Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth [Paperback]

David Browne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2009

Rising from the drug-infested streets of ’80s New York City, the incomparable Sonic Youth recorded some of the most important albums in alternative music history and influenced an entire generation of indie rockers.

They helped spawn an alternative arts scene of underground films and comics, conceptual art, experimental music, even fashion. More than perhaps any band of their time, they brought art previously considered “fringe” into the mainstream—and irrevocably altered the cultural zeitgeist.

Based on extensive research, exclusive band interviews, and unprecedented access to unreleased recordings and documents, Goodbye 20th Century is the definitive biography of the Velvet Underground of their generation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anchored by the married couple of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, and propelled by democratically distributed experiments from all four group members, underground music icons Sonic Youth, as chronicled by Browne in his compulsively readable new biography, are a model for how to sustain a career in the burnout-friendly world of rock music. Browne traces each phase of the band's career with the easy, anecdotal grace of an accomplished journalist: he sketches each band member's youth and initiation into the New York music scene, provides accounts of the years of day jobs and thrifty recording sessions, and gives a play-by-play account of the band's courting by labels following the independent success of the album Daydream Nation. The book is most engaging in its middle third, an in-depth account of the band's initial struggles and successes at Geffen, their major label home for the past two decades of their career. While Browne succeeds at capturing the personalities and debates that shape the band's character, at times the author's engagement with the band's actual music is not as incisive or comprehensive as it could be. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[Browne] found a neat narrative to work with, charting the group's determinedly paced journey from under populated gigs in the arty early-'80s downtown scene to its brush with alt-rock fame in the mid '90s to its current status as an inspiration to a nation of young experimentalists."--"Time Out New York

""Browne takes a conventional approach to the story of an unconventional band...His relatively objective approach acknowledges the band's impact on popular and underground culture without descending into the obnoxious sentimentality that characterizes so much of rock journalism...[His] writing style provides the necessary information about the band's history without exploiting their coolness, critical acclaim, or personal traumas."--"VenusZine"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306816032
• ISBN-13: 978-0306816031
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Browne is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Time, Spin, the New Republic, Men's Journal, the Huffington Post, and numerous other outlets. For many years he was the music critic at the New York Daily News and then Entertainment Weekly, where, among other tasks, he worked as a roadie for Kiss, shared a bagel with Leonard Cohen in Cohen's Montreal home, and spent time on the tour buses with Coldplay and the Black Crowes.

Browne is the author of four books: "Dream Brother" (2001), a dual biography of the late musicians Jeff and Tim Buckley; "Amped" (2004), a history of extreme sports; and "Goodbye 20th Century" (2008), a biography of the pioneering indie band Sonic Youth. "Dream Brother" has been translated into French and Italian and has been optioned as source material for a major feature film on the life of Jeff Buckley, for which Browne will be a consultant. "Goodbye 20th Century" was hailed as "an expressway to the soul of of the influential band" by Vanity Fair, "a rollicking, epic biography" by Salon, and "compulsively readable" by Publishers Weekly. It has also been published in the UK and Germany, with a Japanese edition forthcoming.

He is the recipient of a Music Journalism Award for criticism. Born and raised in New Jersey, not far from Bruce Springsteen territory, he lives and works in New York City. He has a jones for sci-fi and horror films, non-fiction books, and those chocolate/coconut Girl Scout cookies, in no particular order.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Book with a Few Embarrasing Factual Errors., August 2, 2009

By 

E. Meyer "Plant Killer" (Del Boca Vista, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth (Hardcover)

This book does an excellent job of describing in detail the relationships between the people in this great band, and the many people they've worked with in their 25+ years together.

My only complaint is that the author occasionally gets some glaring facts wrong. He claims that the SST in SST Records stands for "Solid State Tuners" (it stands for Solid State Transmitters); and makes passing mention of an early associate of the band moving to San Francisco to attend Berklee College of Music (which is located in Boston). These are basic, easily verifiable facts, and I'm kind of amazed that they weren't caught by someone who read it between the rough draft and the actual printing.

Does this ruin the book? No, because the mistakes don't actually alter the course of events as the book describes them. They do, however, cause me to doubt the book's accuracy in general, and I can't help but wonder if there were other more consequential mistakes that flew right over my head.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last: Sonic Pleasure Transfers Well To Print ! !, June 2, 2008

By 

Crescenzo C. Capece "d'caborojo" (NYNJPR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth (Hardcover)

I've been waiting a long time for a big, in-depth bio of one of music's most interesting,enduring and influential bands, and Browne's book certainly delivered the goods. He covers all aspects of the band--childhoods, early days and apartments in New York, recording sessions, the dynamics within the band, their ups and downs and conflicts with their record companies and managers, the whole Lollapalooza experience, and personal lives. I had no idea Kim's high school boyfriend was Danny Elfman or that there was a showdown within the band during the "Dirty" sessions. It's extremely well researched and the writing is accessible and lively. If you're a fan, you have to read this.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kool Thing, June 17, 2008

By 

M. Levy (Ramat Gan, Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth (Hardcover)

A great biography about one of the greatest American bands.
I consider myself quit an expert when it come to Sonic Youth, nevertheless this book surprised me with all the rich information the author has gathered (Very impressive research including interviews and pictures from all the people who were involved in the Sonic Youth story).

The book is well written and leaves you with wet eyes in the end. It tells the story of ordinary people who had dream, some of those dreams were achieved some of the were not.

It is a must read to any sonic youth fan and to anyone who consider himself an alternative/rock/punk/indie music fan.