Interview with Bill Brown

Diet Soap Podcast #84, hosted by Doug Lain, posted 25 November 2010.

Barnes & Noble says "No"

Three Days in November: A Dry Summary

Wednesday, 17 November.
Cleveland, Ohio: Visible Voice Books.
Attendance: four people, three of whom were from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
One copy sold. One copy given away as a gift.
Left on consignment: two copies of You Should've Heard Just What I Seen, three copies of American Colossus: the Grain Elevator 1843-1943, and three copies of We Know You Are Watching: Surveillance Camera Players 1996-2006.

Thursday, 18 November.
Toledo, Ohio: Culture Clash Records.
Attendance: Two people (plus two people who work at the store).
Two copies sold.
Left on consignment: five copies of You Should've Heard.


Friday, 19 November.
Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Blind Pig.
Merchandising table during show by The Cult Heroes.
Four copies sold.
One copy sold to owner of the West Side Book Shop.
Left on consignment: ten copies of You Should've Heard at Border's Books, three copies of You Should've Heard at David's Books.

Summary of accounts (just for You Should've Heard).
Sales: eight copies.
Gifts: one copy.
Left on consignment: twenty copies.

Now available through Amazon

Bill's book is now available through Amazon.

Event in Ann Arbor, Michigan

It has taken two weeks of work, but we have finally arranged a book signing event for Bill Brown in Ann Arbor, Michigan!

Border's Books, 612 East Liberty Street
7 pm, Tuesday 7 December 2010

(Thanks, Mike!)

Review by Grant McDonagh

The sad fact of the writing & publishing world now is that the enormous investment of time and effort it takes to write a book can lead to a great big nothing in terms of publisher uptake, sales, reviews and all the other good things you daydream about on the long journey to the completion of a manuscript. So Bill “Not Bored” Brown has put together his second book and Colossal Books of Cincinatti Ohio have published it, a slick, professional collection of previews and reviews from the years 81-84 when Bill wrote for the Ann Arbor News, The Metro Times & The Michigan Voice called You Should’ve Heard What I Just Seen and its of potential interest/enjoyment to anyone anywhere who’s into punk, 80’s pop, or just about any style of contemporary or recent music you might care to name. Personally I found as much interest and entertainment in his responses to the disposable and nearly forgotten or nowadays underrated likes of Patrice Rushen, The Gap Band & Prince as the still feted punk, post-punk & Hardcore likes of The Gang Of Four, The Ramones, Talking Heads & the Replacements etc. Given the format of daily/weekly publication, there’s nothing quite as stunning or as deeply insightful as you’ll find on the Not Bored website (cf. Bills’ Nirvana essay), but there are hints of his more recent obsessions/activities - a namecheck & recommendation to track down Vaneigem's Revolution Of Everyday Life as well as quite sweet, sympathetic reviews of lesbian-feminist (but not seperatist) artists & old style folkies. All in all a pleasant & richly textured read. Highly recommended.


Ultra-151, 4 November 2010.

Guest DJ at Sitwells Coffee House in Cincinnati

November schedule of author appearances

2-4 pm Saturday 6 November: Contemporary Arts Center, 44 East Sixth Street, downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

7-9 pm Saturday 13 November: Shake It Records, 4156 Hamilton Avenue, Northside Cincinnati, Ohio.*

7-9 pm Wednesday 17 November: Visible Voice Books, 1023 Kenilworth Ave, Cleveland, Ohio.*

6-8 pm Thursday 18 November: The Culture Clash, 4020 Secor Road, Toledo, Ohio.*

9- pm Friday 19 November: The Blind Pig, 208 S. First Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

*Copies of the book already on sale at these locations.