New book published – media narratives in popular music

Solent Music Business lecturers Chris Anderton and Martin James have published a new book about the contested nature of music history and the stories that are told in magazines, documentaries and films.

Review from Matthew Worley, Professor of Modern History, University of Reading: “A much-needed book, Media Narratives in Popular Music shows us how meanings attached to music are shaped by and contested within the media. The book, full of leading scholars, is sure to be essential reading for students of popular culture long into the 21st century.”

The chapter line-up is given below, and you can learn more at the Bloomsbury Academic website: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/media-narratives-in-popular-music-9781501357299/ A paperback version of the book is due to be published in the summer, but the hardback and e-book versions are available now.

Introduction
Chris Anderton and Martin James (Solent University, UK)

SECTION 1 – Narratives of Identity

1. Hidden in Plain Sight: Stories of Gender, Generation and Political Economy on the Northern Soul Scene
Tim Wall (Birmingham City University, UK) and Sarah Raine (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)


2. Paid My Dues: Key Debates in the 1970s Feminist Music Press
Ann-Marie Hanlon (Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland)

3. “They’re Not In It Like The Man Dem”: How Gendered Narratives Contradict Patriarchal Discourse in Electronic Dance Music
Julia Toppin (University of Hertfordshire, UK)

4. “Who Controls the Present Controls the Past. Who Controls the Past Controls the Future”: Washing Islam from the Media Narratives of Hip-Hop
Martin James (Solent University, UK)

SECTION 2 – Narratives of Genre
5. “Exiles in Madison Square Garden”: Critical Reception and Journalistic Narratives of Progressive Rock in Melody Maker Magazine, 1971–1976
Chris Anderton (Solent University, UK)

6. Alternative Before Alternative: The Pre-Punk History of a ’90s Genre
Theo Cateforis (Syracuse University, USA)

7. Never Mind the B…, Here’s Three Minutes of Prog: Rethinking Punk’s Impact on Progressive Rock in Britain During the Late 1970s
Andy Bennett (Griffith University, Australia)

8. “There’s a Crack in the Union Jack.” Questioning National Identity in the 1990s: the Britpop Counter-narrative
Johnny Hopkins (Solent University, UK)

SECTION 3 – Narratives Constructed

9. Compromised Histories: The Impact of Production Pressures on the Construction of Historical Narratives in Popular Music Documentaries
Lauren Istvandity (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia), Sarah Baker (Griffith University, Australia), Zelmarie Cantillon (Western Sydney University, Australia) and Shane Homan (Monash University, Australia)

10. When a History of Gender Representation Meets the Nostalgic Storytelling of Hot Press Magazine
Yvonne Kiely (Independent Scholar, Ireland)

11. Punk Fanzines, Subcultural Consecration, and Hidden Female Histories in Early British Punk
Karen Fournier (University of Michigan, USA)

12. Tales from the Turntables: “Narrating” and “Narrativizing” the “First Club DJ”
Maren Hancock (York University, Canada)