Michaelangelo Matos

Being also "from the 80s," Can't Slow Down was a walk down memory lane for me in many ways. It was interesting looking back and reading about details and context that we, in that time of having limited access to media (teen magazines, Much Music and the like for me in Canada), didn't have at the time. I felt, given the book was about 1984, that more coverage could have been given to the big 80s artists, rather than those late 70s and early 80s bands. However I can also see the rationale in documenting the events and artists who culminated in 1984. The book was organized by chapters on venues, rather than chronologically, so it jumped around more than I would have liked. Overall, though, it was an interesting read.… (meer)

I read this book as an electronic advance reading copy provided by Edelweiss, and I have submitted my comments to the publisher via that web site.

This book is arranged chronologically to document, via previously published magazine articles and books, the enormous variety of pop music that was created in 1984. It was a very good year for music, and the author conveys the quality and innovation of the various genres, albeit in a rather poor writing style. Several chapters feel disjointed, with various unrelated trivia jumbled together. There are also some truly odd phrasings, such as a description of Sade's song as "the onomatopoeic 'Smooth Operator'." Recommended only for readers with an interest in mid 1980s music.

On a personal note, I appreciated learning new facts about a time that I remember fondly (Bono originally planned to write "Pride" about Reagan! Henry Rollins was the ghostwriter for David Lee Roth's memoir! John Taylor had politically conservative leanings!).… (meer)