Who was the first great showman? How do you build a huge career with 35 dollars? What was the most successful propaganda in the USA? Why were illegal radios called "pirate"? Which song shocked the whole world? How did a music video make a failed song timelessly famous? What is guerrilla marketing? What is the greatest concert scam of all time?

The above questions are just the starting point for a journey across five continents and three centuries. A grand excursion through the USA during Prohibition, into racist Alabama with Nina Simone, to Hydra with Leonard Cohen, in the tumultuous Athens of the '60s along with the Rolling Stones, in London with the "Rock Against Racism" movement, in the Bronx ghettos of New York with a hip-hop backdrop, in Jamaica with Bob Marley, in Buenos Aires with Astor Piazzolla, in Japan listening to music on the first Walkman, in the nostalgic '80s with a-ha, in Thessaloniki with U2.

Musical stories from life, for life, featuring exclusive narratives from Calexico, Anne Clark, Madrugada, Tuxedomoon, and more.

Foreword

I remember my father, every time we arrived somewhere by car, waiting for the song on the radio or the 8-track tape to finish before my mother, he, and I got out. And, well, when we were going to the beach or arrived early for an appointment. But when we had a meeting with a doctor or were going to the movies? No! Even then he enjoyed the song, waited for it to end, and only then turned off the engine of the white Fiat 124.

I couldn’t fully understand it, since we weren’t at a concert to offend the artist by leaving in the middle of the piece, but I had no choice but to be patient. Years later, I started driving myself (the same Fiat). One day, I don’t remember where I was going, if it was cold or warm, if it was Wednesday or Saturday, but I do remember hearing "Don’t Bang the Drum" by the Waterboys on the radio. I was in a hurry, arrived right on time but, almost unconsciously, stayed in the car until the song finished.

What is music, then, in everyone’s life? A crutch in their difficulties? Company in their pleasant moments? A soundtrack to their colorless daily life? An expression of emotions they cannot put into words? An outlet for their inner conflicts? Images from an era they did not live through? Memories from their past? Probably all of these and even more.

The reception of my first music book "The Hidden Stories Behind the Songs" exceeded my deepest hopes and drove me to start collecting new stories. This time the research went much deeper and from more sources. However, while delving into the bibliography, I found very interesting narratives that were not solely related to songs. Thus, in this book, I decided not to only focus on songs but also to discuss the stories behind albums, instrumental pieces, music videos, concerts, and musical events. After all, all together form a part of our musical life.

For some stories I wanted to capture and could not find information on, I reached out to the creators themselves, and I had the great joy of their responses. Thus, the book includes exclusive narratives from Calexico, Chris & Carla, Annie Clark, Madrugada, Tuxedomoon, and others. The final result spreads across five continents and three centuries. I tried to make this book broader than the first, without making it huge in volume, because very large books have always stressed me out!

Writing it was an amazing journey for me. I traveled to New Orleans, Lahore, Alabama; to the Bronx ghettos, Tokyo, London, Santiago; to Buenos Aires, Havana, Athens, and Thessaloniki of my youth. In each city, there’s another story, another music, and another mood.

The stories are placed chronologically rather than based on their content because I thought this way the reader would also take a small journey through modern history. I like how, reading the texts in this order, the emotions change abruptly, just as they do in our lives. I hope readers can embark on their personal journey, similar to mine. We have always enjoyed reading stories about travels and concerts. Perhaps a little more in the last year, when we missed them so much...

November 2020
Tasos Vafiadis

P.S. Not long ago, my preschool-age daughters scolded me for turning off the car engine while the song hadn’t finished yet...