Popular Music and Automobiles is an outstanding scholarly examination of motorvatin' music. Chuck Berry would approve of this literary lionizing of car tunes ... this Bloomsbury Academic publication is a gem. It elevates car song analysis to new heights. It presents informed and insightful international perspectives about automotive technology. Best of all, the essays are lucid and logical, fun to read, and valuable sources of reflection. * Popular Music and Society *
Popular Music and Automobiles is a fresh take on a profoundly powerful socio-musicological combination. Not only do chapters cover canonical US examples (e.g. The Beach Boys) from new perspectives, but there are case studies from Wales, England, Germany, and Colombia. Authors cover both the more celebratory aspects of pop and cars as well as more difficult topics such as press coverage of popular musicians in car crashes and the role of music in White supremacist violence against those who are so-called 'driving while black.' * Justin A. Williams, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Bristol, UK, and co-editor, with Katherine Williams, of The Singer-Songwriter Handbook (Bloomsbury, 2017) *
Mark Duffett and Beate Peter's Popular Music and Automobiles not only helps remedy the paucity of writings on this subject, but does so in an entertaining and informative fashion. This book sheds new light on two postwar pop culture passions and their relationship to each other. * Timothy D. Taylor, Professor of Ethnomusicology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and author of Music and Capitalism: A History of the Present (2016) and Music in the World: Selected Essays (2017) *
Literally and figuratively, cars and music move us; they transport us physically and emotionally. The connection between the two, now more than a century old, is the subject of this fascinating, provocative collection. Ranging across decades, genres, and continents, Popular Music and Automobiles is a powerful vehicle for exploring the complexities of culture and identity. * Mark Katz, Professor of Music, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, and author of Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music (2004) *
