ABSTRACT
Why do the stars of rock and pop hold such a bright place in the celebrity galaxy? Why has popular music been the subject of so much mythologizing by its audience, chroniclers, and analysts? Stars Dont Stand Still In The Sky brings together critics, scholars, industry personnel and even a few stars themselves to investigate the myth-making that surrounds music-making.
Within thematic sections addressing questions of commerce, the crowd, performance and image, history and memory and romance, individual chapters include:
* Deena Weinstein on the romantic illusion that art and the music industry are separate, inimical entities
* Critic and electronic artist Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky) discussing the changing relationship of artist and audience in the electronic age
* Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Harris describing the ways in which she tries to demystify her own performances and empower her audience
* Paul Gilroy reclaiming the place of black artists who have been lost in the popular histories of rock and roll.
