Popular music Books

"The definitive account of one of hardcore punk's most enigmatic figures." -Lucky Lehrer, Circle Jerks drummer In 1983, Circle Jerks bassist Roger Rogerson stole the band's van and dropped off the face of the earth. Thirteen years later, he came back,...

When he first started working on Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson said that he was going to write the greatest rock album ever made. That album, released in 1966, fifty years ago, changed the face of popular music. From conception and composition to arrangement...

Maceo Parker's signature style became the lynchpin of James Brown's band when he and his brother Melvin joined the Hardest Working Man in Show Business in 1964. That style helped define Brown's brand of funk, and the phrase "Maceo, I want you to blow!"...

Is there such a thing as a Hip Hop 'theology'? Drawing on interviews from those in the Hip Hop community, and a critical engagement with the theological and ecclesiological ruminations of over 8,500 songs, Hodge aims to paint a picture of what a Hip Hop...

A Gothic Horror novel about severe mental distress and punk rock. The novel is written in the form of a diary kept by a psychiatrist, Dr. Rodney H. Dweller, concerning his patient, Nathaniel Snoxell, brought to him in 1979 because of several attempted...

Few music groups have been able to sustain a fan base over half a century that is as significant and devoted as those of the Beatles, and this entertaining guide to all things Fab Four rewards those fans with everything they need to know about the band...

Steve Adelman's humorous and engaging memoir reflects on his years as the director and owner of some of the world's most popular nightclubs, including the Roxy, Limelight, Tunnel, and Palladium in the heyday of clubs in New York City during the 1980s and...

Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama"To watch this show is to enter, by some urgent, bawdy magic, an ecstatic and infinitely more colorful version of the famous surreal lithograph by M. C. Escher: the hand that lifts from the page, becoming almost...

"This brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores the mystery, the thrill to that shattering transformation that stirs in all our souls."-Charles Isherwood, The New York Times"The staggering purity of this show will touch all open...

"A landmark musical, one of those few shows that enter the permanent lore of the theatre by altering the vocabulary of dramatic possibilities." Time"There's never been a franker, more sophisticated work written for the musical stage." San Francisco...

Examining the dynamics of hip-hop from every region and in every form -- mainstream and underground, current and classic -- this compelling how-to discusses everything from content and flow to rhythm and delivery in relation to the art and craft of rap...

A tour diary of life on the road with one of Minnesota's greatest bands-with nearly 100 never-before-seen photographs"Don't bore us, get to the chorus" is Bill Sullivan's motto, which will come as no surprise to anyone who opens Lemon Jail. A raucous...

In this classic work of American music writing, renowned critic Albert Murray argues beautifully and authoritatively that "the blues as such are synonymous with low spirits. Not only is its express purpose to make people feel good, which is to say in...

The chapters deal with such compelling topics as the environment, race relations, the counterculture, the sexual revolution, the war in Vietnam, the appeal of punk rock, the fall of Richard Nixon, the rise of Ronald Reagan, the murder of John Lennon, and...

"That joyous rarity, a work of sophisticated artistic ambition and deep political purpose that affords nonstop pleasure."--William A. Henry III, Time

Bob Dylan's cultural production in the second half of the twentieth century, his songs, but also his changing images and self-fashionings have informed and productively re/shaped certain images of America from outside and within. Refractions of Bob Dylan...

Presents a highly original and detailed investigation into the nature of American visual, musical and cultural influences on British youth between 1945 and 1960. It looks at the spread of youth culture, juke boxes, coffee and milk bars, dress styles and...

A singer once said 'his pitch was right on the nose: his word enunciation letter perfect: his understanding of a song thorough. He will be missed very much, not only by myself, but by his fans all over the world'. The singer was the legendary Frank...

A self-described "song-hunter," the folklorist Alan Lomax traveled the Mississippi Delta in the 1930's and '40s, armed with primitive recording equipment and a keen love of the Delta's music heritage. Crisscrossing the towns and hamlets where the blues...

"Marcello Geppetti . . . found a startling new style of shooting celebrities that would change the nature of journalism and the public's relationship with the rich and famous."-David Schonauer, American Photo magazine Originally published in Italy, this...

K-Pop Now! takes a fun look at Korea's high-energy pop music scene, from the point of view of its growing legions of fans. It features all the famous groups and singers, and takes an insider's look at how they have made it to the top...

Stunningly designed flexibound book profiling the top 40 most famous Australian pop and rock songs. What a famous song is about and what you think it's about aren't always the same thing. National Anthems names the top 40 classic Australian songs and...

To mark the first anniversary of Eddie Van Halen's early death comes this new, full-length biography. 'The game changing guitar legend gets the biography he deserves ... Diligently researched, perceptive and well-written.' 8/10, Classic Rock 'An...