On September 3, Mid-Manhattan Library welcomed Lori Majewski, co-author (with Jonathan Bernstein) of Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s. When I was approached to host this particular Author @ the Library program, I saw the title of the book and was sold. All it takes to grab my interest is a Tears for Fears reference. Once the “oral history” part of the title finally registered, I was even more thrilled. I’ve always been a fan of oral music histories- specifically the seminal Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, as well as the more recent Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm. Oral histories can be wonderful due to the candid insight they provide, but a great interviewer (or interviewers) is crucial to gain access to that insight. Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein knew exactly what questions to ask, which comes as no surprise given their lengthy and impressive journalism careers. Majewski was a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Teen People and an executive editor of Entertainment Weekly and Us Weekly. Bernstein has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Spin, Rolling Stone, The Face, and Teen People.

The oral music histories that preceded this book focused heavily on the genre-specific music scene as a whole. Mad World takes a different approach, as the full title suggests, by highlighting 35 unique artists and bands (plus one supergroup makes 36!) and their deeply personal stories about the creation of one of their biggest hits (which they were given the option of choosing). These stories take the subject beyond nostalgic appeal, though nostalgia will certainly be a major draw for many readers. Songs featured in Mad World such as “How Soon is Now,” “Come on Eileen,” and “Blue Monday,” to name a few, elicit personal memories of dance parties, relationship highs and lovesick lows for a great deal of people. What makes Mad World excellent are the stories of what these songs meant to the actual artists, how these songs came to be, and how they are still affected by the hit(s) that brought fleeting or enduring success. 

Majewski's illustrated lecture brought together an eclectic crowd: hardcore new wavers, music industry insiders, as well as those with just a casual interest. Her enthusiasm rekindled my new wave appreciation, and I had some follow-up questions about Mad World and beyond:

What kind of research was done to prepare for this book?

Mad World was inspired by an article in The Guardian newspaper. It was an interview with Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet, who explained that a number of the lines in their biggest song, "True," came straight out of Nabokov's Lolita. This got me and my co-author, Jonathan Bernstein, thinking: What else don't we know about our favorite songs? Books we consulted included Craig Marks' and Rob Tannenbaum's I Want My MTV; Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again; Dave Rimmer's Like Punk Never Happened, along with '80s magazines like Smash Hits, Star Hits, and The Face. Mad World's design was definitely a nod to the latter.

What were the benefits of having a co-author on this book?

It certainly wouldn't have been half as much fun if I'd done this on my own. Jonathan and I spent hours on Skype, discussing (and arguing about) which songs to include, which to leave out; the artists I love, the ones he can't stand. It was Jonathan's idea to open each chapter with our often-clashing commentary. The result is perhaps a more irreverent read than a lot of music tomes. Also, we did a lot of interviews, and it would have been hellish if I had to do all of that transcribing on my own! 

In your talk, you made some comparisons between new wave artists and musicians today, and an audience member said she had no idea who the new musicians were that you mentioned. What newer bands/artists would you recommend to someone who loves new wave but does not keep up with new music? I recall you mentioned the band Chvrches.

Yes, Chvrches are from Glasgow, and they sound like they could have been signed to Mute Records in the '80s. Future Islands, meanwhile, is like OMD [Orchestral Monoeuvres in the Dark] meets New Order. There are also Capital Cities, who had that huge hit "Safe and Sound" last year, and Phantogram. And don't forget Bleachers, the solo project from Jack Antonoff of fun. that's produced by Vince Clarke of Erasure, Depeche Mode and Yaz. When I met Jack at SXSW in March, he told me Yaz is his favorite band of all time.

What books are you currently reading? (If none currently, what have you recently read?) 

I finally got around to reading Patti Smith's Just Kids a couple of months ago, and it was so beautiful. I was too young to remember NYC in the '70s, but I do remember that there were many more artists of all kinds living in Manhattan in the early '80s. Everyone is always complaining about how the city's cleaned up, how the Bowery has changed, and while I definitely appreciate that the streets and subway don't smell as bad as they used to, there's something to be said for the fact that struggling musicians can't afford to live here. They went to Brooklyn but now they can't afford it there either. Patti and Robert Mapplethorpe were able to evolve into the exceptional artists they did because they were a part of a community that nurtured and cared about them. Just Kids really captured that special time in New York's history.

You mentioned in your talk that the overwhelmingly positive feedback to Mad World has opened up the possibility of a sequel. Do you have any other book projects in the works, independent of Mad World?

Jonathan and I had no idea whether anyone would even buy Mad World, let alone have Amazon name it one of their Best Books of 2014 (So Far). It was a project we pursued because we love that time in music and wanted to celebrate it and give it the credit it deserves. There were so many great songs from the early '80s, we couldn't possibly cover them all in one, 320-page book. So, yes, we would like to do a follow-up featuring the stories behind another 35 artists and songs (feel free to tweet us your favorites @madworldbook). I'm also interested in writing about the post-grunge pop scene of the 1990s. I was working in teen magazines at the time — YM, and then Teen People — so I was at Ground Zero during another MTV era, Total Request Live. I spent a lot of hours with boy bands and Britney Spears!

Just can't get enough new wave? Place a hold on Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s. Already read it? Place a hold on a new wave album or two (or three!) Already heard those albums? Check out Mid-Manhattan Library's Author @ the Library calendar for upcoming non-fiction author visits to discover something new!