Music Is Power
Popular Songs, Social Justice, and the Will to Change
Brad Schreiber (Author)
9781978839021
Paperback / softback, published 13 October 2023
256 pages, 18 b-w
20.3 x 13.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.313 kg
“Brad Schreiber understands both music and politics, as well as the jagged lines where they overlap and intersect. His clarity, intelligence, and insight provide lasting rewards.”
- Anthony DeCurtis (Grammy Award–winning journalist, for Rolling Stone, author of Lou Reed: A Life) “An inspiring tour through the history of making change with music and an important call for retrieving music’s intrinsic ability to challenge power.”
- Douglas Rushkoff (documentarian, professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at CUNY/Queens, author of Team Human) “A stirring survey of the sometimes sad, sometimes joyful, sometimes angry but ever hopeful music that is the soundtrack for America’s struggle to become a more fair and just society.”
- Seth Rosenfeld (journalist, winner of the George Polk Award, author of Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radical) (Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers) (Law and Disorder) (The Stuph File) (Nick Digilio Show - WGN)
Music Is Power mention in Planet Proctor, December 2019 issue
(Planet Proctor) (Midnight Writer News) "A fun read. It provides the old timer with a quick sail down the streams of memory and the younger reader with a useful and concise look at the music of the West that helped form the culture of today."
(CounterPunch) (Louisiana Radio Network) "Music Is Power covers the socio-political history of important music, from Bob Dylan to hip-hop, including genres like punk, comedy, folk, psychedelia, RB/soul and major musicals, and encourages listeners to respond to this powerful music with real world activism. It’s a timeless New Year’s gift!"
(Planet Proctor) (Unstructured Podcast) (The Allan Handelman Show interview with Brad Schreiber: Music Is Power") (Largehearted Boy) (Madame Perry's Salon) (The Peter B. Collins Show) "A fun and informative read from first page to last."
(Midwest Book Review) (Madison Bookbeat) (Parallax Views) "Passing Through" KAAD-LP 103.5 FM interview with Brad Schreiber
(Passing Through) "An intensively researched yet rollicking tour of socially charged music...A compelling read on the intersection of popular music and social activism, from Pete Seeger to Zappa to Public Enemy and beyond."
(American Songwriter) (Shadowproof) "What’s better than a book you didn’t know you needed? Music Is Power is a history of the nexus of music and protest, from Wobbly-turned-musician Joe Hill to Green Day, from folk to hip-hop."
(Razorcake) (Shadowproof, Part 2) (Shadowproof, Part 3) "Much has been written about these artists elsewhere, but Schreiber’s focus sets this study apart. He goes beneath the surface to detail how their social consciousness evolved during the course of their careers, and how they came to understand their music’s power to address social ills. This carefully researched book is suitable for fans and scholars alike. Recommended."
(Choice) (Madame Perry's Salon, part two) (Passing Through, part 2) "Coast to Coast AM" interview with Brad, Schreiber, part 1
(Coast to Coast AM, part 1) "Coast to Coast AM" interview view Brad Schreiber, part 2
(Coast to Coast AM, part 2) "Coast to Coast AM" interview with Brad Schreiber, part 3
(Coast to Coast AM, part 3) (Midnight Writer News) (Chatting with Sherri - Blog Talk Radio) (Beyond Reality Radio) (Talk with Ted podcast) (Reading and Writing podcast) (Nancy Yearout's High Road to Humanity) (Deep Dive podcast) (Beyond Reality Paranormal podcast) ("Talk Louisiana," WRKF) (The Stuph File Program) "How Tom Odell’s Another Love became an unlikely anthem for Ukraine," by James Hall
(The Telegraph) (Love's A Secret Weapon podcast) "In Music Is Power, Brad Schreiber argues that socially or politically conscious music emerges from practically every genre of popular music, and he takes the reader on a journey through the various ways that musicians have addressed the issues of their day."
- Shalon Van Tine (Western Folklore journal)
Honorable Mention, 2019 Foreword INDIES Awards - Performing Arts & Music
Honorable Mention, Graphis 2021 Design Annual Competition
Popular music has long been a powerful force for social change. Protest songs have served as anthems regarding war, racism, sexism, ecological destruction, and so many other crucial issues.
Music Is Power takes us on a guided tour through the past one hundred years of politically conscious music, from Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie to Green Day and NWA. Covering a wide variety of genres, including reggae, country, metal, psychedelia, rap, punk, folk, and soul, Brad Schreiber demonstrates how musicians can take a variety of approaches- angry rallying cries, mournful elegies to the victims of injustice, or even humorous mockeries of authority-to fight for a fairer world. While shining a spotlight on Phil Ochs, Gil Scott-Heron, the Dead Kennedys and other seminal, politicized artists, he also gives readers a new appreciation of classic acts such as Lesley Gore, James Brown, and Black Sabbath, who overcame limitations in their industry to create politically potent music
Music Is Power tells fascinating stories about the origins and the impact of dozens of world-changing songs, while revealing political context and the personal challenges of legendary artists from Bob Dylan to Bob Marley.
Supplemental material (Artist and Title List): https://d3tto5i5w9ogdd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/24001955/Music_Is_Power_Supplementary_Artist_Title_List.doc
Introduction
Chapter 1: Musical Workers of the World Unite: Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger
Chapter 2: There For More Than Fortune: Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan
Chapter 3: Caged Artists: Lesley Gore, Janis Ian, P.F. Sloan
Chapter 4: Parody and Poetry: Tom Lehrer, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Smothers Brothers
Chapter 5: Psychedelicate Situation: Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd
Chapter 6: Reason and Blues: Marvin Gaye and The Temptations
Chapter 7: Say It Loud, We’re Blocked but Proud: James Brown and Curtis Mayfield
Chapter 8: Hard Rock Turns Metallic: The Who and Black Sabbath
Chapter 9: More Than a Working Class Hero: John Lennon
Chapter 10: Out of Place and In Your Face: The Dead Kennedys and The Sex Pistols
Chapter 11: Word: Gil Scott Heron and Grandmaster Flash
Chapter 12: Global Music Consciousness: Bob Marley and Peter Gabriel
Chapter 13: Weird, Funny, Angry: Frank Zappa vs. Everybody
Chapter 14: Rap, Not Hip Hop: N.W.A. and Public Enemy
Chapter 15: Weapons of Mass Deconstruction: Dixie Chicks and Green Day
Epilogue
Bibliography
