Ranters and Crowd Pleasers [Paperback]

Greil Marcus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

A retrospective of the punk revolution retraces the history of punk music, from the arrival of the Sex Pistols in 1976 through the following decade and a half. By the author of Dead Elvis. 12,500 first printing. National ad/promo. Tour.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A scintillating collection of previously published essays on rock music since the mid-'70s by the author of Lipstick Traces .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

What distinguishes Marcus from his rock critic peers is his innate ability as a social cryptographer to decode popular music symbols and their significance within a larger context. The big-picture-window connections that illuminate Lipstick Traces ( LJ 4/15/89), the classic Mystery Train ( LJ 4/1/75), and his recently published Dead Elvis (Doubleday, 1991) are apparent in this collection of punk and post-punk influence pieces, written between 1977 and 1991 for periodicals like New West (later California ) , Artforum, and the Village Voice. The Gang of Four, Delta 5, the Mekons, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, X-ray Spex, and, of course, the Sex Pistols and the Clash, are prominently featured, and looming throughout in the background are the creepy specters of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. A revelatory compendium of bands, records, and performances, this work, along with Jon Savage's England's Dreaming ( LJ 1/92), significantly contributes to the evolving documentation and elucidation of punk rock. For most music collections.
- Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 438 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; First Anchor Books Edition/ 2nd Print edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385417217
• ISBN-13: 978-0385417211
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,353,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well-written account of exhilirating music, May 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ranters and Crowd Pleasers (Paperback)

Marcus succeeds in articulating in print what was so wonderful about bands like Gang of Four, the Raincoats, X-Ray Spex, the Clash, etc. There is something truly significant captured in that music between 1976-late 1980s called "punk," and the author explains it unlike no other.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read and reference book, January 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ranters and Crowd Pleasers (Paperback)

Very readable, good essays on The Clash, Bikini Kill, Sonic Youth, etc., you'll probably be glad to have it around if (70's-)80's(-'90s) pop-rock-punk is your thing and you go hunting for info on each new-old band you discover.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Utter pomposity., May 2, 2005

By 

Todd Mason - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ranters & Crowd Pleasers: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-92 (Hardcover)

It's not so much that Marcus doesn't love his subject; it's more that he's so invested in having the Biggest Thinks possible about his subject that he comes crashing down in a litter of pompous distortion, at worst, and irritating self-congratulation, entirely too often. As with LIPSTICK TRACES, which this was tossed together to follow, if you want to feel as if you've been intellectually challenged while reading music reviews with a modicum of pop-culture history slathered in, you could do worse. But you can do much better, as well. And you won't even have to suffer through the gosh-wow celebrations of Situationism, otherwise known as the art of overstating the obvious at tedious length.