Biography: arts and entertainment Books

Book SynopsisGlen Matlock was a founding member of the Sex Pistols and co-wrote most of their iconic songs. His story of the Pistols’ rise to global infamy is an honest, insightful account of a group of intelligent malcontents, determined to change the music business and to attack hypocrisy and stale conventions in society at large. Glen brilliantly captures the flavour of seventies Britain and reveals the complexities and personality clashes that made the Pistols so explosive at that time. Also includes true tales of the Pistols reunion tours of 1996 and 2003. Never mind the other bollocks-filled books about the Sex Pistols, here’s the truth.Trade Review'As the first band-member's view of the group that rescued rock from the foolishness of the mid-'70s, this is an engaging memoir' Source: www.ew.com/ -- Margot Mifflin.

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Book SynopsisGlen Matlock was a founding member of the Sex Pistols and co-wrote most of their iconic songs. His story of the Pistols’ rise to global infamy is an honest, insightful account of a group of intelligent malcontents, determined to change the music business and to attack hypocrisy and stale conventions in society at large. Glen brilliantly captures the flavour of seventies Britain and reveals the complexities and personality clashes that made the Pistols so explosive at that time. Also includes true tales of the Pistols reunion tours of 1996 and 2002. Never mind the other bollocks-filled books about the Sex Pistols, here’s the truth.Trade Review'As the first band-member's view of the group that rescued rock from the foolishness of the mid-'70s, this is an engaging memoir' Source: www.ew.com/ -- Margot Mifflin.

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Book SynopsisAfter 27 years as undisputed queen of French pop, 11 number 1 singles and record sales in excess of 20 million within France alone, Mylene Farmer, more than a cultural phenomenon, has become that rarest of exceptions: a legend in her own lifetime. From "Maman a tort" through to "Lonely Lisa", "The Single File" revisits a career like no other, taking in sex, death, religion and controversy along the way, in the first ever English-language book to be published on the singer Salman Rushdie once described as "The voice of a fallen angel". A must-have for international Mylene Farmer fans!

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Book SynopsisForty years in the business...six gold & platinum U.S. albums...classic songs like (Don'tFear) The Reaper, Godzilla, Burnin' For You, Astronomy and E.T.I. Donald "BuckDharma" Roeser, Eric Bloom, Allen Lanier, Albert Bouchard & Joe Bouchard comprised one of the great stadium acts of the '70s & '80s. BOC were heavy enough to duke it out with Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent & Black Sabbath, yet smart, funny, ironic & jaded enough to please the tough New York critics.Agents of Fortune examines the complicated early days of the band, graphically demonstrating the showbiz sweat that goes into making a successful act. The book is centred around the peerless intellectual quality of the songs - made entertaining by the band's psychotropic & ghoulish humour; its interest in all manner of conspiracy theories, cults, monsters, vampires, UFOs, foul play, arcane spiritualism, alchemy, love lost & love buried, science fiction & friction.Popoff draws on his personal interviews with Roeser, Bloom, Albert & Joe Bouchard, along with drummer Bobby Rondinelli, legendary band producer Murray Krugman & BOC expert Bolle Gregmar. For insight into the band's fantastic lyrical world, Popoff went right to the source, the writers of the BOC classics highlighting their creativity through the author's countless interviews with Sandy Pearlman (manager during the golden years), Richard Meltzer, John Shirley, cover artists Greg Scott and Ioannis, as well as the late Helen Wheels and David Roter. An essential read for Blue Oyster Cult devotees.

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Book SynopsisLeah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That was nev--er more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star reveals the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices. Indoctrinated into Scientolo--gy as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an ac--tress and advancing Scientology's causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she'd worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists, such as Tom Cruise. But when she began to raise questions about some of the church's actions, she was declared to be a threat and therefore a "Suppressive Per--son." As a result, all of her fellow parishioners-including members of her own family-were told to disconnect from her. Forever. Bold, brash, and bravely confessional, Troublemaker reveals the hard-won truths of a life lived honestly-from an author unafraid of the consequences.

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Book SynopsisIn this large, full colour, hard cover book by James Court, yu can read about guitarist, drummer, bass player, pianist, keyboardist, song writer, producer, programmer, arranger, vocalist, business entrepreneur, actor, director, dancer and choreographer Prince. James Court has been an avid collector, writer and follower of Prince and his work for more than thirty years. Upon Prince's death in April 2016, James set about the colossal task of revealing every part of this fascinating ever-changing musician, leaving no stone unturned. The Biography tackles the issue's that plagued the Superstar, his fight for Musical freedom and his constant need to write record and perform without restriction or filter.Often described as the greatest Musician of his generation Prince remained at the very top of the game, a multi-instrumentalist with the ability to write cutting edge songs at will, his talent ability and influence were simply unmatched. The results make this the most comprehensive, detailed and exhaustingly accurate depiction of one of the most popular, misunderstood and illusive musicians in modern day music....

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Book SynopsisLove and Furytakes readers on a guided tour of Meek's fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during his lifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind

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Book SynopsisSouth Africa possesses one of the richest popular music traditions in the world - from marabi to mbaqanga, from boeremusiek to bubblegum, from kwela to kwaito. Yet the risk that future generations of South Africans will not know their musical roots is very real. Of all the recordings made here since the 1930s, thousands have been lost for ever, for the powers-that-be never deemed them worthy of preservation. And if one peruses the books that exist on South African popular music, one still fi nds that their authors have on occasion jumped to conclusions that were not as foregone as they had assumed. Yet the fault lies not with them, rather in the fact that there has been precious little documentation in South Africa of who played what, or who recorded what, with whom, and when. This is true of all music-making in this country, though it is most striking in the musics of the black communities. Beyond Memory: Recording the History, Moments and Memories of South African Music is an invaluable publication because it offers a first-hand account of the South African music scene of the past decades from the pen of a man, Max Thamagana Mojapelo, who was situated in the very thick of things, thanks to his job as a deejay at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. This book - astonishing for the breadth of its coverage - is based on his diaries, on interviews he conducted and on numerous other sources, and we find in it not only the well-known names of recent South African music but a countless host of others whose contribution must be recorded if we and future generations are to gain an accurate picture of South African music history of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

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