Genre: A 33 1/3 Series – New Books on ’70s Teen Pop and Krautrock

Next month we’re adding two new books to our Genre series: ’70s Teen Pop and Krautrock. If you’re not yet familiar with this series, think of Genre as your guide through musical sub-genres that have intrigued, perplexed, or provoked listeners. Much like the original 33 1/3 series, each book offers new perspectives, song recommendations, little-known tidbits, personal stories, and above all, ways of thinking about music.

Why I Wrote About Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope

Ayanna Dozier on what The Velvet Rope says about power, sexual fluidity, and respectability politics The Velvet Rope has been with me since its release nearly twenty-three years ago in October of 1997. For most of that time, I had no intention to write about my admiration for the album. It was simply a record that I would fervently remind colleagues and friends of as time passed. But as time passed, I bore witness to the changes in Janet’s career. In the 1990s through the early 2000s, Janet was the…