A well-conceived and well-researched stroll through a musical minefield, but missing the kind of belly laughs that would...
An irreverent, opinionated look at rock-’n’-roll plagiarism, guaranteed to elicit laughter and/or fistfights among your friendly neighborhood music geeks.
Rock-’n’-roll is one of America’s youngest musical genres, and, as is the case with many evolving art forms, the artists draw primarily from the work of their predecessors, meaning that once in a while, Song A will sound like Song B, which resembles Song C. Music journalist English raided his record collection and emerged with more than 50 pairs of sound-alike tunes. Conceptually, the book is a winner, one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-that projects, but the delivery, while enthusiastic, is somewhat lacking in potency. Each song comparison is given a one- or two-page essay, some of which are fact-based, some opinion-based and some just good-natured rants. Approximately half of the author’s choices are right on target, e.g., the choruses of The Doors’ “Hello, I Love You” and The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night” are definitely kissing cousins. But many are a stretch–yes, the opening guitar riff of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” resembles Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” but the songs themselves have little in common; the similarities between Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” and the theme to the ’60s children’s television program The Banana Splits is tenuous at best. The book’s format is similar to that of Tom Reynolds’s I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You’ve Ever Heard (Hyperion, 2006), but Reynolds supports and enlivens his observations with witty banter. Here, the jokes are not as consistently amusing. The high point is a cheeky quiz that asks the reader to figure out which Oasis tune sounds exactly like which Beatles tune.
A well-conceived and well-researched stroll through a musical minefield, but missing the kind of belly laughs that would make it a must-have.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-595-39619-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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