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I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
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direwolf74 Wrote:I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
That facebook page :what
You may have to deal with me over here, but I hope to Gord it's better than dealing that page :lol:
(Also looking forward to this book)
2004-12-03 - Saint John/2005-09-03 - Moncton/2006-06-30 - Charlottetown/2006-11-09/10 - Montreal/2007-09-11 - Fredericton/2007-09-13 - Halifax/2007-09-14 - Sydney/2007-09-15 - Charlottetown/2008-06-30 - Charlottetown/2009-05-01/02 - Montreal/2011-06-28 - Moncton/2011-06-30 - Charlottetown/2012-06-30 - Niagara-on-the-Lake/2013-02-01 - Moncton/2013-02-02 - Halifax/2015-01-10 - Toronto/2015-02-20 - Montreal/2015-07-17 - Ottawa/2016-08-18 - Ottawa/2016-08-20 - Kingston
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sean.bonner Wrote:direwolf74 Wrote:I'm really looking forward to reading this, unauthorized or not. Barclay is a good writer and I've enjoyed his articles in Macleans and Exclaim, as well as his contributions to the excellent CanRock bio "Have Not Been the Same".
Don't mention this book over at the Facebook fan page though, lol. Yikes. Those people are fucking militant over there.
That facebook page :what
You may have to deal with me over here, but I hope to Gord it's better than dealing that page :lol:
(Also looking forward to this book)
I had to turn off all my notifications for and unfollow that page. It was...a bit much.
Jeff
June 21, 2003 Toronto, ON: SkyDome
July 1, 2004 Toronto, ON: Molson Amphitheatre
November 26, 2004 Toronto, ON: Air Canada Centre
June 24, 2006 Toronto, ON: Historic Fort York
May 10, 2007 Indianapolis, IN: The Vogue
July 14, 2011 Edmonton, AB: Northlands Festival Site
June 30, 2012 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON: The Commons at Butler's Barracks
January 23, 2013 Edmonton, AB: Rexall Place
July 28, 2016 Edmonton, AB: Rexall Place
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There's a Facebook page?
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
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Tthip Wrote:There's a Facebook page?
:lol: :lol: :lol: 10/10
Jeff
June 21, 2003 Toronto, ON: SkyDome
July 1, 2004 Toronto, ON: Molson Amphitheatre
November 26, 2004 Toronto, ON: Air Canada Centre
June 24, 2006 Toronto, ON: Historic Fort York
May 10, 2007 Indianapolis, IN: The Vogue
July 14, 2011 Edmonton, AB: Northlands Festival Site
June 30, 2012 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON: The Commons at Butler's Barracks
January 23, 2013 Edmonton, AB: Rexall Place
July 28, 2016 Edmonton, AB: Rexall Place
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I'm no scholar of popular music, but the best work relating to popular music that I've ever read, by far, is Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head.<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_in_the_Head">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_in_the_Head</a><!-- m -->
This masterpiece also demonstrates just how *hard* it is to write really well about popular music. You need to have the musicological education to really pull apart songs and understand what makes them tick; the aesthetic discernment needed to separate mediocrity from excellence (e.g., there's a guy whose books discuss every Dylan song, but he's largely critical of everything Bob did after about 1995; in other words, his analysis in marred by his own inability to hear what Bob has been doing on all his awesome late-era work); outstanding writing skills; and sufficient sociological and historical flair to intelligently interpret the context within which the music was created and within which it thrived. Most writers on popular music whom I've read, IMHO, fall well short of the mark on one or more of these markers. Some of the 33 1/3 entries came up to snuff, though - the one on Elvis Costello, by Frank Bruno, was very strong on all those dimensions.
Of course, if you're writing a biography in the narrow sense (who, what, when, where, why) then you're mostly relieved of the whole 'musical/aesthetic' dimensions. These things can be referred to somewhat in passing. That's what Bob Spitz's rather dreary books on Dylan and the Beatles do. Problem is, I'm ultimately left with the question of why I should care, since it's precisely the work that matters most - at least to me. Biographies tend to leave me feeling empty, whereas a good book that grapples with the music itself can be very satisfying.
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It doesn't matter if this is good or bad or what it's even about. Nothing could happen that would make me not read a biography of Hip.
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I have little interest in reading an authorized biography. When I think "authorized biography" my mind immediately goes to Michael Azerrad's book about Nirvana, which is actually a hagiography under the guise of a biography. My favourite rock bios - Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll, anything by Philip Norman - are unauthorized, and I imagine this one being brilliant despite the band not having any input.
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Not really looking forward to this book either, but the interview Potsie posted on the FC Thoughts & Insights thread gives me hope. Loved hearing that story about the loon sample on Wheat Kings -- I hadn't heard that before. I'm curious about the music, the songs, and recording process and the band's (and close associates) thoughts and feeling on all that. I can do without the hyperbole so common in these type of rock bios though, which to me sounds akin to this:
"The early 1990s was a tumultuous time in Canada. The nation was still reeling after the cancellation of The Beachcombers; hockey fans everywhere were still coming to grips with Wayne Gretzky's defection to the U.S. a few year earlier; and the news of Mr. Dressup's Finnegan's rabies diagnosis was the deathblow to our nation's innocence. All that changed, when 5 lads from Kingston..."
