Michael Frontani is associate professor of communications at Elon University. His work has appeared in publications such as the Journal of American Culture, Journalism History, and African Studies Review.
"Frontani (communication, Elon Univ.) prefaces this book with John
Lennon's murder and descriptions of the ensuing responses to
Lennon's life. He goes on to offer six succinct chapters on how the
Beatles became a lightning rod for teens and society. Defining the
Beatles' various images by using four categories of media
text--promotion, publicity, work product, and commentary--the
author demonstrates how Brian Epstein brought Beatlemania to the
forefront of music and culture, particularly in the US. Beginning
with the oxymoronic "safe/toughness" heralding the Beatles'
American introduction in 1964 and concluding with Jann Wenner's
promotion of their commentary to launch Rolling Stone magazine,
Frontani covers the Beatles' "separate and distinct identity"
evolutionary time line. He concludes with the 1995 Beatles
Anthology broadcasts. Scholars will appreciate the copious
bibliography citing the works Frontani employed to build his case
for the Beatles' impact on society and history. Those who witnessed
the onset firsthand will enjoy taking the magical mystery tour
again; those who came to Beatlemania later will relish this concise
retelling of the story from a single focus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers, all levels." -- T.
Emery, Austin Peay State University CHOICE CHOICE Outstanding
Academic Title for 2008
"The best study to date of the Beatles' reception in the United
States, their successful media images, and debates over their
popularity and influence." ---Douglas Kellner
"The Beatles came to the consciousness of United States teenagers,
not through extensive touring, but through an image that was
created, fostered and redefined by the media and the band. Michael
R. Frontani's The Beatles: Image and the Media traces the arc of
the Beatles career from the viral days of Beatlemania to their role
as mature artists/cultural icons of the late 1960s. Along the way,
Frontani gives us one of the must read books for understanding the
Beatles lasting hold on our consciousness."---Michael Cheney
"The Beatles didn't just change popular music - they changed the
world of their time and that of future generations. Michael
Frontani examines how thoroughly the Beatles upended the cultural
apple cart in this compulsively readable and exhaustively
researched book. The way in which the Fab Four turned the tables on
the media, using them for their own devices, illustrates the canny
intelligence that lay beneath their image as loveable moptops."
---Parke Puterbaugh
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