Quotable Pop: Five Decades of Blah Blah Blah

Quick--who said, "The (music) industry is just rife with jealousy and hatred. Everybody in it is a failed bassist." Even if you know (it was none other than former Smiths' frontman Morrisey) you'll find plenty of entertainment in perusing the other 800-plus quotes in Quotable Pop :Five Decades of Blah Blah Blah compiled and edited by Phil Dellio and Scott Woods.Dellio and Woods, who previously published the hilarious "I Wanna Be Sedated", a primer on pop and rock music of the seventies, are clearly rock critics in the Lester Bangs/Robert Christgau mold. As such, they find plenty of humor in the things rock musicians have been saying through the years, and you will too. This is the perfect book for a bunch of music fans sitting around with too many six-packs and a free Friday evening. No matter what kind of music you like, you'll find something here. Though musicians from the sixties on up are better represented than the early rockers, you'll find some interesting bon mots from Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and, of course, Elvis (actually both Presley and Costello are represented).Special mention must also be made of Mike Rooth's glorious caricatures, which are really sharp and add a lot to the book-check out the cover illustration of the Gallagher Brothers as a two-headed monster. For anyone who enjoys popular music to excess, Quotable Pop is an enjoyable read. Now, who said "I'm a total beer slob"?