Preface. Introduction: Definitions, Themes, and Issues. Into the Twentieth Century: Popular Music and Mass Culture.
Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of a New Era.
Marketing and the Politics of Race, Language, and Gender.
Regulating Popular Music.
1. Mass Technology and Popular Taste: The Tin Pan Alley Era. Sound Recording: From the Cylinder to the Disc.
Tin Pan Alley Constructs the Mainstream Tradition.
Commercial Broadcasting: A Very Private Enterprise.
Hollywood Bolsters Tin Pan Alley.
2. Blues and Country Music: Mass Media and the Construction of Race. Blues and Country: More Equal Than Separate.
Race Music: The Popular Sounds of Black America.
Hillbilly Music: The White Working-Class Country Cousin.
The Dissemination of Blues and Country: More Separate than Equal.
The Long Road Back for Records.
3. Good Rockin' Tonight: The Rise of Rhythm and Blues. The Publishers and the Broadcasters: ASCAP vs. BMI.
Enter the Deejay: The Broadcasters vs. the AFM.
From Big Bands to Solo Singers.
The Major Labels Reclaim Country Music.
The Independents Promote Rhythm and Blues.
High Fidelity/Low Overhead.
Television and the Suppression of FM Broadcasting.
Independent Radio: Deejays in Your Face.
4. Crossing Cultures: The Eruption of Rock 'n' Roll. Cultural Diversity and the Politics of Race and Gender.
Structural Changes in the Music Industry.
Sounds of the Cities.
Doo Wop: The Intersection of Gospel, Jazz, and Pop.
Rockabilly: The Country Strain.
5. The Empire Strikes Back: The Reaction to Rock 'n' Roll. The Established Powers Fight Back.
Schlock Rock: Enter the White Middle Class.
The Official Attack of Rock 'n' Roll.
Surf's Up!
6. Popular Music and Political Culture: The Sixties. The Civil Rights Movement and Popular Music .
The British Invasion Occupies the Pop Charts.
Breaking the Sounds of Silence.
Against the Grain: The Counterculture.
7. Music vs. Markets: The Fragmentation of Pop. The Music Industry: A Sound Investment.
Creativity and Commerce: Rock As Art.
Sweeter Soul Music.
Singer/Songwriters, Soft Rock Solutions, and More.
Women's Music: The Feminist Alternative.
From Country Rock to Southern Boogie.
Mad With Power: Heavy Metal.
All That Glitters Doesn't Sell Gold.
8. Punk and Disco: The Poles of Pop. Punk vs. Disco.
Punk: Rock as (White) Noise.
Disco: The Rhythm Without The Blues.
9. Music Videos, Superstars, and Mega-Events: The Eighties. Early Music Television: They Want Their MTV.
Superstars: The Road to Economic Recovery.
Charity Rock and Mega-Events: Who Is the World?
Technology and the New International Music Industry.
10. Rap and Metal: Youth Culture and Censorship. The Continuing History of Heavy Metal.
Hip Hop, Don't Stop.
Popular Music and the Politics of Censorship.
11. Alternative to What? Strange Bedfellows: Alternative and the Mainstream.
Marketing Categories and Monster Contracts.
Country and R&B: The Other Alternatives.
Lollapalooza: Countercultural Sensibilities, Mainstream Clout.
Bibliography. Index. 