Product Description

The first comprehensive survey of critical approaches to pop music. The diversity of the essays covers sociological, feminist, semiotic and musicological points of view.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #229954 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

From the Back Cover
Did you know that Jean-Paul Sartre once wrote an essay on the Top 40? The serious study of popular music has a history as deep and diverse as the music itself, from the ponderings of philosophers to the passionate prose of critics in mimeographed magazines.
Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin, both writers and teachers of popular music, have compiled the first comprehensive survey of critical approaches to pop music. Usefully divided by general theoretical category, On Record serves as a guide to the growing sophistication and shifting emphases in the field. There are classic sociological analyses of 'deviance' and rebellion; studies of technology; subcultural and feminist readings, semiotic and musicological essays, and close readings of stars, bands, and the fans themselves. Each section opens with a clear and concise introduction that places the essays in their proper context and explains the editors' choices.

Customer Reviews

Truely amazing esstential reading for any true music fan!
The book deals with music from all eras and focuses on how the music affects our culture including our life style and what we wear and so on. Simon Frith writes with a confident edge, almost suggesting that he was actually there for every second of every era taking in every note and soking up the vibes that were around at the time.

Start your pop music studies here
Although some of the material in this book is becoming slightly dated, there is no doubt that a any student of popular music must read it from cover to cover. On Record is essetial in every aspect of pop music study, and should be the starting point to any thesis or dissertation on the subject. Simply presented and divided into clearly defined sections, the whole thing is clearly indespensible. I would not suggest that this is the only book on popular music that is of this importance, nor would I say that the more contemporary trends in popular music have been covered by the older arguments and theories, but 'On Record's' historical value is insurpassable.