Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard [Paperback]

Roni Sarig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

To amend the "official" history of Rock, the author focuses on the fascinating history and powerful influence that certain innovative, albeit generally under-appreciated, musicians have had on successive generations of bands. 50 illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Billboard Books (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823076695
• ISBN-13: 978-0823076697
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for music obsessives like me, January 30, 2001

By 

A. Wakefield "Partial Observer" (Indian Fortress, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard (Paperback)

This book is so full of interesting music which I have never heard that I can only read a little bit at a time before I have to go on a shopping spree to find out what the music actually sounds like. Although the writing sometimes focused on irrelevant details like the biographies of some of the artists, in general you will learn a lot about music and get a lot of great ideas for new music to go out and search for. I bought this book as a musician obsessed with finding out the origins of different sounds and hearing all of the true original and passionate music I can. This book is an essential key in this quest. I reccomend it to anyone with a screwed up, obsessive mind about music like myself. I believe I have to know what every original band sounds like so I know exactly when my music is influenced and by whom. Pretty weird and impossible to know, but it's part of the "anxiety of influence" I suppose. Actually if you want to read Bloom's book on that topic alongside this book, it might make for an interesting experience.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide to unknown music, June 10, 2000

By 

Alex De Visscher (Calgary, AB, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard (Paperback)

If you like the kind of music that they don't play on the radio, this is the book for you. This book lists the bands that were highy influential to other bands, without ever catching the attention of the audience at large. People like Captain Beefheart and Brian Eno, groups like Wire and Dead Kennedys: you can find out who they were in this book. I bought many albums based on what I read in The Hidden History of Rock, and I have never been disappointed.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to some fairly obscure bands., February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard (Paperback)

Eddie Vedder is quoted above saying: "This is the book I wish I had growing up as a kid." Well, I wish that everyone who has been turned on to "alternative" music by bands like Pearl Jam, Green Day, and Nirvana, will take note of this very informative text. Although at first glance some of the names seem gargatuan (Stooges, Nick Drake, Public Image Limited) compared to others (Erik Satie, Serge Gainsbourg, Iceberg Slim), each of the artists chosen are worthy of inclusion. There are over 80 artists covered in the text, and Sarig skillfully subdivides each into one of sixteen genres/chapters. The book is basically an amalgamation of biographies, and it is difficult to tie one chapter to the next, although there is a concerted effort to keep these stories in chronological order (so you won't be reading about Mission of Burma before you've read about DNA-- unless you so choose). Sarig does do a fine job introducing each chapter, which helps defray the otherwise disjointed feel of the book.

Other than the usual "Why wasn't this band Chosen?" or "Why did you include this one?" questions, there are at least two omisions which could have made the text much better. First, although there is a section on Gram Parsons, there is no chapter on alternative country. Given the popularity of bands like Wilco, Son Volt, and Whiskeytown (Sarig uses quotes from these artists throughout the text), it would have been appropriate to add a chapter on this growing genre of music (Jason and the Scorchers and Uncle Tupelo might have been covered).

Second, I personally think the book would have been much better if Sarig had gone out on a limb. He obviously has great taste in music and is still very much in touch with today's indie label scene. The book would have benefited from a chapter documenting a few of the current bands who are doing much in the way of innovation but receiving very little recognition. There is a whole new crop of bands who will influncee future generations of musicians, and Sarig missed his chance to give these indie scene-sters their fifteen minutes of fame. I guess we can always hope for a sequel.

Those two minor discrepencies aside, this is a monumental achievement. Collectors, music enthusiasts, and rock'n'roll fans will all profit from this book. The discographies had me running to the local used record store to see if I could find some of these great albums.