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In the Pleasure Groove
By John Taylor. 2012
John Taylor, Duran Duran’s co-founder, takes the reader on a wild ride through his life. From the eighties through today,…
from Rio to All You Need is Now, John writes about the music, the parties, and the MTV videos that made millions swoon. With Duran Duran, John Taylor has created some of the greatest music of our time. From the disco dazzle of debut single ‘Planet Earth’ right up to their latest number one album, All You Need is Now, Duran Duran has always had the power to sweep the world onto its feet. It’s been a ride – and for John in particular, the ride has been wild, thrilling. . . and dangerous. Now, for the first time, he tells his incredible story. A tale of dreams fulfilled, lessons learned and demons conquered. A shy only child, Nigel John Taylor wasn’t an obvious candidate for pop stardom and frenzied girl panic. But when he ditched his first name and picked up a bass guitar, everything changed. John Formed Duran Duran with his friend Nick Rhodes in the summer of 1978, and they were soon joined by Roger Taylor, then Andy Taylor and finally Simon Le Bon. Together they were an immediate, massive global success story, their pictures on millions of walls, every single a worldwide hit. In his frank, compelling autobiography, John recounts the highs –hanging out with icons like Bowie, Warhol and even James Bond; dating Vogue models and driving fast cars – all the while playing hard with the band he loved. But there were tough battles ahead – troubles that brought him to the brink of self-destruction – before turning his life around. Told with humor, honesty and hard-won wisdom, and packed with exclusive pictures, In the Pleasure Groove is a fascinating, irresistible portrait of a man who danced into the fire. . . and came through the other side. .I See the Rhythm of Gospel
By Michele Wood, Toyomi Igus. 2010
'We free now, baby,' mama whispers as we bounce and sway with the wagon's twists and turns over roads of…
clay through the land that oppressed us to a new world, a brand new day. The dynamic author/illustrator team of Toyomi Igus and Michele Wood has come together again to produce I See the Rhythm of Gospel, a sequel to the Coretta Scott King Award-winning I See the Rhythm. Readers of all ages will be captivated by this informative and inspirational blend of poetry, art, and music that relates the history of gospel music as reflected through the journey of African Americans from their arrival as slaves in America to the election of our first black president, Barack Obama.Moving Performances: Divas, Iconicity, and Remembering the Modern Stage
By Jeanne Scheper. 2017
Fabulous yet fierce, imperious yet impetuous, boss yet bitchy—divas are figures of paradox. Their place in culture is equally contradictory,…
as they are simultaneously venerated and marginalized, hailed as timeless but then frequently forgotten or exhumed as cult icons by future generations. Focusing on four early twentieth-century divas—Aida Overton Walker, Loïe Fuller, Libby Holman, and Josephine Baker—who were icons in their own time, Moving Performances considers what their past and current reception reveals about changing ideas of race and gender. Jeanne Scheper examines how iconicity can actually work to the diva’s detriment, reducing her to a fetish object, a grotesque, or a figure of nostalgia. Yet she also locates more productive modes of reception that reach to revive the diva’s moving performances, imbuing her with an affective afterlife. As it offers innovative theorizations of performance, reception, and affect, Moving Performances also introduces readers to four remarkable women who worked as both cultural producers and critics, deftly subverting the tropes of exoticism, orientalism, and primitivism commonly used to dismiss women of color. Rejecting iconic depictions of these divas as frozen in a past moment, Scheper vividly demonstrates how their performances continue to inspire ongoing movements.Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth
By John Szwed. 2015
* Kirkus Best Books of 2015 selection for Biography *Published in celebration of Holiday's centenary, the first biography to focus…
on the singer's extraordinary musical talentWhen Billie Holiday stepped into Columbia's studios in November 1933, it marked the beginning of what is arguably the most remarkable and influential career in twentieth-century popular music. Her voice weathered countless shifts in public taste, and new reincarnations of her continue to arrive, most recently in the form of singers like Amy Winehouse and Adele.Most of the writing on Holiday has focused on the tragic details of her life--her prostitution at the age of fourteen, her heroin addiction and alcoholism, her series of abusive relationships--or tried to correct the many fabrications of her autobiography. But now, Billie Holiday stays close to the music, to her performance style, and to the self she created and put into print, on record and on stage.Drawing on a vast amount of new material that has surfaced in the last decade, critically acclaimed jazz writer John Szwed considers how her life inflected her art, her influences, her uncanny voice and rhythmic genius, a number of her signature songs, and her legacy.From the Hardcover edition.Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger
By Anita Silvey. 2016
Pete Seeger, the iconic folk musician and multiple Grammy winner, discovered early in life that what he wanted to do…
was make music. His amazing career as singer, songwriter, and banjo player spanned seven decades, and included both low points (being charged with contempt of Congress) and highlights (receiving the Kennedy Center Honor from President Clinton). An activist and protester, Seeger crusaded for the rights of labor, the rights of people of color, and the First Amendment right to let his voice be heard, and launched the successful campaign to clean up the Hudson River. Archival photographs and prints, source notes, bibliography, index.The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
By Dan Charnas. 2010
The Big Payback takes us from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the…
recent multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs. 300 industry veterans-well-known giants like Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, the founders of Def Jam, and key insiders like Gerald Levin, the embattled former Time Warner chief-gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes, and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance. Watch a Video .Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories
By Randy Bachman. 2011
Randy Bachman has been rolling out chart-topping songs his whole life-"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," "These Eyes," "American Woman," "Taking…
Care of Business"-and, since 2005, treating fans to a lifetime of stories on his hit CBC Radio show Randy's Vinyl Tap. His approach is always fresh-even the most hardcore music fans will be surprised by what they can learn from Randy. Writing music and lyrics, performing live and recording #1 songs, producing new music, organizing reunion tours-Randy has done it all. Music is his life, and his anecdotes put you at the centre of it all. These are his best stories. Even with all his success Randy is "still that kid from Winnipeg," and his enthusiasm for great music is as strong as ever. Hear how after years of dreaming Randy finally got to see his musical heroes, The Shadows, play live, and then got to record a Shadows tribute song with longtime friend Neil Young. Encounters with celebrities and rock legends abound, but it is the music that is the driving force behind his extraordinary career, and what brings us back for more stories from Randy's Vinyl Tap.Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories
By Randy Bachman. 2011
Randy Bachman has been rolling out chart-topping songs his whole life--"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," "These Eyes," "American Woman," "Taking…
Care of Business"--and, since 2005, treating fans to a lifetime of stories on his hit CBC Radio show Randy's Vinyl Tap. His approach is always fresh--even the most hardcore music fans will be surprised by what they can learn from Randy. Writing music and lyrics, performing live and recording #1 songs, producing new music, organizing reunion tours--Randy has done it all. Music is his life, and his anecdotes put you at the centre of it all. These are his best stories. Even with all his success Randy is "still that kid from Winnipeg," and his enthusiasm for great music is as strong as ever. Hear how after years of dreaming Randy finally got to see his musical heroes, The Shadows, play live, and then got to record a Shadows tribute song with longtime friend Neil Young. Encounters with celebrities and rock legends abound, but it is the music that is the driving force behind his extraordinary career, and what brings us back for more stories from Randy's Vinyl Tap.Austin Mahone: Just How It Happened
By Austin Mahone. 2014
The official Austin Mahone book! See how Austin went from being a kid from a small town in Texas singing…
and having fun on YouTube with his friends to headlining his own shows around the world. Complete with exclusive photos and stories from his childhood as well as lots of behind-the-scenes fun, Austin's first official book will give you the glimpse into his life you can't get by following him on Twitter. Mahomies, this book is for you!Sing It!: A Biography of Pete Seeger
By Meryl Danziger. 2016
A tall, skinny man in blue jeans stands on a stage, one hand on his banjo, the other raised to…
the crowd of 15,000 people who have come to celebrate his ninetieth birthday. "Sing it!" he shouts, and everyone sings. How did a humble, banjo-playing Harvard University dropout become one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century? This is the story of Pete Seeger--singer, songwriter, social activist, environmentalist--who filled his toolbox with songs and set out to repair whatever in the world was broken. His story intertwines with a century of American history, and readers will be surprised to discover how many familiar songs, people, and projects somehow connect back to this one individual. What was it like for a city boy like Pete to hope freight trains with Woody Guthrie, the free-spirited composter of "This Land Is Your Land"? "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a song beloved by people all over the world, might have been lost to history had it not been for Pete Seeger. The Hudson River is cleaner than it used to be; what did Pete do to help that happen? Through learning of his life of activism, readers will become links in the chain, inspired to reflect on their own power to make change.From the Hardcover edition.Let Fury Have the Hour: Joe Strummer, Punk, and the Movement that Shook the World
By Antonino D'Ambrosio. 2012
Joe Strummer's untimely death at the age of fifty in December 2002 took from us one of the truly unique…
voices of modern music. The quintessential Rude Boy, punker, rebel musician, artist and activist, Strummer wrote some of the most important and influential music of the last century including "Guns of Brixton," "The Washington Bullets," "Spanish Bombs," "White Man in Hammersmith Palace," "London's Burning," "Lost in the Supermarket," and "Garageland. " Effectively melding raw creativity with radical politics, Strummer transformed punk rock from its early associations with reactionary, right wing and nihilistic politics into a social movement. From Rock Against Racism to the Anti-Nazi League Festival to supporting the H-Block protests, Strummer and The Clash led the charge for human rights. Let Fury Have the Hour collects articles, interviews, essays and reviews that chronicle Strummer's life both as a musician and a political activist. Included in this collection are essays and interviews by Antonino D'Ambrosio, alongside contributions from Peter Silverton, Barry Miles, Anya Philips, Sylvia Simmons, Vic Garbarini, Caroline Coons, Todd Martens, Joel Schalit and others. This book also includes original lyrics, photography, art, posters, and flyers, and offers the first serious examination of the life of this extraordinary man.Music: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions: Speeches/quotations Ser.)
By Herb Galewitz. 2001
More than 400 memorable quotes are arranged alphabetically by author, from Fred Allen ("When Jack Benny plays the violin, it…
sounds as if the strings are still back in the cat.") to Friedrich Nietzsche ("Is Wagner a human being at all? Is he not rather a disease?"), many more.Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day
By Marc Spitz. 2006
The full story of the rise and spectacular comeback of the band hailed as the saviors of punk rock and…
the next U2It's hard to believe that in early 2004 Green Day was considered over--the band was still together, but they were dismissed as a strictly 90s phenomenon, incapable of re-creating the success of their groundbreaking album Dookie. Then American Idiot debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, stayed on the charts for nearly 18 months, and went on to sell more than four million records and to win Record of the Year (for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams") at this year's Grammy's.Combining unique access to Green Day with a seasoned journalist's nose for a great story, Marc Spitz gives the complete account of the band, from their earliest days to their most recent explosion of popularity and critical acclaim. Foremost, Nobody Likes You is a story of friendship and the transporting power of playing very loud music. It is the story of how high school dropout Billie Joe Armstrong came to write song lyrics that inflamed the political conscience of fans in a way that two Yale graduates couldn't. Green Day's story--from rise, to fall, to rise again--has never before been fully told.Nobody Likes You
By Marc Spitz. 2006
The full story of the rise and spectacular comeback of the band hailed as the saviors of punk rock and…
the next U2It's hard to believe that in early 2004 Green Day was considered over--the band was still together, but they were dismissed as a strictly 90s phenomenon, incapable of re-creating the success of their groundbreaking album Dookie. Then American Idiot debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, stayed on the charts for nearly 18 months, and went on to sell more than four million records and to win Record of the Year (for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams") at this year's Grammy's.Combining unique access to Green Day with a seasoned journalist's nose for a great story, Marc Spitz gives the complete account of the band, from their earliest days to their most recent explosion of popularity and critical acclaim. Foremost, Nobody Likes You is a story of friendship and the transporting power of playing very loud music. It is the story of how high school dropout Billie Joe Armstrong came to write song lyrics that inflamed the political conscience of fans in a way that two Yale graduates couldn't. Green Day's story--from rise, to fall, to rise again--has never before been fully told.Play Piano in a Flash for Kids!: A Fun and Easy Way for Kids to Start Playing the Piano
By Scott Houston. 2006
Getting a child to play piano has never been easier!As seen on public television nationwide, Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston…
is the leading authority on fast and fun piano instruction. In Play Piano in a Flash for Kids! he simplifies his unique and effective method of learning to play piano, making it accessible to even the youngest want-to-be pianists. Highlighting popular, not classical, music, this book fosters and nourishes an early love for music by giving children the tools to play their favorite popular songs.Your child will be able to: Learn the basics of piano playing using a simple technique that pros use, which focuses on becoming a good player versus becoming a good notation reader Use easy-to-follow step-by-step illustrations that demonstrate each stage of learning Play popular music on the piano without having to learn how to read complicated sheet musicIt is a great book for kids who may have taken lessons previously but became frustrated by the long and complicated process. And all at a fraction of the cost of piano lessons!Both parents and children can have fun learning the piano or keyboard together, or children can work through the book on their own, with parents providing support only when needed. Play Piano in a Flash for Kids! is the perfect tool for parents or teachers to help their kids learn to play the piano quickly and easily.Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley
By Peter Guralnick. 1994
From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of…
the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture.Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.This volume tracks the first twenty-four years of Elvis' life, covering his childhood, the stunning first recordings at Sun Records ("That's All Right," "Mystery Train"), and the early RCA hits ("Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel"). These were the years of his improbable self-invention and unprecedented triumphs, when it seemed that everything that Elvis tried succeeded wildly. There was scarcely a cloud in sight through this period until, in 1958, he was drafted into the army and his mother died shortly thereafter. The book closes on that somber and poignant note.Last Train to Memphis takes us deep inside Elvis' life, exploring his lifelong passion for music of every sort (from blues and gospel to Bing Crosby and Mario Lanza), his compelling affection for his family, and his intimate relationships with girlfriends, mentors, band members, professional associates, and friends. It shows us the loneliness, the trustfulness, the voracious appetite for experience, and above all the unshakable, almost mystical faith that Elvis had in himself and his music. Drawing frequently on Elvis' own words and on the recollections of those closest to him, the book offers an emotional, complex portrait of young Elvis Presley with a depth and dimension that for the first time allow his extraordinary accomplishments to ring true.Peter Guralnick has given us a previously unseen world, a rich panoply of people and events that illuminate an achievement, a place, and a time as never revealed before. Written with grace, humor, and affection, Last Train to Memphis has been hailed as the definitive biography of Elvis Presley. It is the first to set aside the myths and focus on Elvis' humanity in a way that has yet to be duplicated.Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969
By Bob Spitz. 2014
"Mr. Spitz feeds us every riveting detail of the chaos that underscored the festival. It makes for some out-a-sight reading,…
man." The New York Times Book Review Celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2014, the Woodstock Music Festival defined a generation. Yet, there was much more than peace and love driving that long weekend the summer of 1969. In Barefoot in Babylon, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Bob Spitz gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Woodstock, from its inception and the incredible musicians that performed to its scandals and the darker side of the peace movement. With a new introduction, as well as maps, set lists, and a breakdown of all the personalities involved, Barefoot in Babylon is a must-read for anyone who was there--or wishes they were.World in Six Songs, The
By Daniel J., Levitin. 2008
The author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution…
of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times) Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod. Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.The World in Six Songs
By Daniel J. Levitin. 2009
The author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution…
of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times) Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved-right up to the iPod. Read Daniel Levitin's posts on the Penguin Blog.Who Is Bruce Springsteen?
By Stephanie Sabol. 2016
Not only was Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA," he has risen to become a twenty-time Grammy winner and American…
icon.Bruce Springsteen grew up in a blue-collar New Jersey town, where his parents struggled to make ends meet. Bruce didn't fit in at school but found solace in rock and roll and playing guitar. After the breakup of a local band he'd joined, Springsteen went out on his own and people began to take notice. He signed with Columbia Records and under pressure to come up with a hit, wrote "Born in the USA," which tells the story of America during the years of the Vietnam War. A multi-millionaire and twenty-time Grammy winner, the Boss has remained a working class hero whose music deals with the political and social changes in our country.