Hang the DJ: An Alternative Book of Music Lists

by Angus Cargill

Hang the DJ is a collection of lists about musical loves and hates, dreams and nightmares.

From personal blogs to end-of-year critic polls, Desert Island Discs to playlists, the films of Quentin Tarantino to the books of Nick Hornby, music fans have always liked to compile and to indulge, to collect, hoard and obsess. Mixing anecdote, humour, reference and quality anorak behaviour, Hang the DJ is the literary equivalent of a great pub jukebox - inspiring, provocative and irresistible - and the perfect gift for all music lovers.

Includes strange cover versions, smutty Dylan songs, noir classics, heartbreakers, teen movie anthems, great short-story songs, Japanese punk, and classic power ballads.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

a book of lists about music - Nick Kent on moustaches is one of the better pieces. of course anyone interested enough in the trivia is going to be delighted to trip up any of the contributors - for example when Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol rhapsodises about Napalm Death's song 'Nazi Punks F*** Off' he appears not to be aware that the song was originally written and performed by the Dead Kennedys.

I'm glad this was from the library rather than one I paid cash for.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cautionary tale of a book. First, it exposes all the potential pitfalls of writing about music and how hard it is to do well let alone make interesting. Second, the list format is as contrived a writing genre as all non music lovers have been telling us music nerds it is.

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hang the DJ is a great little compendium made up by music aficionados who give their top ten lists of music. This may not be their top ten favourite songs but songs that they deserve to be put in a list (a personal favourite was Top Ten songs that Feature Stuttering).

I will admit that Hang the DJ does hit a bit of a lull in the middle and it really is a book for hardcore music fans – it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to everyday pop. However, it did get me thinking about my top ten lists o music and it helped me create a few new playlists on my iPod.

Hang the DJ also served to remind me just how much I love music.

Hang the DJ – An Alternative Book of Music Lists by Angus Cargill is available now.

[Jeremy Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listomania
A friend kindly passed this entertaining rag-bag of musical selections on after reading, guessing (correctly) that I'd enjoy it. Although only some of the writers (e.g. Nick Kent, Jon Savage and Simon Reynolds) were familiar to me, I found just about all their contributions fascinating. To describe the lists as eclectic and eccentric is something of an understatement: for example, besides things like "Compliation Tape Classics" (which you'd probably be expecting in a book of this kind), we have "Ten songs about chickens", "Ten great bands without full-time drummers" and "Ten check-shirted records", plus some categories which are far from mainstream - songs with the so-called "Dunedin Sound" of 1981-91, Japanese bands, songs under two minutes, etc. I found it an easy but stimulating read, which has inspired the tracking down of a few hitherto unfamiliar items - including Tom Waits' Blue Valentine and Barry Adamson's Moss Side Story . Recommended.

Originally reviewed 10 August 2016

[Ashley Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not brilliant. Got me acquainted with some music I hadn’t heard, which is always a good thing. And some excellent writing from numerous contributors. The difficulty with a book like this, and the reason I cannot rate it higher, is the lack of consistency and identity owing to its eclecticism. It is the literary equivalent of a compilation album containing only hits; it does not bring you deep into the spirit of any one creator (artist/author) but kind of simmers around the surface, teasing you with the promise of a deeper dive without ever quite delivering.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I would pick up occasionally to read a bit from time to time. Many of the lists were good. Quite a few were uninteresting. For me though the read was good overall.

Was nice to discover some new music and read lists from people seemingly like me who like to make playlists of songs based on random themes. Numerous contributors had decent taste in music as well which was nice.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some entertaining lists here.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

originally posted on http://www.imwan.com/phpBB3/viewtopic... but this book made me think of it.

So I was clicking links from one blog to another and came upon this posting...

http://gonzosmusicorama.blogspot.com/...

(Go ahead and read it. Go ahead. I'l wait here......)

Did you notice no one left their comments or their lists?

So here's the guidelines (as I understand them) You pick your Top 10 Groups and a representative song for a mixtape of your taste.

Here's mine

1. Bowie - "Sweet Thing/Candidate" - From Diamond Dogs
This song has the whole Dark, Decadant, Weinmar Berlin, End of Glam-kind-a vibe that floated around Bowie at the time. I remember taping Bowie songs off of the radio before this. However, in Minnesota at the time, they had just begun playing "Changes" and "Space Oddity." So when I heard "I'm glad that you're older than me, It makes me feel important and free," I felt that someone got me.

2. Prince - "When You Were Mine" - From Dirty Mind
I was embarrassed to buy the LP based on the cover, particularly the back photo. As soon as I heard "When You Were Mine," I knew I had to share this with everyone I could.

3. Beatles - "Paperback Writer" - (originally from Hey Jude, now...) from The Beatles 1
One of the earliest songs I consciously remember hearing in the back seat of my parents car, in the dark, on a long trip (along with the Stones' "Mother's Little Helper.") That Riff is indelible.

4, Dwight Twilley - "Looking for the Magic" - from Twilley Don't Mind
This song is everything I love in a Twilley song. The Guitars, the Vocals, the Melody. The whispered "Mercy" in the beginning piano intro. Everything.

5. Elton John - "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - from Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy
This is the song that hooked me on the Elton John/ Bernie Taupin partnership. I think that Paul Westerberg has said that you didn't have to buy Elton's albums because the best songs were on the radio constantly. When I finally understood the lyrics, "I'm just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen." I had to know about the lyricist.

6. Alice Cooper - "No More Mr. Nice Guy" - from Billion Dollar Babies
How could I not like Alice? I was into Famous Monsters Magazine and the image of the band had the same sensibility. Plus the fact that my Dad loved the Beatles, but got freaked out by a guy named Alice. What more could a burgeoning teenager want?

7. Pete Townshend/The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again" - from Who's Next
Maybe it all comes down to The Kids Are Alright... Daltrey's yell and Pete sliding across the stage on his knees?

8. Sparks - "Happy Hunting Ground" - from Indiscreet
I had seen pictures of them in Circus magazine and found two 8-tracks at Target for 99 cents. When I played Indiscreet it was like nothing I had ever heard before! I still think "Tits" is one of the saddest songs written. Two friends sit at a bar and one fellow tells the other that his wife is cheating on him and, as the song goes one, that he knows that the second man is the one she's cheating with. "Happy Hunting Ground" is the song that has the manic energy I associate with Sparks, though.

9. The Replacements/Paul Westerberg - " Bastards of Young" - from Tim
"The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest,
And visit their graves on holidays, at best.
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please.
If its any consolation, I don't begin to understand them."

10. R.E.M. "1,000,000" - from Chronic Town
I knew I liked them A LOT! And the only lyric (I thought) I understood was In this song. What an amazingly joyful sense of confusion!

and an 11th (because I don't know how I could have left off...) The Ramones - The Entire Rocket To Russia album

One thing I noticed is that my key artist list was formed very early in my life. All of these artists became important to me before my College years, some before High School. I guess those first roots go deepest.
The next thing I noticed is that what I consider The "Representative Tracks" don't often coincide with the hits, but often are the first thing that had resonance in my life, the song that woke me up and pointed out "This is something special."

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got hooked to this book, and then unhooked, and then hooked again. The strength of this collection is reading about the music you know and love, and being able to relate to the writer with regard to the particular song or musician(s). My personal favorite essay was about The Pixies and how their surreal imagery gave the writer nightmares because he used to fall asleep to their music. I also enjoyed an essay about music to spend a night getting drunk to, and how to spend your day with music after a break-up (this one included activities to accompany this soundtrack).

I kind of got disinterested with it because I tried to read it cover to cover and found myself getting lost with some of the more obscure artists and simply not caring about it. I think if I would have just stuck to the essays I found most appealing, I would've enjoyed it much more. I'm sure it will have a broad appeal - especially those who love music and love discussing music.

[Hannah Jo Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad my friend Carl told me about this book! I adore music lists, especially highly eclectic and opinionated ones that also contain healthy doeses of humor, so this book was a great fit for me.

Want to know why one of David Bowie's pupils always stays dilated? Then read "Jane's Affliction: Ten Ailments/Accidents That Changed Pop Music History" by Jack Murphy. (Bowie is #3 on the list.) A fan of facial hair? Then read "The Walruses: The Ten Greatest Moustaches in Rock" by Nick Kent.

Other great examples: "'Ooh, You Bitch!' Ten Biting Lyrical Put-downs" by Sam Delaney; "Crazy in Love: Ten Terrifying Pop Psychodramas" by John Grindrod; and "Deserving but Denied: Thirty-three No. 2s That Should Have Been No. 1" by Simon Reynolds.

If you have friends who remind you of the guys who work at the record store in High Fidelity, buy them this book.

[Harry Steinmetz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy and fun read, if you are into alternative music. I finished it in 1.5 days, primarily while watching football. Some of the lists are insitful and funny. The list of the most depressing Tom Waits songs, had me ready to contemplate suicide. The list of best albums to listen to while drinking alone always a riot. About 2/3 of the book had men going to Spotify to put the list together just to give it together. The ddownside, however, is that e writing is very inconsistent from list to list. Some are just boring to read. Some are so personal, or about some obscure phase of music, I simply don't care about. Better editing would have been a good idea. But you take e good with the bad, and for the musicaphile will be glad they did.

[Dennis Willingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to brouse thru to kill a little time. Book of unusual lists regarding popular music, "I don't want to go to rehab: Ten records by people obviously in a terrible state that are unfortunately much better than anything they made once they cleaned up", for instance. Some lists were entertaining, some were thoughtful, some were "too British" for me to fully understand.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit and miss, obviously, but well worth it for the hits.

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really interesting lists, others that were sort of meh.

[Will Neville · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag - as to be expected from a book of music lists...

[Ketan Shah]

A nice time waster. My recommended way to read this book is to do it while running youtube,so you get to listen to the tracks they're talking about.

[Jehnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a strange, in-the-weeds, kind of book, which doesn't mean I didn't like it. It is lists of music with no discernable link or connection. The book is very British-heavy and had to be read with a YouTube window open nearby. This fits in the niche of a true music nerd.

[Michele Brooker]

Love a list. Especially a music list!