Where Were You... When the Music Played?: 120 Unforgettable Moments in Music History

by Michael Heatley, Bill Wyman (Foreword)

In lively text, spectacular photographs, and moving personal memories, here is the story of pop music starting in 1955 to the 2008 Grammy Awards? and just about everything in between.

Do you remember where you were when?Bill Haley and his Comets stormed the charts in 1955 with Rock Around the Clock? Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, two Sun Records protégés, both had hit singles in 1956? Bruce Springsteen introduced Born in the USA in the mid-1980s?

Year by exciting year, this book chronicles the beginnings of rock and roll. For most of the fifties Elvis dominated the pop music scene, but other voices also came alive such as Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley. Then the sixties stormed in and revolutionized music all over again. Chubby Checkers put the Twist on global dance floors. Joan Baez gave folk music a new twist at Newport and James Brown recorded live at the Apollo. Then the Beatles and the Rolling Stones crossed the ocean and changed the beat again. In 1969 Woodstock exploded and new groups crowded in?from the Grateful Dead to Led Zeppelin.

In the 1970s Billy Joel performed at Carnegie Hall. Saturday Night Fever and Evita captured stage and screen, and Live Aid concerts stirred the global conscience. Rock began to look to history with the Who?s 25th anniversary tour in 1989 and Bob Dylan?s 30th anniversary concert in 1992. The book concludes with Amy Winehouse?s five Grammy awards in 2008.

This rousing musical tour includes more than 300 color and black-and-white archival photographs of performers and the concerts they made famous; a year by year record of pop music highlights; technology breakthroughs that changed the music business; and personal stories by ordinary people who were at the concerts or whose lives were irrevocably touched by the music. The last 15 years receive an exciting overview that focuses on the growing role of technology, the rise of performing moguls such as Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé, and the worldwide Live 8 concerts.

Genres: Music

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2008

About the author

Michael Heatley is the author or editor of over thirty biographies, including Backstreet Boys: The Unofficial Book, Bon Jovi: In Their Own Words and Rolf Harris: The Most Talented Man In The World. In 1995, he wrote the liner notes to Rolf's best-selling album Rolf Rules OK!

Since 1977 he has written more than a hundred music, sport and TV books.

He has written for magazines including Privileged View (for viewers of UK Gold and UK Living), 442 and Fultime (Fulham FC), Music Week, Billboard, Goldmine (US record collecting magazine), Radio Times, Daily Record and the Mail on Sunday color supplement.

In addition, Michael runs a fanzine in honor of legendary Welsh psychedelic rock band Man called The Welsh Connection which is circulated to a small but fervent fanbase on a bi-monthly basis.

Reviews

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book very much. I relived my own youth, then spells where I was raising young children and out of the music loop, then came my teenage kids' music. By the end of the book I recognized very few of the names and titles but was still thoroughly enjoying myself.

[Bonni Sweet]

pretty interesting tidbits about our music.