Posted on: March 22, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Wailing Blues: The Story of Bob Marley’s Wailers by John Masouri – The story of The Wailers is a litany of betrayal and greed that’s rarely been reported elsewhere. Written in collaboration with Family Man and other surviving members, The Wailers’ Story reveals the truth behind the Marley legacy. Traces the early lives of the Barrett brothers before they joined Marley in the ‘60s and discusses how reggae artists like Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry influenced the band. Includes insider accounts of the assassination attempt on Marley’s life and his exile in London. John Masouri is a contributor to Echoes (formerly Black Echoes) since 1990 and his work has also appeared in Mojo, Music Week, The Guardian and New Musical Express. He is the co-author of the Guinness Book of Reggae and The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae.

 

John Lennon: The Albums by John Rogan – Johnny Rogan’s essential guide to John Lennon covers all of his solo recordings. An analysis of every album recorded by John Lennon during his solo years from the end of the Sixties to his death in 1980, as well as the posthumous work that followed. A lively and provocative commentary of every song is interspersed with comments from Lennon on his final decade. Johnny Rogan is the author of the best-selling Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance, one of the most acclaimed music biographies ever written, and still a bestseller since its first publication in 1992.

 

Simple Kind Of Life: The Story of Gwen Stefani & No Doubt by Jeff Apter

With contributions from former and current band members, collaborators, friends and critics, Simple Kind Of Life is the first major biography of No Doubt. No Doubt launched a 20-year career that would fuse ska, grunge, alt-rock and shades of other musical genres into a unique mix. The 1987 suicide of John Spence resulted in the battlefield promotion of Gwen Stefani to lead vocalist, a shift that would prove a launch pad for her future solo career and media celebrity status. Despite shifting line-up and the potential distraction of Stefani’s solo career, No Doubt have stayed true to their mission to be musical and visual innovators. Jeff Apter is an Australian-based music writer, who has been reporting on popular culture for the past 15 years. He spent five years as the Music Editor at Australian Rolling Stone. He’s currently a contributing editor to GQ magazine.

 

Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story by Steve Chick

It’s no exaggeration that without Sonic Youth vast sectors of the independent rock community would not exist. Before Sonic Youth signed to Geffen in 1990, ‘alternative rock’, Riot Grrrl, and MTV grunge didn’t exist. It was as a direct result of their influence that Nirvana released Nevermind on a major label. Rock journalist, Stevie Chick draws upon his wealth of source material and exclusive interviews with both band-members and the people closest to Sonic Youth to give a fascinating insight into this most complex and fascinating of rock bands. Steve Chick is a UK journalist who has spent the last 10 years traveling the globe, writing about music. Contributing to Mojo, Kerrang, The Times and NME, he helped launch fanzine Careless Talk Costs Lives.

 

The Smiths: The Early Years by Paul Slattery

A lavishly produced photo book of the band acclaimed by many as the most important UK act of the ‘80s. Photographer Paul Slattery was allowed unprecedented access to the Smiths during the crucial early period of their career and this book is a permanent record of an era when their remarkable music struck a lasting chord in a generation alienated by Thatcherism. Slattery could be found backstage, front of stage and anywhere in Manchester where the Smiths plied their trade. Paul Slattery’s work has appeared in NME, Q, Uncut, Mojo, Classic Rock and in over a hundred books.

 

The Life of James Brown by Geoff Brown

This is the definitive biography of this extraordinary and controversial superstar, encompassing his entire life until his death on Christmas day, 2006. For decades, James Brown dominated the changing face of post-war popular black music. At the end of the 1980s the man himself was back in a southern US jail, a mile from where he was incarcerated in his teens. Between the two internments is the compelling story of a man who, by reaching from his roots and striving determinedly for himself, came to represent in music and personal power, the post-war emancipation of black America.

Geoff Brown is a Mojo staffer and former editor of Black Music magazine who has written extensively on soul and R&B in the UK media during a 30-year career in music journalism. He is the author of books on Michael Jackson, Prince, and Diana Ross.

 

Defenders Of The Faith: The True Story of Judas Priest by Neil Daniels

The first definitive biography of the metal Gods! From their earliest obscure demos to their controversial contract with Gull Records and breakthrough success with CBS, every album and tour is examined. This is the story of constant line-up changes; sell out tours, battles with American Conservative Fundamentalists, the complete breakdown of the band, and their re-ignition with a new singer in 1996. Finally, their hugely successful reunion in 2003 with Rob Halford – the self-proclaimed Metal God – brought the band back to the attention of the world’s greatest stages. Neil Daniels is a freelance writer based in the UK. He currently contributes to Record Collector, Big Cheese and Fireworks Melodic Rock Magazine.

 

Beatles Off The Record by Keith Badman

This is the most comprehensive oral history of The Beatles ever published – an ‘as it happened’ story of the greatest pop group of them all. Features a wealth of quotes from the Sixties by John, Paul, George and Ringo themselves and a host of others who were close to the group during the heady days of Beatlemania and beyond, including their families, fellow musicians, Brian Epstein, George Martin and dozens more.

 

Marilyn Manson: The Unauthorized Biography by Doug Small

Marilyn Manson emerged from the swamplands of Southern Florida to take the Nineties music scene by the throat, garnering chart success and critical acclaim while simultaneously whipping the moral majority into such a frenzy they were late to church. Fast-forward to 2007 and Manson hasn’t loosened his grip, with his latest in an impressive string of hit albums, Eat Me, Drink Me, set to sustain his stranglehold.

 

Steely Dan: Reelin’ In The Years by Brian Sweet

In ‘Reelin’ In the Years, Brian Sweet, editor and publisher of Metal Leg, the UK based Steely Dan fanzine, draws back the veil of secrecy that has surrounded Becker and Fagen. Here at last is the true story of how they made their music and lived their lives. Includes many photographs and a complete discography.

 

Nine Inch Nails by Tommy Udo

Nine Inch Nails are the forerunners of the nu metal genre, having defined industrial rock in the 1990s. From the release of the acclaimed Pretty Hate Machine through its darker, multi-platinum sequels, they have sold over 10 million albums worldwide.

 

Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore by Jerry Bloom

Dubbed the ‘man in black’, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore found fame with Seventies rock giants Deep Purple, then walked away from them to create Rainbow, only to abandon them and form another band in 1997 – Blackmore’s Night. Read how he handed in his resignation in the middle of Deep Purple’s 25th anniversary tour. His love/hate relationship with Deep Purple’s lead singer Ian Gillan and his moodiness, antics on and off stage, reputation as a ‘hire and fire’ merchant. His three marriages, police chases, imprisonment and passion for football. Jerry Bloom has passionately followed Blackmore’s career for the past thirty years. He first met Ritchie in 1984 and in 1996 he jointly established the international Ritchie Blackmore magazine More Black Than Purple which he has edited since 2000.

 

Schirmer’s Complete Rhyming Dictionary by Paul Zollo

An invaluable creative tool for all songwriters, poets, and teachers, here is the ultimate rhyming dictionary with more than 96,000 one-, two-, and three- syllable rhymes. In addition to providing numerous rhyming options, the book also contains helpful sections on the role of rhymes in songwriting such as: What is a rhyme?, Must a song rhyme?, Writing lyrics vs. writing poetry, Usage of rhymes, Spontaneous creation, True rhymes vs. false rhymes, Rhyme schemes and more.

Paul Zollo is a singer-songwriter, author, and music journalist. He is the former editor of SongTalk, and currently the senior editor for American Songwriter. Zollo is the author of Conversations With Tom Petty, The Beginning Songwriter’s Answer Book, Songwriters on Songwriting, and Hollywood Remembered.

 

Omnibus Press, a division of Music Sales Corp., is the world’s largest publisher of music-related books. In 2006 Music Sales acquired Sanctuary Books which added a significant number of additional music books to the Omnibus catalogue, as well as a number of sports, travel and novelty & gift books.  Omnibus has published many best-selling definitive biographies on most of rock’s greatest superstars. These include Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan, Dear Boy: The Life Of Keith Moon by Tony Fletcher, Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story by Victor Bockris and Catch A Fire: The Life of Bob Markley by Timothy White, all of which are regularly cited by magazines and critics as being amongst the finest rock biographies ever published.

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