Lost in the Grooves by Kim Cooper and David Smay, © 2005, Published by Rutledge

 

Summary - A "collection of miniature love letters to albums (and a few singles and EPs) that at least one person considers iconic". In the opening chapter, aptly titled "Reconsider, baby", the authors explain the book's mission as follows:

 

We see ourselves as part of a long tradition of buttonholers -- evangelizers spreading the good word about our faves with an unshakeable faith that your physical and spiritual well-being depends on it. (See "Mimeos and Cut-Out Bins" for more on the early history of zines, and the vintage reprints spread throughout the book.) Thing is, we're worried about you. You're listless, your skin is sallow, you're sprouting unsightly blemishes and developing a funk in your trunk-- and we think this probably has something to do with the absence of the Potatomen in your record collection. You're teetering on the edge of an abyss, and the only thing that might possibly save you is John Cale's Paris 1919...

Dozens of factors have conspired to prevent you from finding your favorite record. You're an inadvertent victim of narrowly focused marketing strategies. History, geography, even the limits of your own taste have thwarted you. What you need is an enthusiastic record geek friend to lead you through the bins. You need somebody to pull you away from your belowed indie rock 45s, drag you grudgingly into the country section and thrust a David Allan Coe record into your mitts. What you have in your mitts right now is your own portable geek....

This book exists to nudge the canon so that lost records tumble out.