Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard

by Roni Sarig

Book Overview

The official history of rock and roll is the tale of groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, of wildly popular albums, and of almost incalculable sums of money. The secret history of rock and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823076695
• ISBN13: 9780823076697
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Billboard Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Book!

My teen daughter, who is very much into all genres of rock, and is quite knowledgeable about rock music, loves this book. Lots of good, new info for her. Good shipping too, it did arrive before Christmas!

Great for music obsessives like me

This book is so full of interesting music which I have never heard that I can only read a little bit at a time before I have to go on a shopping spree to find out what the music actually sounds like. Although the writing sometimes focused on irrelevant details like the biographies of some of the artists, in general you will learn a lot about music and get a lot of great ideas for new music to go out and search for. I bought this book as a musician obsessed with finding out the origins of different sounds and hearing all of the true original and passionate music I can. This book is an essential key in this quest. I reccomend it to anyone with a screwed up, obsessive mind about music like myself. I believe I have to know what every original band sounds like so I know exactly when my music is influenced and by whom. Pretty weird and impossible to know, but it's part of the "anxiety of influence" I suppose. Actually if you want to read Bloom's book on that topic alongside this book, it might make for an interesting experience.

DEFINITIVE REFERENCE WORK

In the introduction, the author observes that the most original rock musicians of the 1990s -- for example Sonic Youth and Nirvana -- were defined and distinguished by the influence of obscure artists from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. In this instance, the aforementioned bands credited Glenn Branca, Can, Half Japanese and Wire for their inspiration. Likewise, R.E.M., Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers and Nine Inch Nails spread the word about their particular heroes and inspirations so that the influence of the "unknowns" has increased exponentially amongst the most creative young artists. These innovators from the preceding decades may be considered the "musicians' musicians" as opposed to commercial giants like the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zep, the Police and Springsteen who were embraced by millions and may therefore be called the "people's musicians." Thus Sarig shows that there are two histories of rock, that of the mainstream and that of the little-known but heavily influential which represents the secret history of the title. The book pays tribute to the bands, composers and performers whose enduring influence outweighs their popularity by far. Sarig interviewed numerous notable and successful 1990s musicians and in some cases drew on previous interviews in order to identify their favorite artists from earlier eras. The final list in Secret History was determined by 4 factors, the (a) ratio of influence to obscurity (b) popularity of the bands influenced (c) balance of genres and chapters (d) quality of the responses. The result is a delightful sojourn through the most innovative and creative sounds of the 20th century. Modern classical composers like Erik Satie, John Cage, LaMonte Young, The Dream Syndicate, Philip Glass and Glenn Branca fill the first chapter. Then follows what Sarig terms the 'international pop underground' where names like Scott Walker, Big Star and Serge Gainsbourg stand out. The Stooges, MC5, Syd Barrett and Roky Erickson reside under 'garage rock' whilst Captain Beefheart, The Residents and Pere Ubu are classified as 'absurdists and eccentrics.' Chapter 6: Frayed Roots includes singer-songwriters Gram Parsons and Nick Drake. The author's choice of Krautrock masters encompasses Can, Faust, Kraftwerk and Neu!. Brian Eno, the Jamaican Lee "Scratch" Perry and Adrian Sherwood are amongst those designated as 'sound sculptors.' Sarig's most influential 'New York rockers' include Swans, DNA, The Feelies, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Television and ASIN:B000040OBS Suicide. He populates 'the post-industrial wasteland' with inter alia Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and The Birthday Party. Public Image Limited, Wire, Buzzcocks, The Fall, Gang of Four and Swell Maps receive the honors for 'British post-punk' while riot moms and angry women' include The Slits, X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats and Lydia Lunch. Other chapters are devoted to genres titled 'original rappers' (Gil Scott-Heron), 'minimalist funk,' (Liquid Liquid),

A great guide to unknown music

If you like the kind of music that they don't play on the radio, this is the book for you. This book lists the bands that were highy influential to other bands, without ever catching the attention of the audience at large. People like Captain Beefheart and Brian Eno, groups like Wire and Dead Kennedys: you can find out who they were in this book. I bought many albums based on what I read in The Hidden History of Rock, and I have never been disappointed.

Exhaustive research turns up gems

The Secret History of Rock n Roll is no longer a secret. Roni Sarig plunges into the ever-less obcscure worlds of music and spills them onto the page surrounded by context and care. As more and more contemporary artists begin to acknowledge their roots, many in the post-Nirvana generation can look to this book to help nurture more creative listening habits. To say that modern radio is the death of creativity is an understsatement...this book will help lure thousands of listeners out of mindless, inactive "alternative" nonsense, and into an active, historical approach to listening to music. Just ask Teenage Fanclub about the importance of Big Star, or Sleater-Kinney about the energy of X-Ray Spex. Their answers, which can be heard with one listen to each artist, ought to give you an idea about the significance of Sarig's exhaustive efforts, which thankfully include contemporary artist's comments and inspirational musings. Art is forever reinterpreting the past through modern means and individual experiences, not mimicking the indistinguishable band-of-the-day whitebread guitar-chorus-guitar-histrionics that plague todays radio stations. Turn off the radio and have a good read.