Lost But Not Alone

Where did I first become aware of rock criticism? My local library. In the late 70's. I would scour the music section, and it was there that I found books by Dave Marsh and Robert Christgau and other's from the golden age of rock critics. I also found a book called Stranded (Da Capo). A collection of essays with a simple premise: what one album would you take to a desert island. A desert island disc, if you will. At the time of its 1979 publication, this was as close as I got to one book containing article's written by a future Music Critic Hall of Fame class. It's author's were Marsh, Bangs, Christgau, Paul Nelson, Ellen Willis, Nick Tosches, Jim Miller and others. What a cast! The book is still in print, and worth your while for a look at pre-1979 choices. Stranded had choices by the New York Dolls, Velvet Underground, Little Richard, Ronettes and others.
So, now comes 2007 and we get an updated version edited by Phil Freeman called Marooned (Da Capo). Starring a group of up-and-coming rock critics. Thanks to blogs and such, most of these names are familiar. But some weren't. The choices here are mostly post-1979 ones. Of the 20, more than half are 1980 and beyond. A lot of 'em I never heard, but some I'm familiar with. The writing is solid, but I wish the Elton John piece wasn't so defensive. At the back of the book is a section called Return To Treasure Island, a sequel to Marcus' look at pre-1979 recordings. Freeman does an admirable job, but it's missing some guilty pleasures essential to understanding post-'79 ("I Want It That Way") and the whole book is missing anything from Country music. But Marooned and Stranded were made to start these types of arguments. I still believe the latter is the most essential of the two. But Freeman deserves props for getting the ball rolling again. As for me, my own DI disc would be Elvis' Sun Sessions. But the original 1976 RCA LP. One of the few vinyls I have left. That LP was never reissued on CD. But the subsequent repackages of Sun stuff had too many alternate takes. I'll take the vinyl. And hope the island has a turntable and an electric outlet.