A first of its kind collection, How to Rap is an insightful and intelligent breakdown of the elements of rap for anyone wanting to learn the art form or understand the principles behind it.
Ambitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on Spotify.
*** Accompanies BBC2's major new TV series and The Story of Music in 50 Pieces on Radio 3 *** In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording, broadcasting strikes us with its original force.
Music historian and journalist Tim Riley's biography challenges many popular assumptions about Lennon's life, from his widely misunderstood 'Working Class Hero' origins to his epic romance with Yoko Ono.
When George Klein was thirteen, he couldn't have known how important the new kid in class - the one with the guitar, the boy named Elvis - would become in his life.
What lunacy would cause a 55-year-old white male to embroil himself in the world of New Orleans rap - as ideas man, talent-spotter, lyricist, and would-be producer?
Music, and folk music in particular, is often embraced as a form of political expression, a vehicle for bridging or reinforcing social boundaries, and a valuable tool for movements reconfiguring the social landscape.
The bestselling guide to improving musical performance The Inner Game of Music is the battle that all musicians have to fight against elusive opponents such as nervousness, self-doubt and fear of failure.
The first instalment of his famed autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs is a hilarious and touching introduction to the life of the author, broadcaster, critic and poet, Clive James.
Walls Come Tumbling Down charts the pivotal period between 1976 and 1992 that saw politics and pop music come together for the first time in Britain's musical history; musicians and their fans suddenly became instigators of social change, and 'the political persuasion of musicians was as important as the songs they sang'.
Jon Ronson's Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie is a memoir of funny, sad times and a tribute to outsider artists too wonderfully strange to ever make it in the mainstream.
The True Lives of My Chemical Romance is the definitive biography of the most adored rock band this century, a story of self-belief and the pursuit of dreams.
For fans of David Sedaris, Tina Fey and Caitlin Moran comes Furiously Happy from Jenny Lawson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Let's Pretend This Never Happened.
Night Beat is a look at the disruption of culture as viewed through the history of rock music, its activists, its politics, the lives lived and lives grieved for during an epoch of upheaval.
Paolo Hewitt has known Paul Weller since they were both teenagers in the depths of Woking, through his ascent to fame with The Jam, the halcyon years of The Style Council and for all of his critically acclaimed solo career.
From his days as a club face alongside Philip Sallon, Marilyn and Steve Strange, through the years of global pop superstardom with Culture Club, his rebirth as a world-class DJ, as a leading light of musical theatre with the award-winning Taboo, a cutting edge photographer and a confrontational and acclaimed fashion designer, one of the many things you can say about George is: he's never stood still.
The most authoritative, intelligent, diligently researched and unpretentious analysis of the British pop scene yet written' Sunday TelegraphBlack Vinyl White Powder charts the amazing fifty year history of the British music business in unparalleled scale and detail.
The New Pocket Kobbe's Complete Opera Book is the world's leading reference work on opera, and (in the words of Bernard Levin) 'no single-volume operatic guide can possibly compare with it'.
The Lives Less Ordinary series brings you the most exciting, adventurous and entertaining true-life writing that is out there, for men who are time-poor but want the best.
While held hostage by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen in the suburbs of Beirut, Brian Keenan was visited and sustained by the presence of Turlough O'Carolan - the legendary blind Irish harper of the seventeenth century.
"e;The only plan right now is to kill everybody"e; Joey Jordison, drummerIgnoring every rule in the book and more besides, Slipknot are a notoriously controversial band who combine a talent for outrage with their music.
