Garry Mulholland has written for several publications, including Time Out and The Guardian, and is the author of This is Uncool: The Greatest 500 Singles Since Punk and Disco. Right now, you may find his writings in The Observer Music Monthly.
List of books by author Garry Mulholland
This is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco
With the release of “Anarchy in the UK” in 1977, the Sex Pistols revolutionized commercial music. Not only that song, but each of those singles had an impact on the way the culture spoke and performed. In this narrative, we witness the interplay between music and society, the meteoric rise and fall of popular bands, and the indisputable impact of select songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. Punk, grunge, disco, rock, funk, electronica, rap, and hip-hop are all represented here. All of the essays challenge the conventional wisdom of music journalism with their sharp analysis and bold commentary. It is an incredibly thought-provoking read, featuring songs by artists such as Elvis Costello (“Alison”), The Bee Gees (“Stayin’ Alive”), Bjork (“Hyperballad”), and Missy Elliot (“The Rain”).
Fear of Music: The Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco
In 2002, if there had been an award for best music book, it would have gone to This is The Greatest 500 Singles Since Punk and Disco by Garry Mulholland. It was well-received, and Mulholland has a gift for describing songs so vividly that you can almost hear them in your head while reading about them. Moving on from singles to albums, he creates an equally impressive book with his latest guide. Fans will be ecstatic to hear that Fear of Music contains all the biting, sarcastic, and perceptive critique that Mulholland is known for. From Iggy Pop’s The Idiot and Television’s Marquee Moon to David Bowie’s Heroes, the Rolling Stones’ Some Girls, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP, Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection, Outkast’s Speakerboxx/The Love Below, and The Prodigy’s Music for the Jilted Generation, he covers iconic songs from the last 30 years. Of course, we also have The Talking Heads, whose Fear of Music served as the inspiration for the book’s title. Anyone with a taste for popular music will adore this, and the selection will spark lively debate among readers.
Popcorn: Fifty Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll Movies
From Mamma Mia! to Quadrophenia, every rock ‘n’ roll film depicts the peak and trough of a musical era. Reconstructing works like Derek Jarman’s Jubilee and thinking about the widespread appeal of films like Grease and Footloose, renowned author Garry Mulholland examines the triumphs and flops of this cinematic phenomenon in his book Popcorn. Popcorn will undoubtedly serve as both the initial and final judgment on the rock film, blending analytical rigor with a love of B-movie garbage.
Stranded at the Drive-In: From The Breakfast Club to The Social Network: The 100 Best Teen Movies
From Twilight to Napoleon Dynamite to West Side Story, a critical reassessment of a genre that has been heavily criticized Making a consistent and persuasive case that Grease and A Nightmare on Elm Street teach audiences a lot more about modern life and human nature than Citizen Kane and The Godfather, this book does what film critics have been afraid to do since the 1950s: it takes the entire subculture of teen movies seriously. A crucial means of navigating puberty, numerous teen films have become mandatory viewing, yet no book has yet to delve deeply into this lucrative film subgenre. In an effort to compile a hall of fame of the best teen films—which includes Rebel Without a Cause, Mean Girls as a collection of sketches about the decline of feminism and Scream as the most brilliant meta-movie ever made—this book argues that films like Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club are among the best of all time.
Grace Under Pressure: & Other Stool Pigeon Stories
