Ambitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of
popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital
age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the
omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on
Spotify.
Over that time, popular music has transformed the world in which we
live. Its rhythms have influenced how we walk down the street, how we
face ourselves in the mirror, and how we handle the outside world in our
daily conversations and encounters. It has influenced our morals and
social mores; it has transformed our attitudes towards race and gender,
religion and politics.
From the beginning of recording, when a musical performance could be
preserved for the first time, to the digital age, when all of recorded
music is only a mouse-click away; from the straitlaced ballads of the
Victorian era and the 'coon songs' that shocked America in the early
twentieth century to gangsta rap, death metal and the multiple strands
of modern dance music: Peter Doggett takes us on a rollercoaster ride
through the history of music. Within a narrative full of anecdotes and
characters, Electric Shock mixes musical critique with wider social
and cultural history and shows how revolutionary changes in technology
have turned popular music into the lifeblood of the modern world.
