This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich

OVER THE LAST SEVEN DECADES, some of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated musicians have flirted with the imagery and theater of the Third Reich. From Keith Moon and Vivian Stanshall donning Nazi uniforms and terrorizing Jewish neighborhoods to Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious brandishing swastikas in the pomp of punk, generations of performers have associated themselves in troubling ways with the aesthetics, mass hysteria, and even ideology of Nazism. Whether by shock factor, stupidity, or a crass attempt at subversion, rock 'n' roll has indulged these associations--whimsically, carelessly, occasionally malevolently--in a way not accepted by any other artform. But how accountable should fans, the media, and the music industry be for what has often seemed a sleazy fascination with the eroticized perversions of a fascist regime? In This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll, award-winning music historian Daniel Rachel navigates these turbulent waters with extraordinary delicacy and care, asking us to look anew at the artists that have defined us, inspired us, and given us joy--and consider why so many have been drawn to the imagery of a movement responsible for the twentieth century's worst atrocities. Alongside a sensitive history of the Holocaust and an examination of the place it holds in our cultural consciousness, Rachel asks essential questions of actions often overlooked or underplayed, while neither casting sweeping judgement nor offering easy answers. In doing so, he asks us to reassess the history of rock 'n' roll, and sheds new light on the grim echoes of the Third Reich in popular culture--and the legacy of twentieth (and twenty-first)-century history as it defines us today.

About the Author :
Daniel Rachel is a Birmingham-born, best-selling author whose previous works include: Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story; Oasis: Knebworth: Two Nights That Will Live Forever; and The Lost Album of the Beatles: What If the Beatles Hadn't Split Up?. He is also coauthor of Ranking Roger's autobiography, I Just Can't Stop It: My Life in the Beat. In 2021, Rachel was a guest curator of the "2 Tone Lives & Legacies" exhibition as part of Coventry Cultural City 2021, and he curated the anniversary edition of the Selecter's debut album, Too Much Pressure. He lives in London.

Review :
[A] deeply thought-provoking work, and long overdue-- "MOJO" A timely book exposing the complicated history of the use of Nazi symbols in popular music culture since the last World War. As the powers-that-be lurch toward a far-right future, there is no longer any hiding place for those pretending to be ignorant about the true meaning of Nazism, or using its emblems for their supposed subversive 'cool' factor. They have a choice, own their perverse fascination when exposed or apologize.--Rachel Black, singer-songwriter While it is slightly incredible that before now no one has published a book on rock's periodic spasms of flirtation with Nazism, one could picture it as a dry, academic thesis rather than the absolute banger Daniel Rachel has written. It's hard to imagine there will be a more original book of nonfiction this year.--Emma Forrest, author of Father Figure In this important exploration of the relationship between pop music and the Third Reich, Daniel Rachel challenges the motivations of those artists who sought glamour and notoriety in exploiting Nazi imagery. In doing so, he raises once more the question that was put to Leni Riefenstahl after 1945, when she claimed that, while fascinated by Nazism, she was politically naïve and ignorant of the fate of six million Jews: How could you not know?--Billy Bragg, from the introduction Music historian Rachel presents a meticulous profile of the British record label that helped popularize post-punk ska music in the late 1970s and early '80s . . . Rachel effectively balances his enthusiasm about the label and what it stood for with a clear-eyed assessment of how a movement intended for good can go up in flames.-- "Publishers Weekly, on Too Much Too Young" Madness, the Selecter, the Beat, UB40, the Specials--these were just some of the biggest names in the 1970s and 1980s movement of punk-influenced ska and reggae-based songs, antiracist and antisexist at heart, on the airwaves. British music writer Rachel presents a rich and vibrant history of that era and of the bands and record companies that made it happen, with a special focus on 2 Tone Re-cords founder, Jerry Dammers . . . It's a big fat book about an important, if sometimes neglected, part of cultural music history . . . when music of the African diaspora was heard and embraced around the world.-- "Booklist, starred review on Too Much Too Young" In Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story, the musician and writer Daniel Rachel demonstrates that the 2 Tone record label's groundbreaking mix of Jamaican ska and English punk, in particular the music of the Specials, was more than a homegrown entertainment for British teenagers at the dismal end of the 1970s. 2 Tone changed a generation of young Britons for the better . . . Mr. Rachel's account . . . is fascinating.-- "Wall Street Journal, on Too Much Too Young"