In 1974, at the age of seventeen, author Glenn Berger served as "Schlepper" and apprentice to the legendary recording engineer Phil Ramone at New York City's A&R Studios, and was witness to music history on an almost daily and nightly basis as pop and rock icons such as Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, and James Brown performed their hit-making magic, honed their sound, strutted their stuff, bared their souls, and threw epic tantrums. In this memoir, full of revelatory and previously unknown anecdotal observations of these musical giants, Glenn recounts how he quickly learned the ropes to move up from schlepperhood to assistant to the tyrannical Ramone, and eventually, to become a recording engineer superstar himself. Not only is Never Say No to A Rock Star a fascinating, hilarious and poignant behind-the-scenes look of this musical Mecca, but Berger, now a prominent psychologist, looking back through the prism of his youthful experience and his years working as a counselor and therapist, provides a telling and honest examination of the nature of fame and success and the corollaries between creativity, madness and self-destruction.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 153 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 20-07-2016

In 1970 a scraggly, antiheroic man from North Carolina by way of Massachusetts began presenting a comforting yet biting new sound. Within a year, when young ears sought the latest in rock, there was "Fire and Rain" and "You've Got a Friend," and a new Southern California-fed branch of pop music. James Taylor was its reluctant leader. Remarkably, Taylor has survived: his 2015 release, Before This World, edged out Taylor Swift and went to No. 1 on the charts. Today he is in better physical (and probably mental) condition than during the whirlwind era when he influenced music so heavily, the decade when magazines and newspapers printed feverish stories about his gawky hunkiness, his love affair with Joni Mitchell, his glittery marriage to Carly Simon, his endlessly carried-out heroin habit, and sometimes even his music. Despite it all, Taylor has become the nearest thing to rock royalty in America. Based on fresh interviews with musicians, producers, record company people, and music journalists, as well as previously published interviews, reviews, and profiles, Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines is the definitive biography of an elusive superstar.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 416

Dimensions: 153 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 21-06-2016

One of a handful of artists to emerge from Andy Warhol’s celebrity-focused Interview magazine, Matthew Rolston is a well-established icon of Hollywood photography. Alongside such luminaries as Herb Ritts and Greg Gorman, Rolston was a member of an influential group of photographers (among them, Bruce Weber, Annie Leibovitz, and Steven Meisel) who came from the 1980s magazine scene. Rolston helped define the era’s take on celebrity imagemaking, gender bending, and much more. Edited by long-time Los Angeles–based gallerist and curator David Fahey, this book—Rolston’s fourth monograph—presents a stunning array of portraits that beautifully and succinctly capture the decade and its myriad talents. From Michael Jackson and Madonna, to Prince, George Michael, and Cyndi Lauper, the selection of images reflects a seamless blend of style, skill, and scintillation. This volume features over 100 mesmerizing photographs selected from Rolston’s extensive body of work, centering on his unforgettable portraits of the era’s most famous personalities. With essays by authors Pat Hackett, Andy Warhol’s longtime biographer and diarist; Colin Westerbeck, noted photographic curator and expert on American photographer Irving Penn; and Charles Churchward, longtime creative director of Vogue magazine and author of The Golden Hour, a definitive biography of Herb Ritts, Hollywood Royale: Out of the School of Los Angeles, paints a fascinating picture of an indelible imagemaker and the movie stars, models, and artists he immortalized during this period. Rolston’s photographs recall the glamour of Old Hollywood with postmodern irony, helping to point the way towards the cult of fame we live with today.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 278

Dimensions: 279 x 380 mm

Publication Date: 01-08-2017

The Who were a mass of contradictions. They brought intellect to rock but were the darlings of punks. They were the quintessential studio act yet were also the greatest live attraction in the world. They perfectly meshed on stage and displayed a complete lack of personal chemistry offstage.Along with great live shows and supreme audio experiences, the Who provided great copy. During the 1960s and '70s, Pete Townshend, messianic about contemporary popular music and its central importance in the lives of young people, gave sprawling interviews in which he alternately celebrated and deplored what he saw in the "scene." Several of these interviews have come to be considered classic documents of the age. Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle joined in. Even when the Who were non-operational or past their peak, their interviews continued to be compelling: changes in allegiances and social mores left the band members freer to talk about sex, drug-taking, business, and in-fighting.By collecting interviews with Who members from across fi ve decades, conducted by the greatest rock writers of their generation—Barry Miles, Jonathan Cott, Charles Shaar Murray, John Swenson, and Greil Marcus among them—The Who on The Who provides the full, fractious story of a fascinating band.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 416

Dimensions: 153 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 20-09-2017

This beautiful and remarkable behind-the-scenes study of dancers, musicians and onlookers offers a social and narrative dimension to the everyday life at the legendary Bolshoi Ballet. “Gusov’s photographs are lightning fissures, apertures, openings. They are neat as the bullet marks made in the moving target of time by a master of the craft, and the weird and hopeless dawn that streams through these tightly clustered pinholes is the light of future.” —Andrei Navrozov Sasha Gusov specializes in portraiture, classical music, ballet and dance photography. He moved to England in 1989, where he got a job with printer Roy Snell who, when not working, allowed him access to the dark room. In 1993 his self-commissioned photographic project Images of the Bolshoi Ballet, published by the British Journal of Photography, earned him international recognition. Gusov’s work has since been widely published throughout the world. Photographic books include 25 years in Photography, 2014; Belarus: Terra Incognita, 2010; Royal Parks, 2011; Locusts, 2008; Italian Carousel, 2003 and Shooting Images, 2001.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 180

Dimensions: 240 x 320 mm

Publication Date: 20-10-2017

When the music impresario Bryan Morrison died aged 66 in 2008, after two years in a coma following a polo accident, he left behind his unpublished memoir. As a music publisher, manager and agent, Morrison had represented the Pretty Things, Pink Floyd, T. Rex, The Jam, Wham! and many others. He was also the founder and owner of the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club. In this candid and outspoken book, Morrison reveals the true stories behind why Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd once bit his finger to the bone, the Pretty Things were banned for life from New Zealand, and he became involved with the Kray Twins. He also tells how The Jam kissed goodbye to success in the USA, he received death threats when Robin Gibb left the Bee Gees, and signing a publishing deal with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! Spanning the golden age of British rock ’n’ roll from the 60s to the 80s, this is the extraordinary story of a cigar-chomping, East End entrepreneur, with a passion for art and design, fashion, music and polo.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 224

Dimensions: 156 x 234 mm

Publication Date: 13-09-2019

Dylan can be as evasive and abstruse as he is witty. But in the right moments, he offers candid, revealing commentary about his groundbreaking music and creative process. Dylan on Dylan is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of interviews, speeches, and press conferences, as well as excerpts from nearly a hundred additional Q&As spanning Dylan’s entire career. The material comes from renowned publications like Rolling Stone and from obscure periodicals like Minnesota Daily, a student newspaper at Dylan’s alma mater. Interviewers include some of the top music journalists of our time, such as Robert Love and Mikal Gilmore, as well as musicians like Pete Seeger and Happy Traum.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 560

Dimensions: 153 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 06-09-2019

How does one pay homage to A Tribe Called Quest? The seminal rap group created masterpieces throughout the 90s, and then 17 years after their last album, they resurrected themselves with an intense, socially conscious record, which arrived in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Here Hanif Abdurraqib digs into the group's history and draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 216

Dimensions: 128 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 01-08-2019

Until the age of twenty, Donald McIntyre hoped to play for the All Blacks, and was on his way to achieving that aim. As a young man, however, he acknowledged his exceptional voice and opted for a career in singing. After leaving New Zealand and arriving in London, McIntyre set his sights on the world of opera. His spectacular musical life saw him conquering the stages of two London companies in the 1960s and 70s: Sadler’s Wells and ROH Covent Garden. His increasing command of Wagner roles brought him to the notice of Richard Wagner’s grandson Wolfgang Wagner, and in 1967 he made his debut appearance in Lohengrin. For the next seventeen years he sang in every Festival cycle and became the first “British” musician to sing the role of Wotan in Wagner’s mighty, four-opera Ring. Recognised for nearly three decades as the definitive Flying Dutchman, McIntyre also starred in the Bayreuth Centennial Ring in a production by Patrice Chéreau that completely revolutionised Wagner opera, and shot him to lasting fame, and in 1992, a knighthood. In this fascinating memoir “Sir Don” looks back over a huge slice of operatic history and his role in it. Mixing fun and gossip with judgement and insight, he brings to life a teeming gallery of the world’s most famous musicians – singers, conductors, directors, teachers, designers, sponsors … all the movers and shakers in the opera world of two generations. Edited by music professor and well-known New Zealand Wagnerian and radio personality, Heath Lees, this book is a fitting monument to Sir Donald’s magnificent half century in opera. https://www.book2look.com/book/9780995105331

Bind: hardback

Pages: 240

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 19-05-2019

Corbijn’s interest in music has been the engine of an illustrious decades-long career that has most recently involved the making of feature length films such as The American, A Most Wanted Man, and Life. This gloriously illustrated, oversized book pays homage to Corbijn’s obsession with rock and roll—an interest that has led to lifelong friendships with Bono, Michael Stipe, Dave Gahan, and other iconic musicians. Looking back over three decades, it features hundreds of creative, offbeat images that Corbijn was able to capture largely as a result of his close relationships with his subjects. Nearly every revered musician and band is represented in Corbijn’s archives: Nick Cave to Nirvana, U2 to R.E.M., the Rolling Stones to Siouxie and the Banshees. Many of the portraits are accompanied by their subjects’ own take on Corbijn’s distinct style and approach. Also included here are previously unpublished photos of the band Depeche Mode, who considered him an honorary member. A fitting tribute to an innovative and deeply passionate photographer, this book will rock fans of music and photography.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 400

Dimensions: 240 x 290 mm

Publication Date: 28-02-2019