Composers and songwriters Books
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Taylor Swift for Adults
Book Synopsis
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Kylie Minogue Album by Album
Book SynopsisKylie Minogue is an Australian pop icon who has sold over 80 million records worldwide. The pint-sized pop princess showed us she had the ''wow'' factor when she first graced our screens as Charlene Mitchell in Neighbours in 1986. She ''did it again'' (and again and again) through her numerous incarnations. From her early days as PWL''s pop puppet, to the ultimate puppet master that she has transformed into today. Kylie achieved a massive musical milestone in 2020being the first woman to top the album charts in five consecutive decades. She is one of our nation's most beloved pop princesses, or arguably - if you ask her legion of fans (me included) - THE most beloved Pop Queen._Kylie Minogue: Album by Album_ explores in detail Ms Minogue's extensive repertoire, spanning more than three decades. It commemorates this unique artist''s genuinely exceptional, unmatched, and often under-appreciated career. The author is both a fan and a music critic, who examines Kylie's life and career from
£18.00
Orion Publishing Co Loaded
Book SynopsisRebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen whether it be the 1960s of the 2020s, The Velvet Underground represent ground zero. Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang, around a psychedelic rock and roll band - a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol''s Factory - The Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up; they never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and in the process invented the archetype. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. Dylan Jones'' definitive oral history of The Velvet Underground draws on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, film-makers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, to celebrate not only their impact but
£12.34
Hodder & Stoughton Fly Away Paul
Book Synopsis''No other book has come close to capturing so well what Paul McCartney is about, nor described so vividly his mental breakdown when the Beatles separated, nor his need for Linda to nurse him back to good health...the book is packed with trivia, not for the sake of it but because it throws light onto the way Paul developed. And it''s fascinating; every word of it. It''s an extraordinarily brilliant book.'' SIMON NAPIER-BELL''Totally enjoyed. You might have got a bit close for Sir Paul, but then again a true pro always respects the one who gets inside. Brava. '' ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM''The most brilliant journalism ... Captivating.'' STEVE HARLEY, COCKNEY REBEL''...another amazing book. Your meticulous research is second to none.'' JOHNNIE WALKERThe first definitive account of Paul McCartney''s time in Wings, publishing on the fiftieth anniversary of the bestselling album Band on the RunNo comprehTrade ReviewAbsorbing . . . Jones perceptively portrays how Wings were always overshadows by the Beatles' success * Scotland on Sunday *
£21.25
Orion Publishing Co Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre
Book SynopsisThink you know the story of Jim Morrison and The Doors? This revelatory and explosive biography from critically acclaimed rock journalist Mick Wall will make you think again. 'Explodes in to life from the opening paragraph' RECORD COLLECTORTrade ReviewThis biography explodes in to life from the opening paragraph.. -- Mick Houghton * RECORD COLLECTOR *The pick of the best guitar tomes: Wall's account pulls no punches, cataloguing each of the primal scenes - early performances, indecent exposure, Jim's sexuality, decline and death - with a detached, knowing eye. * GUITARIST *
£14.24
Continuum Publishing Corporation Talking Heads Fear of Music
Book SynopsisJonathan Lethem is one of the most acclaimed American novelists of his generation. His books include Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, and Chronic City. His essays about James Brown and Bob Dylan have appeared in Rolling Stone. He is Roy Edward Disney Professor in Creative Writing at Pomona College, US.Trade ReviewHis achievement in Fear of Music is to let his personal passion for the album inform his thoughts on it with a vital urgency, without ever allowing those feelings to run rampant and obscure the work at hand. ...[It is] a powerful piece of scholarship on a band that deserves, and whose work holds up to, close examination of the serious kind Lethem does here. [Lethem] revels in Fear of Music's strain, the way it encompasses punk and disco, aggression and passivity, paranoia and resolve, gleefully dancing its way off the brink. This ain't no party, indeed. * The Atlantic *A single-minded investigation ... Lethem's book demonstrates what happens when the twin beams of passionate fandom and slicing critical intelligence intersect to illuminate a record you only thought you knew. * The Guardian *The collision of Lethem and Talking Heads makes perfect sense. Both can't escape being identified with New York - or, in Lethem's case, Brooklyn - and despite working in disparate modes, each brings the formalism and precision of the high arts to popular forms. * Salon.com *Lethem analyzes each of the songs in his book, alternating between close readings of lyrics, song structure, and meditations on the album as a whole. ...His prose is as sharp as ever, and his visual evocations demand accompaniment by the tracks themselves. As he puts it in the epigraph, "turn it up, for f--k's sake." * The Daily Beast *Lethem looks for the heart of the record from all angles. The Bottom Line is that if you love this record, you’ll love Lethem’s book...Lethem’s Fear of Music is exactly what these books were made for: lyrical geeking-out, unfettered fandom, great writing about great music. -- Roy ChristopherBy far the biggest name in the 33 1/3 roster of writers, Jonathan Lethem is no music critic, but an award-winning fiction writer … His take on Talking Heads’ 1979 album forgoes fiction for first-person criticism, in which Lethem’s teenage self acts as a sympathetic protagonist. Even as he plumbs each song on Fear of Music for meaning and significance, he uses the album as a point against which he can measure his own growth as a listener, becoming older and wiser and hungrier for connection with each year and with each listen. -- Stephen M. Deusner * Pitchfork *
£9.49
Continuum Publishing Corporation Dinosaur Jr.s Youre Living All Over Me
Book SynopsisNick Attfield is Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham, UKTrade Review"A growing Alexandria of rock criticism (Los Angeles Times, 2008) Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren't enough (Rolling Stone) One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet (Bookslut) These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. We are huge nerds. (Vice) A brilliant series...each one a word of real love (NME (UK)) Passionate, obsessive, and smart (Nylon) Religious tracts for the nock 'n' roll faithful (Uncut (UK)) For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, you'd do well to check out Continuum's "33 1/3" series of books." (Pitchfork)"Table of ContentsIntroduction: Punk Breaks At the Junction Archaeological Hard Rock You're Living All Over Me Rabbits Teeth Strings Girls Pressures The Hang Epilogue: Just Like Heaven Sources
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd My Crazy World
Book SynopsisTHE IRISH TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'He holds nothing back and gives everything' Bono Christy Dignam, lead singer of Aslan and one of Ireland’s greatest rock stars, reveals all in this extraordinary tale of excess and devotion to his music. Growing up in Finglas, Dublin, there was only one thing Christy Dignam ever wanted to do – and that was sing. By the early 1980s, he had formed the band Aslan, part of a new wave of acts coming out of Ireland. Repeatedly chewed up and spat out in the feeding frenzy to sign 'the next U2', they stuck to their principles. developed a loyal following, and their first album Feel No Shame went to No 1 in their home country, showcased by the song ‘This Is’, which Christy proudly acknowledges has become 'part of Ireland's DNA'. But just as America seemed ready to fall for Aslan, D
£10.44
Simon & Schuster Ltd You Lose Yourself You Reappear
Book SynopsisAn insightful biography of one of the world’s greatest musicians, Bob Dylan, by bestselling author Paul Morley. As one of the world’s greatest musicians, Bob Dylan has enriched the American song tradition for over 50 years. With a talent that has been proven in the worlds of music, radio, art and poetry, Dylan is a man of many personas. From defying pop music conventions with protest songs such as “The Times They Are a-Changin’” to releasing three of the most influential rock albums of the 60s, he has not only extended the parameters of music genres but has also showed us the fluidity his craft. To mark Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday and 60 illustrious years in the arts, this insightful biography by bestselling author Paul Morley will explore the many voices of the folk icon.
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group The Piano Player of Budapest
Book SynopsisOne man, his piano and their miraculous survival.''Extraordinary'' Baroness Julia Neuberger''Powerful and gruelling ... an almost unimaginable story of horror and survival'' Mail on Sunday''Stunning. A beautiful blend of action, poetry, thought-provoking comment and music ... just brilliant'' James Ainscough OBE''A gripping narrative of suffering, loss and survival, with music at its heart'' Fiona MaddocksAll future, freedom and success lay ahead of young pianist Stephen de Bastion in 1930s Hungary. Life whirled headily around cocktails, romance, applause and the buzz of Budapest late into the night. Then, 1939. Stephen''s world disintegrates and this becomes a story of his brutal descent, of his time in labour camps, of Mauthausen and Gunskirchen and the unimaginable horrors he endured during the Holocaust as a man of Jewish descent. Yet, this is also a tale of extraordinary escape ... and the piano, waiting for
£19.80
Orion Publishing Co Michael Tippett
Book Synopsis''A delight to read'' Philip Pullman''Essential reading ... a genuine landmark publication'' Tom ServiceA BBC Radio 4 ''Book of the Week''The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the twentieth century. But little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this long-awaited first biography, Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and penetrating insight. His achievement is to have enriched our understanding not only of Tippett but of the twentieth century. Figures such as T.S. Eliot, E.M. Forster, Barbara Hepworth, and W.H. Auden jostle in the cast list. An Edwardian world of gaslight and empire cedes to turmoil and warfare and his operas'' game-changing attitudes to gay and civil rights, against a backdrop of the Cold War and the Space Race.The result is a landmark in the study of twentiethTrade ReviewA delight to read ... Oliver Soden's vivid biography of this major figure in twentieth-century music brings Tippett very clearly to life -- Philip PullmanCompelling ... an exceptional piece of work ... The joy of Soden's biography is largely in its novelistic grasp of the telling details ... It has so much to say about the 20th century from an unusual and compelling angle that it ought to appeal to many readers who don't necessarily find themselves deep in the world of art music ... The Britten bibliography may be 100 times the size, but it contains hardly anything as brilliant as this book. Let the revival begin -- Philip Hensher * The Spectator *Exhaustively researched, lovingly detailed, epic in scale, revelling in gossip, stuffed with information, this book furnishes every event ... from birth to death, with comment, observation, quotation ... [A] super-abundant, loving account. Its like will not come again -- Fiona Maddocks * Observer *[A] narrative in which readers can effortlessly lose themselves. Anyone wishing to discover the life of Tippett as a way into his music - his works include A Child of Our Time, five operas and four symphonies - will find in Soden's book meticulously researched biographical detail and a good story well told ... Soden's biography paints an authoritative, intricate portrait of Tippett, providing a stunning, delicate and engrossing portrayal of the composer as very much a child of his time -- Yvonne Sherratt * Literary Review *That rarest of things: a genuine landmark publication ... As much a biography of the twentieth century as it's about Tippett's music ... Essential reading -- Tom Service * Music Matters on BBC Radio 3 *A beautifully written, emotionally comprehensive account of one of our finest twentieth-century composers. Tippett's burning idealism and frequent impracticality - in matters of both music and love - shines through Soden's sensitive prose, and his conjuring of the spirit of the place in the diary entries that intersperse the chapters is exceptionally well done -- Nicholas Kenyon * Times Literary Supplement Summer Books *[E]xcellent ... The challenge to a biographer is to make us feel the of a talent unfolding in slow obedience to its own laws. Soden succeeds at this difficult task wonderfully well. The early chapters are especially rewarding, summoning up the Edwardian ambience of Tippett's country childhood ... Soden is especially good at tracing Tippett's increasing involvement in Leftwing politics, which eventually led to membership of a Trotskyite Militant faction - an episode Tippett was keen to gloss over in later life ... Soden doesn't shrink from suggesting that Tippett's cold determination to protect his inner life at times caused huge damage to those near him. It's a measure of his searching and beautifully written biography that, despite that, Tippett comes across as essentially generous and lovable. The exultation of his music finds its echo in the passionate intensity of his life -- Ivan Hewett * Daily Telegraph *[T]horoughly researched ... [Soden] tells the story of this socially fertile life with skill -- Michael Henderson * The Times *This first full biography of Tippett is a treasure trove of detailed information and yet it reads as compellingly as a thriller or psychological novel ... [T]o get inside the mind, and under the skin, of such a complex figure so completely is nothing short of miraculous -- Geraint Lewis * Gramophone *[A] page-turner of a biography whose irresistible brio drills deep into a psychologically complex man, painting a portrait studded wit fraught emotional entanglements and passionately-held political affiliations. On both counts Soden's formidable research is able to contradict previous erroneous claims ... His verve and flair for lassoing a vivid simile are illuminating, and he's happy to spice up the narrative with dissenting views ... [U]nputdownable, [the biography] crackles with a life force worthy of Tippett himself -- Paul Riley * BBC Music Magazine *I very much enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. Soden writes with a rare poetic quality and imagination - especially elusive qualities when one is describing music -- Philip Borg-Wheeler * Classical Music magazine *Oliver Soden is a young but impressive writer who has taken on the task of re-evaluating Tippett. And he does it well, with a generosity of spirit that's arguably too forgiving of Tippett's failings as a human being (which were many) but properly celebrates his strengths as a creative artist (which were legion) -- Michael White * CATHOLIC HERALD *Oliver Soden's Michael Tippett was exemplary and placed this wonderful, neglected, undeniably silly composer in his world of political idealism and radical experiments -- Philip Hensher * THE SPECTATOR 'Books of the Year' *In a strong year for books on music, Oliver Soden's generous, game-changing biography of Michael Tippett topped the list -- Fiona Maddocks, best classical music of 2019 * Observer *Soden spent three years writing his book, and clearly developed a strong bond with his subject . . . Soden soaks up the atmosphere of the places where Tippett lived and worked. He strikes gold on one trip when he unearths the autograph manuscript of the First Piano Sonata. As a final coup de théâtre he produces a long tube that Soden knows, even before he opens it, must contain Tippett's ashes. . . It would be going too far to claim that the revival of Tippett's reputation rests in Soden's hands, but any such revival must begin with his plea that we listen to Tippett again, with fresh ears * London Review of Books *
£13.49
Orion Publishing Co Access All Areas
Book SynopsisFirst as a journalist and then a publicist at Warner Brothers Records for nearly twenty years, Barbara Charone has experienced, first-hand, the changes in the cultural landscape. Access All Areas is a personal, insightful and humorous memoir packed with stories of being on the cultural frontline, from first writing press releases on a typewriter driven by Tip Ex, then as a press officer for heavy metal bands taking the bus up to Donnington Festival with coffee, croissants and the much more popular sulfate. To taking on Madonna, an unknown girl from Detroit, and telling Smash Hits ''you don''t have to run the piece if the single doesn''t chart'', and becoming a true pioneer in music, Charone continues to work with the biggest names in music, including Depeche Mode, Robert Plant, Foo Fighters and Mark Ronson at her agency MBCPR.The story of how a music-loving, budding journalist from a Chicago suburb became the defining music publicist of her generation, AccesTrade ReviewBarbara is the quintessential force of nature. In this great memoir her insatiable thirst for beauty and adventure is fabulously quenched, be it by great music, interesting people or ultimately a fine rosé, all for the reader to sit back and enjoy. Of course, having been in the right place at the right time also helps, and every day I thank my lucky stars we crossed paths years ago and I was permitted to join her on such a fabulous adventure. -- Rufus WainwrightFrom Keith Richards to Madonna to Mark Ronson, the inimitable BC is a music industry legend and Access All Areas is the story of a life like no other -- Alexis PetridisBarbara Charone had a massive role in shaping my career over the past 15 years and she's one of the most adored figures in the music industry for good reason. Access All Areas is a warm, funny, boozy take on the last 40 years of the British music industry from the perspective of someone who helped shape it but is also obviously still a massive fan at heart. Her teenager-like enthusiasm for every project and artist she's ever worked beams from very page and as a music trivia junky, I lived for all the 80's Smash Hits-era insider information . . . This book rules -- Mark RonsonI loved this book! Smart, sharp and hilarious -- Suggs
£17.00
McFarland & Co Inc Duet with the Past
Book Synopsis Composer, conductor and operatic polymath Daron Hagen has written five symphonies, a dozen concertos, 13 operas, reams of chamber music and more than 350 art songs. His intimate, unsparing memoir chronicles his life, from his haunted childhood in Wisconsin to the upper echelons of the music world in New York and Europe. Hagen''s vivid anecdotes about his many collaborators, friends and mentors--including Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Gian Carlo Menotti, Paul Muldoon, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson and Gore Vidal--counterpoint a cautionary tale of the sacrifices necessary to succeed in the brutally unforgiving business of classical music.Trade ReviewIt is a rare privilege to experience a glimpse into the inner world of a great artist, and Daron Hagen has opened the door to his life in a memoir of searing honesty and unguarded intimacy. Daron leads us through a journey that begins in a brilliant, talented but dysfunctional family, into the treacherous depths of the ruthless competition and political machinations of the classical music scene, to a search for a happiness that often seems unattainable. Filled with anecdotes of countless musical luminaries, Duet with the Past is irresistible in its revealing candor and charm- an unforgettable journey into the private world of one of our country's greatest composers."" - JoAnn Falletta, conductor Buffalo Philharmonic
£41.94
Hal Leonard Corporation Sax Classics
Book Synopsis
£18.04
Hal Leonard Corporation X MULTIPLY
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Hal Leonard Corporation Red Hot Chili Peppers for Ukulele
Book Synopsis
£15.19
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Joao Gilberto and Stan Getzs GetzGilberto
Book SynopsisMost die-hard Brazilian music fans would argue that Getz/Gilberto, the iconic 1964 album featuring The Girl from Ipanema, is not the best bossa nova record. Yet we''ve all heard The Girl from Ipanema as background music in a thousand anodyne settings, from cocktail parties to telephone hold music. So how did Getz/Gilberto become the Brazilian album known around the world, crossing generational and demographic divides? Bryan McCann traces the history and making of Getz/Gilberto as a musical collaboration between leading figure of bossa nova João Gilberto and Philadelphia-born and New York-raised cool jazz artist Stan Getz. McCann also reveals the contributions of the less-understood participants (Astrud Gilberto''s unrehearsed, English-language vocals; Creed Taylor''s immaculate production; Olga Albizu''s arresting, abstract-expressionist cover art) to show how a perfect balance of talents led to not just a great album, but a global pop sensation. And he expTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. What Is Bossa Nova? 3. "The Girl from Ipanema" 4. Siren Song 5. "Doralice" 6. Backstage at Orfeu da Conceição 7. "Para Machucar Meu Coração" 8. Woe unto You, Copacabana 9. Stan Getz 10. Bossa and Race 11. "Desafinado" 12. The Cusp of Greatness 13. "Corcovado" 14. Bossa Nova on the Car Radio 15. "Só Danço Samba" 16. Happiness Is a Drop of Dew 17. Dancehall Memories 18. "O Grande Amor" 19. Haroldo Costa 20. Olga Albizu and "Alla Africa" 21. Two, Three, Many Girls from Ipanema 22. "Vivo Sonhando" 23. Bossa and Bicycles 24. Afterlife of the Girl from Ipanema Endnotes Index
£17.99
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Odettas One Grain of Sand
Book SynopsisMatthew Frye Jacobson teaches American Studies and African American Studies at Yale University, and is the co-founder of the Public Humanities program there. He has written extensively on a range of cultural forms, including film, television, literature, the arts, sports, music, and comedy. In addition to his five books on aspects of race in US culture, he has conducted several documentary, curatorial, and artistic projects, including The Historian's Eye, a web-based documentary project, and his forthcoming film, A Long Way from Home: The Untold Story of Baseball's Desegregation.Trade Review[Odetta’s One Grain of Sand] is part of the estimable 33 1/3 series of short books about individual albums ... [It] expands the context of Odetta’s songs, setting her alongside figures like Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Du Bois and many others. * The New York Times *It is quite something to present a cohesive history of black America, a life story of an amazing human, and a review of a very important album all into 120 pages. But Jacobson has done so ... I highly recommend you get both of them [this book and One Grain of Sand] in your eyes and ears as soon as is humanly possible. * Bookmunch *Both informative and fascinating ... This is a very enjoyable read and a book that’s hard to put down once you start into it ... If you have an interest in social history and the importance of folk music as a chronicler of the times, then this is a book that will greatly appeal to you. * Americana UK *Table of ContentsIntroduction: One Grain of Sand Midnight Special: The Archivist Cool Water: The Coffeehouse Moses, Moses: Spiritual Geographies Cotton Fields: Social Geographies Conclusion: Ain’t No Grave Acknowledgments Notes
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc David Bowies Diamond Dogs
Book SynopsisAfter his breakthrough with Ziggy Stardust and before his U.S. pop hits Fame and Golden Years David Bowie produced a dark and difficult concept album set in a post-apocalyptic Hunger City populated by post-human mutants. Diamond Dogs includes the great glam anthem Rebel Rebel and utterly unique songs that combine lush romantic piano and nearly operatic singing with scratching, grungy guitars, creepy, insidious noises, and dark, pessimistic lyrics that reflect the album''s origins in a projected Broadway musical version of Orwell''s 1984 and Bowie''s formative encounter with William S. Burroughs. In this book Glenn Hendler shows that each song on Diamond Dogs shifts the ground under you as you listen, not just by changing in musical style, but by being sung by a different I who directly addresses a different you. Diamond Dogs is the product of a performer at the peak of his powers but uncomfortable with the rock star role he had constructed. All of theTrade Review[Hendler’s] textual analysis of Bowie’s lyrics and the influences of the album is deep, yet he doesn’t skimp on musicology … This 33 1/3 is worth reading even if you know nothing about Diamond Dogs. * Bomb *This latest volume of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series sees US academic Glenn Hendler manfully take a crack at forensically unpacking the disparate ingredients of Bowie’s greatest future dystopia Diamond Dogs and passing with flying colours. * Shindig! Magazine *Table of ContentsTrack Listing Acknowledgments 1. This Is Not America 2. Who Can You Be Now? 3. 1984 in 1974 4. Mr. Burroughs Goes to Hunger City 5. Boys and Things 6. Rough Trade 7. Futures 8. This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll 9. Repetition I 10. Repetition II 11. Wild Mutations 12 Everybody Wants to Be a Fascist 13. After the Human 14. It’s No Game
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Morton Feldman
Book SynopsisMorton Feldman: Friendship and Mourning in the New York Avant-Garde documents the collaborations and conflicts essential to the history of the post-war avant-garde. It offers a study of composer Morton Feldman's associations and friendships with artists like John Cage, Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston, Frank O'Hara, Charlotte Moorman, and others. Arguing that friendship and mourning sustained the collective aesthetics of the New York School, Dohoney has written an emotional and intimate revision of New York modernism from the point of view of Feldman''s agonistic community.Trade ReviewThe book bears powerful testament to his proposal that in writing about friendships mediated through painting, poetry and music one can derive new insights into that painting, poetry and music. * Tempo *The book bears powerful testament to his proposal that in writing about friendships mediated through painting, poetry and music one can derive new insights into that painting, poetry and music. * Tempo *Dohoney’s graceful and affecting meditation on the plexus of Feldman’s relationships compellingly surveys Feldman’s dedication—and his dedications—to his friends, his love for poetry, painting, and for their makers, and the mourning and melancholy that ultimately tied them together. Feldman’s music becomes increasingly concerned, in Dohoney’s vivid account, with what survives, what endures, and what can still be heard, even as it ebbs. * Martin Iddon, Professor of Music and Aesthetics, University of Leeds, UK *Dohoney’s graceful and affecting meditation on the plexus of Feldman’s relationships compellingly surveys Feldman’s dedication—and his dedications—to his friends, his love for poetry, painting, and for their makers, and the mourning and melancholy that ultimately tied them together. Feldman’s music becomes increasingly concerned, in Dohoney’s vivid account, with what survives, what endures, and what can still be heard, even as it ebbs. * Martin Iddon, Professor of Music and Aesthetics, University of Leeds, UK *Ryan Dohoney's book distinctively illuminates and contextualizes Morton Feldman's modernist music. It is an account of Feldman's relationships, in particular, with the poet and art writer Frank O'Hara and the visual artist Philip Guston. Two large themes emerge, friendship and death. This is a new kind of musicology, with much detailed historical research that also finds emotional elements central to understanding the music, an affective account of what Feldman would call his life in art. It puts together the personal and what we have "out there," the music. * Christian Wolff, composer and Jacob H. Strauss 1922 Professor of Music, Emeritus, Dartmouth College, USA *Ryan Dohoney's book distinctively illuminates and contextualizes Morton Feldman's modernist music. It is an account of Feldman's relationships, in particular, with the poet and art writer Frank O'Hara and the visual artist Philip Guston. Two large themes emerge, friendship and death. This is a new kind of musicology, with much detailed historical research that also finds emotional elements central to understanding the music, an affective account of what Feldman would call his life in art. It puts together the personal and what we have "out there," the music. * Christian Wolff, composer and Jacob H. Strauss 1922 Professor of Music, Emeritus, Dartmouth College, USA *Ryan Dohoney's fantastic book on Morton Feldman points to a Copernican turn within studies of the social life of the arts: trapped for decades in the domain of theme and anecdote, friendship here emerges instead as the infrastructure or medium it in fact is. Friendship thus does not "contextualize" Feldman's music from the outside, but rather enables and structures it from within, like the charged gaps between his notes. * Lytle Shaw, Professor of English, New York University, USA *Ryan Dohoney's fantastic book on Morton Feldman points to a Copernican turn within studies of the social life of the arts: trapped for decades in the domain of theme and anecdote, friendship here emerges instead as the infrastructure or medium it in fact is. Friendship thus does not "contextualize" Feldman's music from the outside, but rather enables and structures it from within, like the charged gaps between his notes. * Lytle Shaw, Professor of English, New York University, USA *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction 1. Spontaneity, Intimacy, and Friendship in the 1950s 2. “Élan vital … and how to fake it” Intermission: The Necessary Other 3. The Elegiac Science 4. “We broke up because of style” Conclusion: Friendship’s Silence Acknowledgments Bibliography Index
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen
Book SynopsisBoth Dylan and Cohen have been a presence on the music and poetry landscape spanning six decades. This book begins with a discussion of their contemporary importance, and how they have sustained their enduring appeal as performers and recording artists. The authors argue that both Dylan and Cohen shared early aspirations that mirrored the Beat Generation. They sought to achieve the fame of Dylan Thomas, who proved a bohemian poet could thrive outside the academy, and to live his life of unconditional social irresponsibility. While Dylan's and Cohen's fame fluctuated over the decades, it was sustained by self-consciously adopted personas used to distance themselves from their public selves. This separation of self requires an exploration of the artists' relation to religion as an avenue to find and preserve inner identity. The relationship between their lyrics and poetry is explored in the context of Federico García Lorca's concept of the poetry of inspiration and the emotional depths oTrade ReviewA] volume full of information and thought-provoking insight and ideas ... It is a very worthwhile read. * Americana UK *RouteNote's "Top 10 new music books in 2021 – so far" * RouteNote *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Dying to Get Back Home 2. The Road Back 3. Redemption Men 4. Starting Out: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, The Beat Generation and Dylan Thomas 5. The Masked Crusader: Bob Dylan 6. The Lone Ranger: Leonard Cohen 7. Poetry and Song 8. The Spirit of Duende 9. Mine’ve Been Like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud Conclusion Acknowledgments Index
£21.59
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Heiner Müller and Heiner Goebbelss Wolokolamsker
Book SynopsisPhilip V. Bohlman is Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, USA, where he is also Artistic Director of The New Budapest Orpheum Society, a Grammy-nominated cabaret. He is author and editor of many books including World Music: A Very Short Introduction (2nd ed., 2020), Focus: Music, Nationalism, and the Making of the New Europe (2010), and Wie sängen wir Seinen Gesang auf dem Boden der Fremde! Jüdische Musik des Aschkenas zwischen Tradition und Moderne (2019). He is Associate Editor for ethnomusicology of Grove Music Online, and co-editor of Acta Musicologica, the journal of the International Musicological Society.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Sources and Translations Preface Introduction – Sounding the Wounded Dialectic 1. Russian Gambit 2. Forest near Moscow 3. The Duel 4. Centaurs 5. The Foundling Epilogue: The End of Epic as Its Beginning Bibliography
£17.10
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Nenes Koza Dabasa
Book SynopsisKoza Dabasa explores Okinawa''s island culture and its ghosts of war through the lens of Nenes, a four-woman pop group that draws on the distinctiveness and exoticism of Okinawan musical tradition. Both a tropical island paradise and the site of some of the bloodiest battles of World War II, Okinawa has a unique culture and a contentious history. Its musical traditions are distinct from other parts of Japan, varying in instrumentation, poetic forms, and musical scales. Nenes marks its cultural difference as Okinawan by emphasizing its own exoticism, expressed through its music, fashion, imagery, and performance style. Henry Johnson listens to Koza Dabasa as a representation of Okinawa''s relationship with the Japanese music industry and with the broader themes of international warfare and local tourism.33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-based books and brings the focus to muTrade ReviewThe logical and clear arguments, text development with high-quality English interpretation and accurate orthography of Okinawan and Japanese terms, and useful information referring to plentiful previous research are admirable. This book is accessible and enjoyable for fans of Okinawan popular music. * Okinawan Journal of Island Studies *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Okinawa and Japan 2. Okinawan Popular Music 3. Performers and Personnel 4. Island Culture 5. War and Peace 6. Performance and Reception Index
£18.99
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Darkthrones A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Book SynopsisDarkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) is a foundational keystone of the musical and aesthetic vision of the notorious Norwegian black metal scene and one of the most beloved albums of the genre. Its mysterious artwork and raw sound continue to captivate and inspire black metal fans and musicians worldwide. This book explores the album in the context of exoticism and musical geography, examining how black metal music has come to conjure images of untamed Nordic wildernesses for fans worldwide. In doing so, it analyzes aspects of musical style and production that created the distinctly grim sound of Darkthrone and Norwegian black metal.Trade ReviewHagen is uniquely placed to navigate [black metal's] paradoxes, as well as the sub-genre’s wider social significance. His exploration here of black metal’s appeal as a form of contemporary Nordic folk music, and his theoretical deliberations on the scene’s “romantic” and "modernist” aspects, are both forthright and stimulating ... [A] thought-provoking analysis. * Record Collector *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: “Kathaarian Life Code” 1. “In the Shadow of the Horns” 2. “Where Cold Winds Blow” 3. “Paragon Belial” 4. “The Pagan Winter” Notes Bibliography
£16.99
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Mercyful Fates Dont Break the Oath
Book SynopsisUpon its release, Don''t Break the Oath charted fifth on the official British heavy metal album list and was supported by a two month long sold-out American tour in early 1985. The band''s controversial stage appearance with burning crosses, a microphone stand formed as a cross made of two human leg bones, as well as other blasphemous rituals attracted the attention of the then newly formed PRMC (Parental Resource Music Center) committee, ironically reassuring the band its position on the charts. But though the album was hugely popular in the anglophone metal scene, it was conceived in peripheral Denmark.This book discusses the relationship between center and periphery. It juxtaposes the Anglophone reticent of heavy metal with the rather marginalized location of Copenhagen, and examines Mercyful Fate''s relation to the Nordic region more generally. It also takes a close look at the methods involved in the production of King Diamond''s vocals, and emphasizes the role of the vocalTable of ContentsFigures Acknowledgments Tracklisting A note to the reader 1. Introduction: A broken yet completed circle 2. Sounds, atmospheres and 43 minutes of not breaking the Oath 3. The satanic endeavors: Intentional transgressions and antinomian discourses 4. Diabolus in musica and other musical modes of symbolic Satanism 5. Unmasking the masks of masculinities:(Dis)appearances of the paint mask 6. Queer-Satanism galore: Otherings of the Oath 7. Conclusion: Rewriting the Heavy Metal canon of hegemonic masculinity Notes References Index
£16.14
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bea Palyas Ill Be Your Plaything
Book SynopsisFor decades, the state-run music industry in Hungary has artificially isolated musical worlds. The 2010 album I'll Be Your Plaything is a concept album comprising at times drastically re-imagined cover versions of Hungary's most popular hits from the socialist era. As such it is a testament to music as a medium's aptness to reflect on public and personal pasts. The album moreover exemplifies how rich and appealing synthesis of sounds and traditions can be concocted when folk, classically trained, rock, and jazz musical artists collaborate. Along with this freedom to blend and synthesize, the album opens up some long overdue space for women; playing with personas, voices, and singing styles, Palya reflects on issues of femininity, maternity, sexuality, and coupledom across generations.Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments Preface 1. Playing Music, Playing with Music: Bea Palya and Samu Gryllu's Musical Partnerships 2. Memory Work with Souvenirs, Bronzes, and Tunes of State Socialism 3. "Play it One More Time, Play it All Night Long": Recycling, Re-working, and Reflecting in Popular Music Discourse 4. Start Making a New Sense 5. "A Babe in Toyland" or Pop-cultural Feminism in Bea Palya's Music and Early Career (2005-2014) 6. In the Aftermath of "I'll Be Your Plaything": A Woman Writing her Self References Track Listing of "I'll Be Your Plaything" Discography Index
£16.14
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Not for You
Book SynopsisThere has never been a band like Pearl Jam. The Seattle quintet has recorded eleven studio albums; sold some 85 million records; played over a thousand shows, in fifty countries; and had five different albums reach number one. But Pearl Jam's story is about much more than music. Through resilience, integrity, and sheer force of will, they transcended several eras, and shaped the way a whole generation thought about art, entertainment, and commerce.Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense is the first full-length biography of America's preeminent band, from Ten to Gigaton. A study of their role in history from Operation Desert Storm to the Dixie Chicks; Jeremy to Columbine; Kurt Cobain to Chris Cornell; Ticketmaster to Trump Not for You explores the band''s origins and evolution over thirty years of American culture. It starts with their founding, and the eruption of grunge, in 1991; continues through their golden age (Vs., VitalogyTrade ReviewRonen Givony's Not for You does what Givony would like Pearl Jam to do: it rises above its immediate purpose. It is a critical annotation to a body of work which lifts off the ground and becomes an extravagant performance about time, rebellion, fame, disenchantment, civil discourse, the idea of the mainstream, the desire of a fan, and what a band can do to answer it. * Ben Ratliff, author of Every Song Ever *An enjoyable book and, as a non-fan, I found myself coming around to their music and what they were trying to achieve. Whether you love them or not, it is clear they were trying to be genuine and reach out to their fans. -- Simon Cocking * Irish Tech News *Brilliantly contextualises the early ’90s socio-political climate from which the grunge icons emerged. It paints a vivid portrait … Not For You is a compelling examination of one of modern rock’s most enduring and compelling groups. -- Kate Brayden * Hot Press *Near perfect Pearl Jam prose… Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense is a book every Pearl Jam fan needs to read. Not only is it an excellent biography it is also the definitive unofficial Pearl Jam book for fans of the Last Grunge Band Standing.™ * Guerrilla Candy *[A] hefty and impressive work, digging into its subject with the kind of relentlessness any fan will appreciate… A thoughtful celebration of a band who’s still going strong, and should even be of interest to non-PJ fans, especially if they have an interest in alt rock of the ‘90s. * Record Collector News *[A]n insightful work for many reasons, not least its temperate analysis of fandom. Author Ronen Givony never forgets the whys and wherefores of the Seattle outfit and of how from their early days in the 1990s, despite their status as one of the mostpopular US acts, they sidelined traditional commercial channels in favour of servicing their fans … Givony incisively reflects on th[is] and more, but the primary selling point is what the band have meant to their fans across the years and the often-profound bonds that can be made. -- Tony Clayton-Lea * The Irish Times *The strength of Givony’s book lies in his readiness to make the tough call. His book is unreservedly opinionated, as so few these days are … Givony proves himself a master of the bon mot, the memorable soundbite, demonstrating ample literary chops throughout. If I had room, I’d quote a hundred worthy passages. -- Des Cowley * Rhythm Magazine *Givony trenchantly argues that Pearl Jam haven’t made a great album since 1998. Yet his sometimes contentious analysis is always delivered with a wry snap and bolstered by diligent sociocultural contextualisation, pinpointing one aspect of the band’s appeal; they’re more ‘for you’ than might initially appear to be the case. -- Keith Cameron * MOJO *CHOICE Magazine’s “New Year Reads” 2021 * CHOICE *CBC’s “18 Books for the Holiday Season” * CBC *Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Personal Preface 1 The Cast 2 A Dozen Moments in the Prehistory of Pearl Jam 3 The Bacchanal, San Diego (November 21, 1989) 4 The Off Ramp, Seattle (October 22, 1990) 5 “Jeremy,” “Garden,” “Yellow Ledbetter” (1991) 6 J.C. Dobbs, Philadelphia (July 12, 1991) 7 The Palladium, Hollywood (October 6, 1991) 8 Cow Palace, San Francisco (December 31, 1991) 9 MTV Unplugged (March 16, 1992) 10 Pinkpop Festival, Holland (June 8, 1992) 11 The Singles Soundtrack (1992) 12 Stadio Flaminio, Rome (July 6, 1993) 13 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans (November 16, 1993) 14 Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid (1993) 15 Civic Center, Pensacola (March 9, 1994) 16 Bayfront Amphitheater, Miami (March 28, 1994) 17 Patriot Center, Fairfax (April 8, 1994) 18 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC (June 30, 1994) 19 Dave (1994) 20 Self-Pollution Radio (January 8, 1995) 21 Soldier Field, Chicago (July 11, 1995) 22 38th Annual Grammy Awards (February 28, 1996) 23 Cox Arena, San Diego (July 10, 1998) 24 Binaural and the Battle of Seattle (1999) 25 Roskilde Festival, Denmark (June 30, 2000) 26 Madison Square Garden (October 15, 2000) 27 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale (April 30, 2003) 28 Thin Air (2006—2013) 29 Tomas Young and Body of War (2005—2014) 30 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia (April 29, 2016) 31 Altice Arena, Lisbon (June 20, 2019) Afterword (For Chris Cornell) In Memoriam Acknowledgments Bibliography Index About the Author
£14.99
Pan Macmillan Handel in London: The Making of a Genius
Book Synopsis'How refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel’s divinity.' - Donna Leon, author of Handel's Bestiary and the Inspector Brunetti mysteriesHandel in London tells the story of a young German composer who in 1712, followed his princely master to London and would remain there for the rest of his life. That master would become King George II and the composer was George Frideric Handel.Handel, then still only twenty-seven and largely self-taught, would be at the heart of musical activity in London for the next four decades, composing masterpiece after masterpiece, whether the glorious coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest, operas such as Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and Alcina or the great oratorios, culminating, of course, in Messiah. Here, Jane Glover, who has conducted Handel’s work in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, draws on her profound understanding of music and musicians to tell Handel’s story. It is a story of music-making and musicianship, of practices and practicalities, but also of courts and cabals, of theatrical rivalries and of eighteenth-century society. It is also, of course, the story of some of the most remarkable music ever written, music that has been played and sung, and loved, in this country – and throughout the world – for three hundred years.Trade ReviewRemarkable ... Glover's command of detail is impressive ... Her beautiful descriptions of Handel's music sent me again and again, in mid-chapter, to my LPs and CDs to play the arias she had just described ... Handel in London is a delight to read, -- Richard Stokes * Financial Times *Written in elegant prose that wears its author's scrupulous scholarship lightly ... Glover deftly weaves musical analysis into her biographical flow. Her greatest achievement, however, is to give life and music a political and social context. -- Richard Morrison * The Times *Beautifully written ... This book's main achievement, though, is to evoke with admirable clarity and sympathy the rich, interdependent symbiosis between Handel, his singers, his audiences, the royal family and the great capital city that housed their life and work. -- Jessica Duchen * Sunday Times *Lively and warm ... It's refreshing to read a chronicle of Handel's years in London written by a renowned conductor and musicologist ... She wants us to love Handel's music as much as she does and she writes convincingly and fully about each work, singling out her favourite arias for mention, but always in a way that's readable by a music-loving lay person. -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Country Life *Inspiring and reassuring ... told with fluency * Spectator *Handel’s workload leaves one breathless. Reading, in Jane Glover’s beautiful prose, about the astonishing succession of masterpieces he composed is almost overwhelming. As is the schedule for the singers and musicians who learned one lengthy opera whilst performing another. I now have a much clearer picture of the man himself as he adapted his operas to suit the singers at his disposal, rewriting arias and nurturing young artists, and of his generosity in all he did for the Foundling Hospital. I’m full of admiration for the subject of the book, as I am for its author. -- Dame Felicity LottBehind Jane Glover's baton lurks a brilliant explainer in words, as well as music, able to unravel the threads of musical technique, performance history, and social and political events, exploring each before braiding them tightly together to weave a brightly coloured tapestry of Handel, of his music, and of the world about him. Handel in London is an education, and a delight. -- Judith FlandersAs an experienced international conduction who once told an interviewer that her ambition was to conduct Handel's entire dramatic oeuvre (has she yet achieved this? I wonder), Jane Glover is ideally placed to show us how these pieces continue to glitter ... [she] turns our gaze towards the creative artist, resilient and inspired, and asks us to listen ever more attentively to his tuneful voice. -- Jonathan Keates * Literary Review *Delightfully readable, informed and enlivened like no other Handel biography by Jane Glover’s understanding of a professional music director’s life. -- Dr Ruth Smith, author of Handel's Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century ThoughtJane Glover gives us a welcome portrait of Handel as a hard-working composer and conductor. She makes us feel the bruising schedule he set for himself, and for all who worked with him, from the point of view of a conductor who knows full well what it takes to mount Handel’s great opera or oratorios. She details Handel’s uncanny ability to choose his singers when given the opportunity, and she illustrates his amazing skill for writing to the strengths of all his singers, while also bringing to life the characters they portrayed. -- Professor Ellen T. HarrisHow refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel’s divinity. -- Donna LeonGlover’s story sweeps us away with her practitioner’s musical insights, her attention to historical detail, and her placing of Handel’s work in social and political context, which few of his biographers have attempted before. Handel in London is an unputdownable read. -- Hugh Canning * Opera *Glover tells [Handel’s] story with easy scholarship, placing Handel in the midst of the city’s turbulent social life, beset by aristocratic factions and temperamental prima donnas. Out of this maelstrom, great music flourishes -- Richard Fairman 'Books of the Year' * Financial Times *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Foreword Section - iii: Author’s Note Section - iv: Preface Chapter - 1: EARLY YEARS ‘An infant rais’d by thy command’ [Saul] Chapter - 2: LONDON, 1710 ‘Populous cities please me then’ [L’Allegro] Chapter - 3: THE FINAL STUART YEARS ‘Cease, ruler of the day, to rise’ [Hercules] Chapter - 4: HANOVER IN LONDON ‘From mighty kings he took the spoil’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 5: THE LAUNCH OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Music, spread thy voice around’ [Solomon] Chapter - 6: THE FORTUNES OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Ah! think what ills the jealous prove’ [Hercules] Chapter - 7: NEW BEGINNINGS ‘Now a different measure try’ [Solomon] Chapter - 8: NEW ENDINGS ‘Toss’d from thought to thought I rove’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 9: DEFIANCE ‘All danger disdaining’ [Deborah] Chapter - 10: RECOVERY AND REINVENTION ‘Strange reverse of human fate’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 11: ‘Hallelujah’ Chapter - 12: WINDING DOWN ‘Great in wisdom, great in glory’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 13: THE FINAL ACT ‘With honour let desert be crown’d’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Section - v: Afterword Acknowledgements - vi: Acknowledgements Section - vii: Bibliography Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index
£21.25
ZANI Media A Crafty Cigarette - Tales of a Teenage Mod
Book Synopsis
£6.24
Pan Macmillan Mozart in Italy: Coming of Age in the Land of
Book Synopsis'I couldn’t put it down' - Joanne Lumley At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover.Father and son travelled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the carnivalesque birthplace of public opera. All the while Mozart was absorbing Italian culture, language, style and art, and honed his craft. He met the challenge of writing Italian opera for Italian singers and audiences and provoked a variety of responses, from triumph and admiration to intrigue and hostility: in a way, these Italian years can be seen as a microcosm of his whole life.Evocative, beautifully written and with a profound understanding of eighteenth-century classical music, Mozart in Italy reveals how what he experienced during these Italian journeys changed Mozart – and his music – for ever.Trade ReviewYou don’t have to be able to hum Mozart to find this book utterly engrossing. As a fan of both the fabled composer and Dame Jane Glover, Mozart in Italy is a match made in heaven. I couldn’t put it down. -- Joanna LumleyBrimming with life, Glover’s vibrant account of Mozart’s unique and absorbing adolescence is joyously rewarding. * The Toronto Star *
£21.25
Rowman & Littlefield John McLaughlin: From Miles and Mahavishnu to The
Book SynopsisIn the hierarchy of British jazz & rock musicians, the electrifying guitarist, composer, and bandleader John McLaughlin arguably holds an unassailable position at the very top. Across dozens of official studio and live albums that encompass solo acts, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, and co-headlining group projects, GRAMMY Award-winner John McLaughlin has consistently enthralled and surprised with boundary-pushing, genre-defying music. He revolutionized guitar playing with his virtuosic style, carving out one of the most critic-proof and prolific careers in modern times and was Miles Davis’s guitarist of choice on epochal albums In A Silent Way, Jack Johnson, Bitches Brew, and Live-Evil. Drawing on hundreds of sources and interviews with key collaborators, Matt Phillips takes us on an exciting journey through McLaughlin’s entire career: his early years on the London pop scene; his flirtations with the European avant-garde; groundbreaking work with Miles Davis and Tony Williams; the electrifying fusion groups The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti; special projects with the likes of Chick Corea, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Jeff Beck; hugely popular acoustic collaborations with Paco De Lucia, Larry Coryell, and Al Di Meola; and his 4th Dimension band. This is the first major book about McLaughlin to illuminate his entire output from 1980–2020. Including never-before-seen photographs, it’s a thrilling ride through the life of a master musician.Trade ReviewJohn McLaughlin is one of a kind. What he has contributed to the world of music will never be duplicated. It’s the reason why a book reflecting on his musical career should be a must-have in every aspiring musician's personal library. -- Billy Cobham, drummer, Mahavishnu Orchestra, inductee, Modern Drummer Hall of FameTable of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1: The Early Years (1942 – 1968)Chapter 2: 1969-1970Extrapolation, Miles and LifetimeChapter 3: 1970-1973From Devotion to Between Nothingness & EternityChapter 4: 1974-1979From Apocalypse to Electric DreamsChapter 5: The 1980sFrom Friday Night In San Francisco to Paco & John At MontreuxChapter 6: The 1990sFrom The Mediterranean Concerto to Remember ShaktiChapter 7: The 2000sFrom The Heart Of Things Live to Five Peace Band LiveChapter 8: The 2010sFrom To The One to Is That So?Epilogue: Covid, Liberation Time and John’s Goals BeyondAcknowledgmentsBibliographySelected Online ReferencesSelected Print ReferencesAbout The Author
£28.50
Little, Brown & Company Party like a Rockstar: The Crazy, Coincidental,
Book SynopsisIn PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR, J.T. Harding charts his life from a kid growing up in Michigan to a chart-topping songwriter living in Nashville and working with country music stars like Keith Urbahn and Kenny Chesney. As a kid playing rock n' roll in his parents' garage, Harding's was a world in which every taste of new music-from KISS to Prince and everyone in between-was a revelation. Inspired by his favorite artists, Harding abandons the classic "American Dream" and runs away to Los Angeles, where he forms a band and becomes part of the music scene there, all the while selling records to his favorite artists and producers at Tower Records.A story of youth, rebellion, and determination, PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR is a memoir for music lovers and an invaluable how-to guide for anyone who wants to learn how to write a hit song. Fun and heartfelt, Harding's memoir is the story of one man's unshakable love for rock and roll, how it guided him through some of the greatest tragedies-and greatest triumphs-of his wild and unvarnished life.
£15.00
Hal Leonard Corporation Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen
Book SynopsisFrom his writing of ÊGodspellÊ's score at age 23 through the making of the megahit musical ÊWickedÊ and beyond ÊDefying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz fromÊ Godspell ÊtoÊ Wicked takes readers into the world of the legendary Broadway and film composer-lyricist. In this authorized biography drawing from her interviews with Schwartz and his collaborators author Carol de Giere focuses on the behind-the-scenes stories for Schwartz's hits and disappointing flops. Readers will find colorful anecdotes and insights for his licensed musicals ÊChildren of EdenÊ ÊPippin Ê ÊWorkingÊ and others. ÊDefying GravityÊ also includes Hollywood stories beginning with a new foreword by composer Alan Menken.ÞThis updated and revised second edition delves into Stephen Schwartz's creative process for the new stage musicals ÊThe Hunchback of Notre DameÊ ÊThe Prince of EgyptÊ and other shows. It provides additional insights on Schwartz's early work with Leonard Bernstein and his more recent international work on ÊWickedÊ. It offers additional Creative Notes ä a popular feature of the first edition ä with comments from Schwartz about overcoming creative blocks collaboration and the artistic life.Trade ReviewThe second edition of Defying Gravity is a treasure-trove of information, stories, insights, and creative advice for anyone who wants to know more about Stephen Schwartz, or about the creative process of writing songs for the stage and screen. -- Ryan Luevano * Tin Pan L.A. *A stunning 512 pages (with photographs and handwritten notes), de Giere's book is a thoroughly fascinating read as well as something of a musical theatre master class in written form—one that has been lovingly lensed through the life and creativity of Stephen Schwartz. -- Linda Hodges * BroadwayWorld.com *This new version of what had been an already an impactful book offers deeper and wider insights into the creative mind of Stephen Schwartz ... As she did in the original edition, the author has captured not only the genius of the man, but his spirit, as well. -- Al Chase * The White Rhino Report blog *
£22.50
Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press Anatomy of 55 Hit Songs: The Top Singles That
Book Synopsis** Now with three bonus songs**'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac'Come on Eileen' by Dexys Midnight RunnersWhy Can't We Be Friends?' by WarSongs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits become something more - iconic recordings that not only inspire a generation but also alter the direction of music. In this follow-up to his classic Anatomy of a Song, writer and music historian Marc Myers tells the stories behind fifty-five more rock, pop, R&B, country and reggae hits through intimate interviews with the artists who wrote and recorded them.Part oral history, part musical analysis, Anatomy of 55 Hit Songs ranges from Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Bad Moon Rising' to Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By', The Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' and Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'. Bernie Taupin recalls how he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's 'Rocket Man'; Joan Jett remembers channeling her rage against how she had been unfairly labeled and treated into 'Bad Reputation' and Ozzy Osbourne, Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Alice Cooper, Roberta Flack, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Carly Simon and many others reveal the emotions and technique behind their major works.Trade ReviewMyers has a knack for capturing the artistry of songwriting and easily shows why these tracks are "iconic but not tired." This melodic collection will strike a chord with music fans. * Publishers Weekly *Myers adds important context by interviewing and extensively quoting the principal artists, composers, and producers. Especially recommended for collections where the first book found favor. * Booklist *Insightful...Pop-music fans of a certain age will enjoy this collection and might even use it as a playlist. * Library Journal *Myers does a fine job of getting behind the hits...With snippets of business, creativity, techno-wizardry, and raw emotion, a pleasure for music fans. * Kirkus Reviews *A treasure trove of music trivia between hard covers... [A] splendid volume. * Guardian on ANATOMY OF A SONG *[T]he anecdotes give flesh to the meaning of the lyrics. Musical influences that get passed from artist to artist are equally fascinating - and often surprising... Myers' book is big-fun forensic musicology. * Mojo on ANATOMY OF A SONG *A winning look at the stories behind 45 pop, punk, folk, soul and country classics. * Washington Post on ANATOMY OF A SONG *A cultural history of the elusive hit single, focused on artists' recollections and studio alchemy . . . The book's strength lies in thoughtful, wry reflections from artists including Elvis Costello, Jimmy Cliff, Stevie Wonder, Booker T. Jones, Dr. John, and Debbie Harry. An entertaining record of the soundtrack of the baby boomer era. * Kirkus Reviews on ANATOMY OF A SONG *Table of Contents1: Walk On By DIONNE WARWICK 2: Dancing in the Street MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS 3: Sunshine Superman DONOVAN 4: Good Vibrations THE BEACH BOYS 5: Up, Up and Away THE 5TH DIMENSION 6: Get Together THE YOUNGBLOODS 7: The Weight THE BAND 8: Fire THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN 9: Bad Moon Rising CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL 10: Crystal Blue Persuasion TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS 11: Ain't No Mountain High Enough DIANA ROSS 12: Paranoid BLACK SABBATH 13: Truckin' GRATEFUL DEAD 8 14: I'm Eighteen ALICE COOPER 15: Bang a Gong (Get It On) T. REX 16: Roundabout YES 17: Doctor My Eyes JACKSON BROWNE 18: Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress THE HOLLIES 19: Rocket Man ELTON JOHN 20: I'll Be Around THE SPINNERS 21: Papa Was a Rollin' Stone THE TEMPTATIONS 22: Killing Me Softly with His Song ROBERTA FLACK 23: Smoke on the Water DEEP PURPLE 24: Hello It's Me TODD RUNDGREN 1 25: She's Gone HALL & OATES 26: Come and Get Your Love REDBONE 27: Sundown GORDON LIGHTFOOT 28: Why Can't We Be Friends? WAR 29: I'm Not in Love 10CC 30: Love Is the Drug ROXY MUSIC 31: The Boys Are Back in Town THIN LIZZY 32: Fly Like an Eagle STEVE MILLER BAND 33: Year of the Cat AL STEWART 34: Go Your Own Way FLEETWOOD MAC 35: Barracuda HEART 36: Nobody Does It Better CARLY SIMON 37: Peg STEELY DAN 38: My Best Friend's Girl THE CARS 39: The Gambler KENNY ROGERS 40: September EARTH, WIND & FIRE 41: What a Fool Believes THE DOOBIE BROTHERS 42: Accidents Will Happen ELVIS COSTELLO 43: The Devil Went Down to Georgia THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND 44: Good Times CHIC 45: Highway to Hell AC/DC 46: Cars GARY NUMAN 47: On the Radio DONNA SUMMER 48: Bad Reputation JOAN JETT 49: Rapture BLONDIE 50: Don't Stop Believin' JOURNEY 51: Come On Eileen DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS 52: Steppin' Out JOE JACKSON 53: Burning Down the House TALKING HEADS 54: The Power of Love HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS 55: Small Town JOHN MELLENCAMP 56: Take It So Hard KEITH RICHARDS 57: Being Boring PET SHOP BOYS 58: If It Makes You Happy SHERYL CROW
£10.44
Texas A & M University Press Texas Jazz Singer: Louise Tobin in the Golden Age
Book SynopsisAt 102 years of age, Louise Tobin is one of the last surviving musicians of the Swing Era. Born in Aubrey, Texas, in 1918, she grew up in a large family that played music together. She once said that she fell out of the cradle singing and all she ever wanted to do was to sing. And sing she did. She sang with Benny Goodman and also performed vocals for such notables as Will Bradley, Bobby Hackett, Harry James (her first husband), Johnny Mercer, Lionel Hampton, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Peanuts Hucko (her second husband), and Fletcher Henderson.Based on extensive oral history interviews and archival research, Texas Jazz Singer recalls both the glamour and the challenges of life on the road and onstage during the golden age of swing and beyond. As it traces American music through the twentieth century, Louise Tobin's story provides insight into the challenges musicians faced to sustain their careers during the cultural revolution and ever-changing styles and tastes in music.In this absorbing biography, music historian Kevin Edward Mooney offers readers a view of a remarkable life in music, told from the vantage point of the woman who lived it. Rather than simply making Tobin an emblem for women in jazz of the big band era, Mooney concentrates instead on Tobin's life, her struggles and successes, and in doing so captures the particular sense of grace that resonates throughout each phase of Tobin's notable career.
£22.46
WW Norton & Co Schoenberg: Why He Matters
Book SynopsisIn his time, the Austrian American composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) was an international icon. His twelve-tone system was considered the future of music itself. Today, however, leading orchestras rarely play his works, and his name is met with apathy, if not antipathy. With this interpretative account, the acclaimed biographer of Toscanini finally restores Schoenberg to his rightful place in the canon, revealing him as one of the twentieth century’s most influential composers and teachers. Sachs shows how Schoenberg, a thorny character who composed thorny works, raged against the “Procrustean bed” of tradition. Defying his critics—among them the Nazis, who described his music as “degenerate”—he constantly battled the anti-Semitism that eventually precipitated his flight from Europe to Los Angeles. Yet Schoenberg, synthesising Wagnerian excess with Brahmsian restraint, created a shock wave that never quite subsided and, as Sachs powerfully argues, his compositions must be confronted by anyone interested in the past, present or future of Western music.Trade Review"Lucid... Sachs's book is a succinct guide to Schoenberg's life and work, one designed in part to make the composer's music accessible to a wider audience. Much of the book's appeal lies in that implicit promise to help find the beauty hidden in what can seem, to the uninitiated, a writhing mass of noise. Sachs is neither a hater nor a glassy-eyed enthusiast... [he] is, as he puts it, 'a writer and music historian who is Schoenberg-curious.'... This is not to say that he doesn't admire the music—he does. And there's real pleasure to be found in the way Sachs writes about it. He clearly describes, for instance, the genius of the way in which Schoenberg composes the voice of God in his opera Moses und Aron, which Sachs calls a nearly ideal vehicle for twelve-toned music... The effect is perfectly eerie." -- Christopher Carroll - Harper's"[A] concentrated meditation . . . It may be recommended for anybody with an interest in the work of the Viennese-American composer Arnold Schoenberg—and perhaps especially to those who have never quite been able to “crack” his music . . . Despite his postwar decades in California, Schoenberg—with his rattles and shimmers, his craggy melodies and pervasive angst—never quite escaped the nightmares of what was then a crabbed and bloody Old World . . . Mr. Sachs’s fine study should inspire a fresh understanding of his life and work." -- Tim Page - Wall Street Journal"[A]n immensely valuable source for anyone desiring an accessible overview of this endlessly controversial and chronically misunderstood giant of 20th-century music... Sachs can be refreshingly candid, sharing his feelings at times as if he were whispering confidentially in your ear during a concert intermission... his genuine enthusiasm for those pieces that do stir him is enough to draw the reader in, and in so doing has done a great service to the cause. " -- John Adams - The New York Times Book Review"In this study of Arnold Schoenberg, the Austrian-born composer who immigrated to the U.S. in 1933, Sachs blends fleet-footed biography with an accessible analysis of Schoenberg's works. " -- The New Yorker"[An] elegant and judicious book" -- Rupert Christiansen - Literary Review
£21.84
Permuted Press The ABCs of the Grateful Dead
Book SynopsisAn alphabetical history of rock ’n’ roll’s most iconic band…the Grateful Dead.Featuring playful rhymes and glorious illustrations, The ABCs of the Grateful Dead celebrates the band’s rich and dynamic history. Each letter of the alphabet highlights a significant moment, cultural contribution, or innovation along the band’s journey, from their groundbreaking release of American Beauty to their pioneering Wall of Sound, from the beloved dancing bears to their singular community of tape traders. This delightfully kaleidoscopic look back on the Grateful Dead will entertain first-time readers as well as diehard fans of all ages. The Grateful Dead is a social and musical phenomenon that grew into a genuine American treasure. In 1965, an entire generation was linked together by common ideals, gathering by the hundreds and thousands. This movement created a seamless connection between the band and its fans. As the band toured, Dead Heads would follow. Not because it was a part of popular culture, but because it is a true counterculture that exists to this very day-one that earnestly believes in the value of its beliefs. By 1995, the Grateful Dead had attracted the most concert goers in the history of the music business, and today remain one of the all-time leaders in concert ticket sales. Eventually, the caravan evolved into a community with various artists, craftsmen and entrepreneurs supplying a growing demand for merchandise that connected them to the music. Today, the connection is as strong as ever. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1994 and received a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. The Grateful Dead recently celebrated their 53rd top 40 album on the Billboard chart, a feat no other group has achieved.Trade Review"Unique, original, fun, The ABCs of the Grateful Dead offers a fascinating and entertainingly kaleidoscopic look back on the Grateful Dead that will have a very special appeal to young first-time readers—as well as diehard fans of all ages! The ABCs of the Grateful Dead is especially recommended for family, elementary school, and community library ABC collections in general, and dedicated Grateful Dead fans of any age in particular." -- Midwest Book Review
£13.49
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Opera and the Politics of Tragedy: A Mozartean
Book SynopsisA curated collection of Enlightenment operas, paintings, and literary works that were all marked by the "Telemacomania" scandal, a furious cultural frenzy with dangerous political stakes. Imaginatively structured as a guided tour, Opera and the Politics of Tragedy captures the tumultuous impact of the so-called Telemacomania crisis through its key artifacts: literary pamphlets, spoken dramas, paintings, engravings, and opera librettos (drammi per musica). Prominently featured in the gallery are two operas with direct ties to this aesthetic and political war: Mozart and Cigna-Santi's Mitridate (1770) and Mozart and Varesco's Idomeneo (1781). Reading and listening across the Enlightenment's cultural spaces (its new public museums, its first encyclopedias, and its ever-controversial operatic theater), this book showcases the Enlightenment's disorderly historical revisionism alongside its progressive politics to expose the fertile creativity that can emerge out of the ambiguous space between what is "ancient" and what is "modern."Table of ContentsExhibition List Patrons of the Museum Guidebook A Mozartean Museum The Death of Tragedy Exhibiting Enlightenment Dramma per musica Map of the Exhibits Entrance Hall Arts, Letters, and Music Modern Antiquarian Spaces "La Poésie" and its Systems Arts and Letters The Lyrical Impulse Exhibit A The Poet's Prose: Mitridate Room 1 Literary Adventures in Télémacomania Treasonous Popularity Sensual Lyricism Tragic Prose on Trial Opera as Mediator Room 2 Mitridate's Operatic Poetry Allegorical Mithridates Political Mithridates Operatic Mithridates Transformative Farnace Exhibit B Paintings Unseen: Idomeneo Room 3 Imagi(ni)ng the Prose Epic Epic Values Painting Télémaque Myths Invisible and Unheard Epic Opera Room 4 Idomeneo's Operatic Canvas The Operatic Stage as Canvas The Composition of an Opera Portrait of a King Supernatural Angles Exit Regrets on Parting Decorative Luxury Prose Painting Declassification Bookshop
£87.30
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Karl Muck Scandal
Book SynopsisThe demonization, internment, and deportation of celebrated Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Dr. Karl Muck, finally told, and placed in the context of World War I anti-German sentiment in the United States.BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC BOOK RELEASE OF 2019 by Classical-music.com, the official website of BBC Music Magazine. 2019 SUMMER READS ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.2019 BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST in both the History and Performing Arts categories, sponsored by American Book Fest. 2019 SUBVENTION AWARD by the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. One of the cherished narratives of American history is that of the Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants to its shores. Accounts of the exclusion and exploitation of Chinese immigrants in the late nineteenth century and Japanese internment during World War II tell a darker story of American immigration. Less well-known, however, is the treatment of German-Americans and Germannationals in the United States during World War I. Initially accepted and even welcomed into American society at the outbreak of war, this group would face rampant intolerance and anti-German hysteria. Melissa D. Burrage's book illustrates this dramatic shift in attitude in her engrossing narrative of Dr. Karl Muck, the celebrated German conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who was targeted and ultimately disgraced by a New York Philharmonic board member and by capitalists from that city who used his private sexual life as a basis for having him arrested, interned, and deported from the United States. While the campaign against Muck made national headlines, and is the main focus of this book, Burrage also illuminates broader national topics such as: Total War; State power; vigilante justice; internment and deportation; irresponsible journalism; sexual surveillance; attitudes toward immigration; anti-Semitism; and the development of America's musical institutions. The mistreatment of Karl Muck in the United States provides a narrative thread that connects these various wartime and postwar themes.
£31.49
Third Man Books TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of the Stooges / As Told
Book Synopsis Updated paperback version features a new chapter of never seen photos plus a new interview with Henry Rollins. TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of The Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop is the first time the story of this seminal band has been told entirely in Pop's own words. Hundreds of full color rare photos illustrate Pop's story. Author Jeff Gold and contributor Johan Kugelberg, noted music historians and collectors, spent two days with Pop at his Miami home, sharing with him their extensive Stooges collection and interviewing the legendary singer. Pop's candid, bare-all responses left them with the almost unbelievable tale of the band he founded-the alternately tragic and triumphant story of a group who rose from youth, fell prey to drugs, alcohol, and music biz realities, collapsed and nearly 30 years later reformed, recording and touring to great acclaim. In 2010 The Stooges, credited with having invented punk rock, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Their continuing influence can be felt today in the shape and sound of rock-n-roll music. "Gasp at the awe inspiring memorabilia and frank talk in Total Chaos: The Story of The Stooges/As Told By Iggy Pop"— Mojo Magazine "Tells the band’s revolutionary story through many never-before-published photos and extensive interviews…(and) contributions from Johnny Marr, Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and Jack White."— Rolling Stone "A fantastic new book…a must-read for both diehard fans and anyone who wants to learn first-hand from Pop what it was like from the inside looking out in one of the seminal bands of the post-’60s era."— Esquire Trade Review"This book is everything. Definitive." — Anthony Bourdain"Both definitive and unique." — LA Weekly
£28.79
ECW Press,Canada Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years
Book Synopsis
£16.19
Drawn and Quarterly Leonard Cohen
Book SynopsisA captivating, revealing biography of the legendary musician and poetLeonard Cohen opens in Los Angeles on the last night of the man's life in 2016. Alone in his final hours, the beloved writer and musician ponders his existence in a series of flashbacks that reveal the ups and downs of a storied career.A young Cohen traded in the promise of steady employment in his family's Montreal garment business for the unlikely path of a literary poet. His life took another sharp turn when, already in his thirties, he recorded his first album to widespread international acclaim. Along the way he encountered a who's who of musical luminaries, including Lou Reed, Nico, Janis Joplin, and Joni Mitchell. And then there's Phil Spector, the notorious music impresario who held a gun to Cohen's head during a coke-fueled, all-night recording session.Later in Cohen's life, there's the story of Hallelujah, one of his most famous songs, and its slow rise from relative
£17.85
Reaktion Books Sting: From Northern Skies to Fields of Gold
Book SynopsisBorn in a mainly working-class area of North Tyneside in 1951, Gordon Sumner would become one of the world's best-selling music artists. Known professionally as Sting, he was the lead singer for the band The Police from 1977 to 1984, before launching a hugely successful solo career. The foundations of Sting's creativity and drive for success were established in the region of his birth, with vestiges of his 'Northern Englishness' continuing to emerge in his music long after he left the area. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Police, this is the first book to examine the relationship between Sting's working-class background in Newcastle and the creativity and inspiration behind his music. Focusing on the sometimes-blurry borderlines between nostalgia, facts, imagination and memories - as told by Sting, the people who knew (and know) him, and those who have written about him - Carr investigates the often complex resonance between local boy Gordon Sumner and the star the world knows as Sting. This book will be of great interest to the many fans of Sting and The Police, as well as those interested in the history of popular music.
£10.99
Omnibus Press The Little Black Songbook: Elton John
£14.24
Headline Publishing Group The Who
Book SynopsisBono (U2) once said, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." Starting as a simple four-piece 'mod' band in the early 1960s, The Who went on to conquer the world with their unique and supremely powerful music that transcended any genre and appealed to fans across the world. The original lineup of Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle honed their sound and recorded some milestone albums in rock history: Live at Leeds, Tommy and Quadrophenia are just some of the legendary records they released.
£13.49
Collective Ink Rebel Rebel – All the songs of David Bowie from
Book SynopsisDavid Bowie: every single song. Everything you want to know, everything you didn't know. David Bowie remains mysterious and unknowable, despite 45 years of recording and performing. His legacy is roughly 600 songs, which range from psychedelia to glam rock to Philadelphia soul, from avant-garde instrumentals to global pop anthems. Rebel Rebel catalogs Bowie's songs from 1964 to 1976, examines them in the order of their composition and recording, and digs into what makes them work. Rebel Rebel is an in-depth look at Bowie's early singles and album tracks, unreleased demos, session outtakes and cover songs. The book traces Bowie's literary, film and musical influences and the evolution of his songwriting. It also shows how Bowie exploited studio innovations, and the roles of his producers and supporting musicians, especially major collaborators like Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Mick Ronson. This book places Bowie's music in the context of its era. Readers will discover the links between Kubrick's 2001 and "Space Oddity"; how A Clockwork Orange inspired "Suffragette City". The pages are a trip through Bowie's various lives as a young man in Swinging London, a Tibetan Buddhist, a disillusioned hippie, a rock god, and a Hollywood recluse. With a cast of thousands, including John Lennon, William S. Burroughs, Andy Warhol and Cher.Trade Review...best writing on David Bowie bar none. -- Bob Stanley, writer and a member of the pop group Saint Etienne 2014 If you're a David Bowie fan, you'll love Chris O'Leary's Pushing Ahead of the Dame. Each post is devoted to analyzing a Bowie song, in roughly chronological order: its words, music, history, precursors and influence on other performers...Even if you're not an admirer of the artist sometimes known as Ziggy Stardust, the site's a rewarding read. If nothing else, it may leave you wishing that your favorite musician had a fan as perceptive and prolific as O'Leary. (TIME's Best Blogs of 2011) -- Harry McCracken Time Magazine, 2012
£17.99
Fonthill Media Ltd Kate Bush: Song by Song
Book SynopsisKate Bush began her career in 1978 at the age of 19 with the single 'Wuthering Heights', inspired by a film adaptation of the Emily Bronte novel, the first No. 1 UK single to be written and sung by a female artist, and the accompanying album 'The Kick Inside', both of which established her as a highly individual talent. She has always preferred the recording studio with live performances and tours having been few and far between, and all her albums have been very successful at home and abroad, her third, 'Never For Ever' (1980), being the first by a female artist to enter the British chart at No. 1. Her eclectic, experimental musical style with its often literary and unconventional lyrical themes has defied easy categorisation, and earned the lasting admiration of fans, fellow performers and music critics alike, while an eclectic roster of guest artists including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Prince and Stephen Fry have appeared on her work,. This book provides a thorough examination of the songs on all her singles, albums, and occasional recorded collaborations with other artists.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Author's Note; Introduction; 1: The Kick Inside; 2: Lionheart; 3: Never For Ever; 4: The Dreaming; 5: Hounds of Love; 6: The Whole Story; 7: The Sensual World; 8: This Woman's Work; 9: The Red Shoes; 10: Aerial; 11: Director's Cut; 12: 50 Words for Snow; 13: The Other Sides; Endnotes; Bibliography.
£16.20
Collective Ink Strangled – Identity, Status, Structure and The
Book SynopsisThe Stranglers occupy a paradoxical position within the history of popular music. Although major artists within the punk and new-wave movements, their contribution to those genres has been effectively quarantined by subsequent critical and historical analyses. They are somehow "outside" the realm of what responsible accounts of the period consider to be worthy of chronicling. Why is this so? Certainly The Stranglers' seedy and intimidating demeanor, and well-deserved reputation for misogyny and violence, offer a superficial explanation for their cultural excommunication. However, this landmark work suggests that the unsettling aura that permeated the group and their music had much more profound origins; ones that continue to have disturbing implications even today. The Stranglers, it argues, continue to be marginalised because, whether by accident or design, they brought to the fore the underlying issues of identity, status and structure that must by necessity be hidden from society's conscious awareness. For this, they would not be forgiven.
£11.39
