Music in a Word: Volume 1 (Learning to Write)

Music in a Word, Volume 1 is an anthology and memoir by veteran American music journalist Ira Robbins. If you've ever wondered how and why anyone becomes a critic, some of the answers are here. "Music in a Word" gathers articles, many previously unpublished interviews, album and concert reviews and other writing, with colorful recollections of 50 years spent on a musical soapbox. Subjects include Trouser Press, John Lydon, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, Ice Cube, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Cure, Liz Phair, Michael Jackson, T. Rex, the B-52's, Isaac Hayes, Elvis Presley, Jethro Tull, J. Geils, Public Enemy, David Bowie, R.E.M., Linda Ronstadt, Pavement, Kirsty MacColl, Holly Beth Vincent, Billy Joel, Tears for Fears, Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch, as well as movie reviews and much more. Profusely illustrated with images from the author's personal archive.

A lifelong New Yorker, Ira Robbins studied to be an electrical engineer but became a music journalist instead. He co-founded Trouser Press magazine in 1974 and ran it until the end, in 1984. He was subsequently an editor at Video magazine, pop music critic for New York Newsday and editorial director in syndicated radio. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books and contributed to many more. He now runs Trouser Press Books.