Charlie Gillett, a British journalist, loves the music, and his passion is evident throughout The Sound of the City. Yet the greatest strength of the book is the way Gillett tracks the resistance of the music industry to early rock-and-roll, which was followed (needless to say) by a frantic rush to engulf and devour it. When first published The Sound of the City was hailed as having 'never been bettered as the definitive history of rock' (Guardian). Now the classic history of rock and roll, has been revised and updated with over 75 historic archive photos. The text has been substantially revised to include newly discovered information and it is now 'the one essential work about the history of rock n' roll' (Jon Landau in Rolling Stone).

From morning joggers until night's last train, a boy notices and enjoys the many sounds made by people and things in a big city.

Maciej Smólka holds a PhD in culture and religion studies (Jagiellonian University, 2021) and is a scholar specializing in popular music, popular culture and American studies. His studies concern music localities and identities, the music industry, and the specificities of contemporary popular culture.

This book draws from a rich history of scholarship about the relations between music and cities, and the global flows between music and urban experience. The contributions in this collection comment on the global city as a nexus of moving people, changing places, and shifting social relations, asking what popular music can tell us about cities, and vice versa. Since the publication of the first Sounds and the City volume, various movements, changes and shifts have amplified debates about globalization. From the waves of people migrating to Europe from the Syrian civil war and other conflict zones, to the 2016 “Brexit” vote to leave the European Union and American presidential election of Donald Trump. These, and other events, appear to have exposed an anti-globalist retreat toward isolationism and a backlash against multiculturalism that has been termed “post-globalization.” Amidst this, what of popular music? Does music offer renewed spaces and avenues for public protest, for collective action and resistance? What can the diverse​​ histories, hybridities, and legacies of popular music tell us about the ever-changing relations of people and cities?