Hijinx and Hearsay: Scenester Stories from Minnesota’s Pop Life Paperback – April 1, 2019 by Martin Keller

Description

Author: Keller Martin

Brand: Minnesota Historical Society Press

Package Dimensions: 15x253x810

Number Of Pages: 256

Release Date: 01-04-2019

Details: Product Description
In the summer of 1979, while disco was dying and new wave and punk were rising from the underground, two twenty-something guys were thrown together on a new music monthly ignobly called
Sweet Potato. One had a Canon camera, the other a thirty-six-pound Royal typewriter. Over the next several years, the two chronicled the Minneapolis scene and the cultural landscape of the Twin Cities, covering some of the most influential artists, musicians, writers, comedians, and entertainers of the past forty years. They profiled legendary musicians from across the globe and across musical genres—Paul and Linda McCartney, Bob Marley, U2, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Devo, and more—as well as homegrown talents ranging from Dylan and Prince to the Replacements and Hüsker Dü. They covered such disparate writers as William Burroughs and Dr. Seuss, and young, up-and-coming comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Louie Anderson, and Lizz Winstead.
In
Hijinx and Hearsay, writer Martin Keller and photographer Greg Helgeson are at it again, offering a delectable, fun, and fresh perspective through Helgeson’s photography (much of it never seen before) and new stories and insights by Keller that shed fascinating light on a singular, influential era in popular culture in Minnesota.
Review
“Finally, a book that slips
behind the Minneapolis Sound and everybody who poured love sexy into it―plus the Twin Cities’ crazy comedy scene, and quite a few stops in between, from Lake Wobegon to Hipsterville! Greg Helgeson’s photos alone make it worth picking up. Throw on some Morris Day and the Time, U2, or get you some Devo crankin’ as you motorvate through Martin Keller’s written adventures from an era that’s as relevant today as it was when your cassettes got jammed in your dash and all that tape unraveled.”
Louie Anderson, three-time Emmy Award–winning comedian, actor, best-selling author, and St. Paul native “Marty gives us a real insider’s view of why Minnesota has one of the funkiest, most unique and collaborative music scenes in America. Not only was he there, but he can remember it all!”
Bonnie Raitt, ten-time Grammy Award–winning musician “Martin Keller deserves a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame simply for crowning Prince with the handle “His Royal Badness.” Luckily for us, Keller’s talent far transcends the bestowing of pitch-perfect monikers. In
Hijinx and Hearsay, he beautifully bears witness to the magical confluence of people (from international icons to local heroes) and places (from the Twin Cities to rock ’n’ roll heaven) at the time when Flyoverland somehow alchemized into pop cultural Oz. Seen from the scene, written from the heart, and rocking with soul, Keller has produced an instant classic.”
Neal Karlen, former contributing editor for
Rolling Stone and author of nine books, including
Prince Off the Record “Like all the great chronicles in the annals of music journalism and criticism, Martin Keller and his trusty photographer Greg Helgeson were
there for scenester stories, listening in the moment and capturing the wonderful tales and important details that bring a special time and its music alive. Reading the stories and seeing the photos is like having a beer with old friends, set to a great soundtrack.”
Jim DeRogatis, cohost of the nationally syndicated radio show
Sound Opinions and author of
Let It Blurt and
Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly “Martin Keller’s well-written stories reveal journalists, too, were experiencing a heyday, a metamorphosis that honored tradition while breakneck tumbling toward the unknown between the late seventies and early nineties. In his incredible personal accounts, Keller gives the sense he knows he is living in a moment, a unique, volatile, and artistic collision course. And instead of turning away, he digs in to find a truth in a time that now seems beyond belief. Maybe he’s really our Virgil, leading us through the nine layers of the Twin Cities’ many scenes, providi