Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco Summary and Reviews

Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco
by Peter Shapiro

Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco
List Price: $17.00
Category: Book
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Book Summary Information

Author: Peter Shapiro
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-03
ISBN: 0865479526
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Book Reviews of Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco

Book Review: Good but opinionated
Summary: 4 Stars

A fair addition to "Love Saves the Day" and "Last Night A DJ Saves My Life", especially in giving credit to some of the major artists such as Kid Creole aka August Darnell; or shedding light (however perfunctory) on the glorious obscurities such as Ozo... On the minus side, however, is that the author suffers from the typical muso disease of opinionating whether anyone actually cares or not. Whereas disco history welcomes more people who take a more analytical attitude, it definitely doesn't need pseudointellectual smartarsing which forgets the sheer joy (which indeed might revel in corniness as well, if need be). Shapiro's contempt for the likes of Patrick Juvet and Dennis Parker is plain silly - they might not have been the greatest singers in the world music history but that's just not the point; they had splendid tunes with catchy arrangements and if Shapiro is unable to enjoy them, it's only due to his snobbishness. All in all, quite an enjoyable read, though.

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