Ready for a Brand New Beat; How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America
by KURLANSKY, MARK
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine/fine
- Seller
-
Rocky River, Ohio, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote “Dancing in the Street.” The song was recorded at Motown’s Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording—a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, “Dancing in the Street” gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Cleveland Book Company (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 9983
- Title
- Ready for a Brand New Beat; How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America
- Author
- KURLANSKY, MARK
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, First Printing
- Publisher
- Riverhead Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2013
- Keywords
- Motown, Black history, African-American history
Terms of Sale
Cleveland Book Company
About the Seller
Cleveland Book Company
About Cleveland Book Company
As a small, independent bookseller in Cleveland, Ohio, I deal in general used, rare, and antiquarian books, autographs, manuscripts, pamphlets, and personal and family papers in all subjects. My family has been in the antiquarian book business since 1971. Are you moving, downsizing, or doing some spring cleaning? Did you inherit or otherwise come into some old books? Or, maybe you've collected modern novels from the last thirty or fifty years. No matter what kinds of books you have, we'd love to take a look at them! We travel throughout Ohio, western Pennsylvania and New York, southern Michigan, and eastern Indiana, and will travel farther in some cases to look at whole libraries or even just a few particularly interesting books. Give us a call at (216) 352-3940 and we can talk more about the kinds of books you have.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....