Books > Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds

Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds; front cover detail
Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds; front cover detail

Format: Paperback 608 pages
Published: April 2005
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN: 0571215696

Credits

© Simon Reynolds 2005
Cover design by Lotta Kühlhorn

From the back cover

"Punk's raw power rejuvenated rock, but by the summer of 1977 the movement had become a parody of itself. Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 is a celebration of what happened next: post-punk bands like PiL, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Fall and The Human League who dedicated themselves to fulfilling punk's unfinished musical revolution. The post-punk groups were fervent modernists. Experimenting with electronics and machine rhythm or adapting ideas from dub reggae and disco, they were totally confident they could invent a whole new future for music."

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Now at simonreynolds.net: Two extra bits that were excluded from the book including a fairly straight discography (20 pages or so), and a second, more narrative 58-page(!) discog full of post-punk recommendations.

Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds; back cover detail
Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds; back cover detail