Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-A-Rama [Paperback]

Scott Schinder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1996

A provocative, irreverent, and indispensable resource book on the most popular music of our day, from Rolling Stone magazine--the most trusted name on alternative music.

As the fastest growing category of popular music, alternative rock now can claim nearly every fan of rock & roll.  From the early days of Iggy Pop and the Velvet Underground, to Pearl Jam and Pavement, the alternative music revolution has been unfolding for over twenty years.  Now, from Rolling Stone magazine , Rolling Stones's Alt-Rock-A-Rama, a unique compendium on the history and culture of the alternative music scene.  Chock full of facts, trivia, anecdotes, critiques, top ten lists and riffs from alt-rockers themselves, Alt-Rock-A-Rama is the essential book to chronicle the ongoing alternative rock revolution.  Featuring both hugely popular bands such as R.E.M. and U2 as well as more obscure acts such as Alex Chilton and the dB's, this fascinating collection offers everything you need to know and more about alternative rock.  Sample entries include:

Ñ 105 Alt-Rock Supergroups We Hope Never Happen

Ñ The Greatest Garage Recordings of the Twentieth Century

Ñ The Five Worst Rock Club Rest Rooms in the U.S.

Ñ Ten Bootlegs that Illustrate the Origins of Punk

Ñ Set List for the Ramones' First Live Performance

Ñ The Best and Worst Things About Owning an Indie Label

Ñ Eight Really Dumb Things the Replacements Did

For die-hard Alt-Rockers, old-time music lovers, and anyone interested in popular culture, Rolling Stones's Alt-Rock-A-Rama is the most definitive resource guide of the alternative music revolution.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Close on the heels of the Spin Alternative Record Guide (LJ 8/95) comes a less practical, but frankly more enjoyable, compendium of "alternative" rock miscellany. The book begins weakly, with three brief prefatory statements, two of which defensively acknowledge the meaninglessness of the "alternative" label, while the third, titled "Explanations and Acknowledgments," provides precious little of the former and none of the latter. The body of the book, however, is a joy. Over the course of 147 brief chapters arranged loosely into thematic sections, the reader is treated to lists, essays, glossaries, diary entries, and random musings by musicians and journalists from the pop music underground. The authors' approaches vary from tongue-in-cheek ("J Masco's Recipe for Toasted Cheese Sandwiches") to almost pious ("The Lester Bangs Discography: The Records in His Life") with frequent detours into the hilarious and the bizarre ("The Reinvention of Inner Ear Disorder and Its Quest for Princess Dyslexia"). If your patrons have ever asked which five rock clubs have the worst restroom facilities in the United States or wanted to know Chris Mar's favorite drummer jokes, this book's for you. As a window on a musical genre, it's far too scattershot and various to be of any real documentary value; but as a post punk bathroom book, it can't be beat. For larger general public library collections.?Rick Anderson, Contoocook, N.H.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The intrinsic ephemerality of rock music lends itself to lightweight if entertaining books full of lists, quotes, and other trivia. This new example of the type focuses on the currently hot, vaguely delineated genre called alternative rock. The book's editors skirt the issue of actually defining their subject, venturing only that it is music influenced by the 1970s new-wave movement. So conceived, it encompasses musicians ranging from the wildly popular R.E.M., U2, and Nirvana to cult favorites like Alex Chilton and the dB's. The book's entries include lists (e.g., "Top 10 Postpunk Power Pop Albums" ), anecdotes, critiques, and reminiscences, and the best contributions tend not to be those of professional critics but of the musicians themselves, who, discussing their favorite bands, convey greater enthusiasm and passion and make the book more delightful than this kind of hodgepodge ought to be. Gordon Flagg

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Delta (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385313608
• ISBN-13: 978-0385313605
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whups the donkeys ....!!!, February 22, 2001

By 

Jason I (Jacksonville, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-A-Rama (Paperback)

This book is charming as much as it is fun to read. One of the beautiful things is that it leaves the genre open to discussion. Includes info on little known artists like the Shaggs and Half Japanese to the well known of alternative like Nirvana and REM. The best thing is the fact that it dosent completely concentrate on the definition "Alternative Bands".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Traces an Interesting History, September 30, 2000

By 

"amclauson" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-A-Rama (Paperback)

Though a few years old now, Schinder's quirky collection still traces an interesting history of alternative rock back 30 years, highlighting influential artists and releases in his attempts to define (or not as he says in the preface) the "alternative" label. Features 140 short vignettes on different subjects like the original punks, fan club stories, pretentious band names, and random trivia.