Origin Story: Thirty-One Histories of Popular Music

Field notes

The chronology deliberately allows genres to overlap: Disco and Punk occupy the same five-year span, while Disco is presented as a parent of both Punk and House. Each volume describes six to ten records without reproducing lyrics, then examines the business machinery around them, including publishing ownership and contracts. The homepage also identifies the Punk book as Volume 17, covering 1974–1980 and subtitled “Eighteen Months That Rewired the Record Business.”