Here is a little treat for those of you who have children and would like to get them interested in rock music at an early age. The The ABCs of Rock by Melissa Duke Mooney and The Print Mafia is a dynamite little picture book that has an A-Z listing of some of Rock music's finest talent.
A is for AC/DC. B is for David Bowie. C is for The Clash. D is for Bob Dylan. E is for Elvis Costello. F is for Fleetwood Mac. G is for The Go-Go's. H is for Heart. I is for Iggy Pop. J is for Joan Jett. K is for Kiss. L is for Led Zeppelin. M is for Bob Marley. N is for Nirvana. O is for Ozzy Osbourne. P is for The Police. Q is for Queen. R is for R.E.M. S is for Sonic Youth. T is for Talking Heads. U is for U2. V is for The Velvet Underground. W is for The White Stripes. X is for X. Y is for Neil Young. Z is for ZZ Top.
Accompanying the list is some very explosive art by The Print Mafia. The artwork somehow relates to each musician in a certain way. Whether it is something related to album artwork, song titles, or song lyrics, The Print Mafia did a wonderful job making the reader figure out how the artwork symbolizes the artist. For example:AC/DC has a bell and lightning bolt ("Hell's Bells"). David Bowie has a Space Rocket ("Space Oddity"). Bob Dylan has an acoustic guitar that is about to be plugged in. Elvis Costello has a camera and black rimmed glasses ("Watching The Detectives"). Fleetwood Mac has an elephant and a marching band ("Tusk"). Heart uses a butterfly, (Heart used a butterfly in a lot of their album art.) Iggy Pop has a hammer smashing vinyl records ("Search And Destroy"). Led Zeppelin has it's signature airship. Bob Marley has his symbolic lion. Nirvana has the cheerleaders from the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. The Police has an image of three sets of eyes, each in blue, yellow and red, mirroring the artwork on the classic Synchronicity album and single "Every Breath You Take." Queen has an image of a team lifting a trophy into the air ("We Are The Champions"). R.E.M. has a giant moon with a face in it ("Man On The Moon"). Sonic Youth has a distorted pic of frontman Thurston Moore. The Velvet Underground uses four images of a camera, each in blue, violet, orange, and green, in homage to the band's strong relationship with Andy Warhol and his Marilyn Monroe Diptych silk screen prints. The White Stripes uses two faces: a girl and a boy (Jack and Meg White) and is in red and white colors. X has a background of Los Angeles with a big X in front of it (an homage to the classic punk album Los Angeles). Neil Young has an image of a powerful horse (Crazy Horse),while ZZ Top has a pic of a classic hot rod that was used in their videos and album artwork.
The end of the book includes some art notes by The Print Mafia on what they trying to achieve with the artwork. The ABC'S Of Rock, opens a new window is available for reserve at the library. Enjoy!
--Fred
