If you drive into any American city with the car stereo blasting; yoursquo;ll undoubtedly find radio stations representing RB/hip-hop; country; Top 40; adult contemporary; rock; and Latin; each playing hit after hit within that musical format. American music has created an array of rival mainstreams; complete with charts in multiple categories. Love it or hate it; the world that radio made has steered popular music and provided the soundtrack of American life for more than half a century.In Top 40 Democracy; Eric Weisbard studies the evolution of this multicentered pop landscape; along the way telling the stories of the Isley Brothers; Dolly Parton; AM Records; and Elton John; among others. He sheds new light on the upheavals in the music industry over the past fifteen years and their implications for the audiences the industry has shaped. Weisbard focuses in particular on formatsmdash;constructed mainstreams designed to appeal to distinct populationsmdash;showing how taste became intertwined with class; race; gender; and region. While many historians and music critics have criticized the segmentation of pop radio; Weisbard finds that the creation of multiple formats allowed different subgroups to attain a kind of separate majority statusmdash;for example; even in its most mainstream form; the RB of the Isley Brothers helped to create a sphere where black identity was nourished. Music formats became the one reliable place where different groups of Americans could listen to modern life unfold from their distinct perspectives. The centers of pop; it turns out; were as complicated; diverse; and surprising as the cultural margins. Weisbardrsquo;s stimulating book is a tour de force; shaking up our ideas about the mainstream music industry in order to tease out the cultural importance of all performers and songs.
#3355637 in eBooks 2014-10-10 2014-10-10File Name: B00OLG9V3Q
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Aha!By bob lewisFills in so many blank spaces and answers so many questions! read this along with Douglas Reed; Mike Peled; and Norman Finkelstein.2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A treasure trove of real-time history you wont find anywhere elseBy Truth InsisterThis three-book series is historical; enlightening; and contains info you wont find anywhere else. I discovered Avner Cohen writing a whitewash of the facts in Harts series in an Op-Ed in the NYT within the last two months (Cohen didnt name Hart). Since most people rarely research; Cohens set of facts will probably prevail as truth.But Alan Hart was there; he was the lead Middle East reporter for ITN (think thats the name of the network); and reported for the BBC; in England. Hart got the interviews with Golda Meir and Sadat and Yassir Arafat. Cohen didnt. Hart was the one sitting with Meir in her study for hours while Meirs Knesset cabinet cooled their heels in Meirs kitchen waiting to talk to her. Not Cohen. Hart was at Golda Meirs deathbed at her request; and heard her final words. Cohen wasnt.Hart covered the important Middle East wars. He is the Middle Easts Edward R Murrow. He doesnt spare either side and he obviously had close personal relationships with both Golda Meir and Yassir Arafat. Its not hard to believe that both of them trusted Hart to tell the truth and present them fairly.The only unfortunate thing about this series is the title. It should have been titled "Golda; Sadat; and Me" or "Golda; Yassir; and Me" because it reflects the insider info youre getting far more accurately. The current title may be one of the conclusions youre left with; but its not the meat of the series. I think Harts editors were trying to kill his book with that title.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy patrick bentzleyThe truth and nothing but the truth.
