Musicians, singers, bands and groups Books

Book SynopsisExplodes the myths surrounding the death of Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling StonesTrade ReviewThis well-researched biography . . . thoroughly explores the murder and manslaughter angles * PAPERBACK OF THE WEEK, OBSERVER *if Mick Jagger is the beating heart of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones was the brain . . . Jackson's examination of his life shows that, without him, Jagger and his snake hips may never have happened * SHORTLIST *Where Jackson excels is in bringing Jones's early years to life, tracking his path from scholarly pupil to rebellious teenager to gifted, influential musician, through letters and interviews with his teachers, friends, girlfriends, sons and fellow musicians * CLASSIC ROCK *

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Book SynopsisSir Cliff Richard OBE is the biggest-selling artist of all time, selling over 250 million records around the world since he burst onto the music scene in 1958. But how has he kept his appeal all these years? In a world fuelled by drink, sex and drugs, he is perennially attractive without any of those things that keep other singers'' profiles high. Now, working with the highly acclaimed biographer and journalist, Penny Junor, Cliff talks freely and frankly about what it is like to be Cliff. Inspirational, hugely talented, a much-loved household name, his story is extraordinary. Packed with hitherto unseen pictures and untold stories, and a host of unique visual memories, it is a book to read and treasure for the next fifty years.

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Book SynopsisUltimate Heavy Metal Guitars profiles 80+ heavy metal guitarists from the 1970s to today, featuring performance photography and an authoritative text detailing the careers and gear of each.Trade Review"Headbangers will likely rejoice about the thorough celebration of the power and fury of metal in this enjoyable encyclopedia.—Dan McClure." -- Dan McClure * Library Journal *"...based on a strictly objective opinion, ULTIMATE HEAVY METAL GUITARS is superb on every level. The presentation, artists selection, range of eras, and styles, the nice balance of fact, and opinion, the mix of history and gear talk, Prown has done an incredible job on this book." * Metal-Rules.com *Table of ContentsContents Introduction: Loud and Proud Chapter 1: The Dawn of Heavy Eric Clapton Jeff Beck Jimi Hendrix Pete Townshend Chapter 2: Forging Metal Jimmy Page Tony Iommi Ritchie Blackmore (Part 1) Leslie West Martin Barre Mick Box Chapter 3: Rock and a Hard Place Johnny Winter Joe Perry & Brad Whitford Brian May Robin Trower Don “Buck Dharma” Roeser Rick Derringer Ronnie Montrose Frank Marino Mick Ralphs Chapter 4: Arena Rock Eddie Van Halen Ace Frehley Tom Scholz & Barry Goudreau Nancy Wilson Neal Schon Angus & Malcolm Young Pat Travers Chapter 5: Euro-Crunch Ritchie Blackmore (Part 2) Michael Schenker Scott Gorham & Brian Robertson Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing Rudolph Schenker, Uli Jon Roth & Matthias Jabs Dave Murray & Adrian Smith Randy Rhoads Chapter 6: Prog Power Kerry Livgren & Rich Williams Alex Lifeson Michael Wilton & Chris DeGarmo John Petrucci Chapter 7: The Headbanging ’80s Phil Collen & Steve Clark Gary Moore Joan Jett & Lita Ford Brad Gillis & Jeff Watson Mick Mars John Sykes Vernon Reid Chapter 8: Shred Yngwie Malmsteen Steve Vai Joe Satriani Vivian Campbell Jason Becker Paul Gilbert George Lynch Tony MacAlpine & Vinnie Moore Chapter 9: Thrash, Smash & Bash James Hetfield & Kirk Hammett Dave Mustaine Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman Scott Ian Chapter 10: End of the Century Slash Zakk Wylde Dimebag Darrell Ty Tabor Jerry Cantrell Tom Morello Kim Thayil Chapter 11: Black, Death, Math & Masks Chapter 12: Metal after the Millennium Mark Tremonti Alexi Laiho Herman Li Brent Hinds & Bill Kelliher Nita Strauss & Nili Brosh Resources Image Credits Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisAn intimate collection of fond memories, personal letters, good songs, and bad jokes from a true American legend.This is your old friend, Willie, sending a note to see how you''re doing and to say I''m doing fine.In this series of short letters straight from the heart, Willie sends his thanks and his thoughts to everyone from his family, his fellow musicians, his heroes, and his guitar Trigger.These letters, written in the straight-shooting, heart-rending, and profound style of his songs are a lyrical homage to all Americans—past, present, and future. From his opening letter Dear America to his epilogue, Willie digs deep into his heart and soul—and his music—to lift us up in difficult times, and to remind us of the endless promise and continuous obligations to ourselves, to one another, and to our nation.These pages are also filled with the moving lyrics to some of his most famous and insightful songs, including Let Me BTrade Review'In Willie Nelson's recent memoir Willie Nelson's' Letters to America, the country music icon bares his most personal epistles to the country he loves, his heroes and influences, stories behind the songs and the creative (and life) lessons he's learned along the way.' * American Songwriter Magazine *'Partly autobiographical, often funny, and entirely insightful from a cannabis-loving man who's fully experienced every one of his 88 years, Willie Nelson's Letters to America is a beautiful read for all.' * New York Journal of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe all-access biography and unprecedented look at the life, career, and legacy of a pint-sized kid from Long Island who became a music legend.Exhibiting unparalleled intimate knowledge, Schruers chronicles Joel’s rise to the top of the charts, from his working-class origins in Levittown and early days spent in boxing rings and sweaty clubs to his monumental success in the seventies and eighties. He also explores Joel’s creative transformation in the nineties, his dream performance with Paul McCartney at Shea Stadium in 2008, and beyond.Along the way, Schruers reveals the stories behind all the key events and relationships—including Joel’s high-profile marriages and legal battles—that defined his path to stardom and inspired his signature songs, such as “Piano Man,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “New York State of Mind,” and “She’s Always a Woman.” Throughout, he captures the spirit of a restless artist determined to break through by sharing, in his deeply personal lyrics, the dreams and heartbreaks of suburban American life.Comprehensive, vibrantly written, and filled with Joel’s memories and reflections—as well as those of the family, friends, and band members who have formed his inner circle, including Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray Joel, Jon Small, and Steve Cohen—this is the definitive account of a beloved rock star’s epic American journey.

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Book SynopsisSuitable for the students of jazz, American music, African American studies, American culture, and cultural studies, this title studies the music and thought of three pioneering twentieth-century musicians: Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and Anthony Braxton.Trade Review“Graham Lock’s Blutopia will stand as a pivotal text in the development of a serious consideration of African American creative music. Lock offers a range of fresh, new materials, and is at the same time approaching the problematic of the black musical intellectual tradition from an extremely exciting and original perspective.”— John Corbett, author of Extended Play: Sounding Off from John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein“Graham Lock’s rightly-named book expertly and impeccably attends to the mission African-American music has been on. Its address of a utopic assertion shaded by blue, dystopic truth in the work of Sun Ra, Ellington, and Braxton knowingly shows how distinctly out music ‘in the tradition’ has long been. Entering the discourse advanced by such assertion with exemplary grace and discernment, ever the right tone and touch, it succeeds beautifully in recognizing and furthering the music’s blutopic studies.”—Nathaniel Mackey, University of California, Santa Cruz“Lock is upping the ante on the scholarship of music. He gently leads the reader into largely unknown territory with impressive lucidity and evenhandedness.”—John Szwed, author of Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra“Blutopia is a lucidly written, expansively annotated exposition of ‘an African American visionary future stained with memories.’ ” -- Julian Cowley * The Wire *“Blutopia is a wonderful book. Lock lays out each man’s life and ideas in a readable and informative fashion. In addition, his thorough research and reasonable analysis shed new light on previously unexamined aspects of these artists’ careers. in fact, his chapter on Sun Ra is perhaps the best summation of his philosophy that exists. Additionally, his techniques for uncovering the idea-worlds lurking in the interviews and other effluvia generated by an artist living a public life, point the way for future researchers into the world of jazz studies.” -- John Howard * American Studies International *“[Lock’s] book offers a very fertile line of thought, and he must be right that it could be applied to other African American music from Scott Joplin to Cecil Taylor. There’s copious annotation but while the scholarship is formidable, the presentation is clear and readable. Blutopia is an important and novel addition to the jazz literature.” -- Andy Hamilton * Jazz Review *“[Lock] is a lucid writer, intelligent and incisive, and Blutopia displays the sterling qualities we’ve come to expect from him. . . . Lock should be congratulated for recontextualising the music of Ra, Ellington ,and Braxton, and enhancing our understanding of it by way of social, cultural, and historical perspectives. Blutopia makes their musical philosophy more comprehensible, and their vision seem more profound. That’s no small achievement.” -- Brian Marley * Avant Music News *“It seems odd to lump together the greatest jazz showman, Sun Ra; the greatest Jazz orchestrator, Duke Ellington; and the greatest contemporary Jazz experimentalist, Anthony Braxton. But Lock illuminatingly argues that the three men’s cultural motivations are similar. . . . Explicating music-as-sociology rather than music per se, Lock is utterly enthralling, even in the notes.” -- Ray Olson * Booklist *“Lock deserves praise for his explication of the influence Ellington’s race-conscious secondary school education had on his racial-uplift agenda and epic sense of pageantry; ditto for his comparisons of Ra with the Yoruba trickster god Esu, and for elucidating the mystical content of Braxton’s diagrammatic song titles. . . . Throughout Blutopia, Lock makes the most of his research. . . [He] is good at teasing out the subtle and not so subtle patronizing tone many white observers have taken regarding the highfalutin artistic aspirations of jazz’s African-American experimenters.” -- Greg Tate * Bookforum *“Lock explains [the musicians] from the inside out. His achievement is to take the musicians seriously as theorists in their own right, then to draw them into the meshes of African-American musical and spiritual traditions. . . . ” -- Scott Saul * TLS *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Blutopia Part I: Sun Ra: A Starward Eye 1. Astro Black: Mythic Future, Mythic Past 2. Of Aliens and Angels: Mythic Identity Part II: Duke Ellington: Tone Parallels 3. In the Jungles of America: History Without Saying It 4. Zajj: Renegotiating Her Story Part III: Anthony Braxton: Crossroad Axiums 5. All the Things You Are: Legba’s Legacy 6. Going to the Territory: Sound Maps of the Meta-Real Coda: House of Voices, Sea of Music Appendix Notes Works Cited Index of Compositions and Recordings Index

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Book SynopsisA biography of the musician and composer Arthur Russell, one of the most important but least known contributors to the downtown New York music scene during the 1970s and 1980s. It traces Russell's odyssey from his hometown of Oskaloosa, Iowa, to countercultural San Francisco, and eventually to New York, where he lived from 1973 until his death.Trade Review“[A] sensitive and thorough biography. . . . In a sense, Arthur Russell was so much a part of his times that he tended to disappear into them, blending in with so many different scenes that the camouflage seemed at times to have taken over. Lawrence notes, for example, how many previous accounts of the New York downtown scene fail to notice him at all. With Hold On to Your Dreams, the outline of an outstanding and prescient artist can now be more clearly made out.” - Ken Hollings, The Wire“[W]hat makes this book valuable is that Russell’s shadowy ubiquity turns an ostensible biography into a first draft of that elusive comprehensive history of the downtown performing arts. Hold On to Your Dreams has to go everywhere, because that’s where Russell went. . . . [E]ven if you didn’t know about Russell and are not yet persuaded to pursue him further, this is still a book worth reading. . . . Psychologically, Russell emerges as indeed fascinating, more fascinating than his music, as a maverick without, Lawrence notes, the feisty self-righteousness such figures often embody. . . . Russell has inspired a book that helps us understand a thrilling twenty-five years of American cultural history.” - John Rockwell, Bookforum“[An exhaustive, often spellbinding account of the life of one of music’s true maverick enigmas. . . . While the book provides many fresh insights into the 80s downtown hotbed, Russell emerges as a strange, fragile figure, in a monumental work. Hold On To Your Dreams is a captivating record of a true original’s all-too-brief life.” - Kris Needs, Record Collector“The passionate, revelatory anecdotes collected here follow Russell through those liminal downtown nightclubs, loft spaces, and recording studios that made his life and music possible.” - Carol Cooper, Village Voice“[A]n exemplary demonstration of exactly what a biography should do. In his rigorously researched investigation of musician and composer Arthur Russell, cultural theory lecturer Tim Lawrence effortlessly explores his subject and in so doing shines fresh light on the darkened recesses of both New York's downtown music scene and the popular cultural landscape of Russell's times. And despite Russell's relative obscurity, the book leaves you in no doubt as to how influential this maverick music figure has been.” - Martin James, Times Higher Education Supplement“Hold On to Your Dreams tells the story of an artist whose life becomes more intriguing with every turn. Inspiring and written with love, this book takes us to the roots of Arthur Russell’s music, from the streets of New York to the cornfields of Iowa.”—Jens Lekman, musician“Tim Lawrence has written a fascinating and insightful biography of a sensitive and searching soul. Arthur Russell was a personal artist whose musical vision led him to coexist in seemingly incompatible worlds. Through the lens of Arthur Russell’s life (never clouded with material success or celebrity), Tim Lawrence gives us a sharp and singular portrait of late-twentieth-century American life. A fine read, with a depth and detail that resonate with Arthur Russell’s sparkle and wit.”—Peter Gordon, Love of Life Orchestra“With rich and animated detail, Tim Lawrence tracks Arthur Russell’s insatiable drive to integrate so-called serious music and pop. This definitive biography is both an engrossing record of Russell’s musical ambitions and a compelling account of the fertile downtown scene that supported his admirable dreams.”—Matt Wolf, director of Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell“[A] sensitive and thorough biography. . . . In a sense, Arthur Russell was so much a part of his times that he tended to disappear into them, blending in with so many different scenes that the camouflage seemed at times to have taken over. Lawrence notes, for example, how many previous accounts of the New York downtown scene fail to notice him at all. With Hold On to Your Dreams, the outline of an outstanding and prescient artist can now be more clearly made out.” -- Ken Hollings * The Wire *“[A]n exemplary demonstration of exactly what a biography should do. In his rigorously researched investigation of musician and composer Arthur Russell, cultural theory lecturer Tim Lawrence effortlessly explores his subject and in so doing shines fresh light on the darkened recesses of both New York's downtown music scene and the popular cultural landscape of Russell's times. And despite Russell's relative obscurity, the book leaves you in no doubt as to how influential this maverick music figure has been.” -- Martin James * Times Higher Education *“[An exhaustive, often spellbinding account of the life of one of music’s true maverick enigmas. . . . While the book provides many fresh insights into the 80s downtown hotbed, Russell emerges as a strange, fragile figure, in a monumental work. Hold On To Your Dreams is a captivating record of a true original’s all-too-brief life.” -- Kris Needs * Record Collector *“[W]hat makes this book valuable is that Russell’s shadowy ubiquity turns an ostensible biography into a first draft of that elusive comprehensive history of the downtown performing arts. Hold On to Your Dreams has to go everywhere, because that’s where Russell went. . . . [E]ven if you didn’t know about Russell and are not yet persuaded to pursue him further, this is still a book worth reading. . . . Psychologically, Russell emerges as indeed fascinating, more fascinating than his music, as a maverick without, Lawrence notes, the feisty self-righteousness such figures often embody. . . . Russell has inspired a book that helps us understand a thrilling twenty-five years of American cultural history.” -- John Rockwell * Bookforum *“The passionate, revelatory anecdotes collected here follow Russell through those liminal downtown nightclubs, loft spaces, and recording studios that made his life and music possible.” -- Carol Cooper * Village Voice *Table of ContentsIllustrations xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction 1 1. Formations (1951–1973) 11 2. Explorations (1973–1975) 47 3. Alternatives (1975–1977) 83 4. Intensities (1977–1980) 125 5. Variations (1980–1984) 179 6. Reverberations (1984–1987) 247 7. Tangents (1987–1992) 293 Epilogue 341 Notes 359 Discography 377 Bibliography 387 Index 393

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Book SynopsisIn 2008, Tosh Berman—author and publisher of TamTam Books—got on a plane with a single motive: Sparks Spectacular. It had been announced that the band Sparks would perform all twenty-one of their albums in a succession of twenty-one nights in London...a monumental experience for any Sparks fanatic, which Tosh certainly is. Part travel journal, part personal memoir, Berman takes us through the streets of London and Paris, observing both cities'' history and culture through the eye of an obsessive Sparks fan. Including album-by-album reviews of all twenty-one shows and beyond, Sparks-Tastic defines a place and time in music history that''s too defining to be ignored.

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Book SynopsisA candid memoir by the legendary Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna co-founder and guitarist, written with as much depth and emotion as his music

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Book SynopsisIndustry of Magic & Light is a love letter to the counterculture of the 1960s and a requiem for its passing. The much-anticipated prequel to Keenan''s cult classic debut, This is Memorial Device, Industry of Magic & Light is set in the same mythical Airdrie in the 1960s and early 70s and centres on a group of hippies running their own psychedelic light show. Told in two halves - the first in the form of an inventory of the contents of a caravan abandoned by one of the hippies, the second in the form of a tarot card reading - it is not so much a book about the 1960s as a direct channelling of the decade''s energies, bringing to life how even the smallest and dreariest of working class towns felt so full of possibility in the wake of the psychedelic moment. Via artefacts from the time - everything from poetry chapbooks, record reviews and musical instruments through bubblegum wrappers, bicycle repair kits and mysterious cassette recordings - the book openTrade ReviewKeenan makes serious magic with this kaleidoscopic crowd of shamen and showmen, this host of flawed, unexpected, brilliant characters. Industry of Magic & Light is a spell-binding inventory of 1960s culture and a glorious, thrilling, funny reading experience. It's Keenan in excelsis: transcendent, violent in intensity, full of joy and utter wonder. * Wendy Erskine *Brilliant - pure undiluted Keenan in crystalised form. Less a book and more of a passport, INDUSTRY OF MAGIC & LIGHT is nothing like you expected but everything you hoped for. * John Higgs *Keenan threads these votive objects into a tapestry as delirious and hallucinogenic as a John Cippolina guitar solo... This is Memorial Device was searing and brilliant and totally made up. Don't tell me Keenan has done it again... Keenan is showing us how even in Airdrie - perhaps especially in Airdrie - the possibilities were infinite. And maybe, just maybe, he's written another classic. * The Scotsman *There are some writers whose books disrupt you so profoundly that to encounter them is to survive a life event. David Keenan is one of these beasts. Read him. * Lara Pawson *The only thing I didn't love about INDUSTRY OF MAGIC & LIGHT was the nagging feeling you'd been born with an enfeebled imagination when putting it down. HAIL KEENAN. * Lias Saoudi, Fat White Family *I cracked open my copy of INDUSTRY OF MAGIC & LIGHT and within TWO pages had laughed out loud twice, nodded furiously once and was totally ensnared. Keenan captures the literal magic of your local scene's hidden reverse. * John Doran, editor of The Quietus *INDUSTRY OF MAGIC & LIGHT does something that is depressingly rare... it cracks open the majesty, the poetry and the strange high magic that is present in working class communities, if only we could be bothered to look. * Keiran Goddard *This is Memorial Device was my favourite book of the last decade, an imagined history of a local music scene that I found more genuinely evocative of growing up in and around bands than most reality-based histories. With INDUSTRY OF MAGIC & LIGHT David has spread this hallucinated universe out, and back in time, to create a prequel that fills out and colours in the edges of his characters in a way I found beautiful and life affirming. * Andy Bell, Ride *

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Book SynopsisThe World According to QuestloveMo'' Meta Blues is a punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone''s Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art, hip hop, and pop culture.Ahmir ''Questlove'' Thompson is many things: virtuoso drummer, producer, arranger, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon bandleader, DJ, composer, and tireless Tweeter. He is one of our most ubiquitous cultural tastemakers, and in this, his first book, he reveals his own formative experiences--from growing up in 1970s West Philly as the son of a 1950s doo-wop singer, to finding his own way through the music world and ultimately co-founding and rising up with the Roots, a.k.a., the last hip hop band on Earth. Mo'' Meta Blues also has some (many) random (or not) mu

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Book Synopsis NOMINATED FOR THE JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 WINNER OF THE PRESTO JAZZ BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020An articulate, scrupulously researched account based on first-hand information, this book presents Brubeck''s contribution to music with the critical insight that it deserves - ***** BBC Music Magazine This is the writing about jazz that we''ve been waiting for - Mike WestbrookThe sheer descriptive verve, page after page, made me want to listen to every single musical example cited. A major achievement - Stephen Hough''Definitive . . . remarkable. Clark writes intelligently and joyously.'' - MojoIn 2003, music journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British Trade ReviewThe definitive biography of one of jazz's most successful pianists * The Guardian *A Life in Time is that rare beast: an uncompromisingly analytical study that absorbs and entertains, illuminating both its subject and his social context. * London Jazz News *Contains fascinating new material... Brubeck left a magnificent jazz legacy that is well served by Clark's impressive book. * uDiscoverMusic *An enlightening read * Music Matters, BBC Radio 3 *An engaging new biography... Clark makes an eloquent case * The Sunday Telegraph *Compelling * Jazz Times *Illuminating as it is lyrical * Irish Times *This is a very fine book ... Clark enables the reader to understand Brubeck the pianist. Myths are demolished. It is the kind of writing that will drive the reader back to the records enabling the reader to hear the music as if for the first time. * Jazzviews.net *Definitive . . . remarkable. Clark writes intelligently and joyously. * Mojo *This is the writing about jazz that we've been waiting for. By keeping the music at the centre, and interweaving the background of cultural, political and social change to illuminate the development of the music, Clark gives us a complete picture of the artist's life and work. * Mike Westbrook *Clark comes as close as anyone ever will to filling in the blanks. -- Richard Williams * The Guardian *A Life in Time is that rare beast: an uncompromisingly analytical study that absorbs and entertains, illuminating both its subject and his social context. * London Jazz News Review *Biography, social history, musicological exploration ... this wonderful book is many things. But above all it is a sort of intoxicating literary jam session. Words and sentences spit and spin and swing creating rhythms and harmonies worthy of Brubeck himself. The sheer descriptive verve, page after page, made me want to listen to every single musical example cited. A major achievement. * Stephen Hough *'A life in Time' is about the timeless life of the inspired and inspiring jazz master Dave Brubeck. This biography, written with love and passion, is a landmark document that is insightful and inspiring all in itself. Bravo! * Joe Lovano *A nontraditional biography that sings . . . an adoring biography as unconventional and compelling as its subject. * Kirkus Reviews *Clark hits the right notes for die-hard Brubeck disciples and jazz neophytes alike. * Publishers Weekly *Thorough and authoritative, Mr. Clark has done a great service to his subject's legacy. * Wall Street Journal *Richly detailed . . . Dave Brubeck is the closest thing the 20th century had to a universal artist. This biography profoundly reflects that. * The Wire *

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Book SynopsisA moving and essential exploration of what it takes to find your voice as a woman, a survivor, an artist, and an icon. The first time Lynn Melnick listened to a Dolly Parton song in full, she was 14 years old, in the triage room of a Los Angeles hospital, waiting to be admitted to a drug rehab program. Already in her young life as a Jewish teen in the 1980s, she had been the victim of rape, abuse, and trauma, and her path to healing would be long. But in Parton’s words and music, she recognized a fellow survivor. In this powerful, incisive work of social and self-exploration, Melnick blends personal essay with cultural criticism to explore Parton’s dual identities as feminist icon and objectified sex symbol, identities that reflect the author’s own fraught history with rape culture and the arduous work of reclaiming her voice. Each chapter engages with the artistry and impact of one of Parton’s songs, as Melnick reckons with Trade Review[Melnick] writes with remarkable vulnerability and candor yet ensures that the often-painful memories she relates don’t cloud her critical gaze. She moves gracefully between confessional and analytical registers, her prose both sharp and full of heart. * The Atlantic *A fierce resistance to that which could destroy us or destroy our spirits (patriarchy, capitalism, drugs) drives this potent work of music criticism forward, with deft prose that breathtakingly weaves biography and personal narrative. * The Common *A riveting blend of cultural criticism and memoir...In her quest to 'be more Dollylike, rising again and again from the embers of expectation,' Melnick offers a gorgeous story of survival and self-discovery. Die-hard Dolly fans won’t want to miss this. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive is more than an artful memoir; it is thought-provoking cultural analysis of a beloved icon whose relevance endures. * BookPage *Discarding the societal demand to keep quiet about her own trauma, Melnick structures the book as an inquiry into the music of Dolly Parton that 'unmired' her when she first found herself in a drug rehab program as a teenager in the 1980s. It’s Dolly Parton’s music that offers transcendence in Melnick’s life from then on, and she scrutinizes Dolly’s songs and their personal and cultural impact in a mixture of biography, critical investigation, music journalism, social history, and invocation. 'It’s a refusal of secrets,' Melnick writes in the final chapter about a song that Dolly is singing, but this is also a perfect summation of her book. * BOMB Magazine *This book revels unabashedly in the turmoil of both women’s lives. Like Dolly’s voice, Melnick’s tone is casual and joyous, yet still defiant, cogently seeking commonality between its two subjects and showing how she and Parton have each performed their womanliness—and all its concomitant mess...Carefully researched and at times uncomfortably honest, I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive also avoids hagiography and handles the problematic aspects of Dolly better than most...I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive is, at core, about the Appalachian skill of 'always being aware of the terrible' while steadfastly and laughingly avoiding its grip. * The Georgia Review *Melnick lovingly chronicles how Parton’s expansive songwriting catalog and her six decades as a household icon have been inextricable from Melnick’s own journey from a Jewish teenage addict to an accomplished artist. * Lilith *There is rich texture in the details Melnick shares of her life, which she weaves into Parton’s history and the backstory of each song, with Parton’s hardships and struggles as much an inspiration to Melnick as the star’s thrilling success...This is absolutely the book for any Dolly Parton fan, full of anecdotes and intricate history of The Leading Lady of Country. It was empowering and inspiring to read the stories of these women (Parton and Melnick) and to know they have made something of the ashes left when others lit a match. * Southern Review of Books *Each chapter in [I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive] glances at the author's life through a different song penned by Parton. [Melnick] deals with past trauma by analogizing her own life to the country legend's. Although Melnick and Parton didn't seem to have much more in common on the surface, discovering their similarities is at the center of this moving journey. * The Boot, "10 Best Country Music Books of 2022" *Melnick’s book is about the author’s vicarious, identity-forming relationship with a cultural figure. Each of its 21 chapters is organized around a particular song, so we learn everything she was able to find out about how Dolly...wrote or recorded that song, what the press said about it, and what the artist herself said about it in interviews and talk show appearances. Moreover, each chapter delves into what the title song means in Melnick’s life and what it says about related cultural issues. In that way, it’s a blend of memoir and cultural criticism, as well as a wealth of information. * Chapter 16 *Table of Contents Introduction: Seven Bridges Road Chapter One: Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That Chapter Two: Steady as the Rain Chapter Three: The Seeker Chapter Four: Here You Come Again Chapter Five: Jolene Chapter Six: The Grass Is Blue Chapter Seven: Coat of Many Colors Chapter Eight: Islands in the Stream Chapter Nine: Do I Ever Cross Your Mind Chapter Ten: Will He Be Waiting for Me Chapter Eleven: Down from Dover Chapter Twelve: Silver Dagger Chapter Thirteen: Don’t Think Twice Chapter Fourteen: I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby Chapter Fifteen: Little Sparrow Chapter Sixteen: 9 to 5 Chapter Seventeen: Two Doors Down Chapter Eighteen: Put a Little Love in Your Heart Chapter Nineteen: Blue Smoke Chapter Twenty: Bargain Store Chapter Twenty-One: The Story Acknowledgments: I Will Always Love You References and Resources

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Book SynopsisNow with an afterword covering his final years, John Prine traces the crooked road traveled by the brilliant songwriter responsible for “Angel from Montgomery,” “Sam Stone,” “Paradise,” and “That’s the Way That the World Goes ’Round”.

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Goth is an entertaining and evocative personal history of Goth music and culture, told by a true insider. Lol Tolhurst explores the godfathers of goth who established the genre's roots - THE CURE, which he co-founded with Robert Smith, contemporaries SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, BAUHAUS, JOY DIVISION - plus many more great bands that offered a place of refuge for the misfits of the 80s and ever since. Lol offers a fascinating deep dive into the movers and shakers of goth, imbued with his personal memories as well as those of fellow musicians, magicians and artists who make goth such an inevitable and enduring movement. Along the way he examines acts such as DEPECHE MODE and COCTEAU TWINS who helped the darkness expand. Finally, Tolhurst examines the legacy of goth music, and shows how its influence can still be seen to this day across music, film, TV, visual arts and social media. As thoughtful and thorough as it is utterly bewitching, Goth is a timeless testament to why Goth matters - and why it always will.

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Book SynopsisOne hundred years after the singer’s birth, Peggy Lee: A Century of Song brings to life the eventful career of an iconic performer whose contributions to the Great American Songbook, jazz, popular music, and film music remained unparalleled.Lee stood out among her peers as an exquisite singer possessing a cool vocal style, a songwriter frequently collaborating with leading composers of American jazz and film music, and a globally-loved entertainer with star quality. Tish Oney sheds new light upon this Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner’s impressive musical talents while guiding the reader through the best of Lee’s fifty-plus albums, radio and TV performances, creative contributions to the film industry, and over half a century of finely-polished live performances.Oney focuses on the evolution of Peggy Lee’s recorded music, vocal development, artistic achievements, and contributions to American music while interviews with Lee’s family, friends, and music colleagues reveal new insights and memories of this musical icon. Peggy Lee enables readers to discover a brilliant artist’s inimitable legacy in the history of American popular music.Table of ContentsIntroductionThe International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel resounded with cascades of applause and loving affirmation of a timeless music legend on May 11, 1994. Peggy Lee was honored that evening with a gala tribute event in Beverly Hills by the Society of Singers, and as a fitting gesture of appreciation for their financial support as well as for the public honor, Lee performed a touching, heartfelt rendition of her original song, “Here’s To You,” melodiously wishing those in attendance “good luck” in several languages before closing with her favorite blessing, “angels on your pillows…” The masterful timing, declamatory phrasing and gentle, musical delivery that were Peggy’s alone shone through one of the last performances this remarkable artist would share with her adoring public…The highly diverse, six-decade catalog of music created by vocalist/songwriter Peggy Lee—a globally beloved singer, composer, lyricist, voiceover artist, actress and entertainer—represents one of the greatest singular contributions by anyone to the oeuvre of American music. Lee’s remarkable work in big band swing, popular music, jazz, blues, the “cool” school, film music, radio, television, and crossover styles forever changed the landscape of American music as well as the role and society’s expectations of the female vocalist. Hailing from rural North Dakota nee Norma Delores Egstrom, she was first nicknamed “Peggy Lee” by a radio DJ. Deciding to keep the new stage name, Peggy moved to Los Angeles and continued to sing, being fortuitously heard and hired by Benny Goodman shortly after his band’s vocalist, Helen Forrest, resigned. Peggy would soon prove that she could not only successfully replace Forrest, but also carve her own path as a force to be reckoned with in 1940s American popular music.Chapter 1The Goodman BandAt the beginning of her career, the newly monikered Peggy Lee may have seemed to be just one of many attractive “chick” singers fronting important big bands of the 1930s. During the Goodman years, she was relegated to sing songs in other singers’ keys, causing her high-pitched, youthful tone to match that of many other leading big band vocalists. When finally given opportunities to show off her lower, sultry, softer, bluesy approach via arrangements in lower keys, Lee began to come into her own signature style. Early hits propelling Lee to the top of the pop music charts began with “Somebody Else Is Taking My Place” from 1941 (peaking at #1) and “Why Don’t You Do Right?” which rose to #4 in 1942. “We’ll Meet Again,” which topped at #16 that same year, became a song long associated with Lee. Meeting her first husband, Dave Barbour, through association with Goodman’s band proved to be doubly advantageous for Peggy—Barbour also became her first collaborative composer with whom she wrote several hit songs. Chapter 2A Capitol IdeaFollowing her split with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Lee pursued a wildly successful career as a solo artist with Capitol Records. Recording sessions and hits were plentiful for Lee throughout the 1940s and 50s, and she proved to be a public favorite with her cool, seductive delivery, musical phrasing and magnetic sex appeal. The Barbour/Lee songwriting team churned out dozens of great songs over the next few years while Lee also continued to record songs by other composers. At Capitol, record executives began to encourage Lee to focus on recording songs they provided her, rather than on writing her own material. Fortunately, she managed to find time to be successful at both ventures.Chapter 3The Peggy Lee ShowRadio shows were all the rage in the mid-1940s through the 1950s, and were hosted by famous entertainers including Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Woody Herman and eventually, Peggy Lee. Highlights from Lee’s show were often created when she brilliantly performed songs normally associated with other artists (“Somewhere Along The Way,” a Nat Cole hit, and “A Kiss To Build A Dream On,” associated with Louis Armstrong). Performances from hosted radio programs represented a crucial connection between leading pop musicians and their adoring American fans during this period. These shows finally gave way to widely popular television variety shows filmed before a live studio audience (hosted by Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Ed Sullivan and many others). Among a slew of interesting skits and other acts, these variety shows broadcast hundreds of impromptu performances showcasing the top entertainers of the day. Lee made history when she sang the Academy Award-nominated song, “Zing a Little Zong,” from Just For You at the first-ever televised broadcast of the Oscars.Chapter 4The Decca YearsIn 1953 Lee turned to the Decca label to record what jazz history scholars have ranked as one of the top ten vocal jazz albums of all time: Black Coffee. This important Decca recording reveals Lee to be no less than a serious jazz artist, capable of text-based improvisation bathed heavily in the blues. Her characteristic skills in backphrasing, understatement, unprecedented use of soft dynamics and astounding vocal control are readily apparent on this recording. Although Lee was criticized for sounding a bit like Billie Holiday here, her original approach to this material makes itself apparent to the discriminating listener. This decade also birthed a Capitol hit single most associated with Lee (“Fever,” in 1958) as well as a highly controversial rendering of the formerly innocuous Rodgers and Hart composition, “Lover,” which caused a public outcry in 1952 due to its vividly sensual, emotionally intense interpretation. Chapter 5A Flair for FilmLee contributed music to fourteen films throughout her storied career. Two of the most notable include Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, for which she served as both lyricist for all the songs in the film and voiceover artist for all female characters, and Pete Kelly’s Blues, in which she attained a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her acting role as an alcoholic nightclub singer. Both films feature Lee’s singing as well as her original songs. Several other films include songs co-written by Lee, showcasing her innate ability to adapt lyrics to a variety of storylines and film scores. For these and other projects, Lee collaborated with A-list composers Sonny Burke, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mandel and Henry Mancini. Film dramas including Johnny Guitar, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! and Anatomy Of A Murder boast Peggy Lee’s songs in their soundtracks. Chapter 61960s Jazz and BluesThe 1960s found Lee as prolific and focused as ever, and eager to collaborate with some of the most talented young musicians in the business. Mink Jazz, another exquisite straight-ahead jazz album showcasing Lee’s jazz sensibilities, was a successful venture with trumpeter Jack Sheldon, reinforcing Lee’s rightful place in the circle of top jazz vocalists. Blues Cross-Country was a songwriting collaboration with a young Quincy Jones, proving Lee’s fearless willingness to foray into the blues--a genre for which her voice was uniquely suited. In 1965 Lee recorded Cy Coleman’s bluesy classic, “Big Spender,” from his new musical, Sweet Charity. Lee obtained special permission to record the song before the original cast recording was made, releasing her version upon the premiere of the Broadway production in January 1966 to become an instant hit.Chapter 7Live at Basin Street EastThis historically important recording of a live New York performance in 1961 offers a rare glimpse into the extraordinary “live” Peggy Lee concert experience during the height of her career and worldwide fame. This recording best exemplifies Lee’s artistry as the masterful performing artist that she was, capable of casting a musical spell and holding an audience in the palm of her hand for an entire evening. The full show includes various hits, originals and three multi-song medleys. Lee’s former bandmates claim that Lee loved to program medleys into her show songlists as a preferred way to present related material to a live audience while adding to the flow and unpredictability of the music. One such related group on this recording is a Ray Charles tribute medley connecting four of Ray’s signature songs together.Chapter 8Leiber and StollerThe songwriting team that is often identified with Lee’s 1960s work is the duo that penned two of her signature songs in that decade—Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. While the later ubiquitously known “I’m a Woman” never charted when it was released in 1963, “Is That All There Is?” earned Lee and the songwriting duo their only Grammy awards (1969). Mirrors, a problematic album collaboration in 1975, was irreparably plagued by poor recording quality, and never managed more than a lukewarm album remodeling project in recent years. Still, the Leiber and Stoller period in Lee’s total output represents a particular sound and genre exemplifying the aging persona of Peggy Lee.Chapter 9The Late AlbumsLee managed to snag not one, but two Grammy nominations for albums she recorded in her late 60s—Peggy Lee Sings the Blues (1988) and The Peggy Lee Songbook: There’ll Be Another Spring (1989). These records (released on the MusicMasters label) featured a young, very talented combo of jazz instrumentalists who would go on to become jazz masters themselves (Mike Renzi and Emilio Palame, piano, John Chiodini, guitar and Mark Sherman, drums). While these albums revealed a very different vocal quality than heard in Lee’s early work, her timing, phrasing and storytelling capabilities were still intact.Chapter 10That’s Not All There IsThe long, successful musical career and extensive song catalog of Peggy Lee, totaling several hundred recorded covers and 270 originals, boasts the productivity of a truly universal woman capable of singing and recording at a level that shattered most of her competition. Not only this, but Lee’s ability to write artistically viable lyrics and music at a highly prolific clip despite incessant discouragement from record label executives continued throughout her career. Moreover, her ventures into performing a wide variety of genres with relative authenticity and courageous, inspiring voraciousness illuminates a comparatively boundless creative spirit. Several albums of Lee’s previously unreleased work have been made public since her death in 2002 including “lost” Capitol masters and several original songs. Lee’s ongoing commitment to musical excellence, artistic integrity and the protection of intellectual property for songwriters serve as timely reminders for today’s artists about the importance of contributing something positive and enduring to the body of art in our current musical culture.

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Book SynopsisInternational best-selling rock band Garbage presents its own autobiography, a gorgeous, full-color coffee-table book with text and images galore.

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Book SynopsisDangerous is Michael Jackson's coming of age album. Granted, that’s a bold claim to make given that many think his best work lay behind him by the time this record was made. It offers Jackson on a threshold, at long last embracing adulthood—politically questioning, sexually charged—yet unable to convince a skeptical public who had, by this time, been wholly indoctrinated by a vicious media. Even though the record sold well, few understood or were willing to accept the depth and breadth of Jackson’s vision; and then before it could be fully grasped, it was eclipsed by a shifting pop music landscape and personal scandal—the latter perhaps linked to his assertive new politics. This book tries to cut through the din of dominant narratives about Jackson, taking up the mature, nuanced artistic statement he offered on Dangerous in all its complexity. It is read here as a concept album, one that offers a compelling narrative arc of postmodern angst, love, lust, seduction, betrayal, damnation, and above all else racial politics, in ways heretofore unseen in his music. This record offered a Michael Jackson that was mystifying for a world that had accepted him as a child and as childlike and, hence, as safe; this Michael Jackson was, indeed, dangerous.Trade ReviewVirtually all of his creative moments were moments of transition, and Ms. Fast makes a strong argument that “Dangerous” was among his most disruptive. In this book, the 100th entry in Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series, each one devoted to a single album, Ms. Fast employs close readings of lyrics, musical production choices and video presentations to underscore little discussed aspects of Jackson’s creative output. So she breaks “Dangerous” into thematically rich sections: Jackson breaking with his old self, then switching to familiar modes to make bold political statements and then coming full circle. -- Jon Caramanica * The New York Times *Throughout this book’s 144 pages Fast certainly makes plenty of compelling arguments as to why ‘Dangerous’ represents a true coming of age album for Jackson as well as perhaps his most ambitious and experimental collection, but one that didn’t really get a chance to be appreciated or properly understood before it was eclipsed by the media circus that soon engulfed Jackson’s entire life. -- Chris Downton * Cyclic Defrost *As a musicologist, [Fast] is quite capable of writing about the complexity of Jackson's music, offering a clear insight into his process. By placing the work in a cultural context: racism, politics, gender and sexuality, she also offers the non-musician an excellent read and good critical insight. Mostly because she makes crystal clear that Jackson knew exactly what he was doing as a writer and performer, his versatile voice and body combining high and low art to convey a serious message. Fast's analysis also makes it clear that Jackson was able to ingeniously communicate his message through the compilation of the album itself. This book offers a much-needed in-depth analysis of Jackson's music and art…Highly recommended. -- Karin Merx * Cultural Studies *Susan Fast's new monograph on Michael Jackson's Dangerous album is an utterly compelling, utterly intelligent reassessment of Jackson's oft-maligned record of 1991 and a challenge to anyone who thinks that they have a grasp on Jackson's controversial art. Fast has an arsenal of literary theorists to help her support her claim (Gates, Foucault), but her writing style-like the Jackson album that is her subject-is dangerous. I can't think of a 33 1/3 book that's written with so much verve, so much life that the deployment of tough theory and philosophy is swept away in the author's passionate prose. -- Paul Gleason * Stereo Embers *Fast has provided a model for how to reach a broader audience with scholarly writing. * Journal of the Society for American Music *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction. Telling Stories About Michael Jackson Chapter One. Noise Chapter Two. Desire Chapter Three. Utopia Chapter Four. Soul Coda: Dangerous Notes

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Book SynopsisJuly, 1967: It seems the entire country stopped to listen to a husky voice steeped in the simmering secrets of the South tell a tragic tale of teenage suicide. So much for the Summer of Love. “Ode to Billie Joe” knocked the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” off the top of the charts, and Bobbie Gentry became an international star. Almost 50 years later, Gentry is as enigmatic and captivating as her signature song. Of course, fans still want to know why Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. They also wonder: Why did Bobbie Gentry, who has not performed or made a public appearance since the early 1980s, leave it all behind? Through extensive interviews and unprecedented access to career memorabilia, Murtha explores the real-life mysteries ensnarled within the much-disputed origin of Ode to Billie Joe. The result is an investigative pop history that reveals, for the first time, the full breadth of Bobbie Gentry’s groundbreaking career—and just may help explain her long silence. Foreword by musician Jill Sobule.Trade ReviewTara Murtha examines that song and the rest of Bobbi Gentry’s career in Ode To Billie Joe, the latest release in the 33 1/3 series of books. It is a wonderfully compelling book and the best I’ve read in the series since "Television: Marquee Moon." Perhaps it’s her background as a reporter, but Murtha does not go down the pedantic path that many of the books in this series seem to do lately. Instead, the author presents a fascinating study of Gentry and her career-defining debut. That’s right; "Ode to Billie Joe" was her debut recording. Wow. -- Steve J * AllMusicBooks *Murtha pulls free the threads of truth from a tangled knot of personal mythology and contradictions. Her book is likely to be a hit with casual listeners and pop-culture obsessives alike. -- Katie Haegele * Utne Reader *Philadelphia journalist Tara Murtha has dug deep into the story behind Gentry’s song with the latest entry in the '33 1/3' book series devoted to various pop albums of significance… Murtha charts Gentry’s challenges as a musician who in her teens was most interested in selling her songs to other singers, not recording them herself. But once she did get into the position of recording, she was up against a male-dominated record industry that offered little validation to a young woman with her own ideas about performance and production. -- Randy Lewis * L.A. Times *While Murtha's exploration of the Gentry myth is fascinating, the writer also takes pains to ensure that the myth - as well as Gentry's sexual aura - will not eclipse her real achievement […] Murtha's gem of a book is, above all, a testament to the enduring complexity of Bobbie Gentry. -- Helen W. Mallon * Philly.com *Murtha’s book conveys a Bobbie Gentry who knew what she wanted and then went about to get it. For the past 30 years, Bobbie Gentry has wanted to be left alone. The closest Murtha gets to Gentry is when she tries on an old fur coat of hers that ended up in the closet of her step-brother in Oregon, who only met Gentry once. This isn’t nearly enough for Murtha ... Tara Murtha’s accessible and engaging book is a welcome addition to the 33 1/3 Series. I believe her Ode to Bobbie Gentry will succeed in attaining renewed attention and interest in her music. -- Aaron Goldstein * The American Spectator *In Ode To Billie Joe, a new contribution to Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 series, journalist Tara Murtha puts Gentry's feminism and efforts to control her own image at the center of the work, which re-introduces the world to Bobbie Gentry ... Today, it is unclear where she lives and remains in touch with only a few friends from her days in show business — leaving many questions unanswered. Ode To Billie Joe is a 'looking glass that cuts both ways,' Murtha writes. 'The wild commercial success of 'Ode' transformed Gentry from an unknown working musician to an international star. But it also ... ultimately served to obscure a larger, richer body of work — and caged the artist into a persona she spent the rest of her career trying to transcend.' -- Audrey White * The Quietus *Who was Billie Joe McAllister and why did he die? ... There’s another riddle to be solved: that of Gentry herself ... The American journalist Tara Murtha, in her recently published book Ode to Billie Joe (Bloomsbury), attempts to solve these mysteries. Her book, then, is a reporter’s quest that takes her across America to find people who knew Gentry and are willing to talk ... She finds plenty of them. -- Karl Whitney * Irish Times *Table of ContentsForeward, by Jill Sobule Chapter 1: Out of a Swamp Fog Chapter 2: Where is Bobbie Gentry? Chapter 3: The Bobbiebilia Chapter 4: Chickasaw County Child Chapter 5: Becoming Bobbie Gentry Chapter 6: "Produced by Kelly Gordon and Bobby Paris" Chapter 7: The Summer of "Ode to Billie Joe" Chapter 8: Capitol Pre-Orders Five Times as Many Records as Meet the Beatles Chapter 9: The Capitol Years Chapter 10: Viva Las Vegas Chapter 11: What the Song Didn't Tell You, the Movie Will Chapter 12: So I'm Packin' Up and I'm Checking Out

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Book SynopsisIn January of 1979, the great soul artist Donny Hathaway fell fifteen stories from a window of Manhattan’s Essex House Hotel in an alleged suicide. He was 33 years old and everyone he worked with called him a genius. Best known for “A Song for You,” “This Christmas,” and classic duets with Roberta Flack, Hathaway was a composer, pianist, and singer committed to exploring “music in its totality.” His velvet melisma and vibrant sincerity set him apart from other soul men of his era while influencing generations of singers and fans whose love affair with him continues to this day. The first nonfiction book about Hathaway, Donny Hathaway Live uses original interviews, archival material, musical analysis, cultural history, and poetry to tell the story of Hathaway’s life, from his beginnings as a gospel wonder child to his final years. But its focus is the brutally honest, daringly gorgeous music he created as he raced the clock of mental illness—especially in the performances captured on his 1972 album Donny Hathaway Live. That album testifies to Hathaway’s uncanny ability to amplify the power and beauty of his songs in the moment of live performance. By exploring that album, we see how he generated a spiritual experience for those present at his shows, and for those with the privilege to listen in now.Trade ReviewA more than welcome addition to the Hathaway legend. * Echoes Magazine *A brilliant and revealing new book on one of my faves of all time: the inimitable Donny Hathaway. -- Michael Eric Dyson, academic, author, and radio hostTable of ContentsTrack Listing Acknowledgments II. Overture: Endings III. Prelude: “A Song for You” IV. First Movement: Beginnings V. Second Movement: Donny Hathaway Live VI. Third Movement: More Live VII. Last Movement: Afterlives Notes

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Book SynopsisQueen and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind is a collection of cutting-edge philosophical essays on the rock group Queen, founded in 1970 and originally featuring lead vocalist Freddie Mercury. Queen’s reputation and fan following continue to grow in the twenty-first century. These insightful and provocative chapters include:● uncover the origins of Queen’s unique style in prog rock, vulgarity, and lower versus higher Romanticism● examine Queen’s view of love and friendship● draw upon three timeless Queen songs, “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” and Socrates’s behavior in the Apology, to understand the “rocking” nature of philosophy● identify the connections between ancient matriarchal religion and Queen’s love for strong female imagery● explore how Brian May’s astrophysics brings to bear the issues of absolute versus relative spacetime and how the philosophies of Newton, Mach, and Einstein contribute to Queen’s creative output● analyze the structure of Queen’s sound to answer the inevitable question, How can four people make all that music?● expose what Queen’s songs tell us about the contemporary theory of mental illness and therapy● scrutinize Roger Taylor’s stark impressions of ordinary life and death, and their alignment to the cynical musings of Diogenes of Sinope and Seneca’s blunt observations on the shortness of life● look at the movie Highlander through the music of Queen and reveal how both song and cinema convey the philosophy of bushido, the soul of the samuraiTable of ContentsIntroductionPart I: My Fairy Kings1. Side White: Worshiping the White Queen (As it Began)Jared Kemling 2. Side Black: Master Stroke of a Fairy FellerJared Kemling 3. Queen, Prog, and Vulgar RomanticismJan Olof Bengtsson Part II: A Night at the Concert4. Be Free with Your Tempo: Freedom, Individuality, and Nonconformity in InnuendoDouglas Rasmussen 5. Let Me Entertain You: Performance as a Tour de Force (Of Course)Julie Kuhlken 6. Freddie’s Left Hand: Queen and the Order of MusicRandall E. Auxier Part III: The Show Must Go On7. Is Adam Lambert a Killer of Queen, or Somebody to Love?Megan Volpert 8. Instrumental Instrumentalism: Is Red Special a Member of Queen?Steven Gimbel Part IV: Made in the Heavens9. Hot SpacetimeKristina Šekrst 10. Tie the Cosmos Down: Brian May’s Astrophysics and MusicRandall E. Auxier Part V: I’m Going Slightly Mad11. Stone Cold Crazy: Queen, Mental Disorder, and SufferingSnita Ahir-Knight 12. Hitting Rock BottomRobert S. Vuckovich Part VI: Sheer Head Attack13. Hammer to Fall in the Shadow of DeathRobert DeVall 14. Don’t Lose Your Head: The Interconnectedness of Queen and HighlanderKevin Taylor 15. We Want to Love Forever, Forever is Ours TodayJohn Shook Part VII: Some Body to Love16. Freddie and Mary: A Single Soul Dwelling in Two BodiesAndrew Kaplan 17. Good Old-Fashioned Lover BoyDarci Doll Part VIII: Supersonic Men18. Queen and My Uncle’s Delicacy of Taste and PassionChristopher M. Innes 19. He Will Rock You: Socrates was the Most Rock and Roll of MenMichael F. Patton References (I Want it All) Bohemian Biographies Index (Now I’m Here)

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA no-holds-barred memoir that charts the rise and fall - and rise - of one of Australia's most iconic music performers.You think you know Deborah Conway? You think seeing her scowling and striding and smouldering in her music videos over the years means you know who Deborah Conway is? She figures you probably don't know the half of it. If you have listened to any of Deborah's iconic songs and were curious about their origins; if you ever wondered what happened to that chick who covered herself in Nutella and was photographed shovelling cream cakes into her mouth; if you gave a nanosecond's thought to whose bare arse adorned the giant billboard ads for jeans in the 1980s and how much someone got paid to do that; if you liked Tracy Mann's vocals in Sweet and Sour but asked yourself, 'did she really sing them?'; if you thought Running On Empty was a classic before it became a cult phenomenon and need behind-the-scenes gossip, now's your chance to find out all this and so much more.Conway pulls back the curtain on the fevered world of 1980s post-punk and the spectacular rise and fall and rise of one of the more obstreperous women in Australia's music industry, a woman who has straddled the high arts and the low without losing her footing or her mind. A woman who said no to the system and whose fierce independence has seen her produce her best work.Welcome to the good, the bad and the ugly of an extraordinary life from the vantage point of a music insider (and outsider) with a deep need to tell the truth about it all.'An enthralling, unputdownable read.' Toni Collette'A witty, searingly honest testimony of what it really took to become one of Australia's most beloved storytellers.' Clare Bowditch'Candid and revealing, witty, wise and full of wonder.' Brian Nankervis'I appreciated every honest, emotional, human page.' Sofie Laguna'A wild ride through sex, love, birth, death, business, friendship, creativity and the magic of song. She is as sharp, honest, brave, funny and brazen on the page as she is on stage or at her table, offering nourishment for all comers.' Ramona Koval'Deborah has been surprising me since she was 13. This brave and passionate book has done it yet again.' Caroline Wilson

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Book SynopsisDavid Bowie: The Golden YearsAuthor Roger GriffinABOUT THE BOOKDavid Bowie's career is defined by the 70s, his golden years. This book chronicles Bowie's creative life during that decade in a year by year, month by month, day by day format, placing his works in their historical, personal and creative contexts. Every live performance: when and where and who played with him. Every known recording: session details, who played on it, who produced it and release details. Every collaboration is also covered, including production and guest appearances. Film, stage and television appearances: Bowie brought his theatrical training into every performance and created a new form of rock spectacle.Follows Bowie on his journeys across the countries that fired his imagination and inspired his greatest work. A detailed illustrated discography documenting every Bowie recording during this period, including tracks he left in the vault. Many of these ended up on reissues and compilations, which are covered comprehensively - an invaluable reference work.

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Book SynopsisThe iconic life and career of the famed guitarist of the Rolling Stones is detailed in this compilation of interviews that spans the last 50 years. Featuring articles from GQ, Melody Maker, and Rolling Stone, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print, it charts Keith Richards's journey from gauche, young pretender and swaggering epitome of the zeitgeist to beloved elder statesman of rock. Initially overshadowed by band mates Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, Richards gained popularity as half of the second-most important songwriting team of the 1960s, and in 1967 the drug bust at his house and his subsequent trial and imprisonment made him a household name. His interviews match his outlaw image: free of banality and euphemism, they revel in frank stories of drugs and debauchery. Yet they also reveal an unexpectedly warm, unpretentious, articulate, and honest man. This collection amply illustrates the magic and charm of Keith Richards.

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Book SynopsisIt's a life of the two of us.' The complete surviving correspondence between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. To read these letters is to climb up a wall and peer into the secret garden of two giants.' From the Foreword by FIONA SHAW This volume comprises the complete surviving correspondence between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. The 365 letters written throughout their 39-year relationship are here brought together and published, as Pears intended, for the first time. While the correspondence provides valuable evidence of the development of Britten's works, more significant is the insight into his relationship with Pears and their day-to-day life together. Entertaining to read, domestic and intimate, the letters provide glimpses of cultural and artistic life in the twentiethcentury, including pacifism and conscientious objection, critical assessments of music and other artists, transport and communications development in the twentieth century, the 'Aldeburgh corpses', art collecting, gossip, everyday life in an English country house, the development of the Aldeburgh Festival, performance practice in early music, looking after dachshunds, travel, and a host of other topics. Above all, when read together, Britten and Pears's letters allow the clearest possible look 'behind the scenes' of one of the most productive creative partnerships of the twentieth century. VICKI P. STROEHER is Professor of Music History at Marshall University where she isalso Coordinator of the Music History & Literature area. NICHOLAS CLARK is the Librarian at the Britten-Pears Foundation at The Red House, Britten and Pears's home in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. JUDE BRIMMER is an Archivist at the Britten-Pears Foundation.Trade Review[T]his collection of letters between Britten and Pears engages two very different and equally fascinating roles. On the one hand, the book is immensely valuable as a research tool with clues about Britten's compositional process, insights from both men about music and prominent musicians of their day, and poignant, first-hand accounts of history. On the other hand, the letters are so touching and honest that even the most dispassionate researcher might accidentally get lost in the compelling love story and intimate look into a deeply personal, committed relationship. * NABMSA REVIEWS *365 letters - one to read for each day of the year...Here we are allowed into the private world of two of the greatest musicians of their generation. * BRIO *My Beloved Man is, quite simply, a love story...it is fascinating to read. * GRAMOPHONE *Elegantly written and highly informative...a desirable volume for any academic library, and specialists in twentieth-century opera or British music generally will find it a rewarding read. * JNL OF THE SOCIETY FOR MUSICOLOGY IN IRELAND *It is difficult not to be moved by the personal and artistic courage of the relationship of which these letters, and the accompanying texts, present such a vivid...complete, picture. * FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE *Published here in full for the first time, these letters bear witness to a relationship in which love and creativity and romantic and professional lives are so tightly entwined that to try and separate them would make a nonsense of both. * THE SPECTATOR *'To read these letters is to climb up a wall and peer into the secret garden of two giants.' From domestic dramas and dachshunds to ideas for the Aldeburgh Festival, a new book captures the lives of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in their own words. [...] While it does feel as if we're steaming open the envelopes and reading the letters while the house is still quiet, the editors of the book make it clear both men wanted their story to be told. * EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES *[...] These are primarily communications by two loving partners who wish to share quotidian details [...] in order to bridge the gap as best they can during times of separation. [...] Still, there are occasional insights into Pears's musicianship, and particularly his and Britten's profound admiration of Bach. * BBC MUSIC AUTUMN *These letters are important. . . [and] have never had quite the impact they do here. * TELEGRAPH *Table of ContentsForeword by Fiona Shaw Introduction: Britten and Pears's 'personal and consistent' correspondence 'When I am not with you..': August 1937 to January 1941 'My life is inextricably bound up with yours': May 1942 to November 1944 'I don't know why we should be so lucky, in all this misery': July 1945 to April 1949 'You are potentially the greatest singer alive': Late 1949 to January 1954 'Why shouldn't I recognise that you are such a large part of my life. ': May 1954 to December 1959 'Far away as you are, at least I feel there is contact!': January 1960 to March 1968 'It is you who have given me everything': January 1970 to June 1975 'My days are not empty': January to November 1976 Personalia List of Works Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisNo other pop group in recent history has faced fame with such intelligence, humour and shrewdness as the Pet Shop Boys. In 1991, the band toured North America for the first time shadowed by journalist Chris Heath and legendary rock photographer Pennie Smith. They visited fourteen cities in one month, confronting the American music industry and colliding with the likes of Liza Minnelli, Steven Spielberg and Axl Rose. This is more than a documentary of a tour; it is an unusually intimate portrait of two maverick British musicians always reluctant to compromise.‘There was a time when the Pet Shop Boys seemed to exist entirely on radio, television and in magazines. This is the other world of the Pet Shop Boys in concert, travel and backstage, as they bring their art and glamour to America. It’s funny too.’ Johnny Marr‘A brilliant book, to be read over and over again. How could anyone not love these men?’ NMETrade ReviewOne of the best biographies in pop history. A phenomenal piece of observational journalism. Heath's books offers unprecedented access. -- Mark Savage * BBC News *Candid, hilarious and revealing...gloriously gossipy. [They set] a benchmark for music biographies. Engrossing stuff. * Classic Pop Magazine *Candid, insightful and frequently hilarious dispatches from the front line of pop stardom. An astonishingly intimate and honest portrait of the maverick duo. Page turners of the highest order, saying more about their subjects than any “straight” biographies could ever hope to achieve.- * Record Collector Magazine *

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Book SynopsisHere is the story of how the Sex Pistols shocked and shamed EMI - the UK's most revered and profitable record company - and ended up GBP40,000 the richer thanks to manager Malcolm McLaren's cunning business strategy.

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Book SynopsisEagles: Take It To The Limit is the fascinating inside story of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, written by one of music journalism's most influential voices. Ben Fong-Torres was at Rolling Stone magazine when the Eagles were a cover story in 1979. He followed the band's career, interviewed them himself, and even played in the now-famous Eagles vs Rolling Stone magazine softball match. Filled with anecdotes and insights spanning almost 50 years, Take It To The Limit follows the Eagles as the band changed line-up, toured the world, made the best-selling album in American history, split up, and finally reunited. Fully updated in anticipation of their 50th anniversary, this is an exceptional tribute to one of the great American bands. Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Softball Game in Hollywood 1978/Live in New York City 2005 • Live From the Troubadour • Eagles • Debut • Desperado • On the Brink • One of These Fights • Hey, Joe • The Fast Lane • New Sounds • Breaking Point • The Long Wait • Cold Day in Hell • Eagles Today.

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Book Synopsis***With consultant editor Tony Visconti. 'An unearthed trove of Bowie treasure' - David MitchellDavid Bowie's story has never been told quite like this.Tracing the star's encounters with fellow icons throughout his life, We Could Be offers a new history of Bowie, collecting 300 short stories that together paint a portrait of humour, humility, compassion, tragedy and more besides.He teaches Michael Jackson the moonwalk. He embarrasses himself in front of Lennon and Warhol. He saves the life of Nina Simone. He also taught John McEnroe to play 'Rebel Rebel'; had run-ins with Lou Reed, Axel Rose and Liam Gallagher, and had his feet measured by Freddie Mercury at their first meeting. Individually astonishing, together these stories - including details never before revealed - build a new picture of Bowie, one which shows his vulnerability, his sense of humour, his inner diva.Exhaustively researched from thousands of sources by BBC reporter and Bowie obsessive Tom Hagler - with the guidance and memories of Bowie's long-time producer Tony Visconti - We Could Be is fascinating, comic, compelling, and a history of Bowie unlike any that has come before.Trade ReviewA fresh, illuminating portrait of a life unlike any that has come before. * David Bowie News *A fresh take on writing about David Bowie and the encounters people had with him throughout his life. * Louder Than War *Even the most well informed Bowie reader will find something new here. As we approach what would have been his 75th birthday, many a Bowie fan will enjoy this absorbing portrait. * The Edinburgh Reporter *

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Book Synopsis5/5 - CLASSIC POP 4/5 - THE TELEGRAPH Everyone has their favourite era of the Bee Gees' career, but so much is still unclear about this celebrated but often misunderstood band. This book will provide the perfect route in, pulling together every fascinating strand to tell the story of these pioneering, melancholic masters of pop. Uniquely, the Bee Gees' tale spans the entire modern pop era - they are the only group to have scored British top-ten singles in the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s - and includes world-conquering disco successes like 'Stayin' Alive' and 'More Than a Woman', both from the soundtrack of hit film Saturday Night Fever. But the Bee Gees' extraordinary career was one of highs and lows. From a vicious but temporary split in 1969 to several unreleased albums, disastrous TV and film appearances, and a demoralising cabaret season, the group weren't always revelling in the glow of million-selling albums, private jets and UNICEF concerts. Yet, even in the Gibbs' darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts, as sung by the likes of Al Green, Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton and Diana Ross. Award winning author Bob Stanley captures the human story at the heart of the Bee Gees in this lyrical and stylish read.Trade Review'Told with the delicious lyricism and candour we've come to expect from Stanley, the band's extraordinary story is recounted In meticulous detail 5/5.' -- Classic Pop'Stanley is a wonderful guide...showing us gems of their vast catalogue with enthusiasm, insight and wit. 4/5' -- The Telegraph'A loving vindication of the band... alert to the comedy of pop star existence but also tells a deeply melancholy tale.' -- Sunday Times'Finally, the definitive biography of the Bee Gees. Bob Stanley tells one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of pop, epic and mythical, with tales of heart-stopping joy and sadness. Children Of The World does full justice to the Gibb brothers' extraordinary musical legacy. I pretty much inhaled it in one sitting.' -- Pete Paphides'The Bee Gees are my all-time favourite band. Perhaps I love them that fraction more than any other artist because I don't think their genius - or their flat-out weirdness - has ever been fully appreciated. But they are here: meticulously researched, endlessly entertaining, written with both love and a cool critical eye. Bee Gees: Children of the World wins again and again.' -- Alexis Petridis'A brilliant book.' -- Mark Ellen

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Book SynopsisTHE POWERFUL AND UPLIFTING NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIn March 2022, much-loved pop star, father and son Tom Parker died from incurable brain cancer. This story is his legacy, in his own words.A proud working-class lad from Bolton, he rose to chart-topping fame with The Wanted and even took America by storm. A loving father to Aurelia and Bodhi and a devoted husband to Kelsey, his life after pop superstardom was all about family, friends and finding new purpose.After his diagnosis in 2020, he become a prominent campaigner for brain cancer research, appearing in the House of Commons as well as holding a massively successful concert in aid of Stand Up to Cancer in the Royal Albert Hall.Throughout it all, Tom had hope. This inspirational memoir shows how far hope and daring to dream can carry you, no matter what cards you're dealt.

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Book SynopsisComprising a vivid and varied series of miniature biographies, revealing profiles, thought-provoking essays and a multitude of previously unknown anecdotes and quotes, Hercules!: The A to Z of Elton John is the perfect compendium for the casual fan or devoted connoisseur, providing a funny, comprehensive and fully alphabetised overview of the star's life and music.Charting all the highs and lows, the major record releases and the significant tours, the strokes of genius and the bottoms of barrels, this insightful portrait will cover serious subjects such as Elton's battle with the media, his highly publicised addictions, his route to sobriety, his tangled love life and his struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, hair loss and temper. But, as Elton himself always does so well in the hundreds of interviews he has given over the past half-century, his stories will also be told frankly and humorously, his demons now conquered and his success unrelenting.And at the heart of this book is a joyride through one of the all-time greatest musical catalogues from a brilliant, versatile, glamorous and universally loved pop superstar.Trade Review'Hercules! The A to Z of Elton John comes down to us in three primary mediums: the typography, the text, and the music. Not exactly a memoir, but a memento of events that can be pieced together into one fascinating work.' -- Culture Sonar

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Book SynopsisIn 1976 the British band Throbbing Gristle emerged from the radical arts collective COUM Transmissions through core members Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, joined by Hipgnosis photographer Peter Christopherson and electronics specialist Chris Carter. Though having performed previously in more low-key arts environments, their major launch coincided with the COUM retrospective exhibition Prostitution at London’s ICA gallery, showcasing and contextualising an array of challenging objects from COUM’s various actions in performance art and pornography. In a deliberately curated strategy inviting press, civic and arts dignitaries, extravagant followers of the nascent punk scene and music journalists, the band created an instant controversy and media panic that tapped into the restrictive climate and encroaching conservatism of late 1970s Britain. Any opportunities that were being explored by a formative punk ethos and movement around sex, censorship and transgression were amplified and exposed by Throbbing Gristle and Prostitution. An outraged Member of Parliament Nicholas Fairbairn took the bait and called the ensemble the ‘wreckers of civilisation’, providing the suitable newspaper headline that would be followed a month later by ‘the filth and the fury’ as the Sex Pistols uttered strong profanities on live television. The switch from COUM to Throbbing Gristle encompassed a primary mode of expression in making music as opposed to art, to further coincide with the energy of the nascent punk scene. The band quickly developed a radically deviant and challenging reputation through pushing the punk format past its strictures in terms of lyrical themes, amateurism, and considerations of what constitutes music. Through a handful or record releases on their own label Industrial Records, and a sporadic string of live performances, the band nurtured a strong and devoted following including key journalists and fanzine editors of the punk and post-punk scenes such as Jon Savage and Sandy Robertson. The band’s style of exploring harsh pre-recorded sounds, samples of disconcerting narrative and conversation, and feeding all sounds through messy electronic processing devices gave rise to the title industrial music. This was further buttressed by performing a strictly timed set of one hour, and adopting a non-rockstar mode by appearing disinterested and preoccupied with electronic devices. Having given a name and impetus to the industrial music scene, many of their followers and fans formed bands in later years. Drawing on works such as Andy Bennett’s When the Lights Went Out, this book looks at late 1970s Britain, before, during and immediately after the Winter of Discontent, to situate the activism of Throbbing Gristle in this time. It explores how the band worked in and against the time, and how they worked in and against punk as punk worked in and against the time and place. Punk acts as a mediating factor and nuisance value, as Throbbing Gristle emerged with punk in late 1976, seemingly grappled with it through 1977, and then went on to create and eventually criticise a number of post-punk scenes that had flourished around 1979. Trowell narrates the story through a series of live performances, as this is a point where Throbbing Gristle interact with the various city-scenes around England during their original period of operation (1975-1981). The band reflected (and incorporated into their live music) key tropes form the time, both ‘mainstream’ and fringe (subcultural, avant-garde art, counter-culture, taboo subjects, extremes) such that Throbbing Gristle events had an impact and affect, and Trowell traces these as a series of impressions and reverberations amongst fans who went on to do their own music and projects. Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. DISPLACEMENTS 2. ORIGINAL SINNERS – TOWARDS PROSTITUTION 3. IN AND AGAINST PUNK – 1977 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 4. ANTI-GIG – ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION, 3 MARCH 1978 5. IN THE MACHINE – WAKEFIELD COLLEGE, 1 JULY 1978 6. ANACHRONY IN THE UK – DERBY AJANTA THEATRE, 12 APRIL 1979 7. RESTLESSNESS – SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY, 10 JUNE 1980 8. ENDGAMES/AFTERLIVES REFERENCES INDEX

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Book SynopsisFrom Sunday Times bestselling author Lesley-Ann JonesOn 12 July 1962, the Rollin' Stones performed their first-ever gig at London's Marquee jazz club. Down the line, a 'g' was added, a spark was lit and their destiny was sealed. No going back.These five white British kids set out to play the music of black America. They honed a style that bled bluesy undertones into dark insinuations of women, sex and drugs. Denounced as 'corruptors of youth' and 'messengers of the devil', they created some of the most thrilling music ever recorded. Now, their sound and attitude seem louder and more influential than ever. Elvis is dead and the Beatles are over, but Jagger and Richards bestride the world. The Stones may be gathering moss, but on they roll. Yet how did the ultimate anti-establishment misfits become the global brand we know today? Who were the casualties, and what are the forgotten legacies? Can the artist ever be truly divisible from the art? Lesley-Ann Jones's new history tracks this contradictory, disturbing, granitic and unstoppable band through hope, glory and exile, into the juggernaut years and beyond into rock's ongoing reckoning . . . where the Stones seem more at odds than ever with the values and heritage against which they have always rebelled. Good, bad and often ugly, here are the Rolling Stones as never before.

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Book SynopsisStatus Quo? All their songs sound the same and they only know three chords' Really? This retrospective of one of Britain's most successful bands takes this lazy criticism and puts it to the sword. Spanning the period 1970 to 1984, the creative peaks and troughs of all the songs recorded by 'The Frantic Four' are examined in detail by a fan who can play guitar a bit, and also knows his Bach from his byte. Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, and John Coghlan withstood the slings and arrows of unending criticism to become a national institution, even playing to Royalty along the way. After their early, psychedelic-influenced and fleeting pop success, Quo underwent a dramatic and natural re-invention, unleashing a series of innovative albums and hit singles, such as 'Down Down' and 'Rockin' All Over The World' that established their unique sound and style. Relentless touring, changes in musical direction, unwise choices of producer, substantial substance abuse, and personality clashes, all played their part in the collapse of the classic line-up before a brand re-launch in 1986 that enjoys continued success to the present day. Status Quo - The Frantic Four Years on track examines the band's groundbreaking first era with critical detail and honest opinions.

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Book SynopsisFormed as shambolic art-punk four-piece Seymour whilst attending London's Goldsmiths University, the rechristened Blur released their debut album Leisure in 1991, marking them as promising indie upstarts in thrall to the voguish sub-genres of baggy and shoegaze. Following a radical stylistic shift on sophomore LP Modern Life Is Rubbish, Blur became a UK household name in 1994 upon the advent of their era-defining Britpop masterpiece Parklife. A year later, the infamous chart battle with arch-rivals Oasis marred number one single 'Country House', but they changed direction again on fifth album Blur - a grungier affair that yielded the transatlantic smash hit 'Song 2'. Though guitarist Graham Coxon departed during sessions for seventh album Think Tank, the original foursome reunited in 2009 for a series of triumphant comeback shows, culminating in the unexpected release of 2015's Hong Kong recorded The Magic Whip. A restlessly inventive group to file alongside other eclectic British artists such as The Beatles, David Bowie and Queen, this book explores every Blur album in detail, including all singles, B-sides and selected rarities - a comprehensive guide to one of the 1990's most successful and iconic rock bands

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Book SynopsisBeck Hansen has enjoyed three decades of success, creating an unprecedented variety of music across a labyrinth of releases that challenge conventions and push pop music boundaries. He's been individually pigeonholed as folk, anti-folk, lo-fi, alternative, hip-hop, rock, R&B, rap, country, noise, dance-pop, and electronica - by critics of only one album. Mainly, he's just Beck. Beck's free-range approach to music and art was fostered at an early age. His father is a classically trained musician, his mother lived life as art, and his grandfather was a central figure in the experimental Fluxus scene. Beck absorbed these influences, then dropped out of school at age 14 to forge his own path. Just nine years later, he became an 'overnight success' with the so-called slacker anthem 'Loser'. This book provides meticulous, chronological organization to Beck's seemingly overwhelming official recorded output, from the indie experimentation of Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot in the Grave, through the commercial and critical heights of Odelay and Morning Phase, and into the mainstream successes of Guero, The Information, and Colors. Along the way, details of more than 300 songs include the expected ('Where It's At'), the underappreciated ('Rental Car'), and the obscure ('Brandon Nevins').

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Book SynopsisDiscovering The Beatles at the age of fourteen, David Paton had no idea that one day he’d work with Paul McCartney in Studio Two at Abbey Road or that he’d write a number one worldwide hit, or that he’d spend three years touring the world and recording as bass player with Elton John, including playing in his band at Live Aid. These achievements were well beyond his imagination – yet he did them. For David, making music was a joy and a privilege, but his career as a musician made it possible for him to meet and work with some of the world-famous artists that he idolised. David Paton is the singer, songwriter and bass player with the group Pilot, writing the worldwide hits ‘Magic’, ‘January’ and ‘Just a Smile’. He was a member of The Alan Parsons Project for ten years and did session work with The Pretenders, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Chris De Burgh, Chris Rea and Jimmy Page, to name but a few. This book gives an insight into the life of a successful songwriter and session musician. He has a lot to say, but as well as telling his story, the book also offers valuable insight into what to do – and what not to do – for creative people interested in pursuing a career in music.

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Book SynopsisMost lauded for the gorgeously baroque Odessey and Oracle, and the ageless singles, 'She's Not There' and 'Time of the Season', The Zombies' were at the forefront of The British Invasion, recording music described by Tom Petty as 'so original it hurt'. The Zombies On Track voyages through every release, beginning with their first incarnation in the 1960s and uncovering how a US number one and a film appearance with Laurence Olivier were no guarantees of continued chart success. Poor publicity, unwise management and bad timing almost killed off the band; yet sublime songwriting and a lucky break with Al Kooper reanimated them... The book recounts their many afterlives, including the posthumous RIP; the story behind the 'counterfeit' Zombies; their first reunion album New World; and considers how their later version has sustained success more than the original line-up. Drawing on both archive interviews and new conversations with Argent and Blunstone to mark the release of The Zombies' latest album - the critically acclaimed Different Game - this book proves why The Zombies not only have an immortal back catalogue but are also still making vital music today.

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Book Synopsis*A Times Best Music Book of 2023 - 'For Bowie nuts this is research-heavy heaven'*'[Soligny] has talked to just about anyone who had anything to do with Bowie's music... Reading [their memories and comments] you can almost believe you're in the studio with Bowie as he tries out new ideas, fades out one sound to boost another or comes up with another of those astonishing chord changes...There are now almost as many Bowie books as there are Bob Dylan books but Rainbowman outclasses them all. Beautifully translated, [it] brings you closer to the great man than any conventional biography... Quite simply the best book there is on David Bowie.'-MAIL ON SUNDAY'This is a book unlike any other, the definitive analysis of David's music, told in a quiet natural way, but with absolute authenticity, by the people around him.' - HERMIONE FARTHINGALE'Jérôme Soligny is one of the best authorities in the world on David Bowie's career and life in general... His new biography Rainbowman is a thorough and honest account of the great man.' - TONY VISCONTI'Jérôme is a guy who is still aware that popular music is an art form and not a money suppository. He writes from the heart and is one of the last exemplars of a dying breed. The critic, armed with intelligence and brute compulsive honesty, as dangerous as a river.' - IGGY POP'Not long ago, Jérôme told me something that I find very true: "David played saxophone, guitar, a bit of keyboards, but above all, he played musicians!" I think he really hit the nail on the head.' - MIKE GARSON'If you love David Bowie - and most right thinking people do - you will really love Rainbowman. It's an absolutely biblical text. Part oral history, part essay... Jérôme seems to have spoken to just about everybody.' - STUART MACONIE, BBC Radio 6 Music'Jérôme Soligny gets new insights through the voices of those who were there, , including Bowie's 1960s girlfriend Hermione Farthingale, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Tony Visconti and many more' - Sunday TimesIn David Bowie Rainbowman, Jérôme Soligny tells the story of David Bowie the musician with the help of those intimately involved with the creation of his music.This uniquely exhaustive work on Bowie's 1967-1980 albums draws on over 150 interviews with the musicians, producers and friends who knew Bowie best, including Robert Fripp, Hermione Farthingale, Lou Reed, George Underwood, Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Trevor Bolder, Mike Garson, Woody Woodmansey and many, many others. With an essay by Soligny on each album followed by oral histories from the most trusted and influential figures in Bowie's musical life, David Bowie Rainbowman is the definitive guide to a singular and mercurial genius - the Rainbowman himself.· With a foreword by Tony Visconti, an introduction by Mike Garson and cover photo by Mick Rock· A beautiful and stylish gift for Bowie fans, over 700 pages long, filled with iconic photographs and with striking cover design by BarnbrookTrade ReviewJerome is an insightful and dedicated music writer. His sense of history, detail and humanity sets him apart from the pack and his passion for the music is infectious. if you are a fan of music, David Bowie or both, Rainbowman is a must read. * Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine and The Cure) *For almost 30 years, Jérôme has been one of the great French authorities on contemporary music. * Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music) *Jérôme has always been one of the coolest writers. He looks like a star himself and attacks his work with the same kind of verve and elan that he negotiates his life. His looks and style might fool you but beneath the haircut is an intelligence, depth and above all a cast iron belief in the life-affirming power of music. This book is a testament to that belief, a document of his passion for his art and for the art of others. * Brett Anderson (Suede) *Jérôme is one of a rare (and disappearing) breed of rock journalists whose own formidable musicality and brain blistering knowledge of the rock and pop triumph of the past fifty years stands solidly behind every word he writes. A true believer! * Elliott Murphy *So many people have written about David, yet so few have the right to do so, unlike Jerome Soligny. Jerome and David developed a rapport based on their musicianship and common outlook, that allowed conversation to flow freely and without the fear of being misunderstood. His interviews were the most revealing and also the most comfortable for David, who knew he was in good hands with Jerome. Jerome has encyclopaedic knowledge of David's music and a forensic eye for detail that underpins his next stroke of genius in this book, which is to get David's fellow musicians or friends to talk about each collaboration. In this way, the narrative and developments in David's career are built up through many authentic voices. We have a real glimpse of the flavour of each year, the hype and hyperbole stripped away, and simply the people involved speaking about their time and work with David. * Hermione Farthingale *'[Soligny] has talked to just about anyone who had anything to do with Bowie's music... Reading [their memories and comments] you can almost believe you're in the studio with Bowie as he tries out new ideas, fades out one sound to boost another or comes up with another of those astonishing chord changes...There are now almost as many Bowie books as there are Bob Dylan books but Rainbowman outclasses them all. Beautifully translated, [it] brings you closer to the great man than any conventional biography... Quite simply the best book there is on David Bowie.' * The Mail on Sunday *This is a book unlike any other, the definitive analysis of David's music, told in a quiet natural way, but with absolute authenticity, by the people around him. -- HERMIONE FARTHINGALEJérôme Soligny is one of the best authorities in the world on David Bowie's career and life in general... His new biography Rainbowman is a thorough and honest account of the great man. -- TONY VISCONTIJérôme is a guy who is still aware that popular music is an art form and not a money suppository. He writes from the heart and is one of the last exemplars of a dying breed. The critic, armed with intelligence and brute compulsive honesty, as dangerous as a river. -- IGGY POPNot long ago, Jérôme told me something that I find very true: "David played saxophone, guitar, a bit of keyboards, but above all, he played musicians!" I think he really hit the nail on the head. -- MIKE GARSONIf you love David Bowie - and most right thinking people do - you will really love Rainbowman. It's an absolutely biblical text. Part oral history, part essay... Jérôme seems to have spoken to just about everybody. -- STUART MACONIE, BBC Radio 6 MusicA completist's dream * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisLondon. Wham! Pop, glitz and glamour. And two girls with stars in their eyes.Our friendship began one windy day in 1982, outside Finsbury Park tube. It was an instant like at first sight. We were on our way to a Wham! rehearsal. Pepsi was the new girl in the band and over a car stereo, a cassette tape and that journey to Bushey we bonded. We had no idea that we were on the first of many journeys together and that soon we'd be travelling all over Europe, Australia, America, China and Japan. Or that no matter where we went, together, we'd find a way to make every exotic destination feel like home.We'd both been teenagers during the seventies – a dreary and difficult decade, especially if you were young in London and you didn't have much money.So, in 1982, anything was possible for us – a pair of twentysomethings who hadn't been to university, who didn't have any money, who dreamt of singing and dancing, but ultimately lived for fun. Everything felt new and life was a question mark. We had no idea what was lying ahead, but we wanted to say yes.What we didn't know was that we were saying yes to a lifetime of connection that has endured whatever we've done, wherever we've been. From the side of the stage to its centre – we have many stories to tell.And it's all here, it's all in black and white.Trade Review'A wonderfully nostalgic read, full of heart' * The Sun *

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Book SynopsisNew Zealand-born conductor, Warwick Braithwaite, was a seminal figure in the musical life of Britain for more than fifty years. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and went on to tour with Joseph O’Mara’s Grand Opera Company. At the time, he was believed to be the country’s youngest professional conductor. Braithwaite worked with all the major British orchestras and many of the greatest artists of his day. He was associated with important musical institutions at key moments in their development, becoming the first Musical Director of the Welsh National Orchestra, and guiding the Scottish Orchestra through the difficult years of WWII. Much of Braithwaite’s career was spent conducting opera for Sadler’s Wells, Welsh National Opera, Carl Rosa, and Covent Garden. He also worked with the Royal Ballet in London, and toured with them to Germany, France and Italy. Extensive post-war engagements took him to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland. Editor Roger Flury, former Curator of Music at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, had unique access to Braithwaite’s archive – including the conductor’s substantial autobiography, published here for the first time. Flury contributes additional chapters covering Braithwaite’s musical legacy in Wales and his later years with Sadler’s Wells Opera. The volume is enriched with several important appendices charting Braithwaite’s family, his significant recording career, his writings and – most important of all – his many compositions. Braithwaite emerges as an unsung hero in the history of music-making in the first half of the 20th century.

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Book Synopsis‘I laughed and cried my way through this book in all its unputdownable glory. Nancy’s writing is utterly sublime.’ Julie CaplinWhen did having it all become doing it all?Penny Baker is coping. Just about.Three kids, one dog, one lovely but sometimes oblivious husband. Tick, tick tick.She is even managing to hold her own among the competitive school mums - if you don’t look too closely. But when she finds herself also caring for her elderly mother, diagnosed with dementia, the household is thrown into disarray and Penny finds herself stretched to breaking point trying to meet everyone’s needs.Can she make the new family situation work? And is there any chance of finding some space in it all for herself?Fans of Milly Johnson, Gill Sims and Alexandra Potter will adore this funny, relatable and uplifting read.Praise for The Mother of All Problems:‘Genuinely laugh-out-loud, but also deeply moving... a warm, witty, page-turner of a book.’ Kathleen Whyman‘I absolutely loved this book... funny, heartwarming and just brilliant. If you like Motherland, this is a book for you!’ Olivia Beirne‘One of the best books I have read this year. Funny and heartbreaking by turns. One to devour, rejoice in and reflect upon. An absolute triumph.’ Jenni Keer'Hilarious, heartbreaking and so relatable - a brilliant yet poignant take on the struggles of real life.' Nina Kaye‘Frank, fun and touching... crafted beautifully to tell a story many ‘sandwiched’ readers will identify with...a very special read.’ Faye Brann‘What a glorious book - warm, hilarious and utterly relatable. Nancy Peach’s writing is delicious.’ Donna Ashcroft‘Poignant yet hilarious...Prepare to laugh out loud and be moved to tears as you read this book.’ Helga Jensen‘Brilliantly written and utterly refreshing. Nancy’s writing is inspiring, quick-witted and heartbreaking in equal measure.’ Zoe Allison‘Laugh-out-loud funny but also very moving. If you’ve ever struggled to keep all the plates spinning then this is the book for you.’ Nicola Gill‘Properly hilarious and equally heartbreaking, Nancy Peach writes her acute observations of family life in the shadow of dementia both frankly and with endearing wit... a timely and relevant portrayal of today’s Sandwich Generation, brilliantly cloaked in sparkling humour and hope.’ Pernille Hughes‘Absolutely hilarious and heartwarming all at the same time.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘Captivating, witty, hilarious, emotional, raw and real! One of the best books I’ve read in the last few months!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘What an absolutely beautiful story this was. I laughed out loud, I cried and I had many moments of self-reflection’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘Great, totally relatable read, particularly for women of a certain age…Would highly recommend this’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘What a delightful, heartwarming book…The story was compelling and entertaining’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

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Book Synopsis

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