Overview
In Terminated for Reasons of Taste, veteran rock critic Chuck Eddy writes that ""rock'n'roll history is written by the winners. Which stinks, because the losers have always played a big role in keeping rock interesting."" Rock's losers share top billing with its winners in this new collection of Eddy's writing. In pieces culled from outlets as varied as the Village Voice, Creem magazine, the streaming site Rhapsody, music message boards, and his high school newspaper, Eddy covers everything from the Beastie Boys to 1920s country music, Taylor Swift to German new wave, Bruce Springsteen to occult metal. With an encyclopedic knowledge, unabashed irreverence, and a captivating style, Eddy rips up popular music histories and stitches them back together using his appreciation of the lost, ignored, and maligned. In so doing, he shows how pop music is bigger, and more multidimensional and compelling than most people can imagine.
Full Product Details
Author: Chuck Eddy
Publisher: Duke University Press
Imprint: Duke University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.476kg
ISBN: 9780822362258
ISBN 10: 0822362252
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 02 September 2016
Audience:
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Chuck Eddy, who possesses a rare knowledge of the process, sum, and esoterica of popular music making, manages to make familiar music seem fresh and suddenly open to new and even unlikely interpretations. He is also an electrifying guide to a wealth of music that you may not know or care about. Spirited, friendly, and highly energized, Eddy pulls readers in, exciting and surprising them. -- RJ Smith, author of The One: The Life and Music of James Brown Chuck Eddy's breezy style and far-ranging genre enthusiasms may obscure the acute critical insight and fan's appreciation he brings to this dizzying collection of his piecework. It's like running amok at a record fair with a knowledgeable enthusiast who sees all music as having a place in the pop firmament, and can't wait to show you the next hidden treasure, or reveal a truth about a song you've heard many times before. -- Lenny Kaye, musician, writer, record producer Taking his cue from rock writer Lester Bangs and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Eddy consistently assumes the literary character of a victimized, knowledgeable, smart-ass rock writer who has just uncovered the latest hidden musical treasure. -- David P. Szatmary Library Journal Eddy's smarts, freakish knowledge of the obscure, and some hilarious takedowns make the collection feel like hanging out with a cool uncle who gifts you music knowledge nuggets impossible to find elsewhere. -- Libby Webster Austin Chronicle Terminated for Reasons of Taste reads like an eclectic Spotify mix on shuffle... Eddy's knowledgeable and clever writing makes even his most exploratory essays feel less like indulgent 'Think Pieces' and more like listening to a clerk at a store that sells records to a very diverse customer base: no judgment, no arrogance, just a pure love of music and some honest opinion. -- Eric Rovie PopMatters
Chuck Eddy, who possesses a rare knowledge of the process, sum, and esoterica of popular music-making, manages to make familiar music seem fresh and suddenly open to new and even unlikely interpretations. He is also an electrifying guide to a wealth of music that you may not know or care about. Spirited, friendly, and highly energized, Eddy pulls readers in, exciting and surprising them. -- RJ Smith, author of The One: The Life and Music of James Brown Chuck Eddy's breezy style and far-ranging genre enthusiasms may obscure the acute critical insight and fan's appreciation he brings to this dizzying collection of his piece-work. It's like running amok at a record fair with a knowledgeable enthusiast who sees all music as having a place in the pop firmament, and can't wait to show you the next hidden treasure, or reveal a truth about a song you've heard many times before. -- Lenny Kaye, musician, writer, record producer
Chuck Eddy's breezy style and far-ranging genre enthusiasms may obscure the acute critical insight and fan's appreciation he brings to this dizzying collection of his piece-work. It's like running amok at a record fair with a knowledgeable enthusiast who sees all music as having a place in the pop firmament, and can't wait to show you the next hidden treasure, or reveal a truth about a song you've heard many times before. --Lenny Kaye, musician, writer, record producer
Author Information
Chuck Eddy is an independent music journalist living in Austin, Texas. Formerly the music editor at the Village Voice and a senior editor at Billboard, he is author of Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism, also published by Duke University Press; The Accidental Evolution of Rock 'n' Roll: A Misguided Tour Through Popular Music; and Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe.
