Success Without College: Days and Nights in Rock and Roll TV

Jack S. Broumpton is an assistant professor of music at Huntington
College, Laurentian University.

Laurie Brown affords the reader an insiders look at rock ’n’ roll.
Her experience as a performer, interviewer, MuchMusic VJ, and TV
producer for the CBC and CityTV in Toronto makes for a refreshing and
informed view of the music, its personalities, and its place in the
world.

Brown highlights favorite performers and interview subjects in an
engaging manner that combines the enthusiasm of the music fan with the
reflection and analysis of the music journalist. During her career she
has interviewed many of the most celebrated thinkers in pop music (e.g.,
David Byrne, Kate Bush, David Bowie), which allows for both interesting
questions and interesting answers.

The writing is accessible and provides a good introduction to such
topics as the difference between Canadian and American rock music and
the use of television as a musical medium. Brown also chronicles her
“street-level” experiences in clubs, interviewing the “rising
stars” in a no-nonsense manner that realistically portrays the
difficult road that these young people have chosen to build their
careers.

Success Without College is entertaining and informative, and could
prove valuable in music or communications classes at the
secondary-school level.