DAVID HEPWORTH is a music journalist and publishing industry analyst who has launched several successful British magazines, presented the BBC rock music program Whistle Test, and anchored the coverage of Live Aid in '85. Winner of the Editor and Writer of the Year awards from the Professional Publishers Association and the Mark Boxer Award from the British Society of Magazine Editors, he is the radio columnist for the Guardian and a media correspondent for the newspaper.
"Cleverly crafted chapters form a glittery, boisterous
month-by-month calendar of the 'annus mirabilis...the busiest, most
creative, most innovative, most interesting, and longest-resounding
year' of an era that produced music we are still listening to."
-Elle Magazine "Wonderful storytelling."
-Forbes "A revelatory account of the bombshell 365 days that gave
birth to what the author dubs 'the rock era.'"
-O: The Oprah Magazine "[An] expansive overview of the high-water
mark of rock's album-oriented maturity....[Hepworth is] sharp and
zingy....his mix of garrulousness and dry wit makes Never a Dull
Moment a zip to read."
-NPR "Fascinating cultural history... Vivid, irreverent prose and
analytic insight distinguish the book from the legion of Boomer
nostalgia titles. Alongside the requisite gossip, Hepworth's
magisterial overview notes the exploitation of nostalgia, the rise
of the singer/songwriter, the elevation of rock stars into louche
aristocrats, and the transformation of FM radio to an
album-oriented rock format. Hepworth also details the openness of
record labels to new talent and experimental recording techniques
that laid the groundwork for punk, indie, and electronica."
-Publishers Weekly "[Never a Dull Moment is] laced with a wisdom
gathered over many years as a journalist and industry insider, and
with an enthusiasm for the music and an understanding of the
economics driving the evolution of popular culture...a highly
readable reassessment and a convincing argument for the importance
of a year in which the culture of rock began to be aware that it
was living out its good old days."
-New Statesman "[An] entertaining exploration of the year in music
that was 1971... [Hepworth] painstakingly recounts the album
releases, Top of the Pops performances, and endless touring dates
that defined the year... [His] chronicle of the year is loaded with
gossipy anecdotes, adroit criticism, and earnest affection for the
musicians, record executives, and technicians who defined it. An
exuberant tour through a pivotal year in the development of popular
music and culture."
-Kirkus Reviews "Hepworth brings rare perspicacity into the
business machinations of the era, whose movers and shakers were, as
he points out, often from a previous, less starry-eyed
generation...Never a Dull Moment lives up to its title."
-The Guardian "One of the many strengths of Hepworth's book is that
it combines both perspectives: emphasising how much a part of
21st-century life these albums remain, while also reminding us
that, back when they were made, what most people took for granted
was pop's lack of a shelf life... Near the beginning of this richly
enjoyable book, Hepworth argues that 1971 saw the pop era giving
way to rock. Even so, his own approach is much more like the best
pop: never taking itself too seriously, essentially out to
entertain but also an awful lot smarter than its absence of
solemnity might lead you to think."
-The Spectator "An engaging and thought-provoking read... Hepworth
points out more than once that at the time he had no idea how lucky
he was. He knows now - and so do we."
-Daily Mail "With its apt title, Never a Dull Moment makes you want
to be 25 in the '70s again."
-Associated Press "A fast ride through that year proving that the
hot pants sensation was not the only thing making news."
-The Charlotte Observer
"Soon every post-war year will have its own tombstone book, but
this is already one of the best."
-GQ, Editor's Hit List "A clever and entertaining book...Hepworth
proves a refreshingly independent thinker. His style is pithy and
his eye for anecdotal detail sharp...a thoroughly provoking
delight."
-Daily Telegraph "If you haven't listened to the albums discussed
in this book in a while (or never have), reading Never a Dull
Moment will make you pull them up on your device and give them a
listen. That is how good this book is."
-Counterpunch
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