At once a groundbreaking cultural history of rock music and an impassioned defense of the unique value of art, The Day Alternative Music Died is a timely and essential addition to the cultural discourse. Featuring a meticulously researched and eminently readable narrative that will appeal to both casual and diehard music fans, The Day Alternative Music Died tells the fascinating story of the tensions between artistic and commercial aspirations throughout the history of rock music. Author Adam Caress grafts the vital and untold story of the rise and fall of the alternative music scene in the 1980s and 90s into a larger rock music narrative that spans half a century, shedding light on a number of crucial developments in rock and popular music which remain widely misunderstood, even as they continue to have far-reaching implications for the future of music creation, consumption, and criticism. With a scope that encompasses everything from Bob Dylan's arrival on the rock scene in the mid-1960s through Spotify's recent attempts to establish a new model for music distribution, The Day Alternative Music Died provides engaging and valuable insight into what it means to be a music fan, artist, and critic here in the 21st Century.

Behind the roaring crowds and the billion-dollar record deals are tales of solitude, anger, and depression. Readers are about to unearth these stories as author Les MacDonald brings nostalgia to every bookshelf with The Day the Music Died, his newly released book published through Xlibris. The Day the Music Died is a well-researched documentation of the different true stories of the persons whose names are forever etched in the history of music. Throughout, readers will get an intimate look into the deaths of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Elvis Presley, Brian Jones, Bob Marley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Tupac Shakur, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Selena, Michael Jackson, and many more. As each of these artists permanently faded from the limelight, a new testimonial will be created to prove that their music lives on. "While some of our favorites may have lost their way at some point during their lifetimes, we must remember that there is one thing that the passage of time cannot erase . . . and that, my friends, is the music!" shares the author.

Births, deaths and marriages, No1 singles, drug busts and arrests, famous gigs and awards... all these and much more appear in this fascinating 50 year almanac.Using a page for every day of the calendar year, the author records a variety of rock and pop events that took place on a given day of the month across the years.This Day in Music is fully illustrated with hundreds of pictures, cuttings and album covers, making this the must-have book for any pop music fan.

"From celebrated music writer Dan Ozzi comes a comprehensive chronicle of the punk music scene's evolution from the early nineties to the mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they dissolved, "sold out," and rose to surprise stardom. From its inception, punk music has been identified by two factors: its proximity to "authenticity," and its reliance on an antiestablishment ethos. Yet, in the mid- to late '90s, major record labels sought to capitalize on punk's rebellious undertones, leading to a schism in the scene: to accept the cash flow of the majors, or stick to indie cred?Sellout chronicles the evolution of the punk scene during this era, focusing on prominent bands as they experienced the last "gold rush" of the music industry. Within it, music writer Dan Ozzi follows the rise of successful bands like Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, as well as the implosion of groups like Jawbreaker and At the Drive-In, who buckled under the pressure of their striving labels. Featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of eleven of modern punk's most (in)famous bands, Sellout is the history of the evolution of the music industry, and a punk rock lover's guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era. "--

How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll is an alternative history of American music that, instead of recycling the familiar cliches of jazz and rock, looks at what people were playing, hearing and dancing to over the course of the 20th century, using a wealth of original research, curious quotations, and an irreverent fascination with the oft-despised commercial mainstream.

From baby boomers to millennials, attending a big music festival has basically become a cultural rite of passage in America. In Half a Million Strong, music writer and scholar Gina Arnold explores the history of large music festivals in America and examines their impact on American culture. Studying literature, films, journalism, and other archival detritus of the countercultural era, Arnold looks closely at a number of large and well-known festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival, Woodstock, Altamont, Wattstax, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and others to map their cultural significance in the American experience. She finds that—far from being the utopian and communal spaces of spiritual regeneration that they claim for themselves— these large music festivals serve mostly to display the free market to consumers in its very best light.

The best, most provocative reviews, interviews, columns, and essays written by the entertaining, idiosyncratic, and influential music writer Chuck Eddy over the past twenty-five years.