If you're in your 30s and hate your life (or you're in the music business), read this book...

books:


	• Rock On: An Office Power Ballad Dan Kennedy Algonquin Books, 2008 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Ultimately Unsatisfying

When I picked up this book, I was hoping for a record industry version of Liar's Poker. And having just finished a book detailing the history of Clear Channel, I was interested to learn more about how the music industry has changed over the years. Unfortunately, I got neither.

The book was written in a choppy style and I found it hard to get any flow. By going out of his way to make himself sound like a loser who was not qualified for the job - probably an exaggeration - the author put me in a position of not caring about him.

Even the interesting tidbits, like how some execs made their careers by "picking" hit songs (after tons of research and focus-group testing), are made in such a sarcastic way that the points didn't really hit home.

In the end, I've concluded that the author did what he's accused many bands of doing - putting out a lackluster product just to make a few bucks.

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As fun as a cheesy power ballad

An amusing memoir of the author's time spent working at one of the mmusic industry in marketing, ROCK ON reminds me of those mildly satirical memoirs, novels and story collections that were popular during the 80's--it manages to take the stuffing out of the industry AND the author both at the same time. Author Dan Kennedy isn't afraid to poke fun at himself (for example at one point he meets Duran Duran and tells everyone including the band's manager that he's a huge fan of them assuming that the manager IS part of the band).

If there's a flaw it is simply that Kennedy hasn't penned a book with lasting resonance--it's like a Big Mac Meal you'll enjoy it at the time but forget about in a couple of days. That's OK because that's truly what it is designed to do--make fun of the very rock/pop/rap culture that Kennedy is also celebrating--the ultimate goal of satire.

Kennedy's book is even more timely given the crisis in the music business going on right now. The very absurdities that he makes fun of here contributing to the downfall of one of the most overpriced and greedy industries outside of the oil and movie businesses.

Is ROCK ON a great book? No. Is it entertaining? Yep. It might not go down in as a great work in the annals of literature (at least right now...the book industry/critics are everything that the folks are in the music industry and more because they think that they are MORE important. Dan there's an idea--satirize the publishing industry next)but you'll enjoy it at the same time as you recognize the absurd excesses that you've heard (or read in memoirs)about the music biz.

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Funny but forgettable

There are some laugh-out-loud moments in this book, especially those depicting the culture of marketing meetings and the you-wanna-be-a-winner-don't-ya attitudes so rife in corporate America. Mr. Kennedy's at his best when he's writing bits that could describe *any* corporation. Why? Because we already know that the music industry is more interested in money than talent and that it's out of touch. I wonder just how many people Dan Kennedy's age really are naive enough to think that there are cool rock-n-roll types running any big record (ahem) company.

Mr. Kennedy skewers Jewel for selling out to sell razors (rightfully, IMO; I wish the sell-outs would just admit that they're selling out), but in his otherwise fabulous description of an Iggy Pop concert, he fails even to mention the connection between Iggy Pop and Royal Caribbean. Well, maybe it's easier to criticize a young woman than it is a middle aged man. Or maybe one can't criticize an icon.

I found myself wishing for more details, more substance. Clearly, Mr. Kennedy had much to say about the music industry specifically and corporate America more generally; it didn't get said, though. Commentary on the American working life is lurking below the surface, as if the author is afraid to say it aloud.

This is an easy read; it'll take you all of a single afternoon. But it's thin (as many easy reads are), and, therefore, forgettable. It's kind of like a blog--something interesting to look at during your lunch hour that you forget as soon as 1:00 rolls around.

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If you're in your 30s and hate your life (or you're in the music business), read this book...

First of all, I'm in the music business, so keep that in mind when you read this review. Also keep in mind that I listened to the audio book, which was strangely enough while on a plane from Nashville to LA, filled with music business people. :)

This is a funny story. Lots of it very true. Like any industry, the music business has problems, and Dan Kennedy does a good job of looking at them in a funny way. I'd argue that you could do something similar with any industry though. When you look at something under a microscope, you see it all.

And looking at Dan Kennedy under that microscope, he seems to be one of the people he loathes. From everything I could tell, he was just killing time. He's certainly not like most of the industry people that I know and work with.

Sure, he likes Iggy Pop, but he was also playing the game of "follow the follower" that is killing this business. Take the money, don't make any crazy moves that will get you fired.

He didn't seem to make the connection that the music industry is us, the people within it. It's not some nameless, faceless entity of old school people who are still in power, sided against the "cool people" who work entry level jobs and do all the work. Like any business, we have a mix of good and not-so-good people, but for the most part, this is a very passionate bunch who loves what they do...they'd have to in order to stick things out with the business the way it is now.

It's a good book. If you're in your 30s and have woken up to the fact that your life isn't all it can be, you might relate. But don't expect any answers from Dan. Again, he was just riding things out, making fun of everybody else, rather than looking at himself.

If you're in the music or entertainment industry, I'm sure you'll relate. We've all had to deal with crazy things in this business. Office politics, public opinion, bad decisions, or whatever... But isn't that what happens when you mix art and commerce?

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Greatest Book!

Hey this is one funny book! Buy it read it laugh a lot. I loved it and I know next to nothing about music just about nothing about working in an office..and nothing about being a guy. BUT I loved it. Very funny. Very smart writer. !

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

How do you land a sweet six-figure marketing gig at the hallowed record label known for having signed everyone from Led Zeppelin to Stone Temple Pilots? You start with a resume like Dan Kennedy's:

? Dressed up as a member of Kiss every Halloween
? Memorized Led Zeppelin IV at age ten
? Fronted a lip-sync band in junior high
? Worked as a college DJ while he was a college drop-out

In his outrageous memoir, McSweeney's contributor Kennedy chronicles his misadventures at a major record label. Whether he's directing a gangsta rapper's commercial or battling his punk roots to create an ad campaign celebrating the love songs of Phil Collins, Kennedy's in way over his head. And from the looks of those sitting around the boardroom, he's not alone.

Egomaniacs, wackos, incompetents, and executive assistants who know more than their seven-figure bosses round out this power-ballad to office life and rock and roll.

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