Research Catalog
Rocking toward a free world : when the Stratocaster beat the Kalashnikov
- Title
- Rocking toward a free world : when the Stratocaster beat the Kalashnikov / András Simonyi.
- Author
- Simonyi, András, 1952-
- Publication
- New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2019.
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JME 20-1 | Performing Arts Research Collections - Music |
Details
- Description
- xiii, 321 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm
- Summary
- From renowned diplomat and musician Andrās Simonyi -- whom Stephen Colbert calls "the only ambassador I know who can shred a mean guitar!" -- comes a timely and revealing memoir about growing up behind the Iron Curtain and longing for freedom while chasing the great power of rock and roll. In ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD, Simonyi charts the struggle of growing up in 1960s Hungary, a world in which listening to his favorite music was a powerful but furtive endeavor: records were black-market bootlegs; concerts were held under strict control, even banned; protests were folded into song lyrics. Get caught listening to Western radio could mean punishment, maybe prison. That didn't matter to Simonyi, who from an early age felt the tremendous pull of rock and roll, the lure of American popular culture, and a burning desire to buck the system. Inspired by the protest music coming out of the West, he formed a band and became part of Hungary's burgeoning rock scene. Then came the setbacks: tightening of control by the state, the seemingly inescapable weight of an authoritarian system, and the collapse of Simonyi's own dreams of stardom. A story of youth, rebellion, and hope, ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD sheds new light on two of the most powerful forces of the modern age: global democracy and rock and roll. Deeply vital and compelling, Simonyi's memoir chronicles how one man's tremendous connection to American and British popular music inspired him to make a difference in his country and, eventually, the world. It tells the story of a generation, as played out in song lyrics and guitar riffs.
- Alternative Title
- When the Stratocaster beat the Kalashnikov
- Subjects
- Music fans
- Young men
- Rock music > Political aspects
- Hungary
- Guitarists
- Hungarians
- Youth > Hungary > Budapest > Social life and customs > 20th century
- Biographies
- Hungary > Social conditions > 1945-1989
- HISTORY > Europe > General
- Music fans > Hungary > Budapest > Biography
- Youth > Social life and customs
- History
- Hungary > Budapest
- Simonyi, András, 1952- > Childhood and youth
- Young men > Hungary > Budapest > Biography
- Guitarists > Hungary > Biography
- Rock music > Political aspects > Hungary > History > 20th century
- Hungarians > Denmark > Biography
- 1900-1999
- Social conditions
- Denmark
- Genre/Form
- Biographies.
- History.
- Call Number
- JME 20-1
- ISBN
- 9781538762219
- 1538762218
- 9781538762233 (canceled/invalid)
- LCCN
- 2019000375
- 40029230755
- OCLC
- 1039613549
- Author
- Simonyi, András, 1952- author.
- Title
- Rocking toward a free world : when the Stratocaster beat the Kalashnikov / András Simonyi.
- Publisher
- New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2019.
- Edition
- First edition.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Chronological Term
- 1900-1999
- Other Standard Identifier
- 40029230755
- Research Call Number
- JME 20-1