by Rob Reid
* * *
30 When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin
PUGWASH’S PLAYLIST
* * *
1 Le Rai C’est Chic
Cheb Mami
* * *
2 Nefertiti’s Fjord
Nefertiti’s Fjord
* * *
3 Africa
Amadou & Mariam
* * *
4 Panis Et Circenses
Os Mutantes
* * *
5 Twiggy Twiggy [Twiggy Vs. James Bond]
Pizzicato Five
* * *
6 Chocolate
Pacifika
* * *
7 Tunak Tunak Tun
Daler Mehndi
* * *
8 Rabba Remixed
Falu
* * *
9 Bananeria
Bebel Gilberto
* * *
10 Eple
Royksopp
* * *
11 Ana (Hisboyelroy Smooth Dub)
Vieux Farka Touré
* * *
12 Narayana/For Your Love
Krishna Das
* * *
13 Azul
Natalia Lafourcade
* * *
14 Tinindo Trincando
Novosbaianos
* * *
15 Aquas de Marco
Rosa Passos
* * *
16 Sodade
Césaria Évora & Bonga
* * *
17 Makambo
Geoffrey Oryema
* * *
18 Lam Tooro
Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck
* * *
19 Svefn-g-englar
Sigur Rós
* * *
20 Money
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
* * *
21 Money, Money
Grateful Dead
* * *
22 Money
Pink Floyd
* * *
23 Taxman
The Beatles
* * *
24 Money
Flying Lizards
* * *
25 Gimme Some Money
Spinal Tap
MEOWHAUS’S PLAYLIST
* * *
1 Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
David Bowie
* * *
2 Up on the Catwalk
Simple Minds
* * *
3 The Lovecats
The Cure
* * *
4 Make a Circuit With Me
The Polecats
* * *
5 He War
Chan Marshall
* * *
6 Lucifer Sam
Pink Floyd
* * *
7 An Cat Dubh + Into the Heart
U2
* * *
8 Panthers
Wilco
* * *
9 Superficial Cat
Edwyn Collins
* * *
10 Tiger Lily
Luna
* * *
11 Year of the Cat
Al Stewart
* * *
12 Honky Cat
Elton John
* * *
13 Another Saturday Night
Yusuf Islam
* * *
14 Stray Cat Blues
The Rolling Stones
* * *
15 Rumble in Bhangingon
Stray Cats
* * *
16 Panther Dash
The Go! Team
* * *
17 Photograph
Def Leppard
* * *
18 Cat Scratch Fever
Ted Nugent
* * *
19 Back in Black
AC/DC
* * *
20 Teenage Pussy from Outer Space
Buck Naked & the Bare Bottom Boys
CARLY’S PLAYLIST
* * *
1 Lost In Space
Fountains of Wayne
* * *
2 Bitch
The Rolling Stones
* * *
3 Rock Music
Jefferson Starship
* * *
4 Take It Off
The Donnas
* * *
5 Walkin’ on the Sun
Smash Mouth
* * *
6 Killer Queen
Queen
* * *
7 Venus
Bananarama
* * *
8 Planet Earth
Duran Duran
* * *
9 Bike Ride to the Moon
The Dukes Of Stratosphear
* * *
10 Stars
Hum
* * *
11 Drops of Jupiter
Train
* * *
12 Saturn 5
Inspiral Carpets
* * *
13 Back Door Man
Doors
* * *
14 Sing to Neptune
Tribe
* * *
15 Hallucinating Pluto
The B-52’s
* * *
16 Star 69
R.E.M.
* * *
17 Star Shaped
Blur
* * *
18 It Don’t Come Easy
Ringo Starr
* * *
19 I Touch Myself
Divinyls
* * *
20 Trick or Treat
Peaches
* * *
21 Sex (I’m A …)
Berlin
* * *
22 Space Age Love Song
A Flock of Seagulls
* * *
23 Surfing on a Rocket
Air
* * *
24 We Are All Made of Stars
Moby
* * *
25 Sudden Stars (EP Version)
Stereolab
* * *
26 Universal Speech
The Go! Team
* * *
27 Astronaut
Blitzen Trapper
* * *
28 Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
* * *
29 Under the Milky Way
The Church
* * *
30 Have You Seen the Stars Tonight
Jefferson Airplane
FRAMPTON’S PLAYLIST
* * *
1 Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)
Simply Red
* * *
2 I’m Not the Man I Used To Be
Fine Young Cannibals
* * *
3 Love of the Common People
Paul Young
* * *
4 Skin Deep
The Stranglers
* * *
5 Stars
Simply Red
* * *
6 Be Near Me
ABC
* * *
7 Silver
Echo & the Bunnymen
* * *
8 Communication
Spandau Ballet
* * *
9 What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Pet Shop Boys
* * *
10 Fascination
The Human League
* * *
11 Vienna Calling
Falco
* * *
12 Wonderland
Big Country
* * *
13 The Last of the Famous International Playboys
Morrissey
* * *
14 Temptation (Original Version)
Heaven 17
* * *
15 Never Gonna Give You Up
Rick Astley
* * *
16 Hymn
Ultravox
* * *
17 Things Could Be Beautiful
The Colourfield
* * *
18 King for a Day
Thompson Twins
* * *
19 Europa and the Pirate Twins
Thomas Dolby
* * *
20 A New Flame
Simply Red
* * *
21 New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Simple Minds
* * *
22 Arizona Sky
China Crisis
* * *
23 Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Culture Club
* * *
24 Head over Heels
Tears for Fears
* * *
25 Father Figure
George Michael
* * *
26 This Is the Day
The The
* * *
27 Careless Whisper
Wham!
* * *
28 If You Don’t Know Me By Now
Simply Red
* * *
29 Heaven
Bryan Adams
* * *
30 Holding Back the Years
Simply Red
FOR MORGAN
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank my wife, Morgan, for believing in Year Zero when it was just a wisp a of story. I never would have started writing it if it weren’t for her. I also certainly wouldn’t have finished it without the steady feed of encouragement, edits, advice, caffeine, patience, treats, cajoling, laughter, and love that she sustained me with. I may have been the one at the keyboard, but this was a two-person project from start to finish. So thank you, Morgan. This is our book.
Writing fiction can be a very solitary pursuit. But I was blessed in having a few people who kept me company, in a sense, by reading and commenting on multiple drafts of Year Zero throughout its development. It isn’t an outlandishly long novel, but Scott Faber and Alan Peterson read enough versions of it to make War and Peace look breezy by comparison. Arch Meredith also went through multiple editions, and all three of these guys had a huge impact on the book’s final form through their generous feedback.
Susanne Losch was another source of priceless input, above all her polite but firm suggestion that I consider adding a plot to the book after reading an early draft of it. Susanne then introduced me to Lynn Hightower, a twelve-time novelist who is also an instructor with UCLA’s writing program. I spent several months restructuring my story with Lynn as a mentor, coach, and taskmaster, and the results were transformative. Dan Muth, Jim Gable, and John Hlinko all gave me detailed written, annotated, and verbal feedback on the first truly complete draft of the book, and each of them pushed me to hone and sharpen the story in ways that improved it significantly. Chris Alden and John Battelle helped me in similar ways with my final major rewrite.
Several more people were generous with their editorial input after reading full drafts of the book, including Avril Love, Bob Lesko, Drew Curtis, Eric Kronfeld, George Gilder, Juan Enriquez, Miles Beckett, and Ryan Vance. Others shared their expertise in areas as diverse as lobbying, the law, office politics, geek culture, and kick-ass rock ’n’ roll by reading focused parts of the book, or by answering detailed questions from me. They include Dan Horowitz, Diana Woods, J. P. Shub, Julia Popowitz, Kevin Kiernan, Lawrence Lessig, Matt Keil, Scott Sigler, Stephen Bishop, Tim Chang, Tim Quirk, and Zahavah Levine. Kevin Pereira, meanwhile, had almost nothing to do with the creation of this book, but I’d like to thank him anyway. Let’s just say he’s owed.
Before sending Year Zero out to publishers, I approached four people who I admire in hopes of getting short written endorsements from them. After reading the book, all of them pushed me hard to revise and revisit it in ways that significantly improved it. Chris Anderson, Jill Tarter, John Hodgman, and Mark Jannot therefore have my deep gratitude not only for giving Year Zero their blessing, but also for helping it to become the book that it is. Excerpts of their comments are now on its cover, along with a few others from people that I approached after Random House/Del Rey agreed to publish it.
Speaking of Del Rey, I would like to thank my editors, Betsy Mitchell and David Pomerico, for believing in this book, and for their wise and generous counsel as I honed and polished the story under their guidance. My profound thanks also go out to my agent, Alice Martell, both for believing in Year Zero and for finding it an amazing home at Del Rey.
Finally, while this book doesn’t have a co-author, it does have something of a co-pilot. Ashby the Dog stationed herself on a chair next to my own throughout its creation, and kept a careful eye on everything. I couldn’t have written this book had my office been overrun with noisy, distracting squirrels, and with Ashby on duty, this was never a danger.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROB REID is the founder of Listen.com, which created the Rhapsody service, the world’s largest seller of online music until it was eclipsed (rather badly, he’ll admit) by Apple’s iTunes service. He is the author of Year One, a memoir about student life at Harvard Business School, and Architects of the Web, a business history of the Internet. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Morgan.