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At last... a published work on the year of 1984 in music! Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year by Michaelangelo Matos
In the flood of books mostly made by music snobs of the rock press for music snob rock fans, we at last have an actual book on the subject of 80s pop music, centralized on the biggest year for it. A mini-review: Came upon this book by accident a few weeks ago and HAD to buy it, read through it within a week and for the most part I was impressed. It's not a perfect read and as someone who has been taking it upon himself to research this time period, much of what was offered was old hat. However, there were countless smaller details in various areas that I've never heard as well as various things I didn't know about that made it worthwhile. I commend the author for his thorough research and his attempt to weave an overarching tale via that research as cohesively as possible for such an eclectic, wide-ranging and deep year (Matos even dives into the subject of technology and radio formats at the time, both topics getting their own chapters). Even so, often, he does tend to not dwell on certain subjects and artists as much as one would hope (discussion of MTV in particular feels pretty light) and though veiled, has his biases when it comes to who he talks about and what he says (and seems to parrot the general consensus when it comes to certain subjects) but it's not at the expense of the overall story, especially one that should include certain degrees of subjectivity. Hopefully Matos' book opens the door for future publications on the subject of 80s music. In any case, how awesome a year was 1984??  [Edited 1/5/21 14:04pm] | |
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Groovy! Definately a book I will buy once the price comes down. "It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates |
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The price is a little high for what is offered but I simply couldn't resist when I saw that a book like this existed. Found out there was a single copy my local Barnes & Noble and took it for myself. I'm out of work and broke as a joke right now but I HAD to have this 
Whenever you do pick up a copy, you'll definitely get some enjoyment out of it. [Edited 1/5/21 14:02pm] | |
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I have a book from 1984 about 1984 that I found in a thrift store. Owning it is like having a piece of history | |
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alphastreet said: I have a book from 1984 about 1984 that I found in a thrift store. Owning it is like having a piece of history What book is that? | |
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I actually didn't think 1984 was praised that highly... I normally see 1968 get a lot of praises | |
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JayCrawford said: I actually didn't think 1984 was praised that highly... I normally see 1968 get a lot of praises Indeed. I was still a fledgling music fan at the time but the first time I heard any praise directed at '84 was when Rolling Stone deemed it pop's greatest year in 2014.Otherwise, 1968, 1965, 1967 and 1971 seem to be the main years the music press gives shine to and more often than not, it's all focused on rock. | |
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I was iffy about the Michaelangelo Matos book on SOTT, an awful lot of opinion presented as fact. However, I remember it being well written stylistically so i'll probably pick this up.
[Edited 1/6/21 10:30am] | |
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MotownSubdivision said: alphastreet said: I have a book from 1984 about 1984 that I found in a thrift store. Owning it is like having a piece of history What book is that?It’s packed away so I can’t check the exact title, but I doubt it’s on amazon, maybe eBay if anything | |
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jaawwnn said: I was iffy about the Michaelangelo Matos book on SOTT, an awful lot of opinion presented as fact. However, I remember it being well written stylistically so i'll probably pick this up.
[Edited 1/6/21 10:30am] It's a very good read but it feels like a template for somebody else to build upon with a future book. | |
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alphastreet said: MotownSubdivision said: What book is that? It’s packed away so I can’t check the exact title, but I doubt it’s on amazon, maybe eBay if anything | |
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MotownSubdivision said: alphastreet said: It’s packed away so I can’t check the exact title, but I doubt it’s on amazon, maybe eBay if anything It was focusing on the music of that year, and I think mj and cyndi Lauper were included on the cover | |
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MotownSubdivision said: JayCrawford said: I actually didn't think 1984 was praised that highly... I normally see 1968 get a lot of praises Indeed. I was still a fledgling music fan at the time but the first time I heard any praise directed at '84 was when Rolling Stone deemed it pop's greatest year in 2014.Otherwise, 1968, 1965, 1967 and 1971 seem to be the main years the music press gives shine to and more often than not, it's all focused on rock. Ah mainly for pop... If so then yeah I agree, can't think of another year that was just as good as 1984. I'd say from 1980-1984 was a perfect time for pop music if you ask me. | |
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MotownSubdivision said: jaawwnn said: I was iffy about the Michaelangelo Matos book on SOTT, an awful lot of opinion presented as fact. However, I remember it being well written stylistically so i'll probably pick this up.
[Edited 1/6/21 10:30am] It's a very good read but it feels like a template for somebody else to build upon with a future book. I mean, i should hope there's a narrative in there! No point writing a book if you've nothing to say! Just in his SOTT book he declares certain songs, e.g. Starfish & Coffee, as bad songs as if that's just the accepted understanding by most people. | |
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Just bought the kindle version. Can't wait to read it | |
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OP, write a thread about 1984. Whenever you have the time | |
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