Search results for ""author tony fletcher""

One of Britain's best-loved and most successful fanzines, Jamming! documented the musical landscape as it evolved between 1977 and 1986. Fully illustrated throughout, The Best of Jamming! includes numerous stand-out pieces from the zine's impressive 36 issue-run, from early features on The Jam, The Smiths, Run-D.M.C, Cocteau Twins and The Beat, to surprise exclusive interviews with Paul McCartney, U2 and Pete Townshend. Personal letters from Mark E. Smith, Paul Weller and others appear alongside arts, sports and politics features, poetry and a Foreword by Billy Bragg. Having guided Jamming! from a 6-page school publication to a nationally distributed monthly, editor Tony Fletcher provides behind-the-scenes insights, while musicians and former contributors reflect on their interviews and Jamming!'s long-lasting influence. An immensely evocative read, The Best of Jamming! perfectly encapsulates the excitement and unprecedented potential of the DIY era.

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Keith Moon was more than just rock's greatest drummer, he was a phenomenal character and an extravagant hell raiser who - in a final, uncharacteristic act of grace - actually did die before he got old. This new edition includes a newly written After word that consiers Moon's lasting legacy, the death of John Entwistle and The Who's ongoing career in the new millennium. In this astonishing biography, Tony Fletcher questions the myths, avoids the time-honoured anecdotes and talks afresh to those who where closest to Moon including Kim, his wife of eight years, and Linda, his sister and Annette Walter-Lax, his main girlfriend of the final years. Also interviewed are Oliver Reed, Larry Hagman, David Putnam, Alice Cooper, Dave Edmunds, Jeff Beck, John Entwistle and many others who worked and partied with him. In interviewing over 100 people who knew Moon, Fletcher reveals the truth behind the 'famous' stunts that never occured - and the more outrageous ones that did! He also uncovers astonishing details about Moon's outrageous extravagance which was financed by The Who's American success.

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Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980, R.E.M. released their first single, Radio Free Europe, in 1981. By the time the band broke up they had recorded fifteen studio albums, 63 singles, sold more than 85 million records, signed the biggest recording contract in music history, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

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To this day, they were, their fans believe, the best band in the world. Critics and sales figures told a similar story. Yet for all their brilliance and adoration – their famously energetic live shows routinely interrupted by stage invasions – The Smiths were continually plagued by their reticence to play the game, and by the time of 1987’s Strangeways Here We Come, they had split. Tony Fletcher’s A Light That Never Goes Out – part celebration, part paean – moves from Manchester in the nineteenth-century to the present day to tell the complete story of The Smiths. The product of extensive research and unprecedented access, it will serve to confirm The Smiths as one of the most important and influential rock groups of all time.

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Known for the classics “Knock on Wood,” “634-5789,” “Raise Your Hand,” “Big Bird,” and “I’ve Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do),” among others, Eddie Floyd’s career as a soul legend spans over sixty years. His professional singing career began in Detroit in the 1950s as a founding member of the Falcons, considered “The First Soul Group.” A solo artist and songwriter for Memphis’s famed Stax Records from 1966 until 1975, Floyd has subsequently been the singer for the Blues Brothers Band and for Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, while continuing to perform and record solo. In Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood, Floyd recounts how a three-year stint in an Alabama reform school shaped his young life; recalls the early years of R&B in Detroit alongside future Motown and Stax legends; discusses the songwriting sessions with Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones that produced his biggest hits; addresses his complicated life-long relationship with the often-unpredictable Wilson Pickett; shares his memories of friend Otis Redding; reveals his unlikely involvement in the rise of southern rock darlings Lynyrd Skynyrd; and offers an insider perspective on the tragic downfall of Stax Records. With input from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper, and others, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood captures Eddie’s tireless work ethic and warm personality for an engrossing first-hand account of one of the last true soul survivors.

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