{"title":"Kembrew McLeod","description":"\u003cp\u003eKembrew McLeod's works delve into the vibrant intersections of music, culture, and history, offering insightful explorations of influential movements and moments in popular culture. His writing captures the pulse of artistic innovation, from punk rock to underground scenes, illuminating their broader social and cultural impacts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect engaging narratives that blend meticulous research with a passion for the arts, providing a rich context for understanding cultural shifts. McLeod's books are a compelling journey through the creative forces that have shaped modern artistic expression.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-downtown-pop-underground-by-kembrew-mcleod-9781419732522","title":"The Downtown Pop Underground","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1960s to early '70s was a pivotal time for American culture, and New York City was ground zero for seismic shifts in music, theatre, art, and filmmaking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Downtown Pop Underground\u003c\/em\u003e takes a kaleidoscopic tour of Manhattan during this era and shows how deeply interconnected all the alternative worlds and personalities were that flourished in the basement theatres, dive bars, concert halls, and dingy tenements within one square mile of each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Kembrew McLeod links the artists, writers, and performers who created change, and while some of them didn't become everyday names, others, like Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, and Debbie Harry, did become icons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmbitious in scope and scale, the book is fuelled by the actual voices of many of the key characters who broke down the entrenched divisions between high and low, gay and straight, and art and commerce—and changed the cultural landscape of not just the city but the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46850025980140,"sku":"9781419732522","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/13092753482693.jpg?v=1759076275"},{"product_id":"blondies-parallel-lines-by-kembrew-mcleod-9781501302374","title":"Blondie's Parallel Lines","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBlondie’s Parallel Lines\u003c\/em\u003e mixed punk, disco, and radio-friendly FM rock with nostalgic influences from 1960s pop and girl group hits. This 1978 album kept one foot planted firmly in the past while remaining quite forward-looking, an impulse that can be heard in its electronic dance music hit “Heart of Glass.” Bubblegum music maven Mike Chapman produced \u003cem\u003eParallel Lines\u003c\/em\u003e, which was the first massive hit by a group from the CBGB punk underworld.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy embracing the diversity of New York City’s varied music scenes, Blondie embodied many of the tensions that played out at the time between fans of disco, punk, pop, and mainstream rock. Debbie Harry’s campy glamour and sassy snarl shook up the rock’n’roll boy’s club during a growing backlash against the women’s and gay liberation movements, which helped fuel the “disco sucks” battle cry in the late 1970s. Despite disco’s roots in a queer, black, and Latino underground scene that began in downtown New York, punk is usually celebrated by critics and scholars as \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e quintessential subculture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book challenges the conventional wisdom that dismissed disco as fluffy prefab schlock while also recuperating punk’s unhip pop influences, revealing how these two genres were more closely connected than most people assume. Even Blondie’s album title, \u003cem\u003eParallel Lines\u003c\/em\u003e, evokes the parallel development of punk and disco—along with their eventual crossover into the mainstream.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47430170116332,"sku":"9781501302374","price":21.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781501302374.jpg?v=1774559614"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/kembrew-mcleod.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}