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another tuneless racket

  • another tuneless racket

    Another Tuneless Racket: Punk And New Wave In The Seventies, Volume One: Origins 
    Another Tuneless Racket: Punk And New Wave In The Seventies, Volume Two: Punk
    Another Tuneless Racket: Punk and New Wave In The Seventies: Volume Three: UK New Wave
    Another Tuneless Racket: Punk and New Wave In The Seventies, Volume Five: The American Beat – West
    By Steve H Gardner (self published)

    The best intentions are often derailed by practicality. After being gifted Volume One of “Another Tuneless Racket”, the plan was to acquire and read the other three back-to-back and then write a review. A fine goal but one that slipped after realising their combined volume came to almost 2,400 pages and life was getting in the way…

    After delving deep into the series, it’s clear that the beauty of “Another Tuneless Racket” is that once you get your bearings, you can dive in almost anywhere, pick up on a thread and keep going. As you'll gather from the titles, each volume zeroes in on a time and place in the history of punk and new wave music, and then takes up the story of key acts. The series serves as a roadmap through the twists and turns of punk and new wave across most of the western world. 

    It’s meticulously researched but you’d expect that from author Steve Gardner, He’s a lanky Yank from San Diego who grew up on the US East Coast where he went to university before finding himself working in engineering. A music obsessive from an earl;y age, he'd been bitten by the punk rock bug by the time he blew out the candles on his 21st birthday cake.