Don't Stop the Music: A Year of Pop History, One Day at a Time - From 1894 to the Present

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JANUARY 1
1958 Johnny Cash plays the first of many concerts at San Quentin State Prison, California. It had become traditional for the prison to stage a New Years Day musicians union extravaganza for the 4,000 inmates, and it just so happened that Cash was touring the west coast of the US when he and his band were asked at short notice to appear on a bill also featuring dancers and a 17-piece jazz ensemble. He accepted, although his bass guitarist Marshall Grant is forbidden from bringing in a toy pistol (a standard prop in their stage act).

In the captive audience is 20-year-old Merle Haggard, serving a 15-year sentence for petty crimes. He had the right attitude, Haggard later recalled. He chewed gum, looked arrogant and flipped the bird to the guards.

With entries for every day of the year, ranging from mini-essays to pithy and engaging sentences, Dont Stop the Music is a novel musical companion away of charting your year through the major events and trivial incidents in the lives and careers of pop stars and recording artists.

Whether it be when pop became newsworthy; when future stars attended notable gigs; when that K-Pop act issued their first single; or when Elvis Presley found himself on TV singing Hound Dog to a basset hound, there
are surprising and enlightening events from the history of popular music for every day of the year. And Justin Lewis has compiled them all for you, informatively and divertingly.

Reviews

A brilliant musical almanac, compiled by an engaging writer whose musical knowledge is not just detailed but wide-ranging and generous.Jonathan Coe

A wonderful ride through our pop universe amongst thousands of bright stars, gnarled debris and twinkling nuggets of music and events made distant over time.Lewis has made all of it up-close and vivid through this indispensable companion for anyone who loves music and popular culture. Whatever the age of the reader, its brimming with new discoveries and triggering classics: memories and signposts make this an intoxicating music journey!Peter Curran

This isan astonishing book, a calendar of pop, an almanac of songs, a day by day in the life of music.A book of events thats an event in itself.David Quantick

A deft and delightful pop almanac The Arts Desk

An absolute must for all music fans, Lewis' addictive volume is packed to the gills with facts, trivia, notable events and pure pop nuggets. Waterstones

The deliciously simple conceit pop facts from every day of the year lets Lewis roam wide and free, to fascinating effect. Radio Caroline was named after JFKs daughter, Dolly Parton sells a brand of canine clothes called Doggy Parton, and the Walker Brothers werent brothers. Daily Mail, 2023s best history books

Brilliantly simpleas an ideabut also ambitious, Justin Lewiscreates a glorious interlocking history ... of our pop culture with allitscoincidences,connectionsand shared enjoyment. We Are Cult

Author Bio

Justin Lewis has an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music and a deep understanding of what makes it such a passion for so many people, as well as a lively and sharp sense for what can sometimes make it eccentric and absurd. He has been an editor, writer and contributor to various print and online music publications for more than 30 years, including the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and The Rough Guide to Rock. He lives in Swansea, in Wales.