Sign-In
Cart
The Second Book of a Devout Pop Picker
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781527275515
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc
Published: Jan 16 2021
Pages: 328
Weight: 0.95
Height: 0.73 Width: 5.83 Depth: 8.27
Language: English
This is the second part of the memoir of an anonymous pop picker, covering a period of 23 years in Britain from the early 80s. Being a memoir, it enables the reader to follow the specific strands of his experience as a continuous narrative. Being anonymous, it gives the reader access to typical impressions and responses, making it representative as well as personal.
It's about great records and dreadful records, heroic acts and acts whose success drains the living spirit. It's about golden moments at gigs and unforgettable episodes at festivals; it's about hunting for original copies and being swallowed up by record fairs; it's about attending music quizzes and becoming a momentary sex god. It's about ordinary people responding to events in a way that posterity often claims they didn't. It's about those moulded plastic rings at the centre of seven-inch singles and those brittle circular fixtures designed to secure early CDs in their otherwise-impregnable casings.
A chunk of it is given over to the indie scene of the 90s, its hopes, its triumphs and delusions. It gives readers a taste of its southern English context and the lives of those in marginal bands on the Camden scene. This world once had a dream. Many feel it was fulfilled in a haze of white powder, while others thought it was snatched away; by political complacency, by the corporate world of mainstream entertainment; or perhaps, specifically, by the Spice Girls and Westlife.
Most importantly, however, the book is about ageing. Our anonymous pop picker quickly moves beyond that esteemed 16-24 age bracket and, from then on, it's all downhill - except of course that it has proved to be not quite so terrible. Nowadays, there is as much facility for pop fans on the sedate side of fifty as there is for teenagers - we have magazines, TV channels, radio stations and festivals, put together with our vintage in mind, comprising a vibrant and lucrative market, with the internet providing additional possibilities endlessly. These pages chart the journey from the fading of youth in the cynical 80s to this realised world, one where, if so inclined, you can boogie for as long as you're able to stand.
Pop music aids and abets our dreams. But sometimes it creates them. And at other times still we cook dreams up on its behalf. That is, perhaps, what can make a pop picker devout.
By the way, when was the Golden Age of the CD Single?
Also in
Music Reference
Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance
Eichler, Jeremy
Hardcover
Nothing But Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
Darden, Robert
Hardcover
Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland
Kahn, Ashley
Hardcover
Emo Revival: Community, Diy, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)
Sacher, Andrew
Paperback
Punk in 50 Pieces: Punk Rock, Post-Punk, New Wave, and the Five Years That Changed Pop Music Forever
Dettmar, Kevin
Hardcover
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond)
McNeil, Legs
Hardcover
With a Little Help from Their Friends: The Beatles and the People Who Made Them
Maconie, Stuart
Hardcover
Bust a Move: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop
Relic, Peter
Hardcover
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Emerick, Geoff
Massey, Howard
Paperback
A Whole Lotta History: One Direction and the Sound That Shaped a Generation
Lipshutz, Jason
Hardcover
Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening
Newton, Jim
Hardcover
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011
Goodman, Lizzy
Paperback
The Cello Who Loved Me: An accidental pilgrimage to master the world's most beautiful instrument
Sorensen, George
Paperback
Dolly Parton: The Stories Behind the Songs: The Very Best Tracks, Explored and Explained
Zaleski, Annie
Hardcover
Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola - The Aor Glory Years 1976-1986
Rees, Paul
Hardcover
Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008
Payne, Chris
Paperback
Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion
Deville, Chris
Hardcover
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
Azerrad, Michael
Paperback
Raps of Resistance: How Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Reignited a Hip-Hop Tradition
McCool, Jeremy C.
Hopkins, Earl
Hardcover
Mystery Train, 50th Anniversary Edition: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music
Marcus, Greil
Paperback
Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology
Sutton, Daud
Lundy, Miranda
Ashton, Anthony
Hardcover
This Is What It Sounds Like: A Legendary Producer Turned Neuroscientist on Finding Yourself Through Music
Ogas, Ogi
Rogers, Susan
Paperback
Made on Earth for Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story
Scott, Josh
Danger, Daniel
Epstein, Dan
Paperback
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Gould, Jonathan
Hardcover
Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day
Selvin, Joel
Paperback
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Broughton, Frank
Brewster, Bill
Paperback
Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll
Hawkins, Martin
Escott, Colin
Paperback
Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies
Des Barres, Pamela
Paperback
Ocean of Sound: Ambient Sound and Radical Listening in the Age of Communication
Toop, David
Paperback
Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved
Martin, Russell
Paperback
Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection
Faber, Toby
Paperback
Positively Fourth and Mercer: The Inside Story of New York's Iconic Music Club, the Bottom Line
Pepper, Allan
Altman, Billy
Hardcover
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970
Lewisohn, Mark
Paperback
Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
Margotin, Philippe
Guesdon, Jean-Michel
Hardcover
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever
Hermes, Will
Paperback
Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves
Riva, Chris Dalla
Hardcover
Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever
Fairbanks, Brian
Hardcover
The Guitar Chronicles: Smoke, Sweat, Scars and Soul: Extraordinary Vintage Guitars and the Stories They Tell
Jane, Eleanor
Hardcover
Are We Still Rolling? Studios, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll - One Man's Journey Recording Classic Albums
Brown, Phill
Paperback
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
Neil, Vince
Sixx, Nikki
Lee, Tommy
Paperback
The Majesty of Chicago Jazz: Twenty-Five Visionaries Who Define the City's Sound
Reich, Howard
Hardcover
Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio, the Ultimate Edition
Babiuk, Andy
Hardcover
The Jazz Barn: Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life
Gennari, John
Hardcover