American Hit Radio: A History of Popular Singles From 1955 to the Present
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (657 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0761502300 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 672 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-06-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Covers over 500 songs in-depth, with more than 1,000 songs listed!
"A fun guide through pop music history!" according to Mister Chris. AMERICAN HIT RADIO, a survey of classic pop music from the mid 1950's to the 1990's, is a compusively good read. Written in a refreshing conversational tone- the author clearly loves his subject- the reader is given an extensive history as well as witty opinions on hundreds of song selections. Within a few short hours, a novice will have a keen insignt into what made a particular artist and recording into three plus minutes of magic (at the risk of sounding off like an infomercial, this book does make a nifty I-Pod companion). For th. Exhaustive, Well-Researched, Yet Biased Thomas Ryan sure knows what he likes about popular music. His knowledge of the songs he tackles is comparable to that of a veteran DJ who's been collecting records (or CDs, nowadays) of his faves since he was old enough to collect his first allowance. But a close examination of the book reveals Ryan's biases towards certain types of music and artists (he makes no secret about this in the text). Furthermore, Ryan doesn't hold back when it comes to music and artists that he does NOT like, and he peppers his book with lists of songs he . An interesting If biased book, - a fun read! Tom ryans'collection of essays captivated me from the moment I picked it up. the wit and style of the essays kept me captivated and while I usually skip around these types of books, reading about my favorites first and going back to read the rest later I stuck with this one pretty much page to page . But, as I got into the middle to late 80s'and early 90s' sections I began to get the feeling that Mr Ryan was busy doing other things in those years and stopped listening to the radio. he claims that this is because singles were going ou
Starting in 1955, America began tracking its favorite songs on the Top 40 Charts. From Fats Domino to Nirvana, popular music reflects the radical changes we have experienced as a country and a culture. Now Thomas Ryan takes us through all forty years, providing a wealth of insight based on exhaustive research.Arranged chronologically, American Hit Radio puts 1,250 of the Top 40 songs in perspective, spotlighting 500 with carefully crafted essays describing the artists? backgrounds and inspirations, the cultural context of the songs, and how the song styles and statements relate to the music scene before and since. American Hit Radio is more than an enjoyable popular music survey, it?s a vivid cultural history of the American psyche.About the Author Thomas Ryan, a music reviewer and obsessive vintage vinyl collector, has been an active drummer for th