Description

Book Synopsis
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.

Trade Review
“This wide-ranging collection of essays (from the Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc.) captures Eddy’s cantankerous, spirited, enthusiastic, and forceful takes on music from rap to country and musicians from Michael Jackson to Brad Paisley. . . . Eddy’s far-reaching insights into rock music push the boundaries of the rock criticism, showing why he remains one of our most important music critics.” - Publishers Weekly
“Eddy’s eccentricity is not only refreshing and entertaining; it’s also valuable. . . . [S]omething compels Eddy to pay attention to music that no other music journalist can be bothered with. This is a vital counterbalance to the critical herd-mind, and a reminder of how much music making and music fandom exists outside the media radar, and never makes it into the official narrative.” - Simon Reynolds, Bookforum
“[T]his new compendium of pieces by Eddy . . . reads like an alternate history of pop's last 25 (or so) years, in which album-oriented rock is saved from itself by the Ramones' Too Tough To Die, latter-day Def Leppard isn't rendered irrelevant by Nirvana, and horn-rimmed consensus about indie darlings Animal Collective is just a bad dream.” - Greg Beets, Austin Chronicle
“You can predict what Eddy will think of something, and you’ll often be wrong, but what he actually thinks will always make more sense, will fit Eddy’s written persona better, than what you had in mind. Eddy’s taste has a deep coherence that’s close to unique among rock critics. . . . [F]or an Eddy fan, it’s a kick getting to read about his favorite music in-depth in these pages, especially when he’s in its first flush of Chuck-love. Will to Power, the Lordz of Brooklyn, Banda Bahia, and White Wizzard are all here, because who else was going to write about them?” - Josh Langhoff, Los Angeles Review of Books
“Eddy's unflinching ability to connect the dots between what he's hearing and what he's living makes Rock and Roll an electric read. It should trip wires in the minds of not just aspiring and current critics but also casual listeners who might not realize how much is below the surface of what they're hearing.” - Michael Hoinski, Village Voice
“Other anthologies of music writing leave you wanting to race to hear the music being written about. Rock and Roll Always Forgets leaves me wanting to read more Chuck Eddy. And more, and more…” - Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
“I don’t always agree with Chuck Eddy. In fact, I only occasionally agree with Chuck Eddy. But I’m always sure he cares, which I can tell not just because I know him, but because I love reading him. For more than twenty-five years he has been an original and indefatigable voice whose openness to new and unheralded music is legendary.”—Robert Christgau, Dean of American Rock Critics
“When Chuck hears a pop song, it’s like he is the first person who has ever heard it; he’s certainly aware of what the rest of the world already wants to believe, but those pre-existing perceptions are never convincing to him. . . . More than any other critic, Chuck Eddy showed how the experience of listening to music was both intellectually limitless and acutely personal. There was no ‘correct’ way to hear a song, and there were no fixed parameters on how that song could be described in print, and if that song made you reconsider abortion or the Oakland Raiders or your father’s suicide, then that intellectual relationship mattered because your engagement was real.”—Chuck Klosterman, from the foreword
“Few longtime pop music critics have been as fearlessly unhip in both their likes and dislikes, have been so willing to accept oft-ignored music on its own terms and have been as rock 'n' roll as Chuck Eddy, writer, former Village Voice music editor, self-described curmudgeon, ex-Army captain and hair-metal expert.” -- Randall Roberts * Los Angeles Times *
“This smart, very funny anthology includes some of the best work by any writer on country, metal, teen pop, Eighties hip-hop and Eminem. It’s the only book you’ll ever read that compares Jay-Z’s The Blueprint to Huey Lewis’ Sports—and means it as a compliment.” -- Jody Rosen * Rolling Stone *
“[T]his new compendium of pieces by Eddy . . . reads like an alternate history of pop's last 25 (or so) years, in which album-oriented rock is saved from itself by the Ramones' Too Tough To Die, latter-day Def Leppard isn't rendered irrelevant by Nirvana, and horn-rimmed consensus about indie darlings Animal Collective is just a bad dream.” -- Greg Beets * Austin Chronicle *
“Eddy’s eccentricity is not only refreshing and entertaining; it’s also valuable. . . . [S]omething compels Eddy to pay attention to music that no other music journalist can be bothered with. This is a vital counterbalance to the critical herd-mind, and a reminder of how much music making and music fandom exists outside the media radar, and never makes it into the official narrative.” -- Simon Reynolds * Bookforum *
“Eddy's unflinching ability to connect the dots between what he's hearing and what he's living makes Rock and Roll an electric read. It should trip wires in the minds of not just aspiring and current critics but also casual listeners who might not realize how much is below the surface of what they're hearing.” -- Michael Hoinski * Village Voice *
“Other anthologies of music writing leave you wanting to race to hear the music being written about. Rock and Roll Always Forgets leaves me wanting to read more Chuck Eddy. And more, and more…” -- Ken Tucker * Entertainment Weekly *
“This wide-ranging collection of essays (from the Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc.) captures Eddy’s cantankerous, spirited, enthusiastic, and forceful takes on music from rap to country and musicians from Michael Jackson to Brad Paisley. . . . Eddy’s far-reaching insights into rock music push the boundaries of the rock criticism, showing why he remains one of our most important music critics.” * Publishers Weekly *
“You can predict what Eddy will think of something, and you’ll often be wrong, but what he actually thinks will always make more sense, will fit Eddy’s written persona better, than what you had in mind. Eddy’s taste has a deep coherence that’s close to unique among rock critics. . . . [F]or an Eddy fan, it’s a kick getting to read about his favorite music in-depth in these pages, especially when he’s in its first flush of Chuck-love. Will to Power, the Lordz of Brooklyn, Banda Bahia, and White Wizzard are all here, because who else was going to write about them?” -- Josh Langhoff * Los Angeles Review of Books *

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xv
Foreword / Chuck Klosterman xi
Introduction 1
1. Predicting the Future
Over and Out 9
Rhymed Funk Hits Area 10
Skin Yard, Skin Yard 12
Drug Crazed Teens: Flaming Lips 14
Music That Passes the Acid Test 15
New Kids in the ‘90s: A Decade in the Life 18
Radiohead, The Bends 19
Walking into Spiderwebs: The Ultimate Band List 20
Talking World War III Blues 23
2. Alternative to What
Bombast in the Blood: Bad Religion 29
Conscience of Some Conservatives: The Ramones 32
Punk's First Family Grow Old Together: The Ramones 35
Howls from the Heartland: The Untamed Midwest 42
An Indie Rises Above: SST Records 48
Slime is Money (Bastard) 52
Big Black Give You a Headache 56
Nirvana, “all Apologies” 62
Wrong is Right: Marilyn Manson 64
Live: Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, 18 February 1997 68
City of Dreams: Rock in Mexico 69
Chumbawamba at the Piss Factory 76
Mr. and Mrs. Used To Be: The White Stripes Find a Little Place to Fight ‘em Off 79
3. Umlauts from Heck
Five Great Beats-Per-Minute 89
Seduce, Seduce 92
Agnostic Front, Beyond Possession, Dr. Know, Helstar, Raw Power 94
Top 40 That Radio Won‘t Touch: Metallica 98
Welcome Home (Sanitarium): Metallica Seek Psychiatric Help 104
Mentors, Up The Dose 106
Robert Plant, Technobilly 108
Def Leppard's Magic and Loss 116
AC/DC‘s Aged Currencies 124
White Wizzard Escape Each Other 137
4. To the Beat Y‘all
Mantronix: Strange Loops 143
Spoonie Gee: Unreformed 144
Just-Ice: Rap With Teeth 147
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1989: N.W.A. 149
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1992: Arrested Development 149
Sir Mix-A-Lot: Chief Boot Knocka 149
From Taco Bell to Pachalbel: Coolio 150
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1997: Erykah Badu and B-Rock & The Bizz 152
Timbaland, Magoo, and Ma$e, As the World Turns 153
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2001: Jay-Z 157
Licks: Bone Crusher, Turk, Crunk & Disorderly 158
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2003 160
5. Race-Mixing
Emmett Miller: The Minstrel Man from Georgia 167
Mississippi Sheiks vs. Utah Saints 168
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1984 170
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1985 170
Boogie Down Productions: Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip-Hop 172
Yothu Yindi: Tribal Voice 175
Living Colour: Biscuits EP 175
3rd Bass: Cactus Love 176
Teena Marie in Wonderland 178
Shake Your Love: Gillette 180
The Iceman Cometh Back: Vanilla Ice 183
Motor Suburb Madhouse: Kid Rock and Eminem 184
The Daddy Shady Show: Eminem‘s Family Values 196
Spaghetti Eastern: The Lordz of Brooklyn 206
6. Country Discomfort
Yippie Tie One On: Rural Roots and Muddy Boots 217
John Cougar Mellencamp: Life Goes On 222
K.T. Oslin: Greatest Hits: Songs from an Aging Sex Bomb 224
The Temptations of Mindy McCready 226
CMT 228
Banda, Si, Por Qué No 229
Big & Rich Boogaloo Down Broadway 233
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2004: Montgomery Gentry and Chely Wright 235
Please Stop Belittling Toby Keith 236
Brad Paisley is Ready to Make Nice 240
7. Pop Muzik
Cutting It as a Bay City Roller in 1989 247
People Pleasers: The Village People 249
Arrivedérci, Bay-BEE: Nocera and Fun Fun 251
Debbie Gibson: Angel Baby 253
It Was In The Cards 255
Pet Shop Boys‘ Mad Behavior 256
Gimme Back My Bullets: Will to Power Shoot for Disco Valhalla 263
Michael Jackson Loves the Sound of Breaking Glass 267
If It Ain‘t Baroque, Don‘t Fix It: Michael Jackson and Faithless 273
They Know What They Really Really Want and They Know How to Get It: Spice Girls and Gina G 277
Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1998 281
8. Singles Again and Again
Sucking in the ‘70s: Have A Nice Day, Volumes 1–10 287
Zager and Evans: “In The Year 2525” 289
Radio ‘86: Dead Air 292
Radio On reviews 298
Ten Cents a Watusi 304
Singles Again: Tangled Up in Blue 309
Singles Again: Paranoia Jumps Deep 313
Singles Jukebox reviews 316
The Year of Too Much Consensus 322
The End? 325
Index 329

Rock and Roll Always Forgets

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    A Paperback / softback by Chuck Eddy

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      Publisher: Duke University Press
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 10/08/2011
      ISBN13: 9780822350101, 978-0822350101
      ISBN10: 0822350106
      Also in:
      Popular music

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      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.

      Trade Review
      “This wide-ranging collection of essays (from the Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc.) captures Eddy’s cantankerous, spirited, enthusiastic, and forceful takes on music from rap to country and musicians from Michael Jackson to Brad Paisley. . . . Eddy’s far-reaching insights into rock music push the boundaries of the rock criticism, showing why he remains one of our most important music critics.” - Publishers Weekly
      “Eddy’s eccentricity is not only refreshing and entertaining; it’s also valuable. . . . [S]omething compels Eddy to pay attention to music that no other music journalist can be bothered with. This is a vital counterbalance to the critical herd-mind, and a reminder of how much music making and music fandom exists outside the media radar, and never makes it into the official narrative.” - Simon Reynolds, Bookforum
      “[T]his new compendium of pieces by Eddy . . . reads like an alternate history of pop's last 25 (or so) years, in which album-oriented rock is saved from itself by the Ramones' Too Tough To Die, latter-day Def Leppard isn't rendered irrelevant by Nirvana, and horn-rimmed consensus about indie darlings Animal Collective is just a bad dream.” - Greg Beets, Austin Chronicle
      “You can predict what Eddy will think of something, and you’ll often be wrong, but what he actually thinks will always make more sense, will fit Eddy’s written persona better, than what you had in mind. Eddy’s taste has a deep coherence that’s close to unique among rock critics. . . . [F]or an Eddy fan, it’s a kick getting to read about his favorite music in-depth in these pages, especially when he’s in its first flush of Chuck-love. Will to Power, the Lordz of Brooklyn, Banda Bahia, and White Wizzard are all here, because who else was going to write about them?” - Josh Langhoff, Los Angeles Review of Books
      “Eddy's unflinching ability to connect the dots between what he's hearing and what he's living makes Rock and Roll an electric read. It should trip wires in the minds of not just aspiring and current critics but also casual listeners who might not realize how much is below the surface of what they're hearing.” - Michael Hoinski, Village Voice
      “Other anthologies of music writing leave you wanting to race to hear the music being written about. Rock and Roll Always Forgets leaves me wanting to read more Chuck Eddy. And more, and more…” - Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
      “I don’t always agree with Chuck Eddy. In fact, I only occasionally agree with Chuck Eddy. But I’m always sure he cares, which I can tell not just because I know him, but because I love reading him. For more than twenty-five years he has been an original and indefatigable voice whose openness to new and unheralded music is legendary.”—Robert Christgau, Dean of American Rock Critics
      “When Chuck hears a pop song, it’s like he is the first person who has ever heard it; he’s certainly aware of what the rest of the world already wants to believe, but those pre-existing perceptions are never convincing to him. . . . More than any other critic, Chuck Eddy showed how the experience of listening to music was both intellectually limitless and acutely personal. There was no ‘correct’ way to hear a song, and there were no fixed parameters on how that song could be described in print, and if that song made you reconsider abortion or the Oakland Raiders or your father’s suicide, then that intellectual relationship mattered because your engagement was real.”—Chuck Klosterman, from the foreword
      “Few longtime pop music critics have been as fearlessly unhip in both their likes and dislikes, have been so willing to accept oft-ignored music on its own terms and have been as rock 'n' roll as Chuck Eddy, writer, former Village Voice music editor, self-described curmudgeon, ex-Army captain and hair-metal expert.” -- Randall Roberts * Los Angeles Times *
      “This smart, very funny anthology includes some of the best work by any writer on country, metal, teen pop, Eighties hip-hop and Eminem. It’s the only book you’ll ever read that compares Jay-Z’s The Blueprint to Huey Lewis’ Sports—and means it as a compliment.” -- Jody Rosen * Rolling Stone *
      “[T]his new compendium of pieces by Eddy . . . reads like an alternate history of pop's last 25 (or so) years, in which album-oriented rock is saved from itself by the Ramones' Too Tough To Die, latter-day Def Leppard isn't rendered irrelevant by Nirvana, and horn-rimmed consensus about indie darlings Animal Collective is just a bad dream.” -- Greg Beets * Austin Chronicle *
      “Eddy’s eccentricity is not only refreshing and entertaining; it’s also valuable. . . . [S]omething compels Eddy to pay attention to music that no other music journalist can be bothered with. This is a vital counterbalance to the critical herd-mind, and a reminder of how much music making and music fandom exists outside the media radar, and never makes it into the official narrative.” -- Simon Reynolds * Bookforum *
      “Eddy's unflinching ability to connect the dots between what he's hearing and what he's living makes Rock and Roll an electric read. It should trip wires in the minds of not just aspiring and current critics but also casual listeners who might not realize how much is below the surface of what they're hearing.” -- Michael Hoinski * Village Voice *
      “Other anthologies of music writing leave you wanting to race to hear the music being written about. Rock and Roll Always Forgets leaves me wanting to read more Chuck Eddy. And more, and more…” -- Ken Tucker * Entertainment Weekly *
      “This wide-ranging collection of essays (from the Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc.) captures Eddy’s cantankerous, spirited, enthusiastic, and forceful takes on music from rap to country and musicians from Michael Jackson to Brad Paisley. . . . Eddy’s far-reaching insights into rock music push the boundaries of the rock criticism, showing why he remains one of our most important music critics.” * Publishers Weekly *
      “You can predict what Eddy will think of something, and you’ll often be wrong, but what he actually thinks will always make more sense, will fit Eddy’s written persona better, than what you had in mind. Eddy’s taste has a deep coherence that’s close to unique among rock critics. . . . [F]or an Eddy fan, it’s a kick getting to read about his favorite music in-depth in these pages, especially when he’s in its first flush of Chuck-love. Will to Power, the Lordz of Brooklyn, Banda Bahia, and White Wizzard are all here, because who else was going to write about them?” -- Josh Langhoff * Los Angeles Review of Books *

      Table of Contents
      Acknowledgements xv
      Foreword / Chuck Klosterman xi
      Introduction 1
      1. Predicting the Future
      Over and Out 9
      Rhymed Funk Hits Area 10
      Skin Yard, Skin Yard 12
      Drug Crazed Teens: Flaming Lips 14
      Music That Passes the Acid Test 15
      New Kids in the ‘90s: A Decade in the Life 18
      Radiohead, The Bends 19
      Walking into Spiderwebs: The Ultimate Band List 20
      Talking World War III Blues 23
      2. Alternative to What
      Bombast in the Blood: Bad Religion 29
      Conscience of Some Conservatives: The Ramones 32
      Punk's First Family Grow Old Together: The Ramones 35
      Howls from the Heartland: The Untamed Midwest 42
      An Indie Rises Above: SST Records 48
      Slime is Money (Bastard) 52
      Big Black Give You a Headache 56
      Nirvana, “all Apologies” 62
      Wrong is Right: Marilyn Manson 64
      Live: Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, 18 February 1997 68
      City of Dreams: Rock in Mexico 69
      Chumbawamba at the Piss Factory 76
      Mr. and Mrs. Used To Be: The White Stripes Find a Little Place to Fight ‘em Off 79
      3. Umlauts from Heck
      Five Great Beats-Per-Minute 89
      Seduce, Seduce 92
      Agnostic Front, Beyond Possession, Dr. Know, Helstar, Raw Power 94
      Top 40 That Radio Won‘t Touch: Metallica 98
      Welcome Home (Sanitarium): Metallica Seek Psychiatric Help 104
      Mentors, Up The Dose 106
      Robert Plant, Technobilly 108
      Def Leppard's Magic and Loss 116
      AC/DC‘s Aged Currencies 124
      White Wizzard Escape Each Other 137
      4. To the Beat Y‘all
      Mantronix: Strange Loops 143
      Spoonie Gee: Unreformed 144
      Just-Ice: Rap With Teeth 147
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1989: N.W.A. 149
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1992: Arrested Development 149
      Sir Mix-A-Lot: Chief Boot Knocka 149
      From Taco Bell to Pachalbel: Coolio 150
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1997: Erykah Badu and B-Rock & The Bizz 152
      Timbaland, Magoo, and Ma$e, As the World Turns 153
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2001: Jay-Z 157
      Licks: Bone Crusher, Turk, Crunk & Disorderly 158
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2003 160
      5. Race-Mixing
      Emmett Miller: The Minstrel Man from Georgia 167
      Mississippi Sheiks vs. Utah Saints 168
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1984 170
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1985 170
      Boogie Down Productions: Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip-Hop 172
      Yothu Yindi: Tribal Voice 175
      Living Colour: Biscuits EP 175
      3rd Bass: Cactus Love 176
      Teena Marie in Wonderland 178
      Shake Your Love: Gillette 180
      The Iceman Cometh Back: Vanilla Ice 183
      Motor Suburb Madhouse: Kid Rock and Eminem 184
      The Daddy Shady Show: Eminem‘s Family Values 196
      Spaghetti Eastern: The Lordz of Brooklyn 206
      6. Country Discomfort
      Yippie Tie One On: Rural Roots and Muddy Boots 217
      John Cougar Mellencamp: Life Goes On 222
      K.T. Oslin: Greatest Hits: Songs from an Aging Sex Bomb 224
      The Temptations of Mindy McCready 226
      CMT 228
      Banda, Si, Por Qué No 229
      Big & Rich Boogaloo Down Broadway 233
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 2004: Montgomery Gentry and Chely Wright 235
      Please Stop Belittling Toby Keith 236
      Brad Paisley is Ready to Make Nice 240
      7. Pop Muzik
      Cutting It as a Bay City Roller in 1989 247
      People Pleasers: The Village People 249
      Arrivedérci, Bay-BEE: Nocera and Fun Fun 251
      Debbie Gibson: Angel Baby 253
      It Was In The Cards 255
      Pet Shop Boys‘ Mad Behavior 256
      Gimme Back My Bullets: Will to Power Shoot for Disco Valhalla 263
      Michael Jackson Loves the Sound of Breaking Glass 267
      If It Ain‘t Baroque, Don‘t Fix It: Michael Jackson and Faithless 273
      They Know What They Really Really Want and They Know How to Get It: Spice Girls and Gina G 277
      Pazz & Jop Ballot Excerpt 1998 281
      8. Singles Again and Again
      Sucking in the ‘70s: Have A Nice Day, Volumes 1–10 287
      Zager and Evans: “In The Year 2525” 289
      Radio ‘86: Dead Air 292
      Radio On reviews 298
      Ten Cents a Watusi 304
      Singles Again: Tangled Up in Blue 309
      Singles Again: Paranoia Jumps Deep 313
      Singles Jukebox reviews 316
      The Year of Too Much Consensus 322
      The End? 325
      Index 329

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