The Strangest Tribe: How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge Paperback – September 20, 2011

I have read quite a few of these "Seattle scene" history books, and this one does a great job turning the details into a welcoming narrative. While skipping the drawn out details of every single show and band that can be found elsewhere, it draws you into the story behind the who and why through the eyes of many of the folks who really lived it using their own words. Though, as all these Seattle music history books do, the work does fall short of outlining most of the more popular and prevalent Heavy Metal scene that ran concurrently to the uprising of "grunge", and fails to mention major acts such as R.I.P. and the like. It is pretty much expected as it follows the popular story people have come to believe. It does at least touch on a few of the Metal bands that tie directly into the grunge storyline, but not all. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a look into the grunge segment of Seattle's music heritage. It's a good read for folks like me who were there, but particularly for someone new to the subject looking for an engrossing story arc style narrative to give you some historical background.

Fast shipping, very good condition. Excellent reading

There is something pretty weird about being in history books when you are still alive. It is nice to have people notice that you did something, but you always have the feeling you are probably supposed to be dead already. Nonetheless, what we have here is a Seattle music history with very few dead people, mostly just living folks that probably did not expect to be geezers.Stephen Tow has taken a look at the Seattle rock scene circa 1976 to 1993, basically from the beginnings of the punk rock scene until Nirvana blows up. Certainly this ground has been trod before, in Clark Humphrey's "Loser" and Peter Blecha's more recent "Sonic Boom", but not in such narrow focus. To make it a spot more intriguing, Tow does not have a horse in this race. He is a historian from Philadelphia who thought there was a story here to tell and went digging. Perhaps in part due to his horselesssnes, I think he gets it right. Some might quibble over details, but it gives someone who was outside what was a fairly insular scene a reasonably decent feel of what the time was like. It rings of truth. And he can write. Tow does a nice job of pulling a pile of disparate characters together in a somewhat brief, but highly readable yarn. A fine read for a rainy NW afternoon.

I felt the need to add a positive review here, especially considering the one-star review that claims Tow interviewed "the usual suspects," "added nothing new, etc." As someone who has read all the other books mentioned, I'm going to have to disagree here.The interviews focus on the scene before it became national. So yes, although you do hear from some of the "usual suspects," you are getting deeper into the backstory of the scene that closely preceded the Grunge late 80s/early 90s. I learned more about the bands that are constantly referenced as influences. I also learned about bands that I never even heard of. Tow was able to put his history and research skills to the test to create a mini "textbook" that I would be thrilled to read both in and out of the classroom.

In The Strangest Tribe, Stephen Tow takes us on a journey through a spontaneous music grassroots movement. For those of us who are not from the Seattle area, the book paints a clear picture of the city and the surrounding areas. This book could easily have been murky in the telling, but Tow makes it an important point to not fall into that trap. There are so many stories and quotes that are funny, that it makes this quite informative book very entertaining. Kudos to Mr.Tow for his exhaustive research which has reaped many dividends. I highly recommend The Strangest Tribe.

Using an incredible amount of interviews with people from all levels of the Seattle scene, Tow shows how the music scene that we think of as grunge emerged from a relatively short, but incredibly rich history of independent bands. You really come to appreciate the creativity of the earlier bands, where being funny and entertaining was as important, if not more so, than sounding good or even knowing how to adequately play an instrument. I burst out laughing several times while reading about the ridiculous antics of the people who created the Seattle music scene.

An interesting read about the Seattle scene in the 80's leading up to and including grunge music.Very detailed and enjoyable.

This is a pretty good narrative about the Seattle scene that emphasizes forebears other than pure punk--which is good. But it's in dire need of a good editor. The research and documentation are good, but the writing is only fair. I got bored with it and started skimming about four chapters in.