DOWNTOWN, UP RIVER: BANGOR IN THE 1970s by Emily Stoddard Burnham; Islandport Press, 2023; 149 pages, $24.95; ISBN 978-1-952143-67-0.

DOWNTOWN, UP RIVER: BANGOR IN THE 1970s

About photography, German designer Karl Lagerfeld said it best: “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”

Fortunately, Waldo County native and author Emily Stoddard Burnham and the photographers at the Bangor Daily News have captured those nostalgic, often forgotten moments of Bangor’s life in the 1970s in “Downtown, Up River.” Burnham is the arts and culture journalist for the BDN, lives in Bangor, loves the city, its people, and its history, and it shows in this lively photographic essay of Bangor in those heady days of urban renewal, social and economic change.

The book contains more than 150 black and white photographs of people, places and events, each with a snappy narrative, all gone forever, but with indelible memories remaining. Burnham’s photo selections and her descriptions reveal much about the Queen City and its unique place in Americana. She points out that urban renewal, popular in the 1970s, began in Bangor but was never finished, leaving new structures next to rubble and vacant lots. Hippies, marijuana and anti-war protests appeared along with mini-skirts and bubble hairdos. And gasoline cost 32 cents per gallon.

One photo shows kids racing shopping carts down a street (find the telephone booth), another shows the stage of “Dick Stacey’s Country Jamboree” TV show (find the musician not paying attention), a third shows a crowd of Christmas shoppers at Sleeper’s discount store (find the rotary phone and pencil sharpener).

Burnham also includes a hilarious photo of a wayward German tourist who thought he was vacationing in San Francisco, and another of a very happy patron at the Waverly Restaurant (note the cigarettes and martini).

Lagerfeld was right, and so is Burnham.

BUNGALOW TERRACE by Robert Monroe; Maine Authors Publishing, 2023; 394 pages, $35.95; ISBN 978-1-63381-338-0.

BUNGALOW TERRACE

As a former casting director and “talent executive,” Robert Monroe knows a thing or two about the music industry, rock ‘n’ roll, and the price of celebrity.

“Bungalow Terrace” is Monroe’s debut novel about a rock ‘n’ roll band’s meteoric rise to star status in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, and the terrible price the band paid for their fame. Monroe clearly knows the subject, for his portrayal of the fictional band, Bungalow Terrace, is vividly colorful, graphic in description, and stunning in revelation.

Bungalow Terrace is the unlikely name of a late 1950s garage band, four young Catholic high-school boys who discover their singing and musical ability and parley those into a popular rock ‘n’ roll band. The boys — Steve, Vince, Kevin and David — have talent quickly recognized by a local music producer and owner of a recording record-label company. The boys sign a contract and the whirlwind begins.

Although wordy and too long by a hundred pages, the story moves through the decades as the band enjoys great success — hit records, albums, TV shows, movies, tours and exciting popularity. Of course, such success brings trouble for everyone. One band member is a hopeless drug addict, another is a shameless womanizer, a third is a closet homosexual, and the fourth is an unforgiving husband. They fight their demons, driven by a tyrant record producer.

This is not a pretty tale. Monroe exposes the weaknesses and character flaws of the musicians, the selfish jealousies and unhealthy impulses of men and women. However, the best part is his striking portrayal of the music and recording industry; promoters and managers controlling everything from money, rights and behavior through threats, intimidation and legal action.

The band may play the music, but the promoters create the celebrity. And that’s what sells records.

Bill Bushnell lives and writes in Harpswell.