Revisiting Roxon's Rock

Since migrating my old blog over to Substack, I’ll be periodically revisiting and revising some older pieces.

I've been dipping into Lillian Roxon’s influential Rock Encyclopedia lately, eager as always for on-the-ground reportage of the late-1960’s rock and roll scenes. An Australian, Roxon was dubbed the “Mother of Rock.” She wrote pop music criticism and journalism before turning her attention to sexual politics and feminism. She died, of an asthma attack, in 1973.

The massive Encyclopedia was ...