A Spy in the House of Loud: New York Songs and Stories

Chris Stamey

Published by University of Texas Press 2018

A Spy in the House of Loud

New York Songs and Stories

Chris Stamey

In the series American Music Series

https://doi.org/10.7560/316221

Overview
Contents

About this book

Popular music was in a creative upheaval in the late 1970s. As the singer-songwriter and producer Chris Stamey remembers, “the old guard had become bloated, cartoonish, and widely co-opted by a search for maximum corporate profits, and we wanted none of it.” In A Spy in the House of Loud, he takes us back to the auteur explosion happening in New York clubs such as the Bowery’s CBGB as Television, Talking Heads, R.E.M., and other innovative bands were rewriting the rules. Just twenty-two years old and newly arrived from North Carolina, Stamey immersed himself in the action, playing a year with Alex Chilton before forming the dB’s and recording the albums Stands for deciBels and Repercussion, which still have an enthusiastic following.

A Spy in the House of Loud vividly captures the energy that drove the music scene as arena rock gave way to punk and other new streams of electric music. Stamey tells engrossing backstories about creating in the recording studio, describing both the inspiration and the harmonic decisions behind many of his compositions, as well as providing insights into other people’s music and the process of songwriting. Photos, mixer-channel and track assignment notes, and other inside-the-studio materials illustrate the stories. Revealing another side of the CBGB era, which has been stereotyped as punk rock, safety pins, and provocation, A Spy in the House of Loud portrays a southern artist’s coming-of-age in New York’s frontier abandon as he searches for new ways to break the rules and make some noise.

Author / Editor information

Chris Stamey has participated in indie music of all stripes since the 1970s, as both a musician and a producer. His recent albums include Lovesick Blues and Euphoria, as well as Falling Off the Sky with the dB’s. As a producer, he has worked with Ryan Adams, Alejandro Escovedo, Flat Duo Jets, Skylar Gudasz, Tift Merritt, Le Tigre, and Yo La Tengo.

Reviews

In many ways, the manner of Mr. Stamey’s book . . . is comparable to his songwriting style; it’s measured and thoughtful; it has imagery and flow with a mixture of intellect and very sophisticated yet never pretentious humor. It’s a book that’s warm, fun and deeper than what you may expect. . . Never lightweight but never overbearing, the music of Chris Stamey is a marvel. As is this book. So it would stand you in good stead to pick this book up, read it and then seek out Mr. Stamey’s catalog. It’s very easy to embrace it all.

— Rob Ross, PopDose

Like so many artistically minded young people in the late '70s, a bright, talented 20-something named Chris Stamey followed his muse from his native North Carolina to Manhattan, at that time a near-bankrupt megapolis with a seedy, disreputable downtown that just happened to be giving birth to some of the most exciting and original music of the 20th century. . . While fans will relish the stories of '70s Manhattan, when Stamey collaborated with another young ex-pat named Alex Chilton or popped into his neighborhood bar to catch a new band called Television woodshed some tunes, musicians will appreciate his explanations of how songs come together, how one chord feeds off another or how a chorus can be crafted to complement a verse.

— Jersey Journal

Through happenstance and his own curiosity, Chris Stamey became a player in two blossoming music scenes. . . [his book] captures the zeitgeist of both those scenes with anecdotes and reflections that also serve as a window into his musical evolution.

— Winston-Salem Journal

[Stamey’s] book smoothly takes us back to an auteur explosion happening in small NY clubs lead, most notably, by up and coming bands like The Talking Heads. . . a great guided tour of the studio experiences behind each song, with just as many highly articulate insights into the other musicians of the era as his own work. It also portrays a brilliant Southern boy’s coming of age in a city of other brilliant talents, where it seemed that every second person he met was as brilliant as himself. The main thing they all had in coming, apart from unique voices, styles and ways of producing electric music, was a fervent desire to break the rules and make some noise.

— Critics at Large

Students of indie-rock history will find Stamey’s book loaded with interesting tidbits. . . [he] brings a fair amount of musical analysis, acoustical science, and audio-engineering knowledge to his writing, which will add to the book’s appeal for theory nerds and studio rats. . . the stuff can be complex, but his writing is approachable and energetic.

— Yes! Weekly

A vivid, thoroughly lived-through depiction of a time when music mattered greatly and a disaffected minority sought to overthrow the existing pop culture.

— Milwaukee Shepherd-Express

Where most musician autobiographies are fueled by backstage drama, this book focuses almost entirely on the creative process, a choice that not only proves to be compelling but helps turn Stamey’s personal journey into a necessary document of peak-era college rock, illustrating how it was a vibrant scene filled with unexpected cross pollination.

— Pitchfork

A Spy In The House of Loud works best on quiet stages, taking singular trips down clearly paved roads with definite endings.

— PopMatters

There’s a great warmth to [Stamey's] storytelling that makes this book particularly endearing. . . like you’re sitting around with Chris and he’s telling you the stories almost in confidence. It’s a comfortable voice and the tales aren’t particularly tall—they’re just human and entertaining and informative.

— Magnet Magazine

A Spy in the House of Loud is an endlessly fascinating odyssey through the worlds of Southern pop, New York City art punk, and American indie rock. Stamey’s stories capture you with same finely etched detail and emotional depth that have always marked his best songs. Both an engrossing personal memoir and an eye-opening peek into the creative process, this is a truly essential work of music lit.

— Bob Mehr, New York Times–bestselling author of Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements

Informed, eloquent, and daring, this book stands as a model of excellence for both music writing and memoir. Stamey moves effortlessly between analysis and reminiscence, history and personal revelation, shedding light on his own creative journey as well as the city—‘planet New York’—that provided a good deal of the inspiration for it. I simultaneously learned so much and was deeply moved.

— Anthony DeCurtis, author of Lou Reed: A Life

Chris Stamey arrived in New York City just as rock and roll had begun to reinvent itself, and he was—and is—particularly qualified to bear witness to that moment.

— Steve Earle

This North Carolina outsider gets deep inside the coolest scenes—New York City, playing Max’s and CBGB with Alex Chilton and Richard Lloyd, then spinning into the heart of 1980s alternative rock with the dBs and pals Mitch Easter and REM, and on to Hoboken’s glorious 1990s. Stamey is a songwriter, musician, and producer, but this book proves that, paramount, he’s a listener, and a damn good writer about what he hears.

— Robert Gordon, author of Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music’s Hometown

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface The Story behind the Painting Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
1 Don’t Stop to Think Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 I Love the Sound of the Traffic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
3 In Our Wildest Dreams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
4 Have You Seen the Last Elite? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
5 The More You Learn, the Less You Know Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
6 Pavement Slapping My Feet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
7 Eyes Submerge Your Face Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
8 Caress and Spite Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
9 I Loved You, and You Did, Too Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
10 Exhilaration; or, Gorging a Neuronic Aperture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
11 Just Like Yesterday Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
12 Who Will Baudelaire? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
13 Cut It Hot, Cut It Up, Cut It Clean, Cut It Slow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
14 Your Ballerina Curls Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
15 She Took the Soda Pop Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
16 Wine in Plastic Cups Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
17 The Distance That Surrounds Us Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
18 The Air Is Full of Air Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
19 Like a Party Balloon on the Strand Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
20 Never a Time Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
21 Anyone Who Had to Laugh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
22 The Whole World’s Dirt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
23 Newspapers Collect on the Street Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	216
24 I Want to Break Your Heart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
25 All Around You Now the Stars Are Falling Down Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
Appendix A Listener’s Guide Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
Selected Discography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	276

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 277

eBook

Published: April 15, 2018
ISBN: 9781477316238