Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Preface -- Contents -- List of photos -- List of maps -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction -- PART I. The music/society nexus - some introductory reflections and observations -- 2. Introducing the city and its sounds -- 3. Music and society - a preliminary theoretical outline -- 4. Revisiting methods of socio-sonic inquiry -- PART II. From class to mass - Freetown's music and society in historical perspective -- 5. Introduction -- 6. Early developments - the 19th century -- 7. Socio-musical approximations - 1900s to 1930s -- 8. The heydays of local popular music - 1940s to 1970s -- 9. Popular music in the time of decay - the 1980s and 1990s -- 10. Post-war boom and post-election decline -- 11. Conclusion - beyond the ephemerality of style -- PART III. Disconnection - social dynamics in the spaces of music -- 12. Introduction -- 13. (Night)life at the edge of chaos -- 14. The seasonality of music -- 15. Building, binding and dividing -- 16. A topography of Freetown's social imaginary -- 17. The politics of price, prestige and consumption -- 18. The king and his followers -- 19. Conclusion - dis/connections -- PART IV. Topia of utopias -- 20. Dreams vs. reality -- References -- Back Cover.