The Sex Revolts
Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll
Published on 1. October 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
432 pages
978-0-674-80273-5 (ISBN)
Description
Iggy Pop once said of women: "However close they come I'll always pull the rug from under them. That's where my music is made." For so long, rock 'n' roll has been fueled by this fear and loathing of the feminine. The first book to look at rock rebellion through the lens of gender, The Sex Revolts captures the paradox at rock's dark heart-the music is often most thrilling when it is most misogynist and macho. And, looking at music made by female artists, it asks: must it always be this way?
Provocative and passionately argued, the book walks the edgy line between a rock fan's excitement and a critic's awareness of the music's murky undercurrents. Here are the angry young men like the Stones and Sex Pistols, cutting free from home and mother; here are the warriors and crusaders, The Clash, Public Enemy, and U2 taking refuge in a brotherhood-in-arms; and here are the would-be supermen, with their man-machine fantasies and delusions of grandeur, from Led Zeppelin and Jim Morrison to Nick Cave and gangsta rap. The authors unravel the mystical, back-to-the-womb longings of the psychedelic tradition, from Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Morrison to Brian Eno, My Bloody Valentine, and ambient techno. Alongside the story of male rock, The Sex Revolts traces the secret history of female rebellion in rock: the masquerade and mystique of Kate Bush, Siouxie, and Grace Jones, the demystifiers of femininity, like the Slits and Riot Grrl, tomboy rockers like L7 and P.J. Harvey, and confessional artists like Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and Courtney Love.
A heady blend of music criticism, cultural studies, and gender theory by two of rock's keenest observers, The Sex Revolts is set to become the key text in the women-in-rock debate.
Provocative and passionately argued, the book walks the edgy line between a rock fan's excitement and a critic's awareness of the music's murky undercurrents. Here are the angry young men like the Stones and Sex Pistols, cutting free from home and mother; here are the warriors and crusaders, The Clash, Public Enemy, and U2 taking refuge in a brotherhood-in-arms; and here are the would-be supermen, with their man-machine fantasies and delusions of grandeur, from Led Zeppelin and Jim Morrison to Nick Cave and gangsta rap. The authors unravel the mystical, back-to-the-womb longings of the psychedelic tradition, from Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Morrison to Brian Eno, My Bloody Valentine, and ambient techno. Alongside the story of male rock, The Sex Revolts traces the secret history of female rebellion in rock: the masquerade and mystique of Kate Bush, Siouxie, and Grace Jones, the demystifiers of femininity, like the Slits and Riot Grrl, tomboy rockers like L7 and P.J. Harvey, and confessional artists like Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and Courtney Love.
A heady blend of music criticism, cultural studies, and gender theory by two of rock's keenest observers, The Sex Revolts is set to become the key text in the women-in-rock debate.
Reviews / Votes
The Sex Revolts is a monumental addition to the rock-crit canon. * Village Voice * This is rock criticism on the high slopes, brave, rigorous and endlessly well-read. The book's grand themes are sustained throughout and the authors are endlessly interesting, even about the many marginal and extreme figures on whom much of their arguments rest... This book is ultimately a landmark in rock and gender criticism precisely because it's a beacon of coherence that's also hip enough to convey the fact that rock is often at its most profound when it appears to be talking in tongues. * Mojo * What Simon Reynolds and Joy Press are offering us is not a guide to the distaff side of pop music but a startlingly acute reading of rock through the lens of gender... One of the only really important books yet written about popular music culture... What [Reynolds and Press] have achieved with The Sex Revolts is formidable: we may never be able to listen to rock music in the same way again. -- Barney Hoskyns * The Observer * With The Sex Revolts, music critics and sonic psychoanalysts Simon Reynolds and Joy Press delve deep beneath glib exteriors to forage among rock's dank sociosexual underpinnings... It is an analysis, not a polemic-but they do articulate the issues with a high degree of lucidity. -- Neva Chonin * San Francisco Bay Guardian * Joy Press and Simon Reynolds display a breadth of knowledge and research that ought to be demanded from Cultural Studies books, a range of examples from the most mainstream to Godflesh and Hugo Largo, with every prominent figure in between... The Sex Revolts is right up there with the best tomes on Rock-Greil Marcus's Lipstick Traces or Savage's England Dreaming-and deserves a place on the shelf of anyone who cares passionately about the Rock discourse. -- Nick Terry * The Lizard * Press and Reynolds range freely and effectively outside the narrow definition of rock culture. Their persuasive analysis of rebel misogynies starts with the phenomenon of 'postwar mom-ism,' and proceeds via Look Back in Anger, On the Road, Ken Kesey, and Timothy Leary to a clear understanding of how Jimi Hendrix came to 'remember a city by its chicks'... One of the most impressive things about The Sex Revolts is the way it manages not to lose its moorings...in a sea of erudition... Reynolds and Press have opened up a new frontier of critical dissension and contumely. For that, all those who love rock should salute them. -- Ben Thompson * New Statesman & Society * The language is punchy and erudite throughout. Phrases like 'invertebrate goo' resonate. Students of modern mythmaking should consider this required. * Cover * An absolute delight... The most stimulating, provocative, enjoyable and intelligent book on rock and its relation to our world since Greil Marcus's Lipstick Traces. * Gay Times * Possibly the best analytic/critical tome this decade... Charged, challenging, and essential for anyone who still believes pop deserves to be approached with a little intelligence. * Melody Maker * Unabashed fans of male chauvinists from Jim Morrison to the Australian cult favorite Nick Cave, [Reynolds and Press] are also eloquent in their praise of a more womanly 'oceanic' aesthetic they discern in figures as diverse as the German avant-garde group Can, the punk poet Patti Smith, and Joni Mitchell's far-flung heiresses. Let's hope that this is not the last cross-disciplinary work that owes its ambitions to the cultural studies movement while refusing to succumb to academic provincialism and jargon. -- Robert Christgau * New York Times Book Review * Reynolds and Press's provocative and insightful The Sex Revolts should be read by everyone concerned with rock culture's impact. What differentiates this book from previous efforts...is its serious treatment of the central theme-the complex relationships among gender, rebellion, and rock music... It is the confluence of carefully considered text, numerous footnotes, and a broad-ranging bibliography that shape and support the critical analysis. This timely volume adds reasoned understanding to a high profile-issue. It is strongly recommended. * Choice * Emerges as the only complete analysis of gender in rock music. The writing is intelligent, evocative, and engaging, rich in thought without becoming ponderous. Even those readers who question the authors' nervy paradigms will find this an authoritative, comprehensive history of rock. Thorough, unique, and challenging... Highly recommended. * Library Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
none
Dimensions
Height: 213 mm
Width: 133 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-80273-5 (9780674802735)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Simon Reynolds writes about music and popular culture for the New York Times, ArtForum, the Observer, and Melody Maker, and is the author of Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock. Joy Press writes about music, books, and women's issues for Spin, the Guardian, the Village Voice, and New York Newsday.
Content
* Introduction * Part 1: Rebel Misogynies *1. Angry Young Men: Precursors and Prototypes for Rock Rebellion *Rebel without a Cause * Look Back in Anger * Jack Kerouac * Timothy Leary * Ken Keasy * The Rolling Stones *2. She's Hit: Songs of Fear and Loathing * The Rolling Stones * John's Children * Garage Punk * Led Zepplin * Roxy Music * Tim Rose * Nick Cave *River's Edge *3. Careers in Misogyny: The Strangers and Malcolm McLaren *4. Born to Run: Wanderlust, Wilderness, and the Cult of Speed * The Doors * The Rolling Stones * PiL * Gang of Four * Morrissey * Bob Dylan * Bruce Springsteen * Tom Petty * Iggy Pop * Lynard Skynard *Easy Rider * Neil Young * Kraftwerk * Hardcore Techno *5. Brothers in Arms: Combat Rock and Other Stories for Boys * The Clash * Thin Lizzy * The Manic Street Preachers * Public Enemy * U2 *6. Flirting with the Void: Abjection in Rock * The Stooges * The Sex Pistols * Throbbing Gristle * Birthday Party * Scratch Acid * Grindcore * Alice in Chains * Nirvana * Henry Rollins * Devo *7. Wargasm: Metal and Machine Music * The Futurists * Kraftwerk * Techno * Motorhead * Iggy Pop * Radio Birdman * David Bowie * Led Zepplin * The Young Gods *8. I Am the King: Delusions of Grandeur from Jim Morrison to Gangsta Rap * Jim Morrison * The Sex Pistols * Guns N' Roses * Nick Cave * Lou Reed * Jane's Addiction * Eldridge Cleaver * LL Cool J * Miles Davis * Sly Stone * Gangsta Rap *9. My Way: The Cult of the Psychopath * The White Negro * Jim Morrison * Charles Manson * Sid Vicious * Big Black *Slacker * Apocalypse Culture * Part 2: Into the Mystic *1. From Rebellion to Grace: The Pscyhedelic Mother's Boy *2. Back to Eden: Innocence, Indolence and Pastoralism * Mod * Marc Bolan * The Incredible String Band * The Byrds * West Coast Psychedelia * Van Morrison * Pink Floyd * Dreampop * Rave * Ambient House * The Orb * Dub Reggae * Ultramarine *3. Starsailing: Cosmic Rock * John Cage * John Coltrane * The Byrds * Jimi Hendrix * Tim Buckley * Pink Floyd *4. Flow Motion: Can, Eno and Oceanic Rock * Can * Brian Eno * Robert Wyatt * Miles Davis * A.R. Kane *5. Soft Boys: Nostalgia, Incest, and Zen Apathy * Jimi Hendrix * Morrissey * John Lennon * Elvis * My Bloody Valentine * Part 3: Lift Up Your Skirt and Speak *1. Double Allegiances: The History of Rock *2. One of the Boys: Female Machisma * Patti Smith * Chrissie Hynde * Kate Bush * P.J. Harvey * Suzi Quatro * Joan Jett * Heart * Kim Gordon * L7 *3. Open Your Heart: Confession and Catharsis from Janis Joplin to Courtney Love * Sinead O'Connor * Suzanne Vega * Joni Mitchell * Liz Phair * Lydia Lunch * Hole * Babes in Toyland * Tori Amos * Janis Joplin * Bessie Smith *4. Woman Unbound: Hysterics, Witches, and Mystics * Lydia Lunch * Diamanda Galas * Stevie Nicks * Kate Bush * Siouxsie * Sandy Denny * Cocteau Twins *5. Who's That Girl? Masquerade and Mastery * X-Ray Spex * Siouxsie * Grace Jones * Donna Summer * Annie Lennox * Joan Armatrading * Janet Jackson * Queen Latifa * Salt-n-Pepa * Grace Slick * Nico *6. Un-Typical Girls: Post-Punk Demystification * The Slits * The Raincoats * The Au Pairs * Delta 5 * Bush Tetras *7. What a Drag: Post-Feminism and Pop * Altered Images * Madonna *Paris Is Burning *8. There's a Riot Going On: Grrrls against Boy-Rock * Riot Grrrl * Bikini Kill * Huggy Bear *9. Body's in Trouble * Mary Margaret O'Hara * Suzanne Vega * Hugo Largo * P.J. Harvey * Throwing Muses * Babes in Toyland * Siouxsie * Hole * Lunachicks *10. Adventures Close to Home: Domesticity's Tender Trap * Kate Bush * Lunachicks * Throwing Muses * Siouxsie * Marianne Faithfull * The Slits *11. All Fluxed Up: Rebels against Structure * Patti Smith * Joni Mitchell * Rickie Lee Jones * The Raincoats * Throwing Muses * Mary Margaret O'Hara * Dead Can Dance * Bjork * Diamanda Galas * Yoko Ono * Afterword * Notes * Bibliography * Index