Music Banter - Music Education

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger (Post 1141309)

I think you need to get offline & start reading books.

I don't think I've ever found any website that's as detailed & accurate as some of the books I've read.

You want to learn about punk read England's Dreaming by Jon Savage.
You want to learn about post punk read Rip It Up & Start Again by Simon Reynolds.
You want to learn about American 80s Indie read Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad.

I swear you'll learn more in one night reading those books than you would looking online.

All essential!

A few more suggestions for the original question...

Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain is the influential book that compiles quotes by a lot of the NYC and Detroit Punk scene dating back to The Velvet Underground and moving into the legendary 70's bands (Ramones et al). A perfect book to go with that is We've Got the Neutron Bomb by Mark Spitz and Brendan Mullen for the LA scene. Together with England's Dreaming, you have a perfect set.

Riot on Sunset Strip by Dominic Priore is LA '65-'66 in all of it's Garage Punk/Classic Folk Rock glory. More than just the music, but the life. Also Shows how the "Powers That Be" wanted to smash down the thriving Rock Culture that was LA's life for a few great years before the Riots of November '66 brought the "Death of a Party." In my opinion, this was my kind of 60's, before the flowers in the hair and all of that.

White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day by Richie Unterberger - Essential look into one of the most influential bands which details their very existence quite a bit. Also goes into a look at how MGM and Atlantic promoted them.

A look into the shady business of 60's Pop told by one of it's best musicians, Me, The Mob, and the Music, is Tommy James' great look into the dark side of 60's Pop Biz. Morris Levy was a very powerful man in the world of music who ran Roulette Records and who's friend Anthony Salerno was the basis for Tony Soprano on The Soprnaos. A more scholarly approach to the subject (and arguably the most definitive) is the book Hit Men by Frederic Dannen.

After diving into Savage's book, check out Alex Ogg's British Punk A-Z called No More Heroes.

Two perfect visual books, almost a Yin and Yang in my Music History department of books. Hippie by Barry Miles is damn great while Punk by Stephen Colegrave and Chris Sullivan goes right into the UK scene in a very visual way with a lot of quotes from the legends.

Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll by Charlie Gillett is one of the classics looking at the classic years.