Melissa U. D. Goldsmith is a visiting lecturer in the department of
music at Westfield State University. She has published articles on
film music and popular music for The Journal of Film Music, The
Journal of American Music, Choice, Notes, and Screening the
Past.
Paige A. Willson is assistant professor of costume design and
technology at the University of Houston. As a costume designer and
mask artisan, she has worked with many groups nationwide, such as
the Alley Theatre, the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Karen Stokes
Dance, and the Stephan Koplowitz Task Force.
Anthony J. Fonseca is library director at Elms College. He is the
author or coauthor of several books, including Hooked on Horror,
Hooked on Horror II, Hooked on Horror III: A Guide to Reading
Interests (2009), and Encyclopedia of the Zombie (2014).
This work by musicologist Goldsmith, costume designer Wilson, and
librarian Fonseca is the first to focus on bands and musicians in
more than 100 international feature films; it is not a guide to
film musicals per se, and that distinction must be underscored.
Readers discover films based on performers' lives (Shine, 1966) or
backstage dealings (Roadie, 1980)…. The authors select full-length
feature films that make bands or musicians the primary focus and
are available to English-speaking audiences. Entries discuss at
plots at length; list casts, crews, and performers; and detail the
works performed, soundtracks, and albums…. [T]he work's ten
appendixes list many additional films that fit the criteria or
offer other access points to the entries. Although useful for its
inclusion of lesser-known or forgotten films and thus recommended
for comprehensive film and music collections, other resources must
supplement this compilation to complete the picture.
Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates through professionals;
general readers.
*CHOICE*
Compiled by authors specializing in musicology, film studies,
literature, and dance, this impressive volume explores full-length
films (not videos or documentaries) that have musicians and bands
as narrative subjects. The richly detailed entries seamlessly merge
scholarly insight and cultural perceptiveness, honoring both the
academic and pop appeal of the films highlighted. . . .What makes
this resource so strikingly useful and unique is the interweaving
of music and the cinematic narrative arc for each entry. Not a
simple listing of songs or artists, this is a comprehensive look at
films whose storytelling is of and through music. . . .The
appendixes, making up one-fifth of the book, are extensive and
invaluable. Films by country, director’s who’s-who, genre, and
made-for-television films are just a few. Essential for both
specialized and general library reference collections.
*American Reference Books Annual*
Interest in film music, and music in films (autodiegetic and
otherwise), has greatly increased in recent years with advances in
film and cultural studies in the academy. Cross-disciplinary works
such as this encyclopedia are particularly useful bridging points
for students, scholars and professionals who want and need a quick
and easy way to bring together several associated artistic elements
of a work or in a genre. Googling is all very well but is very
hit-and-miss, often with commercial gain taking over from critical
objectivity. This is available in spades in this reference tool for
those researchers and research/academic libraries able and willing
to afford the price. Rowman & Littlefield have a well-established
pedigree for reference materials, and their ‘cultural studies’
catalogue merits further examination, above all for readers and
buyers in the USA. Of interest, too, is the way in which individual
tracks – from and/or used in films like The Five Pennies with Danny
Kaye or The Rose with Bette Midler – were famous beforehand or had
an independent life of their own in the charts. For any general
reader really keen on popular musicology and its historiography,
this reference work is of particular interest.
*s*
Cinephiles, filmmakers, film curators, scholars, and students,
musicologists, music lovers, historians, and history enthusiasts
will all benefit from this thorough examination and analysis of
films featuring musicians and bands. From Mozart to Pink Floyd and
all points in-between with details about story lines, casts, and
creative teams, the authors have provided a resource that will be
invaluable as a reference guide as well as an enjoyable read.
*Trish Rigdon, The Arts Institute for Houston, Austin, and San
Antonio*
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