Current Music Books

[Sunderporinostesta]

I enjoyed Barney's book. It's not as exhaustive as Hook's tomes and he is quite a reserved character but you do get a sense of what makes him tick. It is stronger on his childhood and early years than as a chronology of New Order. His general attitude is similar to that of Electronic partner Johnny Marr. Different refreshment strategies aside, both their memoirs show a strong commitment to self improvement through hard work and curiosity to try new things.

Stephen Morris' New Order book might be the pick of the three accounts by members of the band. Sumner's and Hook's are both skewed somewhat by their latter day loathing of each other.

Thanks. I’ve read one by Hook. Seemed to be more about running a club badly than the bands, though the revelation that The Hacienda was about to open when they realised there was no cloakroom was worth suffering the rest of it for. I’ve read the wrong one havent I?
With non fiction I like to get a few books on the subject read consecutively so I may get the three versions for the whole story.

[Benjm]

Hook has done three; the Hacienda, Joy Division and New Order. With the New Order one in particular, he heavily trailed that he was setting out to embarrass his former band mates as much as possible, which was a bit pissy.

Sumner claimed that he wrote his because a semi-authorised short run biography was selling for silly amounts on eBay and he wanted to offer fans something better, but the threat of Hook's version standing unchallenged may have been a bigger driver behind it in truth.

Morris has done two volumes, one Joy Div and one NO, and both are well worth reading.

[Satchmo Distel]

Sumner ignores Hook's allegations though and aims to be the adult in the room by avoiding tittle tattle and feuds.

I would recommend the Curtis Mayfield biography written by his son, Todd. Ruth Brown's ghosted memoirs are good fun, being true to the feisty style in which she spoke. 'Duke Ellington's America' by Harvey G. Cohen is a cultural study that avoids his personal life but still essential.

[danielmak]

To continue the Joy Division/New Order discussion, I just found out about this book from Jon Savage. Perhaps it was discussed upthread:

https://www.faber.co.uk/978057135063...hing-else.html

And here is a playlist
https://www.faber.co.uk/blog/faber-r...ts-jon-savage/

[Satchmo Distel]

I'm not sure what new information there could be on Joy Division. All the surviving participants have already spoken and/or written at length.

[Benjm]

I didn't buy the Savage, strong effort though it looks, or Paul Morley's JD book from a few years ago. Even a band as great as them can only support so much commentary and analysis before diminishing returns set in.

I picked up a copy of Zoe Howe's Barbed Wire Kisses: The Story of The Jesus and Mary Chain from a charity shop the other day and that will be my next read. It came out in 2015 which counts as semi-current at my rate of working through things.

[imp]

With music books it's not that different to the dilemma we're discussing in the football books thread. I mean, I love a bit of early JAMC now and again, but a whole book? I'll take the 10-page MOJO feature, parts 1-4. 1. East Kilbride was a shithole 2. NME indie-darlings, feedback and violence at gigs 3. drugs, fights etc. 4. Just another band.

[danielmak]

I posted upthread about the Under the Big Black Sun book. The book is focused on LA punk from 1976-1982. It's an excellent collection. John Doe and Tony DeSavia edited and have multiple chapters but then they asked various people to write chapters. The shifting tone of the voices and focus of those scene participants (journalists, band members, label owners, zinemakers) makes for an interesting read. A sequel just came out that I started to read. I don't think it will be as good since (A) there are chapters from people who were inspired by punk but not really participants: Tim Robbins, Tony Hawk and (B) there seems to be a lot of "hardcore ruined everything.

About JAMC. I'll be eager to hear your thoughts about that book, Benjm I've been fascinated by the shift in sound from Psychocandy to Darklands. The shift isn't major but the feedback mostly disappears. They're a band that I would read more about, but my book stack is already too large for now.

[Benjm]

With music books it's not that different to the dilemma we're discussing in the football books thread. I mean, I love a bit of early JAMC now and again, but a whole book? I'll take the 10-page MOJO feature, parts 1-4. 1. East Kilbride was a shithole 2. NME indie-darlings, feedback and violence at gigs 3. drugs, fights etc. 4. Just another band.

With music books, regardless of literary merit, it really does come down to how much of a fan of the specific subject you are. A well written one will be more enjoyable for its audience but is unlikely to draw readers who aren't already interested or even interested enough. The only music books that come to mind as breaking out beyond that are tales of notorious excess, like The Dirt. As someone who broadly likes football, I'm more likely to be tempted by an offbeat title about some aspect of the game that I don't really know anything about, although I'd agree that there are far too many competitors in that field.

danielmak, I'll let you know what it's like. From memory Some Candy Talking heralded the change in sound as a transitional stand alone single between the two albums but it still felt like quite a jump on from that to April Skies.

[Satchmo Distel]

Reckless Daughter by David Yaffe on Joni Mitchell makes good use of interviews with Joni by the author. Joni had discussed writing a memoir before her aneurysm in 2015. There is also Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words by Malka Marom; three long interviews spread of 40+ years.

Joni is a very open interviewee despite her reputation for arrogance, which is really just huge self-belief in her talent. She hates false modesty.

[ale]

I didn't buy the Savage, strong effort though it looks, or Paul Morley's JD book from a few years ago. Even a band as great as them can only support so much commentary and analysis before diminishing returns set in.

I picked up a copy of Zoe Howe's Barbed Wire Kisses: The Story of The Jesus and Mary Chain from a charity shop the other day and that will be my next read. It came out in 2015 which counts as semi-current at my rate of working through things.

The Savage book is a strong effort. The Morley one is a bit different-collection of contemporary articles which read most of at time. of publication. But I very much like that type of literary release. That JD merited one given such a limited catalogue in context of music tapestry is welcome. Morley articles were the main way in which consumed JD at the time.

[Benjm]

I've just ordered a second hand copy of the Morley. You're a bad influence, ale.

[Sunderporinostesta]

A Morley article without a JD mention was a rare thing back then. Probably still is.

[danielmak]

There was a company in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s that specialized in basically compiling articles from music magazines and newspapers about bands. I had one about JD/New Order and another about The Smiths that I picked up at independent record stores in the US. I have no idea what happened to them. I think my mom dumped stuff after I moved out to go to college. At some point I remember finding The Smiths book listed on Ebay for an insane price. I liked this approach since I could read about the development of the bands chronologically from an in the moment perspective. I don't know if that same approach would work for me now but that's partially a product of me being older and knowing more about most of the bands I care enough to read about and partially a product of being able to use the Internet to do some of that work but in a short period versus working through a book.

[Benjm]

The cover of the (exhaustively researched, two years in the writing) JAMC book strongly put me in mind of the cheap and cheerful end of '80s music publishing.



I've got a collection of contemporary coverage of the Velvet Underground called All Yesterday's Parties, which is of historical interest but not a great read in itself. The main things taken away from it were reminders that for all their legendary lack of popularity the Velvets had a four album, half decade career on a major label and that late '60s/early '70s rock culture seems pretty icky at this remove.

[imp]

Cover design by: the intern at WillThisDo Graphics one Friday afternoon after a heavy lunchtime sesh at The Staggering Hack.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Not my period really, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo or video of JAMC when they weren't almost completely in shadow.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I've got a collection of contemporary coverage of the Velvet Underground called All Yesterday's Parties, which is of historical interest but not a great read in itself. The main things taken away from it were reminders that for all their legendary lack of popularity the Velvets had a four album, half decade career on a major label and that late '60s/early '70s rock culture seems pretty icky at this remove.

Love the early Velvets to bits, but I do wonder whether we'd heard much of them without Andy's name tagged on.

[Benjm]

Not my period really, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo or video of JAMC when they weren't almost completely in shadow.

They were moody, enigmatic and prone to acne even in their late twenties.

[Satchmo Distel]

Love the early Velvets to bits, but I do wonder whether we'd heard much of them without Andy's name tagged on.

Or Nico's?

[Amor de Cosmos]

I dunno. She had the Dylan association but it wasn't really well known at the time I don't think.

[ale]

I've just ordered a second hand copy of the Morley. You're a bad influence, ale.

Heh. Hope that doesnt turn out to be the case. Which means I trust you are familiar enough with Morley style of writing that I dont need to feel guilty about recommending.

[Benjm]

Which means I trust you are familiar enough with Morley style of writing that I dont need to feel guilty about recommending.

Absolutely no need to feel guilty. I was slightly too young to see the contemporaneous Joy Division stuff on first publication but read a lot of PM's output over the years, before we parted company halfway through 2005's Words and Music.

I found myself standing next to him at one of New Order's Manchester International Festival shows a few years ago and, full of good cheer, recommended Italian glam-punkers Giuda to him. Poor guy, he must have had a lot of that over the years.

[danielmak]

A reissue of Kevin Cummins' Joy Division photobook is set to be reissued with extra images. This is the US link but the publisher is based in the UK:
https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Division-...88402715&psc=1

[Satchmo Distel]

Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller (2008) is a well-written triple biography (Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Carly Simon) that I enjoyed reading but Sean O'Hagan's criticisms here are valid:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...iography.music