Kevin Dettmar – författare

Fifty years ago punk crashed onto the scene, redefining music and popular culture. In celebration of that historic event comes this cultural history exploring fifty iconic songs and unforgettable moments that destroyed then helped redefine rock. “Fifty argument-starting blitzes of fury and awe, with just the right dash of playful crankiness.” Hua Hsu, staff writer, the New Yorker“This book vaults to the top shelf in the Punk Lit pantheon.” Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978–1984“The perfect companion for those wishing to revisit the golden age of late-70s/early-80s pop.” Jane Wiedlin, The Go-GosOnce upon a time – November 26, 1976, to be precise – a band named the Sex Pistols dropped “Anarchy in the U.K.,” and a musical movement called punk rock came, saw, and conquered.Fifty years later, the question remains: What the hell was that?Punk in Fifty Pieces retells the story of punk’s cultural earthquake and how early classic punk (The Ramones, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop) gave birth to post-punk (Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Gang of Four), New Wave (Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo) and a rock n’ roll revolution.A great, new addition to the shelf that holds Please Kill Me, Lipstick Traces and England’s Dreaming, Punk in Fifty Pieces is the perfect playlist for discovery by a new generation of rebels without a cause and for die-hards who traded the mosh pit for two cars in the garage – but have never forgotten the music.Includes chapters featuring: The Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the U.K."Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer"The Police, “Roxanne"The Clash, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Hong Kong Garden"Blondie, “One Way or Another"Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart"“I devoured Dettmar’s Punk in Fifty Pieces.” Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude“This is an irresistible book that will spark a thousand arguments.” Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train and Lipstick Traces“This book is so kinetic and edifying, I found it impossible to stop reading.” Amanda Petrusich, staff writer, the New Yorker

Fifty years ago punk crashed onto the scene, redefining music and popular culture. In celebration of that historic event comes this cultural history exploring fifty iconic songs and unforgettable moments that destroyed then helped redefine rock. “Fifty argument-starting blitzes of fury and awe, with just the right dash of playful crankiness.” Hua Hsu, staff writer, the New Yorker“This book vaults to the top shelf in the Punk Lit pantheon.” Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978–1984“The perfect companion for those wishing to revisit the golden age of late-70s/early-80s pop.” Jane Wiedlin, The Go-GosOnce upon a time – November 26, 1976, to be precise – a band named the Sex Pistols dropped “Anarchy in the U.K.,” and a musical movement called punk rock came, saw, and conquered.Fifty years later, the question remains: What the hell was that?Punk in Fifty Pieces retells the story of punk’s cultural earthquake and how early classic punk (The Ramones, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop) gave birth to post-punk (Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Gang of Four), New Wave (Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo) and a rock n’ roll revolution.A great, new addition to the shelf that holds Please Kill Me, Lipstick Traces and England’s Dreaming, Punk in Fifty Pieces is the perfect playlist for discovery by a new generation of rebels without a cause and for die-hards who traded the mosh pit for two cars in the garage – but have never forgotten the music.Includes chapters featuring: The Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the U.K."Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer"The Police, “Roxanne"The Clash, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Hong Kong Garden"Blondie, “One Way or Another"Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart"“I devoured Dettmar’s Punk in Fifty Pieces.” Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude“This is an irresistible book that will spark a thousand arguments.” Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train and Lipstick Traces“This book is so kinetic and edifying, I found it impossible to stop reading.” Amanda Petrusich, staff writer, the New Yorker

THINK ROCK is the first Music title in the THINK series.  It is designed for an introduction to rock music course for the non-music major at an economical price.  Taking a chronological approach, it offers a basic introduction to the key eras, performers, and songs that shaped rock music.  THINK ROCK is a full history, beginning with pre-rock styles and covering all styles right up to today’s latest sounds.  In addition to the music itself, THINK ROCK addresses the rich cultural history of the rock era, and how social/cultural events shaped rock and were shaped by it.  The book is richly illustrated with period photographs and reproductions of album covers and concert posters.  An open access companion website is available with THINK ROCK at www.thethinkspot.com.

-- William Echard, American Studies

Considering the work of such artists as Madonna, George Clinton, U2, Elvis Costello, and Nirvana, the contributors deftly combine the rigors of scholarship with the energy of rock journalism to provide an analysis at once critical, contextualized, and enthusiastic. While a number of scholars have recently turned their attention to rock and pop music, most of their work has focused on providing sweeping cultural contexts for its popularity rather than exploring the music itself. Now, in Reading Rock and Roll, Kevin Dettmar and William Richey have gathered a wealth of erudite, original, and clever writings that perform close readings of rock music-often with surprising results. The authors in this volume view rock and roll as having had affinities with postmodernism from its inception. With its mongrel pedigree-drawing on blues, folk, R and B, and bluegrass-and its relation to mass media and high-tech modes of production, rock music has been self-conscious and full of irony from the beginning. These essays regularly call attention to the allusiveness and intertextuality of rock and roll, whether it is Kurt Cobain undermining the Beatles, M. C.Hammer stealing from Rick James's "Super Freak," or U2's use of Johnny Cash's legendary voice. From a careful examination of the roles of addictions and female sexuality in the remakings of Courtney Love and Madonna, to the politics of George Clinton's uses and abuses of language, to the referencing of Elvis Costello in two recent novels and the use of 1970s rock in several recent film soundtracks, these essays are as varied as the artists they consider. Informal and theoretically informed, Reading Rock and Roll is an important investigation of the music that more than any other has defined our century.