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HOW TO WRECK A NICE BEACH: THE VOCODER FROM WORLD WAR II By Dave Tompkins *VG+*
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HOW TO WRECK A NICE BEACH: THE VOCODER FROM WORLD WAR II By Dave Tompkins *VG+*
US $114.49US $114.49
Thu, Jun 19, 11:31 PMThu, Jun 19, 11:31 PM
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HOW TO WRECK A NICE BEACH: THE VOCODER FROM WORLD WAR II By Dave Tompkins *VG+*

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US $114.49
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Very Good
Book is in Very Good Condition.  Text will be unmarked.  May show some signs of use or wear. Will ... Read moreabout condition
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    eBay item number:335989354468
    Last updated on Jun 07, 2025 15:41:17 EDTView all revisionsView all revisions

    Item specifics

    Condition
    Very Good
    A book that does not look new and has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious damage to the cover, with the dust jacket (if applicable) included for hard covers. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. May be very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover. Very minimal wear and tear. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
    Seller Notes
    “Book is in Very Good Condition.  Text will be unmarked.  May show some signs of use or wear. Will ...
    ISBN-10
    1933633883
    Publication Name
    Stop Smiling Books
    Type
    Hardcover
    ISBN
    9781933633886

    About this product

    Product Identifiers

    Publisher
    Melville House Publishing
    ISBN-10
    1933633883
    ISBN-13
    9781933633886
    eBay Product ID (ePID)
    77543009

    Product Key Features

    Book Title
    How to Wreck a Nice Beach : the Vocoder from Stalin to Frampton to Bambaataa
    Number of Pages
    352 Pages
    Language
    English
    Publication Year
    2010
    Topic
    Genres & Styles / Rap & Hip Hop, History & Criticism, Ethnomusicology, Genres & Styles / Electronic, Acoustics & Sound
    Illustrator
    Yes
    Genre
    Music, Science
    Author
    Dave Tompkins
    Format
    Trade Paperback

    Dimensions

    Item Height
    1 in
    Item Weight
    27.1 Oz
    Item Length
    9 in
    Item Width
    7.3 in

    Additional Product Features

    Intended Audience
    Trade
    LCCN
    2009-050617
    Dewey Edition
    22
    Reviews
    "It's unquestionably brilliant, not only one of the best music books of the year, but also one of the best music books ever written." -Los Angeles Times "Dave Tompkins is seven steps ahead of science and several leagues outside of time." -Sasha Frere-Jones, Pop Music Critic, The New Yorker "The best hip hop writer ever born." -Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation, winner of the American Book Award "One of the most bugged, brilliant guys I know." -Oliver Wang, NPR music critic "No one knows more about the vocoder than Dave Tompkins, not even the dude who invented it. [A]n awesome book about the vocoder and its cultural impact… read it immediately." -The Fader "How to Wreck a Nice Beach is much more than a labor of love: It's an intergalactic vision quest fueled by several thousand gallons of high-octane spiritual-intellectual lust. Outside of, say, William Vollmann, it's hard to think of an author so ravished by his subject... A hallucinatory stew of Rimbaud, Tom Wolfe, Lester Bangs, and Bootsy Collins." -New York "This one has cult audience written all over it." -Booklist, "It's unquestionably brilliant, not only one of the best music books of the year, but also one of the best music books ever written." - Los Angeles Times "Dave Tompkins is seven steps ahead of science and several leagues outside of time." -Sasha Frere-Jones, Pop Music Critic,  The New Yorker "The best hip hop writer ever born." -Jeff Chang, author of  Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation , winner of the American Book Award "One of the most bugged, brilliant guys I know."  -Oliver Wang, NPR music critic    "No one knows more about the vocoder than Dave Tompkins, not even the dude who invented it. [A]n awesome book about the vocoder and its cultural impact& read it immediately."  -The Fader " How to Wreck a Nice Beach is much more than a labor of love: It's an intergalactic vision quest fueled by several thousand gallons of high-octane spiritual-intellectual lust. Outside of, say, William Vollmann, it's hard to think of an author so ravished by his subject... A hallucinatory stew of Rimbaud, Tom Wolfe, Lester Bangs, and Bootsy Collins." - New York "This one has cult audience written all over it." - Booklist, "Dave Tompkins is seven steps ahead of science and several leagues outside of time." -Sasha Frere-Jones, Pop Music Critic,The New Yorker "The best hip hop writer ever born." -Jeff Chang, author ofCan't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation, winner of the American Book Award "One of the most bugged, brilliant guys I know." -Oliver Wang, NPR music critic, "Dave Tompkins is seven steps ahead of science and several leagues outside of time." -Sasha Frere-Jones, Pop Music Critic, The New Yorker "The best hip hop writer ever born." -Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation, winner of the American Book Award "One of the most bugged, brilliant guys I know."  -Oliver Wang, NPR music critic  "We urge you to get robotic and add this gem to your reading list." -Dublab   "No one knows more about the vocoder than Dave Tompkins, not even the dude who invented it. [A]n awesome book about the vocoder and its cultural impacthellip; read it immediately."  -The Fader
    Dewey Decimal
    621.38224
    Synopsis
    The history of the vocoder: how popular music hijacked the Pentagon's speech scrambling weapon The vocoder, invented by Bell Labs in 1928, once guarded phones from eavesdroppers during World War II; by the Vietnam War, it was repurposed as a voice-altering tool for musicians, and is now the ubiquitous voice of popular music. In How to Wreck a Nice Beach --from a mis-hearing of the vocoder-rendered phrase "how to recognize speech"--music journalist Dave Tompkins traces the history of electronic voices from Nazi research labs to Stalin's gulags, from the 1939 World's Fair to Hiroshima, from artificial larynges to Auto-Tune. We see the vocoder brush up against FDR, JFK, Stanley Kubrick, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Kraftwerk, the Cylons, Henry Kissinger, and Winston Churchill, who boomed, when vocoderized on V-E Day, "We must go off " And now vocoder technology is a cell phone standard, allowing a digital replica of your voice to sound human. From T-Mobile to T-Pain, How to Wreck a Nice Beach is a riveting saga of technology and culture, illuminating the work of some of music's most provocative innovators., From T-Mobile to Nazi research labs via Kanye West, this is a riveting saga of technology and culture, illuminating the work of some of music's most provocative innovators., Originally designed as a military device, the vocoder has now become the voice of hip-hop and pop music. It has served both the Pentagon and the roller rink, a double agent of pop and espionage. Music journalist Dave Tompkins traces its incredible history from Nazi research labs to Stalin's gulags, from Hiroshima to Manhattan nightclubs and the Muppets. The result is an amazing chronicle of post-war music and culture, filled with unexpected and surprising encounters with John F. Kennedy, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West and Stanley Kubrick.
    LC Classification Number
    ML1380.T66 2010

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