Electric Shock

A thrilling, panoramic history of popular music from the birth of recorded sound to the present dayAmbitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on Spotify.Over that time, popular music has transformed the world in which we live. Its rhythms have influenced how we walk down the street, how we face ourselves in the mirror, and how we handle the outside world in our daily conversations and encounters. It has influenced our morals and social mores; it has transformed our attitudes towards race and gender, religion and politics.From the beginning of recording, when a musical performance could be preserved for the first time, to the digital age, when all of recorded music is only a mouse-click away; from the straitlaced ballads of the Victorian era and the 'coon songs' that shocked America in the early twentieth century to gangsta rap, death metal and the multiple strands of modern dance music- Peter Doggett takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the history of music. Within a narrative full of anecdotes and characters, Electric Shock mixes musical critique with wider social and cultural history and shows how revolutionary changes in technology have turned popular music into the lifeblood of the modern world.

Long-listed for Penderyn Music Book Award 2016 (UK)

“"Witty and compelling" - - Esquire”

Witty and compelling Esquire
Dauntlessly comprehensive, elegantly parlayed survey of pop’s recorded history MOJO
a great history book, read it and stream -- Max Bell Record Collector
What Electric Shock imparts… is delight and curiosity in the music it chronicles with such pithy vivacity. -- Neil Spenser Guardian
this magnificent book is highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in popular music over the last century or so -- Alwyn Turner Literary Review

Peter Doggett first wrote about feminism and gay liberation in There's a Riot Going On, his 2005 history of the collision between rock music and revolutionary politics. Since then, he has published a series of books about the death of 1960s idealism, and its aftermath, as viewed through the life and work of the Beatles in You Never Give Me Your Money, David Bowie in The Man Who Sold the World and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in his 2019 biography of the same name. His other books include a panoramic cultural history of popular music, Electric Shock. He lives in Sussex with the feminist artist and film-maker Rachel Baylis.

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