Let’s Do It: The Birth of Pop Music by Bob Stanley
By Hannah Ferguson
From the success of his band Saint Etienne’s cover of Neil Young’s, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, in 1991, to literary success in more recent years with his first book, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”- Bob Stanley visited the Durham Book Festival to discuss his latest book, “Let’s Do It: The Birth of Pop Music”.
Described by friend and event chair, Marie Nixon, as a musician, journalist, quiz master, author and filmmaker, Bob Stanley appears the perfect candidate to delve into the history of pop music. As in his newest book he charts the rise of pop music from its origins, in its early days of rpm records and the very discovery of recorded sound through the twentieth century with legends like Frank Sinatra.
“…A musician, journalist, quiz master, author and filmmaker, Bob Stanley appears the perfect candidate to delve into the history of pop music”
Stanley credited at the event, technology itself as the driving force behind the revolution that pop music undertook. With interesting stories to tell about the likes of Bing Crosby paying American company, Ampex, twenty thousand dollars to reassemble and work a tape to record himself on, to avoid live radio performance and leave more time for golf! For Stanley, “the notion you can replay a performance as many times as you want in a row […] that’s kind of the definition of pop”. Hence, the advent of new technologies such as the microphone (which Stanley informs us, Crosby once again pioneered in using) and the succession of vinyl, cassettes, CDs and even streaming services have meant both mass consumption and mass enjoyment, otherwise known as popular music.
With the ongoing debate over whether vinyl records are reserved for musty corners of charity shops and midlife crises, or have a viable place in the modern day, Stanley had rather a refreshing take on the matter. Whether it be a CD or a vinyl record, “ a physical thing”, according to Stanley, “with artwork and sleeve notes adds to the enjoyment of listening to music”, an interesting point to raise nonetheless as there is no lyrics sheet or exclusive photographs from streaming a song on your phone like you may get with a vinyl record. Stanley also added on a more comical note comments on how there may need to be more presses for vinyl manufacture with its resurgence in recent years! This reiterates one of the points he raised in the question and answer segment, where Stanley discussed with what appeared to be a mainly male audience of participants, how popular music has a habit of coming full circle, constantly borrowing from the past, referencing Frank Sinatra’s hit cover song, “Come Fly With Me”, to illustrate his point.
“What appeared arguably most telling of Stanley’s appreciation, as he writes not as a distant academic but as a genuine music fan”
When watching Stanley talk about his latest book it was clear to see the passion and love for the music itself that he holds to lead him in the first place on the ten year long project that then became, Let’s Do It!. As the chair described and the audience will likely attest, Stanley “exudes a sincere love of pop music and all its capacity to communicate joy and delight and heartbreak”, as he spoke in great detail about a wide range of areas including vaudeville music and dance hall music. What appeared arguably most telling of Stanley’s appreciation, as he writes not as a distant academic but as a genuine music fan, would be how he discussed with the audience figures like Duke Ellington or Vaudeville’s Whispering Jack Smith and their stories, as if he were old acquaintances, with a certain fondness and familiarity. Ellington being also the figure Stanley stated when asked who he came out of the book with the greatest renewed appreciation of.
Stanley credits his drive as being, “discovering new music”, that he, “didn’t know before”, something that may have allowed him to appear more relatable to the self-declared ‘music nerds’ in the audience, as this does reflect what is hopefully a genuine enjoyment of music and the history behind it. Interestingly, Stanley’s aforementioned sense of drive and motivation has led him onto his next project. Describing to audience members at the Gala Theatre on Friday 14th October how he is currently working on a new book concerning English rock band, The Shadows, following on from his two previous almost encyclopaedic takes on music history.
Image credit: Samuel Regan-Asante via Unsplash
