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Musical History

No star here laces

21:10 / 13.11.01

So one of the things I love almost as much as unearthing old records is reading about old music scenes.

I think this has always been part of the appeal of Northern Soul as well - that there was such a distinct culture that the music didn't really make sense without.

Whether it's searching the net for personal websites dedicated to the Paradise Garage, or digging into books on Disco ("Saturday Night Forever") or house ("Pump up the volume") in Borders on my lunchbreak, I find the stuff compelling. Maybe it's because I studiously avoid music journalism in the form of reviews and need to get a fix of the stuff in some other way...

So anybody read any good musical history stuff recently? What do you think about it?

Sax

21:19 / 13.11.01

On Northern Soul, try Soul Survivors by Russ Winstanley, a former Wigan Casino DJ. It's also co-written by someone whose name I can't remember, which is shocking really considering I used to work with him. Dave... Nolan? Something v. similiar, anyway. Nowell! That was it, I think.

I also like Adventures in Wonderland by Sherryl Garrett, about the rise of rave/house.

Sax

21:21 / 13.11.01

Oh, and Rat Pack Confidential, as well. But you probably knew that one.

mondo a-go-go

21:27 / 13.11.01

quote:Originally posted by Sax on a Stick:
On Northern Soul, try Soul Survivors by Russ Winstanley

which also comes as a spiffy compilation (yes, ty, i know how much you dislike them) of all the stuff russ used to play. surprising amount of it not actually northern, and a lot of disco...

barney hoskyns' say it one time for the broken-hearted, on the roots of country soul, is pretty good.

Shortfatdyke

10:16 / 14.11.01

a lot of old punks seem to be reminiscing in general, i've seen at least one book but i'm really not sure i wanna be going down *that* road...

rizla mission

13:11 / 14.11.01

Well I'm tearing through 'Psychotic Reactions & Carburettor Dung' by Lester Bangs.
Interesting to read the words of a guy who obviously really wanted punk rock to happen ten years before it did, and was pissed that he was past it by the time it got round to happening .. if you see what i mean.

Also interesting to see which of the bands he championed are now regarded as massively important (Velvet Underground, Stooges - it's amazing he didn't spend his final years just writing 'I told you so') and which are completely forgotten (The Godz anyone?).

And I'm just getting onto the Punk era stuff, which is great - takes a totally different angle on it's purpose/importance etc. to most of the journos who wrote massive books about it..

No star here laces

13:17 / 14.11.01

'S interesting - I do wonder how much of punk's influence and the long shadow it casts is due to the sheer amount of journalistic writing it prompted. It's probably the only scene I can think of that is as strongly associated with the people who were writing about it at the time (Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill) or that has had as many books written about it.

Particularly interesting when you contrast with hip-hop, which began around the same time, but grew much more slowly in terms of media interest, and has a largely oral history.

Not Here Still

15:16 / 14.11.01

One of the nine(!) books I'm currently reading is Lloyd Bradley's Bass Culture, about the birth and growth of reggae.

It's great I'm learning new stuff on every page. It's not just a 'music' tome, becasue it places everything in a social and economic context.

I've only just got past the birth of Ska - but I'm already hooked.

I liked Matthew Collins' Altered State, but its 'all you ever wanted to know about dance music - but were afraid to ask' tone did start to irk me after a while.

Red Cross Iodized Salt

01:58 / 15.11.01

You might like this, TM. The Deep House Page has a discussion board, and the history of house music is a frequent topic. Some of the first hand accounts make for interesting reading.
http://rose107.biostat.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

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