Joseph Lanza

Joseph Lanza, who writes mostly about film and popular music, is perhaps best known for his pioneering and critically acclaimed book ELEVATOR MUSIC: A SURREAL HISTORY OF MUZAK, EASY-LISTENING, AND OTHER MOODSONG. "Snobby musicologists ignore this fascinating topic," composer Wendy Carlos said, "but I learned a lot while being well entertained by Lanza's delightful book." He later savored the mystical delights of vanilla milkshakes and the dulcet pop songs they connote with VANILLA POP: SWEET SOUNDS FROM FRANKIE AVALON TO ABBA. Blender, an indie-rock magazine, noted that Lanza writes about such recording artists as The Lettermen, Claudine Longet, and The Carpenters with "contagious enthusiasm." His first book, in 1989, was FRAGILE GEOMETRY: THE FILMS, PHILOSOPHY, AND MISADVENTURES OF NICOLAS ROEG, which acclaimed author J.G. Ballard called a "brilliant and fascinating study... Mr. Lanza is shrewd, clever, and always entertaining." Lanza followed years later with a tribute to another controversial English director in the biographical thriller PHALLIC FRENZY: KEN RUSSELL AND HIS FILMS. Ken Russell himself lauded it in the London Times, observing that "Lanza has managed to disguise his masterful research as a near-neo novel with gothic and surreal overtones. I applaud the man, having done the same with my own biographies on composers." In 2019, Joseph Lanza's book -- THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE: THE FILM THAT TERRIFIED A RATTLED NATION -- got significant praise. Publisher's Weekly hailed it as "a smartly written, well-structured survey worth the attention of both horror film fans and sociologists." Cinemaliterate appreciated Lanza's unique approach: "...there will inevitably be those who scratch their heads at the lengthy digressions that cover such topics as Watergate, the Edmund Kemper murders, the Zodiac killer, the Candy Man murders, the Zebra killings, the Symbionese Liberation Army’s kidnapping of Patty Hearst, and even Alice Cooper. This isn’t a criticism at all. In fact, it is nice to finally have a definitive text about the sociopolitical influences upon the film and the implications suggested by the film. After all, no film is made in a vacuum." Lanza's most recent book is EASY-LISTENING ACID TRIP: AN ELEVATOR RIDE THROUGH '60s PSYCHEDELIC POP. Continuing with his convictions he had expressed in ELEVATOR MUSIC, Lanza takes readers on a journey that includes the Hollyridge Strings' haunting version of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” Paul Mauriat's lush treatment of Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair),” and Mariano and the Unbelievables' baroque-pop tribute to the Lemon Pipers “Green Tambourine." The book also provides numerous anecdotes, such as how quickly after the Strawberry Alarm Clock released their 1967 hit “Incense and Peppermints,” Muzak recorded an instrumental version by Charles Grean and His Orchestra that kept the electric guitar but re-contoured the tune with harps, horns, flutes, a tambourine, and other effects for offices, restaurants, supermarkets, and of course, elevators. Critic Rod Lott writes, "If you’ve ever read any of Lanza’s cultural history lessons..., you know to expect a heavily researched, but breezy tour filled with incredible sights — in this case, full-color album art every few pages, potentially hallucinogenic and definitely addicting." Mr. Lanza told the following to Contemporary Authors: "On the surface, my subjects might seem quite eclectic, but all of my books are about a secular search for a creative spirit, whether it be through sweet music, rollercoasters, or obsessive cinema." Check out Mr. Lanza's blog: http://josephlanza.blogspot.com/