This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich [Hardcover]

In this bracing and provocative exploration of pop music and the Third Reich, English musician-turned-author Rachel explores the various and often troubling relationships between pop singers and the language and iconography of Nazism . . . Timely and relevant with a righteously angry introduction by Billy Bragg. Everything Rachel describes in his book was already public knowledge, but he is the first to compile it all in one place. The result: the compelling yet repugnant revelation that flaunting Third Reich imagery wasnt just the misguided decision of a few artists, but a long-running trend that has continued to linger for decades . . . The timing of this book is impeccable, as Americas gargantuan fascist elephant keeps tromping his way around the global room in a way that looks eerily similar to Hitlers ascension. Whether the people with the microphones are intentionally fascist and anti-Semitic, or simply too ignorant to consider the true harms of their actions, its critical that everyone else calls them out, and loudly. For too long, too many rock and pop stars got a pass. Thank goodness we now have Daniel Rachels book to help us hold them accountable. With the same brilliant mix of storytelling and history lesson he brought to the 2 Tone movement in his last book ( A well-researched and comprehensive analysis about the history of the rock genres flirtation with Nazi imagery, from Siouxsie Sioux to Sid Vicious. Music historian Daniel Rachel asks whether it was for shock factor or genuine tastelessness. In this important exploration of the relationship between pop music and the Third Reich, Daniel Rachel challenges the motivations of those artists who sought glamour and notoriety in exploiting Nazi imagery. In doing so, he raises once more the question that was put to Leni Riefenstahl after 1945, when she claimed that, while fascinated by Nazism, she was politically na?ve and ignorant of the fate of six million Jews: How could you not know? [A] deeplyl¸