Categories: Book Reviews

• The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America’s Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio

  Any Beach Boy fan knows, you gotta argue hard to make a case that the Boys ever were “America’s Greatest Band.” More like five Rodney Dangerfields in candy striped shirts. The Beach Boys got no respect; the media and their record label always found subtle ways to remind the band they were “America’s Answer to the Beatles.”

• Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands and Censored Songs

  Think that the Lambada was the forbidden dance? Consider the widespread ban of such seemingly inoffensive Roaring ’20s gyrations as the Grizzly Bear and the Bunny Hug in numerous American towns. Think people overreact to racy music now? Let’s not forget the Romans who actually made public displays of bawdy music an act punishable by death. It’s all chronicled in this, a tome that could be called Censorship’s Greatest Hits.