Welcome to today’s episode of Tinnitist Jeopardy! Here’s your $1,000 clue: Queen, Talking Heads, David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac. And the question is: What four acts are at the top of my reading list for next week? Though I also would have accepted: What are four acts that have never been in my kitchen? Thanks for playing! And now, on with the show:
Queen & A Night At The Opera: 50 Years
By Gillian G. Gaar
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 1975, Queen released what would become their best-selling album, which also happened to introduce their most enduring song: Bohemian Rhapsody. A Night At The Opera has gone on the sell over 11 million copies worldwide and counting. In Queen & A Night At The Opera, rock historian Gillian Gaar takes a deep dive into the legendary English band’s most famous album on its 50th anniversary. Chapters cover: Queen’s formation and history up to A Night At The Opera, including the three albums that preceded it; the recording sessions that resulted in the album; track-by-track analyses of each side; the tour to support the album; awards and accolades; the band’s career after the album — and after the death of Freddie Mercury. In addition, numerous sidebars cover topics such as the Bohemian Rhapsody video, producer Roy Thomas Baker, Brian May’s Red Special guitar and more. There are even capsule bios of Mercury and May, as well as bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. IIlustrated with performance and offstage photography as well as rare memorabilia, Queen & A Night At The Opera is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.”
Fleetwood Mac – All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
By Olivier Roubin & Romuald Ollivier
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fleetwood Mac – All The Songs dives deep into the unique and often fraught recording history of the mega-bestselling and hugely influential rock band. Packed with captivating photographs and fascinating behind-the-scenes details, it’s a must-have for any fan. Fleetwood Mac are the one of the most enduring, endearing, and drama-filled bands in rock history — a band whose triumphs, struggles, and music continue to resonate with new generations of listeners. This thorough dissection of every album and every song ever released by the beloved group follows the band’s many iterations from their self-titled debut in 1968 (when they were known as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac) to the classic Rumours era featuring the core lineup of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie Nicks, all the way up to the passing of Christine in 2022. The writing and recording process of each and every track is dissected, discussed, and analyzed by authors Olivier Roubin and Romuald Ollivier, through the band’s many breakups and shakeups. Fleetwood Mac – All The Songs draws upon years of research to recount the circumstances that led to the composition of every song the band ever wrote, as well as the details behind their in-studio recording process.”
David Bowie 1983-2016 | Every Album, Every Song
By Don Klees
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In a career full of turning points, none was as sharp as the one David Bowie experienced after his 1983 album Let’s Dance. The record gave Bowie the hit that he wanted but completely altered his artistic standing in the process. Instead of an innovator who pushed rock music forward, the singer found himself a global superstar with a mass audience whose tastes he didn’t understand and who reciprocated this feeling as the decade unfolded. After immersing himself in the band project Tin Machine, Bowie spent the 1990s embracing reinvention and experimentation with mixed but often fascinating results, leading to a full-fledged renaissance early in the 21st century. From there, his story only got stranger. 2013’s The Next Day was a triumphant comeback after years of self-imposed silence, while 2016’s Blackstar stood among his most challenging albums and became the final release of his lifetime. One constant is that the records Bowie released during this time were ultimately the ones he chose to release using his own artistic vision. This book considers all those releases on their own merits, away from the shadow of his 1970s landmarks. Even if Bowie himself didn’t always appreciate the results, every album featured songs worthy of his reputation.”
Talking Heads | Every Album, Every Song
By David Starkey
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Few artists can legitimately claim to have created truly groundbreaking popular music. Talking Heads can. Like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Radiohead (who took their name from a Talking Heads song), the band recorded some of the most memorable rock ’n’ roll of the past 50 years. In his song-by-song discussion of their work, American musician and journalist David Starkey looks at how David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth emerged from New York’s mid-1970s punk scene and quickly distinguished themselves as innovative musicians. Led by the enigmatic and wildly original Byrne, Talking Heads’ list of classic songs includes Psycho Killer, Take Me To The River, Once In A Lifetime, Burning Down The House, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody), Road To Nowhere and (Nothing But) Flowers. Two of their eight albums, More Songs About Buildings And Food and Remain In Light, are listed among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums. Drawing frequently on first-person accounts from members of the band, Starkey brings to life the composition and recording of each song, pointing out hidden patterns in Byrne’s lyrics and ensuring that each member of Talking Heads receives credit for their contribution to this unparalleled body of work.”
From Born To Be Wild to Dazed And Confused: Rock Music’s Revolution In 1968
By John Einarson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging from a period of protest and social unrest, 1968 was the year that ushered in gut-punching sounds that would define classic and hard rock — the formation of bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath rolled away the light sounds of psychedelic music and Flower Power. Author John Einarson provides the first detailed account of this crucial period. Einarson begins by examining the birth of psychedelic music and experimentation beginning in 1965 and the resultant Summer of Love, showing how The Who and The Jimi Hendrix Experience planted the seeds for the harder rock sounds at The Monterey Pop Festival. Music and popular culture always reflect prevailing social and political conditions, and 1968 was no exception. Events like the Tet Offensive, student protests around the world, the My Lai massacre, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Chicago Democratic National Convention protests, and the election of Richard Nixon set the stage for a more visceral music that reflected the sense of alienation, frustration, and violence among young people who rejected the vacuous platitudes of Flower Power. Einarson traces the evolution of a harder rock sound throughout the year as well as the formation of pivotal bands who would provide the all-important foundation for what we know today as classic rock.”
Pop Goes The Decade: The Sixties
By Martin Kich & Aaron Barlow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Analyzing complex social and political issues through their manifestations in popular culture, this book provides readers a strong foundational knowledge of the 1960s as a decade. 1969 went out in a way that could never have been imagined in 1960. While the president at the end of the decade had been vice-president at the start, the intervening years permanently changed American culture. Pop Goes the Decade: The Sixties explores the cultural and social framework of the 1960s, addressing film, television, sports, technology, media/advertising, fashion, art, and more. Entries are presented in encyclopedic fashion, organized into such categories as controversies in pop culture, game changers, technology, and the decade’s legacy. A timeline highlights significant cultural moments, while an introduction and a conclusion place those moments within the contexts of preceding and subsequent decades. Attention to the decade’s most prominent influencers allows readers to understand the movements with which these figures are associated, and discussion of controversies and social change enables readers to gain a stronger understanding of evolving American social values.”
Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop from 1995-2005
By Ben Pedroche
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For a glorious 10-year period from 1995 to 2005, hip-hop music received a much-needed shot in the arm from a generation of determined and wildly creative rappers and producers. They rallied against the increasingly formulaic and shallow world of mainstream rap, as well as a music industry unwilling to listen. By releasing music on their own terms as independent artists ― many adopting the mantra of being “independent as fuck” as a mission statement ― these hungry creatives reclaimed their artistic freedom and wore it as a badge of honour. Most importantly, they also made a lot of excellent hip-hop. What emerged was a vibrant underground music scene that stretched from New York to Los Angeles, with influence reaching across the world. Independent as F**: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005 looks back at this golden era, celebrating the most important artists, record labels, 12” records, and albums, along with the stories behind them, while also shining a light on those who have since been forgotten. Lovingly researched and curated, this book is the ultimate guide to a special time in music history, one that continues to inspire each new wave of hip-hop artists decades later.”
Bob Dylan’s New York Revisited
By Herb Lester
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On a cold night in January 1961, Bob Dylan arrived in New York. Within hours, he made his first New York performance at the Greenwich Village coffeehouse Cafe Wha? This guide charts Dylan’s journey through the city from that first day through the 1960s, as he transitioned from unscrubbed folkie to world-conquering rocker, before a July 1966 motorcycle crash forced him into exile upstate. This annotated map includes more than 40 entries, including the locations of friends» apartments where he’d crash for a few nights, the many small clubs and bars at which he strummed and sang for change, the scenes of first successes and later controversies, locations of LP cover shoots, and much more. Born and raised in Minnesota as Robert Zimmerman, it was only in New York that he completed his transformation into Bob Dylan, during the frenetic period this guide documents.”
Art Of Dancehall: Flyer And Poster Designs Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture
By Walshy Fire
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Combining the energy and vibrancy of vernacular Jamaican art with the cultural insight that only original ephemera can bring, the flyers and posters collected in this book are testament to the creativity and spirit behind one of the most influential and enduring cultures in contemporary music. Originating in Jamaica in the late 1970s, dancehall music is a club-friendly offshoot of reggae. The genre initially found particular resonance in the Jamaican diaspora and defined the soundsystem cultures that rose to prominence in New York and London in the 1980s and 1990s, which would influence the origins of hip-hop. In much the same way that graffiti and paste-ups would for hip-hop, the unique style of the artwork, coloring, and lettering of handmade flyers for dancehall nights became a visual language of the culture. Drawing on unrivaled private collections from Jamaica, London, New York, and Tokyo, this book is a window onto the colorful and effervescent world of dancehall — at once celebrating the ingenuity and beauty of the DIY flyers themselves, and chronicling the evolution of DJs, records, and venues that made the genre into the musical and cultural phenomenon that continues to captivate audiences to this day.”
