Music > Popular Music

From its birth in the vibrant Kingston ghettos through it phenomenal popularity in the 1970s to its iconic standing in today's global culture, reggae and its close relations - ska, rock steady, dj, dub, dancehall, and raggamuffin - have taken the world by storm. In The Reggae Scrapbook, scintillating words and images propel our appreciation of Jamaican music into the 21st century. Accomanying us on this journey is one of the men who introduced reggae to America and helped rock the world with its syncopated beat, Roger Steffens. Thr... read more

This is a witty celebration of the worst lyrics ever to grace the airwaves. After all, there are bad lines, and then there are really bad lines. Snap sang "I'm as serious as cancer" in "Rhythm Is a Dancer", while Duran Duran opined 'You're about as easy as a nuclear war' in "Is There Something I Should Know". Spandau Ballet even named a song, "Instinction", after a word that didn't exist. And even the mighty have their off days - Bob Dylan may have written protest anthem "Blowing in the Wind" but he also wrote "Wiggle, Wiggle, like... read more

This ground-breaking book shows how John and Paul turned pop song lyrics into private conversations, which gradually to other major songwriters of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. It makes the Beatles seem strange, wonderful and new.

Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Pulitzer Prize-winning oral historian Studs Terkel hosted a legendary daily radio programme in Chicago - presenting listeners with his singular take on an eclectic range of music from classical, opera, and jazz to gospel, blues, folk and rock.

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In an era when the three-minute single ruled the music world, The Doors stood proud as practitioners of album art. From beginning to end, the band's six studio albums presented carefully crafted sound tapestries that proved the soundtrack of an entire generation. In People Are Strange, Doug Sundlig takes each Doors album in turn, discussing the lyrical and musical patterns that shaped the songs, the recording sessions and the cultural environment in which each work was created.

This spectacular celebration of the ephemera and performance costumes worn by The Supremes, one of the most successful groups of the sixties, traces their career from the early days when they were known as The Primettes to the glamorous height of their fame in the 70s. Only the Beatles had more number one hits than The Supremes and their success story helped change racial perceptions during the time of the American Civil Rights movement. A magnificent collection of dresses worn by Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard for li... read more

Here is ultimate illustrated discography of Pink Floyd, covering everything from their first single to their most recent album "The Division Bell". Also included are separate sections on the work on Roger Waters and Syd Barrett.

The Clash: trendsetters, icons, revolutionaries. They were the pioneers of British punk rock and their story is steeped in mythology. Many people have an opinion about what made them who they were - this book gives the chance to read the full story, from the band themselves. This is the first official book to be created by the band. With unprecedented access to the Clash archive, this landmark publication brings together previously unseen material - including tour posters, artwork, and photos of the band at home, on stage, in the s... read more

Buddy Holly was killed at 22 when the plane he was travelling in crashed on 3 February 1959. Although this was less than two years after Holly's first hit record, Don McLean described this as 'the day the music died.'But Sonny Curtis, Holly's friend and musical colleague, told us that the music didn't die, because 'Buddy Holly lives every time you play rock'n'roll.' Fifty years after Holly's death, his lasting influence is clear; a musical based on his life seems set to run for longer than his lifetime and artists as diverse as Bli... read more

This title is printed in colour throughout and contains 240 photographs. The world's most celebrated band has been the subject of countless books and articles over the years. But "The Beatles Phenomenon" is a unique new Beatles chronicle that brings their astonishing legend to vivid life using sheet music, rare photographs and a detailed chronology of their gigs, venues, public quotes and most memorable moments. Based on the exhaustive research of the legendary Miles, intimate member of the Beatles' Sixties circle, "The Beatles Phe... read more

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Chronicles the birth, rise and demise of punk rock in the UK. This book features key artists of the time from 'The Ramones' and the 'Sex Pistols' to 'Blondie'.

Between 1965 and 1972, political activists around the globe prepared to mount a revolution, from the Black Panthers to the Gay Liberation Front, from the Yippies to the IRA. Rock and soul music supplied the revolutionary tide with anthems and iconic imagery; and renowned musicians such as John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan were particularly influential in the movement. This is the definitive account of this unique period in modern history; a compelling portrait of an era when revolutionaries turned into rock stars, and rock sta... read more

The Fall are one of the world's most iconic groups, led for the last thirty years by the inimitable and enigmatic Mark E. Smith. They have released nearly thirty studio albums, with in excess of fifty musicians passing through their ranks. They are The Fallen; this is their story. Dave Simpson has spent two years of his life tracking down everyone who has ever played in The Fall. The resultant book is full of hilarious and shocking anecdotes about life in one of the country's most intense and insane bands. It is also a biography in... read more

Iggy Pop

Sting and The Police have been global stars ever since their first hit with Roxanne. Now, for the first time, Sting has collected his song lyrics since 1978 and publishes them in a handsome hardback volume. LYRICS is a comprehensive collection of Sting's song lyrics spanning his entire career from the early days of the The Police through to Sacred Love, his latest album. Song lyrics are presented in album order, and coupled with newly-written commentary by Sting about the lyrics, the records, and his career as a songwriter in gener... read more

Peter Hook, as co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, has been shaping the course of popular music for thirty years. He provided the propulsive bass guitar melodies of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' and the bestselling 12-inch single ever, 'Blue Monday' among many other songs. As co-owner of Manchester's Hacienda club, Hook propelled the rise of acid house in the late 1980s, then suffered through its violent fall in the 1990s as gangs, drugs, greed and a hostile police force destroyed everything he and his friends had created. This i... read more

The essays in "The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson" consummately demonstrate that writing on popular culture can be both thoughtful and heartfelt. The contributors, who include accomplished music critics as well as renowned theorists, are some of the most astute and eloquent writers on pop today. The collection is made up of new essays written in the wake of Jackson's death, and includes Barney Hoskyns' classic "NME" piece written at the time of "Thriller", and contributions from Ian Penman, David Stubbs, Paul Lester, and Chri... read more