"Classics Rock! is the best of both worlds--music and books."
-- CNBC.com "Bullish on Books" blog

Monday, January 26, 2009

THE GROUND RULES

1. Books don't have to be classics; songs don't have to be rock.

2. Books and authors cited in songs must be actual books and authors (so, Bruce Springsteen's reference to "trying to write this book" in "Dancing in the Dark" would not qualify, but "The Ghost of Tom Joad" would because of the link to The Grapes of Wrath).

3. Bands named for a book's title (e.g., Steppenwolf), a fictional character (e.g., Uriah Heep), an author (um, Gogol Bordello?), or some other aspect of a book (e.g., Steely Dan) do not qualify on that basis alone.

4. Songs from films, musicals, etc. that were adapted from books don't qualify (e.g., "Goldfinger," "Phantom of the Opera").

5. Songs that happen to share a title with a book but otherwise have no connection to it (e.g., Shivaree's "Goodnight Moon", Jackson Browne's "Tender is the Night," the Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein") do not qualify.