The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry: From Britain and Ireland


Edna Longley - 2001
    

Memoir of a Roadie


Joel Miller - 2020
    His autobiography is an often-hilarious personal account of a young man in his early 20’s trying to be a “good” roadie while also trying to understand life’s big picture. Through the advice of rock stars and career roadies Joel tries to find the pathway to roadie righteousness.

Hell Hath No Fury: Women Who Kill


Les Macdonald - 2013
    Part One: Women Who Kill Their Children features 21 stories on mothers who have murdered their own children. The high profile cases such as Susan Smith and Andrea Yates are here but also some that you may not have heard of. Part Two: Women Who Kill Their Husbands has 10 chapters including the Anti Freeze Killer and the Black Widow of the Internet. Part Three: More Notorious Murders by Women has eight more cases including A Fatal Attraction and Hell Born Hitchhiker. The book concludes with Part Four: Some Younger Females Who Kill which features six chapters including Girls Just Want To Have Fun and The Killer and His Raven. The second book in the series, Hell Hath No Fury 2: More Women Who Kill was released in December 2014.

Album Cover Album


Storm Thorgerson - 1977
    This led to the release of six follow-up hits, inspired a host of imitations, and generated a long-playing sub-genre in art and design publishing.Album Cover Album is edited and compiled by two designers who were among the most innovative pioneers of the work that it celebrates. Storm Thorgerson's Hipgnosis earned world renown for the epic photo shoots and iconic designs that went so perfectly with the music of Pink Floyd. Meanwhile, Roger Dean's dreamscapes and unique typography became as much a part of the rock generation as the Yes albums they adorned. Album Cover Album features their selection of more than 600 sleeves in full color, and showcases the astonishing diversity and excellence of design that the medium produced in its first three decades.This new edition retains the lavish 12-inch format of the original and replays the ingeniously themed compositions of each page. The album is given a fresh spin by a new preface from Peter Gabriel and new forewords by Storm Thorgerson and John Wetton, plus a 21st-century typographic facelift. The result is a celebration of the enduring appeal of vinyl.

Hello, Darlings!: The Authorized Biography of Kenny Everett


James Hogg - 2013
    Chris Evans, Chris Moyles, Rob Brydon and Steve Wright have all cited Kenny as a huge influence on their work - even the great Spike Milligan called him a genius. It was Kenny who developed the radio show format with which we are so familiar today: a mix of music, jingles, funny voices and sound effects. When he seamlessly made the move to television in the seventies, he created unforgettable characters such as Sid Snot, Cupid Stunt and Marcel Wave. Rarely seen without a smile on his face in public, in reality, Kenny was a deeply insecure man who suffered severe bouts of depression. He also struggled with his sexuality, only coming out to the public in 1985. Diagnosed with HIV in 1987, Kenny died in 1995. This in-depth and affectionate biography has been fully authorised by Kenny's family and contains original interviews with Kenny's sister, Kate and with his former wife, Lee, as well as entertainment figures such as Barry Cryer, Cliff Richard, Chris Tarrant and Paul Gambaccini. Packed with fabulous stories about the highs and lows of Kenny's life, his great friendships with The Beatles and Freddie Mercury, this is a book that any fan of comedy and entertainment must read.

Shang-a-lang: Life as an International Pop Idol


Les McKeown - 2003
    It is a remarkable story of extremes, and a no-holds barred account of Rollermania.From the Trade Paperback edition.

THIS WAS THE REAL LIFE: The Tale of Freddie Mercury


David Evans - 2001
    Freddie's friends lost Freddie. In this biographical volume of memories, Freddie Mercury's life is celebrated, remembered and recounted by a collection of his closest friends, lovers, collaborators and colleagues.

Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas


Randy Miller - 2010
    To millions of football fans across America, he was the “Voice of the NFL.” And as open and giving as Harry Kalas was throughout his professional and personal life, there are countless layers of the man that have remained unknown . . . until now. Author Randy Miller interviewed more than 160 people—including all of Harry’s surviving family, many of his close friends from childhood to present, numerous colleagues from baseball and the NFL, and even Harry’s longtime personal psychologist—to craft a loving and shockingly honest portrayal of one of the most celebrated broadcasters in the history of sports. With incredible details from all phases of his life—from his upbringing in the Chicago suburbs, to his Hall of Fame broadcasting career in baseball, to his ubiquitous voiceover work with the NFL, to his personal vices for drinking and women, to his legendary friendship with Richie “Whitey” Ashburn, to his ongoing feud with on-air partner Chris Wheeler— Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas will surprise, delight, and enlighten all fans of the man they called “Harry the K.”

In My Life: A Music Memoir


Alan Johnson - 2018
    In fact music hasn't just accompanied his life, it's been an integral part of it.In the bestselling and award-winning tradition of This Boy, In My Life vividly transports us to a world that is no longer with us - a world of Dansettes and jukeboxes, of heartfelt love songs and heart-broken ballads, of smoky coffee shops and dingy dance halls. From Bob Dylan to David Bowie, from Lonnie Donnegan to Bruce Springsteen, all of Alan's favourites are here. As are, of course, his beloved Beatles, whom he has worshipped with undying admiration since 1963.But this isn't just a book about music. In My Life adds a fourth dimension to the story of Alan Johnson the man.

The Rolling Stones: Fifty Years


Christopher Sandford - 2012
    Add the mercurial Brian Jones (who'd been effectively run out of Cheltenham for theft, multiple impregnations and playing blues guitar) and the wryly opinionated Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, and the potential was obvious. During the 1960s and 70s the Rolling Stones were the polarising figures in Britain, admired in some quarters for their flamboyance, creativity and salacious lifestyles, and reviled elsewhere for the same reasons. Confidently expected never to reach 30 they are now approaching their seventies and, in 2012, will have been together for 50 years. In The Rolling Stones, Christopher Sandford tells the human drama at the centre of the Rolling Stones story. Sandford has carried out interviews with those close to the Stones, family members (including Mick's parents), the group's fans and contemporaries - even examined their previously unreleased FBI files. Like no other book before The Rolling Stones will make sense of the rich brew of clever invention and opportunism, of talent, good fortune, insecurity, self-destructiveness, and of drugs, sex and other excess, that made the Stones who they are.

Song and Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan


Michael Gray - 1972
    Michael Gray's 'Song and Dance Man III', on Bob Dylan's life and work, offers studies of Dylan's' entire oeuvre, and the ever-popular album-by-album guide has also been extensively updated and extended.

The Cycling Anthology Volume One


Ellis Bacon - 2012
    

Original Rude Boy: From Borstal to The Specials


Neville Staple - 2009
    In 1979, Thatcher's Britain was a country crippled by strikes, joblessness, and economic gloom, divided by race and class—and skanking to a new beat: 2 Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the Specials burst on to the scene. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was the vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, five-year-old Neville was sent to England to live with his father, a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. As he recounts here, growing up black in the Midlands of the 1960s and 1970s wasn't easy, and his youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanizing, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually prison. But throughout there was music, and Nev reveals how he became part of the most important band of the 1980s. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2 Tone tour with the Selecter, Madness, and Dexy's, and their clashes with white nationalist thugs. He recalls the band's increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a newfound fame in America as godfather to Third Wave ska bands. Finally he reflects on the Specials' reunion and how even now, 30 years later, they can't help tearing themselves apart.

Search Party: Collected Poems


William Matthews - 1982
    Drawing from his eleven collections and including twenty-three previously unpublished poems, Search Party is the essential compilation of this beloved poet's work. Edited by his son, Sebastian Matthews, and William Matthews's friend and fellow poet Stanley Plumly (who also introduces the book), Search Party is an excellent introduction to the poet and his glistening riffs on twentieth-century topics from basketball to food to jazz.

Bermondsey Boy: Memories of a Forgotten World


Tommy Steele - 2006
    Later, this Bermondsey boy would become known as Tommy Steele . In this engaging memoir Tommy recalls his childhood years growing up in Bermondsey. He relives with great fondness Saturdays as a young boy, spent gazing at the colourful posters for the Palladium and days spent wandering up Tower Bridge Road to Joyce's Pie Shop for pie and mash. But he also brings to life with extraordinary vividness what it was like to live through the devastation of the Blitz. Yet it was once he joined the merchant navy and began singing and performing for his fellow seamen that his natural ability as an entertainer marked him out as a favourite. And it was while ashore in America that he became hooked on rock'n'roll and a legend was born . From Tommy's humble beginning to life at sea and finally as a performer, Bermondsey Boy is a colourful, charming and deeply engaging memoir from a much-loved entertainer.