Welcome to today’s episode of Tinnitist Jeopardy! Here’s your Final Jeopardy clue: Radio Birdman, Bad Brains, Exodus and Sweet. And the question is: What four bands are at the top of my reading list for next week? Though I also would have accepted: What are four bands that have never been in my kitchen? Thanks for playing! And now, on with the show:
The Permanent Holdout: Jackson Browne, His Music, His America
By Cornel Bonca
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Known for albums like Late For The Sky, The Pretender and Running On Empty, Jackson Browne was a master of capturing the counterculture ethos of the 1960s. Cornel Bonca dives deeply into his music, his 50-year career, and activism — including environmentalism — within the context of American life, revealing a figure still fueled by certain American ideals like justice, freedom, and equality for all. Browne grew up in Southern California in the early 1960s, greatly influenced by his mother’s progressive politics, the music of Bob Dylan and the speeches of Martin Luther King. Then, drawn to the Laurel Canyon rock scene, he moved to Los Angeles and established himself as a songwriter for Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and many others, becoming a fixture of the singer-songwriter movement in the early 1970s. His music in the 1980s was largely political in scope, critiquing America’s conservative turn, its militarism in Central America, its nuclear brinksmanship with the Soviet Union, and its dismantling of Great Society social programs. He only returned to the personal music his fans treasured in 1993 with I’m Alive. Since then, Browne’s music has toggled back and forth between the personal and the political. He’s settled down into a long-term relationship with environmental activist Dianna Cohen and remained astonishingly active in local and national politics. This book dives into his music, life, and political activism in the changing face of America over the last half-century, and why he still matters today.”
Radio Birdman: Retaliate First
By Murray Engleheart
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sydney’s legendary Radio Birdman were a stake through the satin and scarfed hearts of the early ’70s music scene, revolutionising the conservative Australian industry in the process. Regarded as one of the earliest punk bands — before the world had heard of The Sex Pistols or The Saints — Radio Birdman were feared and loathed by many, but adored by fiercely loyal fans. Tales of the band will be handed down through generations: Singer Rob Younger drinking from a human skull filled with sheep brains; fans breaking limbs while dancing wildly at gigs; fighting bouncers with microphone stands; having publicans cut the power in a desperate bid to halt their force-of-nature-like performances. A riotous gig in December 1977 drew an overflow crowd of thousands, eclipsing the audience for AC/DC. While Birdman split after a disastrous U.K. and European tour in 1978, hunger for a reunion grew by the day, and their eventual regrouping was met with wild acclaim. In 2007, the group were inducted into the ARIA Australian Music Hall of Fame. With 2024 marking their half century of existence, Radio Birdman are internationally worshipped, their mysterious logo — once a sign of a secret society around a little-known rock group from Sydney — now proudly emblazoned on skin all over the planet. The Radio Birdman story has never been told — in depth — until now. Engleheart’s Radio Birdman: Retaliate First is drawn from more than 130 interviews with bandmembers, their closest associates and fans.”
Blockbuster!: The Sweet Story
By Martin Popoff
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “They were the heaviest of the gender-bending glam bands in Britain in the ’70s, with smash hit after smash hit and a stronghold in Germany of all places. Soon Sweet — Brian Connolly, Andy Scott, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker — would extricate themselves from their producer puppeteers and make a clutch of classic albums still revered today. Desolation Boulevard, Sweet Fanny Adams, Give Us A Wink and Off The Record formed the core before disaster struck, with lead singer Connolly falling prey to the demon drink and dying from it slowly over the following 20 years. Mick and Steve are now gone too, with Scott being the last man standing from the U.K. institution that brought us Ballroom Blitz, Action and Fox On The Run. Come hear the band’s singular and bizarre start as pop tarts, with one of rock’s most revered drummers in Mick, and how it all went wrong in a blizzard of booze, cocaine and busted relationships. But also, in the spirit of the book’s subtitle, come explore the band’s plethora of singles, non-LP B-sides, hard-rock album classics and otherwise weirdly released songs as Martin plays DJ, taking you to every corner of the band’s crunchy catalogue blessed by the most angelic harmonies ever committed to virgin vinyl. Everybody wants a piece of the action!”
A Fabulous Disaster: From the Garage to Madison Square Garden, the Hard Way
By Gary Holt
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From prolific metal guitarist and songwriter for Exodus (and formerly Slayer) Gary Holt comes a deeply personal memoir of his “destruction-laden” life, along with a firsthand account of the genesis of the thrash-metal scene, from its origins in the Bay Area to its world domination. As the guitarist and primary songwriter of Exodus and one of the originators of heavy metal, Gary Holt watched as his peers — Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax — soared to superstardom. As his fellow artists amassed millions of fans and record sales, Exodus’s albums received critical recognition and inspired generations of listeners — but struggled to reach the same heights of success, as the band were plagued by years of bad management, bad luck and bad decisions. A Fabulous Disaster follows our narrator through the highest of highs and lowest of lows as he and his bandmates juggle major label contracts, MTV-sponsored tours and festivals, growing addictions to alcohol and meth, and the loss of key founding members. Ultimately, after the tragic death of one of his closest friends and former bandmates, Holt decides to save himself. Newly sober and determined to resurrect his career, he commits himself to Exodus, pushing the band to new heights. An “unadulterated odyssey through decades of insanity,” punctuated by Holt’s unique insight and knack for storytelling, A Fabulous Disaster is a thrill ride from start to finish. His story proves that redemption is always possible.”
Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty
By Kate Mossman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From Jeff Beck to Ray Davies, Jon Bon Jovi to Kevin Ayers, Kate Mossman has long fostered an interest in male musicians of a certain age. “Why is it that when I meet them, I feel something ignite inside me? What is this strange connection — to feel so excited, yet so at ease? And how is it that in the presence of a wrinkly rock star twice my age, I sometimes feel like I’m meeting… me?” Featuring 19 long-form profiles, Men Of A Certain Age chronicles the lives of some of the biggest rock stars of our time, including Brian May, Gene Simmons, Terence Trent D’Arby, Johnny Rotten and Nick Cave. The book is a meditation on the powerful archetype of the aging rock star, but it is also a personal story — of music and obsession, and of the deep unconscious projections at play in our relationships with the famous people who most capture our hearts. As Kate travels 5,000 miles in search of Glen Campbell, and to the depths of the Cornish countryside for a rendezvous with Roger Taylor, will she finally unravel the roots of her obsession with the elder statesmen of rock?”
Beatles and Humour: Mockers, Funny Papers, and Other Play
By Katie Kapurch
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Beatles are known for cheeky punchlines, but understanding their humor goes beyond laughing at John Lennon’s memorable “rattle your jewelry” dig at the Royal Variety Performance in 1963. From the beginning, The Beatles’ music was full of wordplay and winks, guided by comedic influences ranging from rhythm and blues, British radio, and the Liverpool pub scene. Gifted with timing and deadpan wit, the band habitually relied on irony, sarcasm, and nonsense. Early jokes revealed an aptitude for improvisation and self-awareness, techniques honed throughout the 1960s and into solo careers. Experts in the art of play, including musical experimentation, The Beatles’ shared sense of humor is a key ingredient to their appeal during the 1960s — and to their endurance. The Beatles And Humour offers innovative takes on the serious art of Beatles fun, an instrument of social, political, and economic critique. Chapters also situate the band alongside British and non-British predecessors and collaborators, such as Billy Preston and Yoko Ono, uncovering diverse components and unexpected effects of The Beatles’ output.”
Fearless Vampire Killers: The Bad Brains Photographs
By Glen E. Friedman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fearless Vampire Killers uniquely features almost every single Glen E. Friedman photograph of The Bad Brains, considered by many music fans to be the greatest and most influential American punk band of all time. The photographs are from 1981 and 1982, when the band were at their most fiery musical heights. The book also includes an introduction by Friedman, a preface by vocalist HR, and an afterword by Zack de la Rocha (singer of Rage Against the Machine). Some of these photographs will be recognized as iconic shots that have graced album, book, and magazine covers, while most of them have never been seen before. In his introduction, Friedman writes, “They were outsiders in the scenes they infiltrated and soon thereafter influenced… The Bad Brains were all Black! They showed other punk musicians that in fact you could be an incredible musician and be PUNK at the same time.” Indeed, many bands beyond the realm of punk cite The Bad Brains as a seminal influence, including Beastie Boys, Living Colour, Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a few. The artistry of Friedman’s Bad Brains photographs is unparalleled, and music lovers the world over will feast on Fearless Vampire Killers.”
33 1/3 | Hamilton: The Original Broadway Cast Recording
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Branden Jacobs-Jenkins carefully retraces Hamilton’s origins as the musical that brought politicians from both sides of the aisle, with Michelle Obama calling it “the best work of art I’ve ever seen in any medium” and Hillary Clinton quoting it at the end of her 2016 speech at the Democratic National Convention. This book squares the emergence of Hamilton as a cultural darling of the American leftist political classes, with its portraits of a morally questionable political figures in history told through the merging of two forms with notoriously radical roots. It parses how and why this Broadway musical reached the height of visibility that it has and what this communicates about the American sociopolitical climate and culture at the beginning of the 21st century — especially after one of the most discordant and alarming sociopolitical showdowns since the 19th century. And ultimately, thoughHamiltonis a perfectly enjoyable and impressively crafty piece of musical theater, it argues that it in many ways is not, in fact, revolutionary. DoesHamiltonengage seriously with politics? Or is politics merely the backdrop for the same-old show business?”
33 1/3 | Eyeliner’s Buy Now
By Michael Brown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Eyeliner’s Buy Now (2015) belongs to a new genre for our times: vaporwave. Emerging in the early 2010s on the internet, vaporwave originated with a cohort of millennial artists who reimagined the musical soundtracks of 1980s-1990s consumerism with an adroit mixture of irony and sincerity. One of these was Eyeliner, the alias of New Zealand computer musician Luke Rowell (aka Disasteradio). For his vaporwave masterpiece, Rowell harnessed computer software to craft a unique album, a catchy, funky, and witty tour through the utopias of advertising at “the end of history.” Buy Now epitomizes a new kind of album for the internet age: made DIY-style, all digital, free, licensed under Creative Commons, and released to a ‘virtual’ community, an online scene without geographic center. Drawing on original interviews and the album’s production archive, this book uses Buy Now’s story to investigate what it means to create, distribute, and consume independent music in an era of global networks and digital technology. It places the album in both the real-world and online contexts of Rowell’s life and career, from early websites to the Spotify era, from Lower Hutt to the world.”
33 1/3 | TISM’s Machiavelli And The Four Seasons
By Tyler Jenke
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “An in-depth look at the rise of enigmatic Australian rock band TISM, the unexpected success of their 1995 album Machiavelli And The Four Seasons, and the continued trajectory of their storied career. Focusing on one of Australia’s most enigmatic bands, This Is Serious Mum (better known as TISM), Tyler Jenke forms an in-depth analysis of the anonymous, pseudonymous Melbourne collective’s rise to prominence and unlikely success on the popular music charts with their third album, Machiavelli And The Four Seasons (1995). Jenke details TISM’s origins as they slowly went from a bedroom concept to an underground success to a staple of concert stages and commercial radio in Australia, growing a rabid fanbase in the process. Despite the anti-commercial tendencies of TISM — their album artwork didn’t feature the band, they performed under pseudonyms and rarely gave interviews, never mind sincere answers — they became a commercially successful group. In this book, Jenke identifies the steps the band took to shift their sound from their tried-and-true experimental Australian pub-rock roots to the burgeoning, youthful electronic music genre, employing synthesizers and samplers. With their new sound, TISM incorporated Dadaism into both avant-garde and classic pop musicianship. The band’s new sound resulted in both Top 10 success and an ARIA Award. This is the first book to dissect TISM’s rise to fame within the Australian music industry and analyze their status as one of the most memorable, mysterious and paradoxically successful groups in the country’s vibrant alternative music scene.”
