Music

The second in this new series, The Virgin Book of Hit Singles is the most-up-to-date and comprehensive record of the music charts available today and a perfect, collectable complement to The Virgin Book of Hit Albums and The Virgin Book of Top 75 Charts.
Now improved and fine-tuned, and drawn from the Official Charts Company Data since 1952, The Virgin Book of Hit Singles features the most comprehensive, easy to read and accessible music chart data and information. It’s all here — expanded artist biographies, side notes of interest, label and catalogue numbers, peak positions, number of weeks on chart and weeks at number one. Also includes EP charts.
The Virgin Book of Hit Singles is essential reading, and reference, for any music lover.

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The Cure are arguably the biggest alternative rock band in the world. Between 1985 and 2000 every album they released went to at least Gold in the UK, the US or both. In America they have earned four Platinum albums, and they are estimated to have sold 30 million albums worldwide. Their iconic status as elder statesmen of Alternative Rock remains undiminished – if anything, their tireless touring has ensured that it has grown with every passing year – and lead singer Robert Smith is an endlessly fascinating figure to successive generations of fans. The Cure’s influence reverberates through genres including Emo, Goth, Industrial and Indie Rock.

The book is an encyclopaedic A-Z of The Cure examining and riffing on miscellaneous trivia, biographies of the band members past and present, summaries of each album and selected songs, details of the band’s various tours and films, and essays on broader topics such as their image, their politics and their influences. Playful, eccentric and irreverent – true to the spirit of the band itself – CUREPEDIA is a comprehensive biography of one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world.

The hardback edition features interior pages printed in red and black ink, a ribbon marker, and bespoke C-U-R-E letter endpapers specially designed by Andy Vella – celebrated artist and collaborator (as part of Parched Art) with The Cure on their album artwork for four decades.

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A complete and harmonious history of music, from prehistory to the present day!

Have you ever wondered how blues influenced rock music? Or why jazz went Latin? Classical or rock, everyone has their favourite music style, but how did your top choice come about? If you find yourself asking these musical questions and more, then this may be the book for you!

Music is a compelling and richly illustrated history of the most unifying art form in the world. Explore the roots of all genres from chants of the middle ages through the grandeur of the classical period to the modern rhythm of blues, jazz, hip-hop, and pop. Music includes illustrated histories of instruments and listening suggestions for each musical genre. Spectacular galleries display families of instruments from around the world, while special features showcase the evolution of key instruments, such as the piano and the guitar, and profile iconic innovators such as Mozart, Billie Holiday, and David Bowie. Charting every musical revolution, from bone flutes to electronica and from jazz to hip-hop, this visually stunning history of music will hit the right note, whether you are into pop or rock, or disco or rap, classical or opera.

Explore the magical world of music like you’ve never known it before, and discover:

-Revolutionary musical developments outlined step by step
-Biographies profiling the lives and works of groundbreaking musicians
-Collection spreads feature families of instruments, such as the gamelan
-“Story of” spreads chart the evolution of individual instruments
-Key Works boxes provide listening suggestions for different music styles
-Illustrated glossary clearly explains musical terminology and genres

This magnificent book about music charts and explains the entire global history of music, whether it’s music in the Middle Ages, to the Sounds of Soul, music in the Romance period to Renaissance and so much more. This new edition of Music has been updated with the latest facts and information, including the latest on streaming music, with specially-comissioned photography including a Stradivarus guitar, the earliest cello known to survice and a guitar used personally by Bob Dylan!

A must-have volume for musicians, music students or simply those wanting to learn about the history of their favourite music genre or their chosen instrument, Music is sure to delight!

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From Rolling Stone, the definitive and lavishly illustrated companion book to one of the most popular and hotly debated lists in the world of musicWhen Rolling Stone publishes a list, the world listens. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list was first established in 2003 and the lineup was updated in 2012, polling the industry’s most celebrated artists, producers, industry executives, and journalists to create the definitive ranking. As a companion to the original 2003 list, Rolling Stone and Wenner Books published the bestselling 500 Greatest Albums coffee table book. In 2020 Rolling Stone started from scratch with a completely new 500 Greatest Albums list, voted on by the biggest names in music―including Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift, to name a few. As expected, the new list caused a huge splash across the music and entertainment industries, sparking major conversation and debate around the list, and generating more than 125 million page views on RollingStone.com in the first month of launch.In partnership with Abrams, Rolling Stone has created the definitive companion book to reflect the all-new 2020 list, telling the stories behind all 500 albums through incredible Rolling Stone photography, original album art, Rolling Stone’s unique critical commentary, breakout pieces on the making of key albums, archival interview content, and a celebrity introduction.

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40 years have passed since the release of PIECE OF MIND. More than an album, it was a thunderous statement of intent by a band whose meteoric rise from the East End of London would propel them to the world stage, thrusting them into the realms of legend. This commemorative tome, containing comics, art, and remembrances from acclaimed writers, artists, musicians and storytellers, is a powerful celebration of the unparalleled vision which inspired them — the living legend that is IRON MAIDEN.

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‘[Soligny] has talked to just about anyone who had anything to do with Bowie’s music… Reading [their memories and comments] you can almost believe you’re in the studio with Bowie as he tries out new ideas, fades out one sound to boost another or comes up with another of those astonishing chord changes…There are now almost as many Bowie books as there are Bob Dylan books but Rainbowman outclasses them all. Beautifully translated, [it] brings you closer to the great man than any conventional biography… Quite simply the best book there is on David Bowie.’-MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘This is a book unlike any other, the definitive analysis of David’s music, told in a quiet natural way, but with absolute authenticity, by the people around him.’ – HERMIONE FARTHINGALE

‘Jérôme Soligny is one of the best authorities in the world on David Bowie’s career and life in general… His new biography Rainbowman is a thorough and honest account of the great man.’ – TONY VISCONTI

‘Jérôme is a guy who is still aware that popular music is an art form and not a money suppository. He writes from the heart and is one of the last exemplars of a dying breed. The critic, armed with intelligence and brute compulsive honesty, as dangerous as a river.’ – IGGY POP

‘Not long ago, Jérôme told me something that I find very true: “David played saxophone, guitar, a bit of keyboards, but above all, he played musicians!” I think he really hit the nail on the head.’ – MIKE GARSON

‘If you love David Bowie – and most right thinking people do – you will really love Rainbowman. It’s an absolutely biblical text. Part oral history, part essay… Jérôme seems to have spoken to just about everybody.’ – STUART MACONIE, BBC Radio 6 Music

In David Bowie Rainbowman, Jérôme Soligny tells the story of David Bowie the musician with the help of those intimately involved with the creation of his music.

This uniquely exhaustive work on Bowie’s 1967-1980 albums draws on over 150 interviews with the musicians, producers and friends who knew Bowie best, including Robert Fripp, Hermione Farthingale, Lou Reed, George Underwood, Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Trevor Bolder, Mike Garson, Woody Woodmansey and many, many others. With an essay by Soligny on each album followed by oral histories from the most trusted and influential figures in Bowie’s musical life, David Bowie Rainbowman is the definitive guide to a singular and mercurial genius – the Rainbowman himself.

· With a foreword by Tony Visconti, an introduction by Mike Garson and cover photo by Mick Rock
· A beautiful and stylish gift for Bowie fans, over 700 pages long, filled with iconic photographs and with striking cover design by Barnbrook

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The complete story of the Gibson Les Paul.

Produced in collaboration with Gibson, this is the ultimate history of rock’s greatest guitar – with unprecedented access to behind-the-scenes stories and unseen photography.

– The greatest Les Paul models
– Stunning photography, including never-before-seen images
– Detailed technical information
– Iconic Les Paul players, songs, albums and concerts
– Other treasures from the Gibson vaults

Celebrating 70 years of a music icon, this is an ode to a magical guitar and the music made with it.

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The Art of Jazz explores how the expressionism and spontaneity of jazz spilled onto its album art, posters, and promotional photography, and even inspired standalone works of fine art.

Everyone knows jazz is on the cutting edge of music, but how much do you know about its influence in the visual arts? With album covers that took inspiration from the avant-garde, jazz’s primarily African American musicians and their producers sought to challenge and inspire listeners both musically and visually.

Arranged chronologically, each chapter covers a key period in jazz history, from the earliest days of the twentieth century to today’s postmodern jazz. Chapters begin with substantive introductions and present the evolution of jazz imagery in all its forms, mirroring the shifting nature of the music itself. With two authoritative features per chapter and over 300 images, The Art of Jazz is a significant contribution to the literature of this intrepid art form.

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A Sunday Times Bestseller. The exhilarating and startlingly honest autobiography of the living legend.

Exhilarating … leaves blood on the page … My Name Is Barbra is 992 pages of startling honesty and self-reflection, deadpan parenthetical asides (including a running bit about how much she loves going to the dentist), encyclopedic recall of onstage outfits, and rigorous analyses of her films’ Vanity Fair

‘The mother of all memoirs’ New Yorker

‘Glorious, exuberant, chatty and candid, a 970-page victory lap past all who ever doubted, diminished or dissed her, with lingering high fives for the many supporters . . . generous dollops of chutzpah … Nobody puts Barbra in the corner’ New York Times

‘An extraordinary life – you couldn’t make it up’ The Guardian

‘This enormous, poignant memoir from the ultimate showbusiness trouper shows that you can never have it all (even if you’re Barbra). The writing is great and the likeable formidable personality shines through . . . deeper than the average celebrity memoir’ The Times

‘The book is crammed with delicious details of backstage arguments, bewildered suitors and at least one incident of falling off a London bus’ BBC

‘A glorious doorstopper… the sheer ambition of this intricately woven memoir makes it a fascinating read. The delicate pages bring to mind a Russian novel or, perhaps more appropriately for the many who view Streisand as akin to a deity, a bible. And yet, Streisand writes relatively succinctly, with warmth and wit. Behind the sequins, beneath the wigs and through the glass of the recording studio, there’s just a woman who dreamed of being famous and make it happen, on her terms. It’s an accomplished and entrancing walk through a life well lived’ Evening Standard

‘Streisand is no less than a living legend, one of a handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and now, she’s taking us all back to where it began. Streisand’s story is truly inspirational and it’s one that you’ll want to pick up again and again’ Glamour

Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she’s found in her marriage to James Brolin.

No entertainer’s memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand’s, and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.

‘A brilliant memoir’ Hillary Clinton

Sunday Times Bestseller, November 2024

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The first book to deal exclusively with the British musical film from the very beginning of talking pictures in the late 1920s through the Depression of the 1930s up to the end of World War II. Cheer Up! is the first book to deal exclusively with the British musical film from the very beginning of talking pictures in the late 1920s through the Depression of the 1930s up to the end of World War II. The upsurge in production at British studios from 1929 onwards marked the real birth of a genre whose principal purpose was to entertain the British public. This endeavour was deeply affected by the very many emigres escaping Nazi Germany, who flooded into the British film industry during this decade, as the genre tried to establish itself. The British musical film in the 1930s reflects a richness of interest. Studios initially flirted with filming what were essentially stage productions plucked from the West End theatre but soon learned that importing a foreign star was a box-office boost. Major musical stars including Jessie Matthews, Richard Tauber and George Formby established themselves during this period. From its beginning, the British musical film captured some of the most notable music-hall performers on screen, and its obsession with music-hall persisted throughout the war years. Other films married popular and classical music with social issues of poverty and unemployment, a message of social integration that long preceded the efforts of the Ealing studios to encourage a sense of social cohesion in post-war Britain. The treatmentof the films discussed is linear, each film dealt with in order of its release date, and allowing for an engaging narrative packed with encyclopaedic information.

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The first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved roadie, assistant, confidant and friend

A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Malcolm ‘Mal’ Evans was an invaluable member of the Beatles’ inner circle. Serving as their long-time roadie, personal assistant and protector, he was a sometime lyricist, occasional performer and regular fixer at the height of the group’s fame and beyond.

But Mal’s dedication to his beloved ‘boys’ and his own desire for stardom took its toll, leading to the dissolution of his marriage and his untimely death in January 1976.

Until now, Mal’s extraordinary life has remained shrouded in mystery. Drawing on hundreds of exclusive interviews and with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives – including his personal diaries, manuscripts and memorabilia – renowned Beatles scholar Kenneth Womack paints the first complete portrait of this complicated figure at the heart of the Beatles’ story.

Living the Beatles Legend is a fascinating but ultimately tragic tale about life at the edges of superstardom.

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Transport yourself to the magical world of Harry Potter with this stunning collector’s edition piano anthology. Featuring an exclusive, bespoke cover by MinaLima, the graphic design studio behind the Wizarding World, with special gold foiling and a treasure trove of magical illustrations. This ultimate collection of Harry Potter piano music makes the perfect gift for pianists and Potterheads alike!

The Harry Potter Piano Anthology contains 56 of the biggest and best musical themes from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, arranged for intermediate level piano. From the best-loved John Williams tunes Hedwig’s Theme and Harry’s Wondrous World to The Crimes of Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s Theme from the Fantastic Beasts films, this book has been created for pianists to enjoy and return to again and again.

Contents

Harry’s Wondrous World

Diagon Alley

Nimbus 2000

Voldemort

Leaving Hogwarts

Hedwig’s Theme

The Chamber of Secrets

Fawkes the Phoenix

The Spiders

Buckbeak’s Flight

A Window to the Past

Hagrid the Professor

The Quidditch World Cup (The Irish)

Neville’s Waltz

Harry in Winter

Potter Waltz

Death of Cedric

Hogwarts’ March

Hogwarts’ Hymn

Fireworks

Professor Umbridge

Dumbledore’s Army

The Room of Requirement

The Ministry of Magic

Loved Ones and Leaving

Harry and Hermione

In Noctem

Ginny

Wizard Wheezes

Farewell Aragog

When Ginny Kissed Harry

Slughorn’s Confession

Dumbledore’s Farewell

The Weasley Stomp

Obliviate

Snape to Malfoy Manor

At the Burrow

Godric’s Hollow Graveyard

Harry and Ginny

Farewell to Dobby

Statues

Lily’s Theme

Courtyard Apocalypse

Severus and Lily

The Resurrection Stone

A New Beginning

A Man and His Beasts

End Titles, Pt.2

Kowalski Rag

Newt Says Goodbye to Tina/Jacob’s Bakery

Salamander Eyes

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Dumbledore’s Theme

Leta’s Theme

Fantastic Beasts Theme

The Ceremony

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#2 UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

In 1979, 2 Tone exploded into the national consciousness as records by The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born.

2 Tone was black and white: a multi-racial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues, racism, class and gender struggles. It spoke of injustices in society and took fight against right wing extremism.

The music of 2 Tone was exuberant: white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae; and crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid. The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry, masterminded by a middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label’s first record featured ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials’ backed by an instrumental track by the, as yet, unformed, Selecter. Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts. Dammers signed Madness, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation. However, soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination.

Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone entered in a new phase. Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 1979-1981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning end-piece finale in ‘(Free) Nelson Mandela’.

Told in three parts, Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.

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