“The Anarchy Tour” a wonderfully illustrated, frighfully tedious book

book cover - anarchy tourIf a book consists mainly of quotes from other books, documentaries, articles, and other source, and contains minimal-to-no new interviews, revelations, or the like, it’s essentially a research paper or graduate thesis stretched out with photos and illustrations. Such is the case with Mick O’Shea‘s chronicle of the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy In the U.K.” tour in the wake of their appearance on Bill Grundy’s talk show.

While a complete chronicle of the tour has never been so thoroughly presented, the documents from which O’Shea draws are newspaper articles from the time, and books written by all of the participants long after the fact. If you’re a fan of any of the acts involved — the Pistols, the Damned, the Clash, or the Heartbreakers — and of a literary bent, you’ve most likely read or seen I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol, 90 Days at EMI, Rotten, The Last Gang In Town, The Filth and the Fury, et al.
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“Brit Wits” uses rock ‘n’ roll to document the history of British humor

book-cover-brit-witsFor those who read Iain Ellis‘ first book, Rebels Wit Attitude, its follow-up, Brit Wits: A History of British Rock Humor, is a bit of a change. While that book was a bit more of a pop culture read, geared a bit more to the general public, Brit Wits requires shifting the gears of your perception.

Rebels Wit Attitude dealt with humor in rock in terms of individual acts or performers (be it Chuck Berry or the Beastie Boys), whereas Brit Wits fits each act into the wider picture of British humor as a whole. Music is simply the thread that connects the likes of Ricky Gervais to the likes of George Formby in the music halls.
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