always magic in the air

Here’s a summer reading recommendation from junkfood philosophy: Ken Emerson’s “Always Magic in the Air.” The story of the young New York songwriters of 1650 Broadway and The Brill Building. A book about music that really makes you want to listen to that music. It got me making playlists and compilations for months.

It’s become a cliche to say that there was a fallow period in rock/pop between Elvis being called up and the emergence of The Beatles. This book takes the pop music that came in-between seriously, and is full of interesting facts to delight and amaze you. Like, for instance, Neil Sedaka is a heterosexual.

Really.
Anyhow, I intend to post more on subjects inspired by this book, such as how criminally underated Hal David is, or how the British beat boom, although it’s often blamed (along with Bob Dylan) for finishing off this kind of song writing was really dependent on the New York writers. 
(And don’t get me started on how Dylan’s career is founded in that New York songwriting/publishing world.)

In the meantime here’s Goffin & King’s baby sitter, Eva Boyd encouraging you to dance like a train. You know you wanna.
And since that clip can nolonger be embeded… Here’s Barry Mann and Carole King busking their way through You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling