Really interesting content: author covers NYC music of 1973-78 from punk, rock, salsa, hip hop, disco, avant, jazz, etc. and ties it loosely into NYC history. Hermes' writing is serviceable and clear and he refrains from the usual cliches and gushy language that some music journalists use. ( )

lovely book on music produced in New York City 1972-1977. dense with information, and encyclopedic in scope, it moves from one stream of music to another constantly as they ebb and flow and mingle. meticulous with its extensive notes and index, it's a reference point for anyone at all interested in the music of this place or period, how and why it was born and made and in what company, until the disparate influences combine to inevitably create something new. it's also a generous through-line narrative about, as the author says in the acknowledgments, "the way in which creative work is a shared chain-reaction of inspirations", and pulling that off is a major reason why i love this very readable book. ( )

Will Hermes provides an insider history of New York’s music scene from 1973 to 1977. He captures a pivotal time when rock music was evolving and changing in New York. If there is a character that the narrative revolves around it’s Patti Smith . Sometimes though a little hard to follow it seems like lots of notes strung together and occasionally it makes shifts from third person sweeping narratives to first person direct experiences which can be a bit hard to follow. ( )

I focused on the rock and punk stories and skimmed over the hip hop, jazz, and experimental music sections. What I read, I liked. ( )

An amazing year for books about music history. This book stands out for me as being the first one offering equal levels of respect and perspective to all of the music that was going on in NYC in the 70s. No matter how much you know about music, you will learn something, and you will find yourself making notes about songs to track down. Even if you have an above-average knowledge of one particular scene, you will appreciate being able to compare it to everything else - punk vs hip hop, disco vs jazz, even the growth of latino music. I'm downloading Celia Cruz and Steve Reich and digging out Talking Heads.

Dork alert: no, the E Street Band were not named after a commercial strip in Asbury Park. ( )