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<\/a>Dr. Kimberly Mack, an associate professor of English,\u00a0is the author of \u201cLiving Colour\u2019s Time\u2019s Up,\u201d a 152-page book that will be published May 4 by Bloomsbury Academic.<\/p><\/div>\n
Dr. Kimberly Mack, an associate professor of English,\u00a0is the author of \u201cLiving Colour\u2019s Time\u2019s Up,\u201d a 152-page book that will be published Thursday, May 4, by Bloomsbury Academic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a book about the reclamation of rock music as Black music,\u201d Mack said. \u201cEver since I heard about the 33 1\/3 book series, I wanted to be part of it. Having the opportunity to do a deep dive in print into one of my favorite albums by a band that meant so much to my musical development was a dream come true and a sincere labor of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her proposal to the publisher was one of 15 accepted out of nearly 400 submissions in 2020. The 33 1\/3 catalog is written by a variety of people, including critics, academics, journalists, musicians and poets. One author gets assigned to one record.<\/p>\n
Mack focuses on \u201cTime\u2019s Up,\u201d the sophomore album released in 1990 by the Black rock band Living Colour that features collaborations with artists as varied as Little Richard, Queen Latifah, Maceo Parker and Mick Jagger.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving Colour is a Black rock band that helped educate audiences in the late 1980s and early 1990s about rock’s Black origins, so it was only fitting that they had a song called \u2018Elvis is Dead\u2019 on\u00a0\u2018Time’s Up,\u2019\u201d Mack said. \u201c<\/em>And in a fun twist, Little Richard, one of rock’s Black originators and Mick Jagger, a white artist whose career owes an eternal debt to Black blues people and early rock and rollers, both\u00a0contributed their voices to the track.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the album holds great relevance in light of its forward-thinking politics and lyrical engagement with racism, classism, police brutality and other social and political issues.<\/p>\n \u201cLiving Colour is the most commercially successful all-Black rock band since Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, and\u00a0\u2018Time’s Up\u2019\u00a0is a masterpiece,\u201d Mack said.\u00a0\u201c\u2018Times Up\u2019\u00a0affirms and amplifies Black participation in, and vital contributions to, rock music.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTime\u2019s Up\u201d was recorded in the aftermath of their debut record\u00a0\u201cVivid.\u201d<\/p>\n Mack said the group\u2019s first album may have been a more obvious choice given its spectacular critical and commercial success. \u201cTime\u2019s Up\u201d enjoyed even more critical success, though it didn\u2019t do as well commercially.<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u00a0\u2018Time’s Up\u2019\u00a0is a better album. It’s bolder, more experimental, more confident, and it\u2019s more fearlessly political in a moment that desperately needed that,\u201d Mack said. \u201cAnd so many of its topics \u2014 racism, classism, police brutality and our dire environmental crisis \u2014 are still resonant today.\u201d<\/p>\n Mack took one year and nine months to research and write the book. She interviewed all the current members of Living Colour as well as ex-member Muzz Skillings. She also spoke to various members of the record\u2019s production crew, including the producer and engineer, and the late, legendary cultural critic Greg Tate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The band\u2019s music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, punk and alternative rock.<\/p>\n Dr. Kimberly Mack<\/p><\/div>\n Mack\u2019s favorite song on the album is \u201cTime\u2019s Up,\u201d also chosen as the title of the album.<\/p>\n In the book she writes, \u201cWhen I first heard the apocalyptic alarm clock and the violent snap of [Will] Calhoun\u2019s drum at the beginning of \u2018Time\u2019s Up,\u2019 it felt like a hammer hitting me in the head. It was angry. It was violent. It was disturbing. And I fell in love with it immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the next three months, Mack is holding book events locally, regionally and across the country:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Thursday, May 4, in Ann Arbor<\/strong>, Mich<\/strong>. From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Literati Bookstore, in conversation with Scott Poulson-Bryant. 124 E. Washington St.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Saturday, May 6, in Cleveland<\/strong>, Ohio<\/strong>. From 7 to 8 p.m. Visible Voice Books, in conversation with Jason Hanley. 2258 Professor Ave.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Thursday, May 11, in Brooklyn<\/strong>, N.Y<\/strong>. From 7 to 8 p.m. WORD Bookstore, in conversation with Laina Dawes. 126 Franklin St.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Wednesday, May 17, in Perrysburg<\/strong>, Ohio<\/strong>. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Way Public Library. 101 E. Indiana Ave.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Thursday, May 18, in Chicago, Ill<\/strong>. From 7 to 8 p.m. Exile in Bookville, in conversation with Greg Kot. 410 S. Michigan Ave.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Tuesday, May 23, in Toledo<\/strong>, Ohio<\/strong>. From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. University of Toledo Barnes and Noble at The University of Toledo. 1430 Secor Road.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Tuesday, May 30, in Detroit, Mich<\/strong>. From 6 to 7 p.m. Pages Bookshop, in conversation with Devon Powers. 19560 Grand River Ave.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Friday, June 23, in West Hollywood<\/strong>, Calif<\/strong>. From 7 to 8 p.m. Book Soup. 8818 W. Sunset Blvd.<\/p>\n \u201cLiving Colour\u2019s Time\u2019s Up\u201d can be preordered on Amazon<\/a> and the publisher\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>