The Bottom Line
Pros
- An easy read
- Detailed but not tedious
- Full of backstories
- A lot of book for your money
Cons
- There's never enough room for everyone - you may feel someone has been left out
Description
- Snapshots of the most important moves and shakers in Radio from the mid 1940s until mid 1990s.
- Easy to read for both professionals in Radio and avid fans
- A lot of behind the scenes details which will probably surprise you
Guide Review - Bob Shannon Captures the "Second" Golden Age of Radio - and Maybe the Last
Although the book is presented in an "A to Z" format (Lee Abrams to Wolfman Jack), this is the type of book you can open to any chapter and just start reading because it's not a straight history of Radio during the years it covers, though it is historical.
Rather, each chapter is a snapshot of a particular person who made an indelible mark on the Radio industry in their own particular way like Scotty Brink, Rick Dees, Ron Chapman, Bill Drake, Alan Freed, Dick Biondi, Casey Kasem, Murray "The K" Kaufman, Gary Owens and so many more. In all there are 58 stories which Shannon has crafted into a composite of events and circumstances which seem to represent a Second Golden Age of Radio.
Shannon's comfortable writing style often ushers the reader behind the scenes of the lives of these people, most of whom are considered legends in an industry which has changed so dramatically in the past decade it's possible we will never see the likes of such individuals again in Radio.
Although Shannon's book is detailed, it's not tedious. If you work in Radio it's hard to imagine how you wouldn't be glued to each page. If you are radio listener and interested in the personalities and dynamics of a business which you would not normally be privy to, Turn It Up! will not disappoint.
"Turn It Up! American Radio Tales 1946 - 1996"
$19.95
Austrianmonk Publishing
ISBN 978-1-61584-545-3
Available at www.americanradiotales.com
