What do Franz Liszt, Louis Armstrong, Woody Guthrie, and Elvis Presley have in common? What’s the story on the birth of the banjo, the electric guitar, and the Stradivarius violin? Why did disco happen? Who are the punk princesses? These are just a few of the questions answered in this lively book. Filled with facts, trivia, and stories about the world’s musicians, instruments, songs, and more, this endlessly diverting "plunge" dips into the history of Motown, muzak, and marching bands; tells the secret stories behind the hits; explores legendary venues like the Grand Ole Opry, the Apollo, and the Fillmore; spots the rarely sighted “two-hit wonders”; describes the origins of karaoke, rap music, and the cha cha cha. In short, it includes all the music news that’s fit to print is here in a variety of formats — longer entries for extended sojourns and brief tidbits for shorter stays.
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Since 1988, the Bathroom Readers' Institute has led the movement to stand up for those who sit down and read in the bathroom (and anywhere else, for that matter). Our crack staff works year-round to bring you the publishing industry's most absorbing anthologies of history, humor, origins, flops, fads, quotes, puzzles, kids' stuff, and more. Today, with more than 11 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers, the movement begat by Uncle John is stronger than ever. In fact, the "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" series in the longest-running, most popular series of its kind in the world.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Uncle John Shines a Light on the World of Music!,
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This review is from: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music (Uncle John's Bathroom Readers) (Paperback)
With the publication of PLUNGES INTO MUSIC, Uncle John & Co. must have about a baker's dozen of these interesting volumes to their credit. As with the other volumes, MUSIC focuses in on one subject and serves up its usual, crowd-pleasing combination of history, trivia, lists, rankings, quotes and extended articles that so many of us enjoy. If you are interested in the world of music, you'll want to own a copy of this book.
PLUNGES INTO MUSIC is a hefty volume, weighing in at 513 pages. It features, in no particular order, a mixture of isolated facts, short 'quick read' blurbs, 2-3 page articles, extended pieces and very extended articles. An example of this last category would be the three-part Story of Music. Extended articles include Musical Presidents, Stradivarius Violins and Famous Music Producers. Under Quick Reads you'll find MTV Facts, Musical Firsts, Perfect Pitch, Musical Word Origins and Frank Sinatra's 'lucky break.' And Short Articles include Cover Versions, Silly Songs that were hits, Rock 'n Roller Obits, Ancient Instruments, Opera History and the Weird, Weird World of Music. By this late date, Uncle John has the PLUNGES concept down to a winning formula. PLUNGES INTO MUSIC features something for everyone interested in the subject and trivia buffs in general. You can read this book straight through or, as I did, jump in at any page. Whatever approach you take, you'll find yourself being introduced to some absolutely fascinating material. Recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderfully fun read for all music fans,
By Scott Hedegard "Scott" (Fayetteville, AR USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music (Uncle John's Bathroom Readers) (Paperback)
The BRI (Bathroom Reader's Institute) has been around for a long time with dozens of fun filled trivia subjects in the general series, and now "Uncle John" has been specializing the last couple of years in specific subjects, all great fun to read. The latest, "Plunges Into Music", is a delightful plunge (pun intended) into the world of music and will not disappoint, whether you're a rock fan, opera or country. Even non-musicians will dig this volume.
We get more trivia than we can remember, plus interesting bios on composers, instruments, and album history. It's carefully researched, as all BRI volumes are, but I did spot one boo-boo in the footnotes that run along the bottom of the pages, which makes it fun to point out. The claim is that a Marty Robbins tune in 1961 was the first to have distorted guitar. I have a CD from jazz guitarist maestro Django Reinhardt that contains a song from the year of his death, 1953, called "Night and Day" that has undeniable and easily heard distortion. Some claim Link Wray's "Rumble", the instrumental hit from the late '50's also had distortion. It certainly has a gnarly tone, fer sure. But that's a very small bone to pick. Like the other volumes, this is a great read from front to back or hit and miss. I also recommend, if you can find it, Dave Marsh's "Rock Book Of Lists", both volumes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another classic Uncle Johns,
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This review is from: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music (Uncle John's Bathroom Readers) (Paperback)
Another classic from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader's series. My boyfriend loves these books and, being a musician, this one is one of his favorites. Full of lil facts and stories to delight any musician. Five stars.
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