Ratings2
Average rating3
There were great anecdotes. However, the transitions in this book came out of left field, and I was often left wondering how, for example, we got from
Grandmaster Flash to the Talking Heads without even a subheading in between.
After hearing an interview with the author, I was excited to read this book and delve into the various facets of New York City's music scene in the early to mid 70s interlaced with Will Hermes' anecdotes. However, the execution suffers. The book is organized chronologically with a few paragraphs dedicated to an important song, album, or other event. So, you might read about an artist putting out a record on page 71 and then not hear about them again until page 208. I never felt as though there was enough depth to any part of each tidbit and there weren't enough personal observations from the author to really tie it together. I don't know if the book would have been better if it were organized differently or if the book tried to cover too much, but it isn't one I can recommend, unfortunately.