Best of
Rock-N-Roll

2018

Dirty Box Set


Jaine Diamond - 2018
    An indecent proposal. How can a girl resist?Struggling barista Katie Bloom doesn’t even know who Jesse Mayes is until she inadvertently wins the coveted role of sex kitten in his hot new music video.But by the time she’s in bed with him, she knows his reputation.Love maker. Heartbreaker. As it turns out, pretending to fall in love is incredibly sexy…And falling in love for real, with a man she promised not to fall for?Irresistible.DIRTY LIKE BRODYAn angsty, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, featuring a broody, overprotective hero, a heroine tortured by the mistakes of her past, and a long overdue second chance.She was all he ever wanted, even when she broke his heart…Growly and gorgeous band manager Brody Mason has been aching for his friend’s little sister, Jessa Mayes, since they were just kids. By the time they’d grown up, she’d broken his heart.Then she ripped it right the f*ck out.Now Jessa’s doing the one thing she swore she’d never do. She’s coming home.As a bridesmaid in her brother’s rock star wedding, she’ll come face-to-face with the mistakes of her past.Including the sexy, surly, heartbroken one.It definitely won’t be easy.Love this intense never is.A DIRTY WEDDING NIGHTA flaming-hot, four-story collection about what happens when a bunch of dirty-minded party guests are stranded overnight at a remote, glamorous wedding... and the clothes start coming off.What would a wedding night be without s*x… and lots of it?Rock star Jesse Mayes just married his dream girl, Katie Bloom, at an epically romantic wedding.Love and lust are in the air, and the newlyweds aren’t the only ones in the mood… A Dirty Vow When the groom carries his bride off to their luxury honeymoon cabin to celebrate in naked privacy, their dirtiest—and most swoon-worthy—vows to each other really begin. A Dirty Secret A freezing, midnight skinny dip leads to a steamy, lustful shower, a flower defiled by foreplay, and a secret marriage on the verge of being discovered. A Dirty Lie A mysterious alpha reconnects with a former-lover-turned-enemy over a bottle of tequila, torrid memories, and a flaming, revengeful reunion by firelight. A Dirty Deal A mischievous bad boy proposes an irresistible friends-with-benefits solution to a naked, heartbroken friend. What could go wrong?

The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall: A Fairytale of Grimm Art


Ki Longfellow - 2018
    Drunk, he slept through his own death. Vivian was the ineffable, unflappable, elegant and irreverently funny frontman and songwriter for the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, a group of art students who’d created a band unlike any other band one could name - and still adored by thousands long after their short time in the sun was knocked on the head by Vivian himself. "We were art students. We were Dada. We were making fun of the worst excesses of rock 'n roll. One day I looked around to discover we'd become what we were parodying." Written by his wife of 18 years, an artist in her own right, this is a behind-the-scenes, beneath-the-sheets, under the bed tale of an actual genius – few who admired him would disagree. In many ways this is Vivian through his own private words gleaned from his personal journals. It’s also full of up close and revealing portraits of legends: Keith Moon, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, John Peel, Joe Cocker, and so many more. But even more than all that, it’s an ART BOOK: crammed full of Vivian’s paintings, sketches, unpublished family photos, letters and poems.Vivian Stanshall was the last of the true Bohemians. This is also a tale of Dada, a mad sad glad voyage through life on a grand scale made by one of England’s greatest treasures: the genius who was Vivian Stanshall.(As Ki writes: all memory is Kurosawa's "Rashomon". These are her memories accompanied by Vivian's actual journals.)

The PMA Effect


John Joseph - 2018
    

Bohemian Rhapsody: The Official Book of the Movie (Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Book)


Owen Williams - 2018
    Many of Queen's pivotal moments were recreated for the film – including Live Aid and other key performances – and are described and shown in this authorized book of the 2018 movie.Contents:The book tells Queen's fascinating journey through the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and includes photographs and biographies of band members and their entourage, including Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Jim Beach, Paul Prenter, Mary Austin, John Reid and more. These larger-than-life characters were reproduced in stunning detail for the big screen. Picture-heavy, Bohemian Rhapsody: The Inside Story includes behind-the-scenes photographs and movie stills as well as images of the band from the 1970s to the 1990s. The author shares how the story, events, music, props and costumes were developed for the film. Bohemian Rhapsody: The Inside Story is a riveting read as well as a meaningful souvenir for fans of Queen, their music and cinema-goers preparing for the unforgettable movie experience that will is Bohemian Rhapsody.

Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story


Roger Daltrey - 2018
    The result of this introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America. Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961. In Daltrey’s voice, the familiar stories—how they got into smashing up their kit, the infighting, Keith Moon’s antics—take on a new, intimate life. Also here is the creative journey through the unforgettable hits including My Generation, Substitute, Pinball Wizard, and the great albums, Who’s Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. Amidst all the music and mayhem, the drugs, the premature deaths, the ruined hotel rooms, Roger is our perfect narrator, remaining sober (relatively) and observant and determined to make The Who bigger and bigger. Not only his personal story, this is the definitive biography of The Who.

One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem


Neil Tennant - 2018
    Arranged alphabetically, One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem presents an overview of his considerable achievement as a chronicler of modern life: the romance, the break-ups, the aspirations, the changing attitudes, the history, the politics, the pain. The landscape of Tennant's lyrics is recognisably British in character - restrained and preoccupied with the mundane, occasionally satirical, yet also yearning for escape and theatrical release. Often surprisingly revealing, this volume is contextualised by a personal commentary on each lyric and an introduction by the author which gives a fascinating insight into the process and genesis of writing. Flamboyant, understated, celebratory and elegiac, Neil Tennant's lyrics are a document of our times.

Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966–2016


Kenneth Womack - 2018
    Sound Pictures offers a powerful and intimate account of how he did so. The second and final volume of the definitive biography of the man, Sound Pictures traces the story of the Beatles' breathtaking artistic trajectory after reaching the creative heights of Rubber Soul. As the bandmates engage in brash experimentation both inside and outside the studio, Martin toils along with manager Brian Epstein to consolidate the Beatles' fame in the face of growing sociocultural pressures, including the crisis associated with the "Beatles are more popular than Jesus" scandal. Meanwhile, he also struggles to make his way as an independent producer in the highly competitive world of mid-1960s rock 'n' roll. As Martin and the Beatles create one landmark album after another, including such masterworks as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (The White Album), and Abbey Road, the internal stakes and interpersonal challenges become ever greater. During his post-Beatles years, Martin attempts to discover new vistas of sound recording with a host of acts, including Jeff Beck, America, Cheap Trick, Paul McCartney, and Elton John, his creative breakthroughs followed by unprecedented commercial success. Eventually, though, all roads bring Martin back to the Beatles, as the group seeks out new ways to memorialize their achievement under the supervision of the man who has come to be known as Sir George. Now, more than fifty years after the Beatles' revolutionary triumphs, Martin's singular stamp on popular music has become more vital than ever, as successive generations discover the magic of the Beatles and their groundbreaking sound.

Hot as Sin


J.T. Geissinger - 2018
    Too bad the members of the band have other ideas. The bad boys of rock 'n' roll might be settling down with wives and children, but that doesn't mean they've forgotten how to party... hard.And Barney's going away celebration turns out to be the party everyone will talk about for years.Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll are all on the menu in this companion novella to the Bad Habit series, introducing characters from the spin-off Dangerous Beauty series from bestselling author J.T. Geissinger.

There’s No Bones in Ice Cream: Sylvain Sylvain’s Story of the New York Dolls


Sylvain Sylvain - 2018
    A cross between the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols, the Dolls became the link in the chain between them, offering a crash course in mischief, cross-dressing and anarchy, but like unheralded prophets of Biblical times they were cast aside until the world finally caught up.“Other people turned the New York Dolls into legends. We just went along for the ride.”

Rock Star's Heart


Kella Campbell - 2018
    But there’s a dark side to the glamour and champagne: Blade has anger and addiction issues, a history of partying with groupies, and a tendency to get naked in public — and Crys is supposed to keep him out of trouble. As she gets to know the talented and lonely man behind the bad boy behavior, the chemistry between them wavers on the edge of something deeper. But he doesn’t do relationships, and she grew up expecting a white-picket-fence future. Can he reform and open his heart to love? Will she give up her straitlaced upbringing for her troubled rock star?

Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor: Music, Manchester, and More: A Memoir


Dave Haslam - 2018
    He interviews Johnny Marr and John Lydon; Sonic Youth sleep on his floor; he meets writers including Raymond Carver and Jonathan Franzen; he discusses masturbation with Viv Albertine, and ecstasy with Roisin Murphy; he has a gun pulled on him at the Hacienda, a drug dealer threatens to slit his throat; and Morrissey comes to tea.In the late 1970s, a teenage John Peel listener and Joy Division fan, Haslam's face was pressed against a window, looking out at a world of music, books, ideas. In 2017, four decades later, he finds himself in the middle of that world, collaborating with New Order on a series of five shows in Manchester.Haslam builds a rich context to the story of those decades; a definitive portrait of Manchester as a music city; the impact of life-shaking events (from the nightmare of the Yorkshire Ripper to the shock of the Manchester Arena terror attack); and how music has soundtracked his life, his times, his generation.Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor is a masterful insider account of the Hacienda, the rise of Madchester and the birth of the rave era, and so much more . . .

The Cure: A Perfect Dream


Ian Gittins - 2018
      Into the chaos of British punk rock, a handful of school friends led by Robert Smith announced their musical arrival in 1978 with a brash single pulled from the pages of Albert Camus. The Cure soon graduated into a series of increasingly dark and brooding albums, drawing the world’s attention to goth rock. But they resisted categorization, and subsequent albums—suffused with raw, intense emotion and featuring the breakout hits “In Between Days” and “Just Like Heaven”—attracted new legions of fans worldwide. Then, with the grand and somber Disintegration, the Cure achieved global domination, and, through fluctuating lineups and shifting sounds, they have flourished. Veteran music journalist Ian Gittins has interviewed and written about the Cure many times over the decades and brings deep insight to this unofficial retrospective of the group. This essential keepsake tells the story of the Cure—from the angular riffs of “Boys Don’t Cry” and “A Forest,” through the perfect simplicity of “Lovesong” and “Friday I’m in Love,” to headlining some of the world’s biggest music festivals—in beautiful, eye-catching color.

Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track


Jean-Michel Guesdon - 2018
    Fifty years after their first practice in a Soho basement, Led Zeppelin continues to fascinate new generations of listeners. While their legendary back-stage debauchery has been written about extensively in other books, All the Songs is all about the music, detailing the studio magic and inspiration that made all nine albums go platinum, including Led Zeppelin IV which was certified x23 platinum and has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide. Studio stories will include their productive time at Headley Grange in Wales, a poorly-heated former poorhouse where they recorded parts of Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti. Andhow the first album was recorded in three weeks but their second took six months, done while the band was on a world tour. They carried the masters of the recording session in a steamer trunk wherever they went. Out of these chaotic sessions came the "Whole Lotta Love," which was finished in New York with Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer helping create the psychedelic middle part, as well as "The Lemon Song," which was cut live in the studio. Page worked feverishly with Kramer to mix the LP on a primitive 12-channel Altec board in a two-day span. Fans will also learn the genesis of their lyrics, the inspiration for their album covers, the instruments used, and the contributions of engineers such as Andy Johns, who helped create the iconic drum sound on "When the Levee Breaks" by recording Bonham at the bottom of a stairwell.

Some Fantastic Place: My Life In and Out of Squeeze


Chris Difford - 2018
    Six prefabs, three pubs, a school, a church and a yard where the electricity board kept cables. Two long rows of terraced house faced each other at one end of the street; and, at the other, big houses with big doors and even bigger windows. There was a phone box next to one of the pubs and when it rang everyone came out to see who it was for. It was a tiny road - at one end of which there was Greenwich Park. It was heaven being there, its beauty always shone on me from the trees at sunsets and from the bushes in the rain. I was there in all weathers. It was 1964, I was ten years old and this is when my memory really begins. The previous decade is built up from vague recollections that lean heavily on the imagination.'Chris Difford is a rare breed. As a member of one of London's best-loved bands, the Squeeze co-founder has made a lasting contribution to English music with hits such as 'Cool For Cats', 'Up The Junction', 'Labelled With Love', 'Hourglass' and 'Tempted'. Some Fantastic Place is his evocative memoir of an upbringing in Sixties' South London and his rise to fame in one of the definitive bands of the late Seventies and early Eighties.

When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11: Or How to Explain Quantum Physics with Heavy Metal


Philip Moriarty - 2018
    No, really!While teaching at the University of Nottingham, physicist Philip Moriarty noticed something odd, a surprising number of his students were heavily into metal music. Colleagues, too: a Venn diagram of physicists and metal fans would show a shocking amount of overlap. What's more, it turns out that heavy metal music is uniquely well-suited to explaining quantum principles.In When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to Eleven, Moriarty explains the mysteries of the universe's inner workings via drum beats and feedback: You'll discover how the Heisenberg uncertainty principle comes into play with every chugging guitar riff, what wave interference has to do with Iron Maiden, and why metalheads in mosh pits behave just like molecules in a gas.If you're a metal fan trying to grasp the complexities of quantum physics, a quantum physicist baffled by heavy metal, or just someone who'd like to know how the fundamental science underpinning our world connects to rock music, this book will take you, in the words of Pantera, to "A New Level." For those who think quantum physics is too mind-bendingly complex to grasp, or too focused on the invisibly small to be relevant to our full-sized lives, this funny, fascinating book will show you that physics is all around us . . . and it rocks.

Rory Gallagher: The Man Behind The Guitar


Julian Vignoles - 2018
    He bounded across the stage with the swagger of a rock star, but offstage he was a shy, unassuming man. There were no wild parties, no marriages and divorces. His short life shifted between the bright lights of his success and the darkness of personal struggle. Gallagher was a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer and champion of blues music. His career began in an Irish showband, followed by four years as the central talent of Taste, one of the great Irish bands. He went on to even greater fame as a solo artist in the 1970s. Gallagher was dedicated to a steadfast musical vision, one that continues to burn brilliantly in rock history.Drawing on extensive interviews, Julian Vignoles casts new light on the familial, musical and other influences that inspired Gallagher, and on the complex personality that drove his career. He reassesses Gallagher’s songwriting, often overlooked because of his dexterity as a guitarist. Crucially, Vignoles shows how many songs speak eloquently – and poignantly – about the person who penned them. Meticulously researched, this portrait is the insightful biography that Rory Gallagher deserves, as revelatory for his legions of loyal fans as for curious rock and blues enthusiasts.

Twentieth-Century Boy: Notebooks of the Seventies


Duncan Hannah - 2018
    He also happened to be outrageously, androgynously beautiful, attracting the attention of the city's most prominent gay scenemeisters, who found his adamant heterosexuality a source of immense frustration. Taken directly from the notebooks Hannah kept throughout the seventies, Twentieth-Century Boy is a louche, sometimes lurid, and incredibly entertaining report from a now almost mythical time and place, full of outrageously bad behavior, naked ambition, gender-bending celebrities, fantastically good music and evaporating barriers of taste and decorum. At its center: a young man in the mix and on the make, determined to forge an identity for himself as an artist while being at risk from his own heedless appetites. A time capsule from a scary, seedy, but irresistible time and place.

Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyoncé, Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl


Evelyn McDonnell - 2018
    A gorgeous gift book, it includes a stunning, specially commissioned, full-color illustrated portrait of every musician and group.From Bessie Smith and The Supremes to Joan Baez, Madonna, Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse, Dolly Parton, Sleater-Kinney, Taylor Swift, and scores more, women have played in essential and undeniable role in the evolution of popular music including blues, rock and roll, country, folk, glam rock, punk, and hip hop. Today, in a world traditionally dominated by male artists, women have a stronger influence on popular music than ever before. Yet, not since the late nineteen-nineties has there been a major work that acknowledges and pays tribute to the female artists who have contributed to, defined, and continue to make inroads in music.In WOMEN WHO ROCK, writer and professor of journalism and new media Evelyn McDonnell leads a team of women rock writers and pundits in an all-out celebration of 106 of the greatest female musicians. Organized chronologically, the book profiles each artist and places her in the context of both her genre and the musical world at large. Sidebars throughout recall key moments that shaped both the trajectory of music and how those moments influenced or were influenced by women artists. With full-color illustrated portraits by women artists, Women Who Rock will be THE long-awaited gift book for every musicfan, feminist, and female rocker, young and old.musicians. Organized chronologically, the book profiles each artist and places her in the context of both her genre and the musical world at large. Sidebars throughout recall key moments that shaped both the trajectory of music and how those moments influenced or were influenced by women artists. With full-color illustrated portraits by women artists, Women Who Rock will be THE long-awaited gift book for every musicfan, feminist, and female rocker, young and old.

Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group


Dennis Dunaway - 2018
    Their wild, impossible journey took them from Hollywood to the ferocious Detroit music scene, and along the way they discovered the utterly original performance style and look that would make them the stuff of legend.Speaking out for the first time about his adventures in the Alice Cooper group, Dunaway reveals a band that was obsessed with topping themselves, with their increasingly outlandish shows and ever-blackening reputation. Dunaway takes readers into back rooms, behind brainstorming sessions, and into the most exclusive parties of the 1970s, revealing the talent, drama, and characters that drove two teenagers to create what would become America's highest-grossing act.From struggling for recognition to topping the charts with a string of hits including "I'm Eighteen," "School's Out," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy," the Alice Cooper group was entertaining, outrageous, and one of a kind.Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! is a riveting account of the band's creation in the '60s, their strange glory in the '70s, and the legendary characters they met along the way.

The Band's with Me: TOUR 1964-1975


Sally Mann Romano - 2018
    There are over 100 photos, many previously unpublished. Sally has been featured in a number of photo essays of so-called “groupies” and women in rock by Baron Wolman, Henry Diltz, Jim Marshall, and other renowned rock-and-roll photographers. She is the subject of paintings by artists as diverse as Jim Bama and Alice McMahon, both of whom based their works on the iconic photo by Baron Wolman that originally appeared in Rolling Stone, and countless interviews and magazine articles. Sally Mann Romano, an attorney in her native Texas, is the proprietor of an animal sanctuary and deep-pocket money pit known as Rockit Ranch Rescue. She came to the law after her marriage to Spencer Dryden, drummer for Jefferson Airplane, having also spent a number of years working for, traveling with, and tending to Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, Grace Slick, Ten Years After, Stephen Stills, The Band, and other characters of similarly dubious repute.

Famous People Who've Met Me: A Memoir By the Man Who Discovered Prince


Owen Husney - 2018
    The unique memoir does more than just recount tales; it’s a true in-depth character study as told through the eyes of musician, agent, concert promoter, and manager Owen Husney. The stories reflect not only his crazy, sometimes dark experiences but also his contributions to the world of music — from Elvis to Al Jarreau, Richard Harris to Yanni, Hendrix to K-Tel, Prince to The Revolution.

Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City


Mike Katz - 2018
    See where Patti Smith, the Ramones, Beastie Boys, and Jeff Buckley played. Visit on foot the places Lou Reed mentions in his songs or where Paul Simon grew up; where the Strokes drowned their sorrows, Talking Heads created art and Jimi Hendrix found his vision. Rock and Roll Explorer Guide gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at how bands came together, scenes developed, and classic songs were written. Artists come and go, neighborhoods change, venues open and close, but the music lives on.