Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever [Hardcover]

Will Hermes (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 8, 2011

Punk rock and hip-hop. Disco and salsa. The loft jazz scene and the downtown composers known as Minimalists. In the mid-1970s, New York City was a laboratory where all the major styles of modern music were reinvented—all at once, from one block to the next, by musicians who knew, admired, and borrowed from one another. Crime was everywhere, the government was broke, and the city’s infrastructure was collapsing. But rent was cheap, and the possibilities for musical exploration were limitless.

Love Goes to Buildings on Fire is the first book to tell the full story of the era’s music scenes and the phenomenal and surprising ways they intersected. From New Year’s Day 1973 to New Year’s Eve 1977, the book moves panoramically from post-Dylan Greenwich Village, to the arson-scarred South Bronx barrios where salsa and hip-hop were created, to the Lower Manhattan lofts where jazz and classical music were reimagined, to ramshackle clubs like CBGBs and The Gallery, where rock and dance music were hot-wired for a new generation. As they remade the music, the musicians at the center of the book invented themselves: Willie Colón and the Fania All-Stars renting Yankee Stadium to take salsa to the masses, New Jersey locals Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith claiming the jungleland of Manhattan as their own, Grandmaster Flash transforming the turntable into a musical instrument, David Byrne and Talking Heads proving that rock music “ain’t no foolin’ around.” Will Hermes was there—venturing from his native Queens to the small dark rooms where the revolution was taking place—and in Love Goes to Buildings on Fire he captures the creativity, drive, and full-out lust for life of the great New York musicians of those years, who knew that the music they were making would change the world.  

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fantastic journey through New York's 1970s underground music scene.
--Booklist (starred review)

"A fascinating book that covers not only the new rock music of the day, but looks back at New York between 1973 and the end of 1977, a time when hip-hop was being birthed, salsa was finding its voice, the avant-garde scene was being heard, and the new loft jazz scene was being born."
-Bob Boilen, NPR's All Songs Considered

"Love Goes to Bldgs on Fire by @WilliamHermes is as fun & insightful as that other 1970s NYC classic, Jonathan Mahler's Bronx is Burning."
--Hugo Lindgren (New York Times Magazine) via Twitter

Although the 1970s appeared to be a musical wasteland (remember Debby Boone?), senior Rolling Stone critic Hermes reminds us forcefully and refreshingly in this breathtaking, panoramic portrait of five years (1973-1977) of that decade that music in New York City was alive, flourishing, and kicking out the jams.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Hermes's attitude, sharp ear and smart big-picture view turn what could have been a small book into something special. A hip, clever, informative look at an unjustifiably dismissed musical era that will have readers scouring iTunes for the perfect accompanying soundtrack."
--Kirkus Review

“Practically every paragraph about music here is also about something else just as fascinating—race, city planning, ambition, drugs, hair-dos. Braiding intricate research with his own teenage memories, Hermes has a bird’s eye view of a great city, and has his ear to the ground.”  —Sarah Vowell

“By simply putting things in chronological order, Will Hermes shows just how astonishing New York City’s music was in the 1970s. But he does more than that: he brings depth and discernment and an eye for odd detail, making his book an essential work of cultural history.” —Luc Sante

“Love Goes to Buildings on Fire is an almost perfect portrait of New York music culture: specific yet comprehensive, enthusiastic yet objective, and as informed as it is personal. The four-page section of what (seemingly) every interesting person in NYC was doing on the night of the ‘77 blackout could have been a book unto itself.” —Chuck Klosterman

“A must-read for any music lover, Love Goes to Buildings on Fire will no doubt inspire nostalgia in readers who lived through the era, and make those who didn’t wish they had.” —Liz Raftery, The Boston Globe

“Will Hermes grew up in Queens, but Love Goes to Buildings on Fire, his new book on New York’s 1970s music scene, is no nostalgia jag—it’s a detailed time-machine trip that zooms in on everyone from the New York Dolls to Steve Reich.” —Rolling Stone

“Meticulously researched and engaging.” —Eric Been, The Wall Street Journal

“I thought there was nothing left to say about the seventies NYC music scene, but Hermes puts it all together—punk, salsa, jazz, hip-hop, disco—into a portrait of a city in ferment, with new bubbles of innovation popping up all over.” —Dan Kois, Vulture Recommends (New York magazine)

“Revelatory.” —Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A)

“There’s no mistaking that this book will have a special appeal for people who were exposed to this music when it was developing—mostly those living in New York in the mid-70s—but Hermes does what a good writer does. He makes the rest of us (this writer included) wish we’d been there.” —Georgia Young, Paste

“[Hermes] does an expert turn here in his book about the music scene in 1970s New York, moving between musical genres and the human worlds they contained with the light-headed excitement of a bright grad student who’s transferring from one subway line to another.” —Emily Carter, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“[A] breathtaking, panoramic portrait of five years . . . that music in New York City was alive, flourishing, and kicking out the jams.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“Hermes moves effortlessly back and forth between the various musical genres while interspersing stories of New York at a time when the city was on the verge of financial ruin and moral collapse.” —Booklist (starred review)

From the Author

"(4 stars) The first book to trace the parallel ascents of every sound born in the city in that dense time--not just punk, disco and hip-hop but salsa, loft jazz, and downtown minimalism... Rich in details and laced with the author's own musical memories, this tells the sonic tale of a city at a low point that finds its creative peak." 
-Mojo magazine UK

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; First Edition edition (November 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865479801
• ISBN-13: 978-0865479807
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Popular
  • #77 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Popular

More About the Author

Will Hermes writes about music and pop culture for Rolling Stone, The New York Times and other publications, and is a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars To understand a critical period in music history December 21, 2011

By Kirk McElhearn VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

First, a disclaimer: I knew Will very well back in the mid- to late-70s; we hung out together and went to many concerts. (A whole group of us were regular concert goers.) So my opinion of this book is certainly influenced by that personal connection.

In any case, Will looks at a somewhat arbitrary 5-year period in the 70s (he easily could have extended it a year or two in either direction), and goes into great detail about the NYC music scene during that time. Not only did it see the rise of groups from CBGBs and Max's Kansas City (Talking Heads, Ramones and others), the minimalists (Steve Reich, Philip Glass), performance artists, and the early days of hip-hop, but it also was a key time for the ascendancy of salsa, singer-songwriter rock (Springsteen, Patti Smith, etc.) and jazz. Will was always an eclectic listener, and among my friends, was the one with the most varied record collection. He writes here about all these styles of music - yes, even disco, which sucked - with erudition and feeling.

As I look back on the 70s from a distance, I realize that not only were those formative years for my own musical tastes, but that they did, indeed, have lasting influence. Will points out how much of this gestation was under the radar for years before becoming influential, and highlights a number of forgotten musicians and artists that were essential back in the day. (And there were plenty of non-NYC bands that passed through: the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis - okay, I was a prog rock fan), Santana, the country rock bands like Lynard Skynard and the Marshall Tucker Band, and so much more.)

New York City in the late 70s was an amazing city for concerts. My friends and I would go to one or two a month, and many more in the summer (we'd hang out on the hill beside the Wollman skating rink in Central Park to listen to many of the concerts that we didn't care enough to pay for. Madison Square Garden, the Palladium, even the Nassau Coliseum were places we frequented, seeing shows by the big rock bands of the time, and in smaller venues, seeing an even broader range of performers. (And in spite of our lack of funds, these concerts were affordable.)

So there's a lot of nostalgia for me in the book. For others, who are younger, or not from NYC, you'll certainly learn a lot about the music scene, but especially understand how much of a connection there was among the different genres of the time. If you love music, read this book; you'll enjoy it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Goes.... July 11, 2012

By Roon

Format:Hardcover

Captures a time and place of music history that is endlessly re-attempted. This book make you feel like you were there. Caution: You may end up buying a lot of new records you should already know as a result of reading this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tying the Knots February 22, 2013

By Soulboogiealex

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I’ve often felt that in the mainstream rock press mainly ignored the advent of Hip Hop and Disco and overstated the importance of Punk Rock. The cultural significance of Hip Hop and Disco often found little appreciation with writers on popular culture. Only in recent years has Rolling Stone magazine begun to take Hip Hop serious for example, a mere 40 years after its conception.

Will Hermes book does a lot to place Hip Hop and Disco in the proper context. Not only does he seem to have a fond appreciation of the genres, he places them against a political and social economical backdrop that does a lot in explaining why the genres would grow as big as they did. Such insights were long overdue in writings about popular culture.

But the book even goes further than that. Will Hermes restores Bruce Springsteen’s place in the early seventies Rock and Punk scene. Because Springsteen became an act of mega proportions it is easy to forget how close he was to acts like the Tuff Darts, the Dictators and the Heartbreakers early in his career when he played the same joints as the Ramones and Patti Smith.

Hermes also analyses parallel developments in classical music, Jazz and Latin-American music. Minimalism seems to have been a common trend across the board as a response to the dire economical times.

Will Hermes often writes form the perspective as a fan, tells about his own experiences seeing some of the now legendary acts when they were just coming up, thus adding a contagious flavour to the book. But he also seems to have gone to great lengths to familiarize himself with the genres that did not necessarily play an important part in the soundtrack of his youth.

The book portraits a full picture of an era without coming of too academic. Though the book comes off as a bit fragmentary at times I applaud the author in how he avoids creating connections where there are none, but leaves the reader to discover the common thread. Will Hermes has managed an enthusiastic but to the point style, which left me curious for music I would not have considered listening to before reading this book. I highly recommend reading Love Goes to Buildings on Fire with a little help from Spotify, mister Hermes and the music will take you on a trip through the Big Apple that by now has (sadly) disappeared.