Do you remember these great pop stars and their hits? Deerhoof's
The Man
,
The King
The Girl
Butch Hancock's West Texas Waltzes and
Dust Blown Tractor Tunes,
Swamp Dogg's
Cuffed, Collared and Tagged,
Michael Head's
The
Magical World Of The Strands,
John Trubee's
Communists Are Coming to Kill Us,
John Phillips's
Wolf
King of L.A., and
Michel Magne's
Moshe Mouse
Crucifiction
?
You will when you read
Lost in the
Grooves,
a fascinating guide to the back alleys off the pop music superhighway.
Pop music history is full of little-known musicians, whose work stands defiantly alone, too quirky, distinctive, or demented to appeal to a mass audience. This book explores the nooks and crannies of the pop music world, unearthing lost gems from should-have-been major artists (Sugarpie DeSanto, Judee Sill), revisiting lesser known works by established icons (Marvin Gaye's post-divorce kissoff album,
Here My
Dear
; The Ramones'
Subterranean Jungle
), and spotlighting musicians who simply don't fit into neat categories (k. mccarty, Exuma). The book's encyclopedic alphabetical structure throws off strange sparks as disparate genres and eras rub against each other: folk-psych iconoclasts face louche pop crooners; outsider artists set their odd masterpieces down next to obscurities from the stars; lo-fi garage rock cuddles up with the French avant-garde; and roots rock weirdoes trip over bubblegum. This book will delight any jukebox junkie or pop culture fan.