- Hardcover: 456 pages
- Publisher: Cassell Illustrated; illustrated edition edition (12 Sep 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0304361860
- ISBN-13: 978-0304361861
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 18.4 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 583,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
"The vast majority of the singles and artists in this book were brave anough to break out of cool's stultifying grip, and reshape style, language and,or performance in their image." In these essays Garry Mulholland challenges the accepted orthodoxies of music journalism with his own list of the 500 greatest singles since The Sex Pistols' seminal "Anarchy in the UK", at the same time producing a nostalgic and provocative history of the last 25 years of popular music. Incidentally, the title comes from a 1977 entry in the book by the Rezillos.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Pop lists and polls seem very much ten a penny in the post-High Fidelity music press. Their frequency is understandable. Like the best pop, they're fun and provocative (and so this book is). And in the absence of more imaginative editorial, lists are a safe sell (and so this book is).
But as you flick through the glossy opening pages, and throughout, with their beautifully reproduced images of treasured singles from the past twenty-five years or so, it's clear this is something special.
Mullholland succeeds because he recognises his subject for what it is, writing with a personal passion, perfectly capturing why cheap music is potent, and why, if it is potent enough, it isn't cheap after all.
The implicit attempt in many lists to objectify, analyse, relativise and proselytise is refreshingly absent. Sure, Mullholland doesn't ignore the context, and this is important (singles are listed chronologically, with each year introduced with a neat reminder of events past), but "This Is Uncool" is at it's best when closer to biography than history. The beginning of his story behind the inclusion of Public Enemy's "Rebel Without A Pause" is illustrative: "Brixton High Road was clammy and chaotic as I walked up to the traffic lights..."
His honesty then, (especially in the carefully considered introduction, "where was my version of the story?"), is perhaps the core of what makes this such a delight.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether you really agree with the selections - a love of punk, post-punk and indie rock predominates, but Mullholland is equally enlightened enough to give rap, disco and Whigfield their due.
Rather, at the end of the day, it just matters whether you are inspired or not to rediscover the darker recesses of your own music collection, to remember and relive the magic you may not have thought was necessarily always there, but almost certainly is.
This book inspires. This Is Cool.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
oh my oh my.....it's as if the author ransacked my (long since sold) record collection and then entered the dark recesses of my mind to gather the info for this book
it's just fantastic, beautiful photography of the records (complete with dog eared sleeves) poingniant memories of school discos and cider-fuelled parties fall from every page
if you bought that enormous "punk" coffee table book last year, then you simply MUST have this, if only to stop and wonder at the fantastic music that was produced during the much maligned early 80's (associates/abc/grandmaster flash/specials)...
a stunning labout of love (well, actually, i doubt it WAS a labour somehow..morelike a joy)
mike dutton
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Well, you're thinking, most people could write a book like this, so why should I buy this guy's? Well, because in fact very few people could write a book like this: Mulholland's prose is brilliant. Each review is a short burst of genuine excitement that the reader can really feel. And he knows his onions: he's listened to hundreds of thousands of records (and bought a fair few!) in his various music-related jobs. So, even though his tastes differ from mine (and I'd say mine are much uncooler than his!), and I disagree with him here and there, I can see where he's coming from and I can go along with what he's saying. If you grew up with the music of the last 25 years you'll love trawling through this book.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Definately not uncool
This book is great if you're in your 40s and grew up listening to punk/post-punk in the UK.
I am and I did. Read more
I am and I did. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Magnus
Essential for anyone who claims to be serious about music
The last thing we need is another shuffle of the blessed rock canon list. You know, the worthy and dull albums you're supposed to be in awe of but only bought because of critical... Read more
Published on 8 April 2009 by Vauxhall1964
Should be on every coffee table
Keep in constant reach; dip into regularly; ask what qualities a record should have to help it define the spirit of its age.
Published on 7 Oct 2003 by Stephen Newton
The worlds biggest 'here, I made a tape for you'
It's like a good mate has done you a compilation tape of his favourite tunes but there's 500 of them and he insists on telling you why he likes 'em all. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2002 by Mark A Bailey
this book is brilliant!
the best singles since 1977? My own list would look kind of different, and I suspect everyone's got their own ideas. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2002 by Linsay
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Reference
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Scores, Songbooks & Lyrics > Rock & Pop
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Rock & Pop > Styles > Punk
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
