B-Sides Undercurrents and Overtones

In this book George Plasketes adapts the iconic 'A-side/B-side' dichotomy from the 45 r.p.m. for use as a unique conceptual critical historical and cultural framework for exploring and threading together a variety of popular music and media texts. The profiles and perspectives focus on the peripheries; on texts which might be considered 'B-sides'overlooked underappreciated and unsung cases creators patterns and productions that have unassumingly but significantly marked popular culture music and media during the past 40 years. These B-sides represent undercurrents but they resonate as overtones in the mainstream of music and culture many as historical hinges. They constitute an important connect-the-dots cultural chronicle with a multi-layered context for interpreting the interrelations between creators and institutions the music market place the production of culture and important connections between the peripheral and the popular.