Book review: Pop History, vol 2, Contemporary Historical Case Studies 1958-1988

Abstract

This two-volume methodological and empirical study of the contours of popular music opens with a simple question: ‘Does pop history need theory?’ (Braucht Popgeschichte Theorie?, vol. 1, p. 7). Such a question implies that the weight of critical analysis concerning a subject needs clarification and ordering so as to stave off fragmentation, and that a set of new research agendas for the topic at hand is necessary. As the editors correctly note, contemporary pop history, while widespread, has generally not been the preserve of professional scholars but rather a vast resource tapped into by journalists, exhibition curators, oldies programmers on radio and television, and so forth.