Risky Business - Rock in Film (Hardcover)

Exposure is the name of the game in the world of mass media today. Customers are more selective about what they purchase, in part because prices are higher, and in part because they have so many choices about how to spend leisure time. In the exposure of popular music, and in particular rock, the role of motion pictures has become increasingly significant. Rock music and film is the subject of this major new book reexamining and extending Denisoffs pioneering examinations of the record industry and how it interacts with other media.

Prior to "Saturday Night Fever, "rock music had a limited role in the motion picture business. That movie's success, and the success of its soundtrack, began to change things. But it was not until 1983, with "Flashdance, "that the situation drastically changed; in 1984, ten soundtracks were certified platinum, many in the pop/rock genre. Clearly the marriage of movies with rock had reached maturity.

Choosing which rock scores to discuss in this book became a challenging task. Selecting scores from "The Graduate, Easy Rider, American Grafitti, Saturday Night Fever, Help , "and "Dirty Dancing "was easy. But many productions are significant not because of success, but because of their boxoffice and record store failures, and these too are discussed. "Risky Business "chronicles an important development, the interaction of two major mediums of mass culture in the latter twentieth century. The book will be essential for those who have read and enjoyed ' Denisoffs other books, as well as those interested in communications, popular culture, and social change.