Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
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. Mojo
Review
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. Ben Thompson - New Statesman - & - Society
Review
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. Village Voice
Review
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. Melody Maker
Review
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.
Review
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. Robert Christgau - New York Times Book Review
Review
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. Nick Terry - The Lizard
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. Cover
Review
The Sex Revoltsis a monumental addition to the rock-crit canon.
Review
The language is punchy and erudite throughout. Phrases like 'invertebrate goo' resonate. Students of modern mythmaking should consider this required. Library Journal
Review
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
Review
The Sex Revolts is a monumental addition to the rock-crit canon. San Francisco Bay Guardian
Review
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. Barney Hoskyns - Observer
Review
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. Gay Times
About the Author
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, Village Voice, and New York Newsday.
Table of Contents
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
Rolling Stones
2. She's Hit: Songs of Fear and Loathing
Rolling Stones
John's Children
Garage Punk
Led Zepplin
Roxy Music
Tim Rose
Nick Caves
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
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
Manic Street Preachers
Public Enemy
U2
6. Flirting With the Void: Abjection in Rock
The Stooges
Sex Pistols
Throbbing Gristle
Birthday Party
Scratch Acid
Grindcore
Alice in Chains
Nirvana
Henry Rollins
Devo
7. Wargasm: Metal and Machine Music
Futurists
Kraftwerk
Techno
Motorhead
Iggy Pop
Radio Birdman
David Bowie
Led Zepplin
Young Gods
8. I Am the King: Delusions of Grandeur from Jim Morrison to Gangsta Rap
Jim Morrison
Sex Pistols
Guns N'Roses
Nice Caves
lou Reed
Jane's Addiction
Elridge 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
Apocalpse Culture
PART 2: INTO THE MYSTIC
1. From Rebellion to Grace: The Pscyhedelic Mother's Boy
2. Back to Eden: Innocence, Indovlence and Pastoralism
Mod
Marc Bolan
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
PJ 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, Withces 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
PJ 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