Search results for ""Author Patrick Humphries""

‘An exquisite portrait’ MOJO ‘A riveting account of the golden-boy genius’ EVENING STANDARD Nick Drake was barely twenty-six years old when he died in 1974, but in his short lifetime he recorded three albums that are now recognised as classics: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon. Several decades after his death, he has amassed a huge following; his haunting songs cast a pervasive influence over the contemporary music scene, and many of today’s most successful songwriters cite him as a major inspiration. In this unrivalled biography, Patrick Humphries offers real insight into the man behind the legend, through extensive interviews with family, friends and the musicians who knew and worked alongside him. This portrait of Nick Drake is an essential and uniquely personal account of his life and career. ‘A rich, moving account of a troubled spirit, a mature biography of a briefly flickering talent unable to come to terms with the adult world … The writing is zestful and intelligent and the text illuminating … A literary memorial fit to stand alongside the songs’ UNCUT

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The first full biography of the group in nearly 20 years.Written by bestselling author and music journalist Patrick Humphries.Contains previously unpublished interviews with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr conducted by the author during his 40-year career as a music journalist.

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'It's Number One - it's Top of the Pops'. It's not just the story of a long-running television programme. The story of Top of the Pops is the story of British popular music. It is a shadow history of British rock & roll, and beyond. It is the story of 'Auntie' BBC getting down with the kids. It is the story of how a 6-week show turned into a pan-global phenomenon and how for 40 years, Top of the Pops was a British institution. 'It's Number One - it's Top Of The Pops' for every generation from 1964, until the show ended in 2006, that was the sentence every young television viewer sat down to hear. At its peak, a quarter of the UK's entire population was watching. Top Of The Pops was the pivotal pop television programme over its 2,000 weekly episodes, the programme gave peak airtime to every act, from The Beatles to Beyonce - from Cream to Coldplay - from Pink Floyd to Pink! From its humble beginnings in 1964 from a disused church through to the programme's pan-global appeal in the 1990s, Top Of The Pops has become synonymous with the best in pop television. With a span of nearly half a century, there are so many highlights: The Beatles only live appearance, in 1966, promoting 'Paperback Writer' - the Who getting banned - the first colour edition in 1969 - David Bowie's breakthrough performance of 'Starman' in 1972 - Nirvana's chaotic 1991 appearance promoting 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - the Blur versus Oasis battle - Justin Timberlake playing bass with the Flaming Lips in 2003 - Top Of The Pops II was launched in 1994, bringing the programme to a whole new audience. Around the same time, the BBC licensed the "Top Of The Pops" brand to over 90 countries, with estimated audience of 100 million. Though it ceased broadcasting in 2006, thanks to the internet, compilation CDs; repeated viewing on BBC4 - Top Of The Pops lives on. This is the first book to tell that incredible story.

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In what was a momentous year of social change, the Rolling Stones experienced the most significant twelve months of their career. At the start of 1969, they were a successful blues band returning to their rock’n’roll roots after a recent experiment with psychedelia. By December, they had released the classic album Let It Bleed, lost one of their founding members, played an era-defining concert at Hyde Park to half a million people and witnessed a fan stabbed to death at Altamont Speedway. With a notorious 1967 drug bust on their CV and a career finally coming out from under the shadow of their rivals The Beatles, everything – the good, the bad and the ugly – suddenly crystallised for the Stones as the Swinging Sixties stumbled to a close. Rolling Stones 69 is the definitive account of the transformative year that saw the Stones truly earn their reputation as “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”.

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There had been stars before. There had been films prior to Cleopatra. But in all the cynical, greedy, magical, histrionic history of the movies, there had never been a combination like that of Elizabeth Taylor and Cleopatra.Other films may have taken more money, won more awards or attracted better reviews, but none have come close to the legend that is Cleopatra.What began in 1958 as a remake of the 1917 Theda Bara film, which starred Joan Collins and was projected to cost $2 million, would open five years later, having cost nearly twenty times as much. The budget had skyrocketed enormously as the production went through extravagant sets in two different countries, two directors and six leading men – and this was on top of Elizabeth Taylor’s $1 million fee.But it was the off-screen romance between the two on-screen leads that really cemented Cleopatra’s place in cinema history. Within weeks of Richard Burton’s arrival in Italy, he and Taylor embarked on a tumultuous and passionate love affair that kept the Cuban Missile Crisis off the front pages and was denounced by the Vatican. Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood is a story of lust, excess and hubris – and how one film nearly brought Hollywood to its knees.

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