This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll

A ROUGH TRADE, LOUDER THAN WAR, AND RESIDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A deeply thought-provoking work, and long overdue' MOJO
'Astutely traces the global rise of fascism and its reverberations in pop culture . . . compelling' IRISH TIMES
'Important and timely' JON SAVAGE
'Timely, wide ranging and eye-opening' JOHN HIGGS Over the last seven decades, some of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated figureheads have flirted with the imagery and theatre of the Third Reich. From the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious to Lady Gaga and Kanye West, generations of performers have associated themselves in troubling ways with the aesthetics, mass hysteria and even ideology of Nazism. In This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll, award-winning music historian Daniel Rachel navigates these turbulent waters with extraordinary delicacy and care, asking us to look anew at the artists that have defined us, inspired us and given us joy - and consider why so many have been drawn to the imagery of a movement responsible for the twentieth century's worst atrocities. In doing so, he asks us to reassess the history of rock 'n' roll and sheds new light on the grim echoes of the Third Reich in popular culture and the legacy of twentieth (and twenty-first) century history as it defines us today.

Birmingham-born Daniel Rachel is a former musician turned award-winning and bestselling author whose works include Too Much Too Young, Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters (a Guardian and NME Book of the Year), Walls Come Tumbling Down: the music & politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge (winner of the Penderyn Music Book prize), Don't Look Back in Anger: the Rise & Fall of Cool Britannia (an Evening Standard and Metro Book of the Year), The Lost Album of The Beatles: What if the Beatles hadn't Split Up? (Guardian Book of the Day and Amazon No. 1 Bestseller), One For The Road: The Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene; Oasis: Knebworth: Two Nights That Will Live Forever (with Jill Furmanovsky; a Sunday Times Bestseller), When Ziggy Played the Marquee by Terry O'Neill (editor) and co-writer of Ranking Roger's autobiography I Just Can't Stop It: My Life in The Beat (a Vive Le Rock Book of the Year). In 2021, Daniel was a guest curator of 2 Tone Lives & Legacies exhibition as part of Coventry Cultural City 2021 and curated the anniversary edition of the Selecter's debut album Too Much Pressure.