV. I suggest they just sit on top of their own and forget the rest.

It never hurts to read about success - from those who succeed.
If you're an idol fan you probably wait to hear what Simon says... and normally agree (latest season excluded, in my opinion).His story reminds me that with perserverance and confidence in your chosen field - the sky's the limit here in the U.S. It is without a question a story of someone who knows who they are, what they believe and scrapped their way to that top --- that alone makes it worth reading. Regularly reviled in the U.K. and sometimes here (though with a lot of underlying admiration for summing up what noone else wants to say), this is the story of an entrepeneur at heart - who, with a lot of work, found his gold mine in the U.S, and has a few pearls of wisdom to part despite or because of the large ego.It's well worth a read!

And if you like "I Came to America, the land of opportunity" success stories- in the melting pot which we live- I also recommend Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life.Very similiar, in the sense they both used their skills and US TV to succeed and show the world who they are.

I don't mean to be rude either
The book is quite different than what I expected, I always enjoyed Simon's comments and the way he put down those wanabees, even though it sometimes was a bit rough, I bought the book hopeing for more of his cynical arguments, but instead, he started by talking about his childhood days, how he grew up, and where he started his career, and I found that even more amazing, and interesting. It kind of gets you thinking about the options you have in life, Simon says he put off his education for a while, and he never enrolled in higher education... it was all interesting to read about.

When moving towards the last chapters and into his Idol career, it gets a bit uninteresting, at least for me, I was never a great fan of American Idol, and Simon describes in a lot of details the top stars of each season and how they got there, so I was getting less interested.

Overall, great read, and lot of fun stuff, as expected from Simon. ... Read more

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A search for the sources and sounds of an often overlooked sister genre of Cajun and zydeco music ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Cajun Music History
A must read if you love Cajun music, including Swamp Pop. The author has researched and interviewed the musicians and the history of music in southern Louisiana. You will go down memory lane with the names you remember and still love to listen to. Good source for this music is cajunradio.net, where you can hear the Acadian culture online.

Swamp Pop Bible
This is a good book because it covers the subject of "Southwest Louisiana Pop" music in great detail.Lots of names and quotes of the people who shaped the sound.The author did his homework and the reader gets a lot of info - a LOT.I have read this book several times because it is a great refresher course on the musicians, promoters, the night clubs, and what all.

A Forgotten Genre Chronicled
Louisiana musicians have always gone their own way, fusing elements of various styles to create music of stunning beauty.One of the most creative and finely crafted forms is Swamp Pop, a fusion of Cajun, R & B, country, and pop styles.Shane Bernard has written a definative history of Swamp Pop based on extensive interviews with the makers of the sound.He discusses the diverse background of the music and its interracial origins. This book is essential for any collection of American music. ... Read more

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This text draws on the author's personal experience as a musician, producer and teacher of popular music to discuss the ways in which audio technology and musical creativity in pop music are inextricably bound together. This relationship, the book argues, is exemplified by the work of Trevor Horn, who is widely acknowledged as one of the most important, innovative and successful British pop record producers of the early 1980s. In the first part of the book, Timothy Warner presents a definition of pop as distinct from British rock music, and goes on to consider the equipment and working practices that result in the specific characteristics of pop music. Part two analyses seven influential recordings produced by Trevor Horn between 1979 and 1985, revealing how the creative use of technology in the modern pop recording studio has informed Horn's work. These analyses highlight the challenges that pop music poses to the music analyst. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Definitely a 'must'
Pop Music, Technology and Creativity is the most original and wide-ranging book on pop music I have ever read. While focusing on the use of technology, which Warner considers to be one of the distinctive traits of pop music, this book is obviously not intended for the « techies ». Warner is careful to avoid all unnecessary jargon, and technology is always discussed in terms of its creative potential - never in a vacuum.
One of the many strengths of this extremely well informed book is that pop music is seen as a complex and multifaceted artefact produced by people who are both commercially aware and aesthetically motivated. Trevor Horn is a particularly good example of this, as confirmed by the long interview with him that concludes the book.
But this is not a book about Trevor Horn; it is about pop music and British pop music in particular. The seven recordings carefully analysed by Warner serve to highlight one or more interesting aspects of pop such as: the way in which the complexity of the production techniques can be reflected in the lyrics (`Video Killed the Radio Star'); scratching and sampling, and all their implications (McLaren's `Buffalo Gals'); the interaction between performer and producer (`Owner of a Lonely Heart'); the use of repetition and the importance of remixes (`Relax'); the manipulation of timbre and space (Who's afraid of the Art of Noise) ; the merits of the sequencer (Propaganda) ; the use of the Fairlight (Slave to the Rhythm), etc.
Far from being a narrow, self-contained, unit, each of the analytical chapters echoes and/or develops points touched upon previously. Furthermore Warner is always happy to elaborate on the wider musical implications of the points he makes and never ignores the visual or cultural aspects of the final product.
The result is a rich, subtle and multifaceted book which I found well written, informative, full of surprises and highly stimulating. Definitely a `must'. ... Read more

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Having spent more than twenty years as a performer, manager, and producer of African music, John Collins brings an insider's perspective and a personal passion to this account of popular music in West Africa. He explores the roots of the various styles and genres and the 'feedback' of black music adapted to the New World and returning to Africa to reinfluence its origins. Collins celebrates the personalities and sounds of today's music, its influence on an international audience, the African music business, and the cross-fertilization between African music and that of other cultures. Interspersed with his rich descriptions and historical narratives are colorful biographical sketches of important African musicians along with a wealth of rare photographs of individuals and bands.With the intention of exposing 'the inner driving forces of popular music in Africa', Collins delves into the history of African music, traces its evolution throughout the twentieth century, and explores the current 'world beat' explosion. He demonstrates that the enormous energy generated by African music is in part a result of its polyrhytmic nature and rhythmic spacing, 'the hot sounds and the cool space'.He describes the complexities of African rhythms: the cross-beats, the inside rhythm, the varying tempo, the positive and negative sound, and the rhythmic dialogue. 'African music', Collins observes, 'is a gestalt of opposites that unifies the up and down-beat, head and feet, the audience and performer, into the communion of the beat...There is no separation, only universal 'togetherness"."West African Pop Roots" treats the significant personalities and inside stories of many of its greatest stars, including Manu Dibango with Soul Makossa, E.T. Mensah, Victor Uwaifo, Fela, Youssou N'Dour, and Sonny Okosun, among others. Collins describes the global research for the African roots of pop, which has attracted such Western performers as Ginger Baker, Paul McCartney, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, David Byrne, and many others. The author describes Africa's world-wide influence on music and dance as 'the nearest thing we have in the twentieth century to a global folk music'.Author note: John Collins is manager of the Bokoor Recording Studio (Ghana), acting Chairman of the Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation, and is on the Ghanaian National Folklore-Copyright Administration Board. The author of several books and numerous articles about African music, he is a doctoral candidate at State University of New York at Buffalo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great guy, great book
A little bio:John Collins' British father was a professor at the University of Ghana, where John spent most of his youth and developed his interest in music.At some point John studied medicine (came in helpful the night he had to deliver his nephew), but gave it up to be a musician/recording engineer/and eventually professor of music and the University of Ghana (he also had a bit part in Fela's attempted movie, but that's another story).He still lives at Bokor House outside Accra, and still plays in a band.

Anyway, between being a working musician, a recording engineer, and an archivist, he met/interviewed/worked with virtually everybody who was anybody in West African popular music from early highlife bandleaders like E.T. Mensah to the late Fela Kuti.

The book consists largely of short chapters about individual performers, grouped roughly according to chronology and geography.From this organization, one gets a sense of thematic developments and forces in the musicians' lives, but much of the material is anecdotal, letting the performers speak for themselves.And what anecdotes they are.The chapter on Fela alone is worth the price of the book, though to hear John relate it, he didn't tell half of the story. ... Read more

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From pop gems to hard rockers, these are some of the biggest hits of 2010! More than 200 pages of sheet music capture the year's most memorable songs to play and sing for a lifetime. Titles: 21 Guns (Green Day)
* All or Nothing (Theory of a Deadman)
* Baby (Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris)
* Beautiful World (We're All Here) (Jim Brickman and Adam Crossley)
* Cousins (Vampire Weekend)
* Crazy Love (Michael Bublé)
* East Jesus Nowhere (Green Day)
* Electric Twist (A Fine Frenzy)
* Everything to Me (Monica)
* For Your Entertainment (Adam Lambert)
* Halfway Gone (Lifehouse)
* Haven't Met You Yet (Michael Bublé)
* I Belong to You (+Mon Cur S'Ouvre a Ta Voix) (Muse)
* Kissin U (Miranda Cosgrove)
* Life After You (Daughtry)
* Low Rising (The Swell Season)
* Need You Now (Lady Antebellum)
* Never Gonna Be Alone (Nickelback)
* No Surprise (Daughtry)
* Party in the U.S.A. (Miley Cyrus)
* Rain (Creed)
* Smile (Uncle Kracker)
* Temporary Home (Carrie Underwood)
* This Is It (Michael Jackson)
* This Too Shall Pass (OK Go)
* Undo It (Carrie Underwood)
* Uprising (Muse)
* We Are the World 25: for Haiti (Artists for Haiti)
* The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)
* Ryan Bingham
* When I Look at You (Miley Cyrus)
* Who I Was Born to Be (Susan Boyle)
* Wild Horses (Susan Boyle). ... Read more

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Songs by Dido, Sheryl Crow, Chad Kroeger, Josh Groban, plus many others are now arranged for solo instruments. All editions are compatible and can be played separately or together. Students will love to play these songs for recitals or just for fun! Titles are: Across the Stars (Love Theme from Star Wars: Episode II), Beautiful (As You), Can’t Fight the Moonlight, Escape, Hero, I Hope You Dance, I’m Alive, I’m Already There, I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman, Only a Woman Like You, Original Sin, Soak Up the Sun, Thank You, This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore, A Thousand Miles, To Where You Are, and You. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book
This Book is great! It has many different songs as well as songs fit for the professional flute player down to middle-high school band level. Awesome book! ... Read more

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Rock music--powerful, sensual, loud, and full of energy. It has changed the face of modern music.But what is its appeal and its significance within contemporary society, and what cultural values does it reflect? Peter Wicke addresses these issues and offers a stimulating and insightful study of rock music tracing the genesis and influence of this diverse aspect of popular music.Beginning with the advent of rock and roll, Wicke chronicles the development through Elvis Presley, and the Beatles to the current music industry, its performers, and the impact of the music video.The book will be of interest to students of music history, popular culture, and media studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting but Deeply Flawed Analysis
The two things to know about this book before reading this review are 1) Originally published in 1987- almost 25 years old.2) Written by a professor of music at a Berlin University who has a background in Frankfurt School Philosophy.The Frankfurt School has been trying it's hand at cultural studies since the 50s, but they are handicapped by being German.German professors have little feeling for the world of d.i.y. music and this limit decreases their ability to comment intelligently on popular culture.

Rock Music: Culture, Aesthetics and Sociology is half of an amazing book, and half a flaming pile of dog poop.The first half is amazing, the second half, focusing on "case studies" of the British Punk movement in the 70s and synth-pop of the early 80s are so bad that they almost wreck the entire book.

Wicke presents the familiar narrative of rock dressed up with careful language from the cultural studies wing of the Frankfurt school.This approach really nails it on the head for everything before the hippie revolution, and badly misses on everything afterwards, perhaps because Wicke completely ignores the impact that the Love Generation had on the entire music industry.He also badly misses by failing to discuss any aspect of the American DIY scene from 1967 onwards.Hello?British punk did not invent d.i.y.British punk did not invent independent music.Independent record labels and d.i.y. aesthetics existed any american recorded music as early as recorded music itself existed and continued well into the "rock era."

In "Rock Music" Wicke attempts to create a working superstructure to describe the components of rock music.Like other books I've read in this area recently, this book made me want to take parts of it and write a different book, one that focuses more on the emergence of rock music from rhythm and blues and country music in America in late 1940s and early 1950s.One of the points Wicke makes, that successful rock music is based on sounds not song, is something that got me thinking for sure, but it requires more exploration of what came before rock music to really understand that transition.

Sociologist analyzes rock
As Kurt Blaukopf, an renowned Austrian sociologist of music pointed out, sociologists have a tendency to pursue minutely specialized approaches and then overgeneralize about them. Fricke's prose is somewhat professorial (maybe the translation from German helped), but he seems to have a better handle on the rock phenomenon as a whole than the great majority of academics. David Szatmary's social history of rock is more meaty and interesting, but Fricke gets the big picture better.

Rock Music as a Phenomenon of Social Actions
Peter Wicke sees Rock Music as a phenomenon of social action. This phenomenon produces new experience in art, that, within the framework of a highgrade, technology-dependent mass culture. Of course, while this characteristic of rock music functions as a aesthetical developement in the history of mass culture especially, it makes possible to express the real estates of teenager's life. Peter Wicke, as an analysist and social scientist, introduces a new vision to understand, not only for the rock music, but for the mass culture as a experience of everyday-lives. I think music, as a culture, must have a support which maintain its existence. In this sense, rock music also must have any kind of support for its existence. Wicke structures the support of rock music with the need of teenagers and midea industry. This vision of social-structural idea become a yardstick to explain the social phenomenon of teenagers' rock-cult. So we, from the vision of social-dependent characteristic of rock music, understand the real estates that rock music and its industry. Now from this book, we have establish a landscape of mass culture that is dominant to our everyday-lives. ... Read more