book Archive
03 May 2021
Book Review: Paul Collins — I Don’t Fit In
One of the finest among the so-called new wave bands of the late-late-late ‘70s and very early 80s (the subgenre’s peak period) was The Beat. Renamed Paul Collins Beat to […]
30 Apr 2021
Pop music’s Terrestrial Paradise: Joel Selvin’s ‘Hollywood Eden’
Many authors have sought to chronicle the cultural ferment that gave rise to the Southern California pop music explosion of the 1960s. And while some efforts have yielded worthwhile books, […]
22 Mar 2021
Progress Report #2: My Upcoming Book About 415 Records
Work continues at a just-this-side-of-feverish pace on my upcoming book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave. The San Francisco record label helmed by Howie Klein […]
10 Mar 2021
Things Get Better: Soul Man Eddie Floyd (Part 3 of 3)
Continued from Part Two … That success extended well beyond Eddie Floyd’s records. In fact – as he recounts in detail in his new memoir, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood: […]
09 Mar 2021
Things Get Better: Soul Man Eddie Floyd (Part 2 of 3)
Continued from Part One … During that “Knock on Wood” writing session, there was a torrential rainstorm going on outside. “In Alabama where I live,” explains Floyd, “the rainstorms can […]
08 Mar 2021
Things Get Better: Soul Man Eddie Floyd (Part 1 of 3)
On the occasion of the publishing of his memoir, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood: My Life in Soul, I spoke at length with soul legend Eddie Floyd. The feature based […]
22 Feb 2021
The 411 on 415
Last November I wrote a cover story for SF Weekly; it focused on a series of reissue/compilation CDs on the Liberation Hall label. Those releases contained music originally released on […]
18 Dec 2020
Book Review: David Menconi — Step it Up and Go
Attempting to weave together the many and varied stories that collectively tell the story of popular music in North Carolina is a task of herculean proportions. It’s a task best […]
15 Dec 2020
Book Review: Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion
There have been quite a few books written about Syd Barrett. Some have emphasized the more lurid and sensational aspects of his story, including his drug use, mental illness, dismissal […]
14 Dec 2020
Book Review: Ready Steady Go!: The Weekend Starts Here
Launched a few years ago, BMG Books broke into the market with the excellent Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout, Billy Edd Wheeler’s lively memoir. Soon thereafter, the publisher began its […]