The history of rock and roll : a selective discography /

Kocandrle seeks to improve on previous rock discographies by presenting the artists grouped according to style rather than the traditional alphabetical listing. Unfortunately, these groupings do more to confuse than clarify. Why, for example, is Yoko Ono included in the section titled "First British Invasion" while the Rolling Stones are found elsewhere under "R&B-Influenced British Groups and Singers"!? An index does provide reasonable, if two-step, access to groups strangely assigned, but the work suffers further from arbitrary and unwarranted editorial decisions. First, only those items "worthy of grades B and better," on the editor's A through F scale are included, with the exception of "extremely popular" items that are included "even though they could not be considered artistically superior." The listings, which include singles and LPs, are, therefore, unnecessarily selective, eliminating this work as an effective reference tool. Evaluation takes the form of asterisks "to denote exceptional artistic quality." Unbelievably, the Beatles and the Who do not carry this endorsement, but Herman's Hermits do! Decidedly superior alternatives to this volume are Dave Marsh's The New Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983; 1st ed., CH, Jun '80); Terry Hounsome's New Rock Record (3rd ed., 1987; 1st ed., CH, Jun '82); and Norm N. Nite's three-volume encyclopedia Rock On (v. 3, CH, Feb '86). Kocandrle is not recommended. -C. Haka, Michigan State University