MAJOR LABELS

A lively, heartfelt exploration of the many worlds of popular music.

Even though this is a big, capacious book, New Yorker staff writer Sanneh is not exhaustive in his treatment of seven categories of sound: Jazz and blues are only lightly mentioned, for instance, even though both had a formative role in rock and R&B, and some readers may wonder why he calves punk rock off from rock to constitute a genre of its own. Still, as he writes, “if you emphasize genres, you inevitably find yourself thinking about the otherstars”—i.e., other than the major players, which explains his numerous mentions of Grand Funk Railroad, which, though disliked by critics and connoisseurs, was “one of the most popular rock bands in America.” Sanneh begins with a pioneer who’s still at it, Dion DiMucci, and moves on to Bruce Springsteen, “who was a bit of a throwback even when he first emerged, in 1973,” before surveying dozens of rock artists. Throughout, the author shows himself to be a master of the mot juste—e.g., “Starting in the late seventies, Van Halen perfected a Day-Glo variant of heavy metal”—and his consideration of the plight of “quiet” singer/songwriters (think James Taylor and Carole King) is intriguing. Some of Sanneh’s genre-slotting is arguable: Prince, for example, can fit into just about any category except country, while many of Steve Earle’s country songs are as punk as anything by the Sex Pistols. As for country, the author is spot-on when he observes, “Just about everyone can agree on Dolly Parton. But when it comes to country music, people seem to disagree on just about everything else”—save that even the most treacly of country acts is expected to pay homage to Hank Williams every now and then. Sanneh can be funny (“If a track went ‘Oontz, oontz, oontz, oontz,’ it was likely to be a house track,”) snobbish, and even harsh, but it’s clear that he’s listened to just about everything with ears and mind wide open.

A pleasure—and an education—for any music fan.