“From the strength of their personal decency and dedication, the musicians summoned up an oceanic passion, a commitment to the true experience of their materials that short-circuited the hair on the back of one’s neck”

“Nobody who played jazz was considered able to walk in and do a studio call. They were convinced you couldn't read, or you wouldn't show up, or you'd fall down drunk”

“Many jazz musicians don’t like singers, and some will go to great lengths to avoid play­ing for them. Not without rea­son. Frank Sinatra is a rare excep­tion.”

“Even his weaknesses stem from too much talent. But the stamina of his personal vision is far preferable to the formulaic nowhere of the music business.”

At his best, singer Ric Ocasek bal­ances dehumanizing Anglo-European obsessions with loose­-goose American rock. And his songs are downright catchy.

“A battle was fought and the good guys won, it’s as simple as that. The effects of the victory are many and glorious.”

“We don’t have to bow our heads in shame because this is the best album of 1975. It would have been the best album of 1967, too”

“No tricks, just music, hard, lyric, joyous — pure and together, dense and warm as a dark summer country night. There’s the Dead, and then there’s everybody else.”

"From Tangiers into the Rif Mountains to hear the piping and drumming and singing of the Master Musicians of Joujouka: 'The World’s Oldest Rock and Roll Band' ”