Music

A musical version of Badjelly, written and narrated by Spike Milligan with music composed and arranged by Ed Welch. Tracklist: Badjelly the witch (a musical tale) The ABC Maverick I've got that photograph of you On the ning nang nong The silly old baboon

Music and photography have always shared a special relationship when an iconic musician is portrayed by a first-rate photographer, the resulting image is often transformative and transcendent, and a classic pop culture image is born. Now, in the same popular and affordable format as Thames & Hudson's "PhotoBox" and "FashionBox", "MusicBox" gathers more than 450 such legendary photographs of musicians, covering the stars of jazz, blues, rock and roll, soul, and all of their contemporary offshoots. This is an amazing collection o... read more

From the Beatles to Beyonce, and from Frank Sinatra to the Foo Fighters, this fascinating book presents tracks by every successful band and popular singer.

It seems excessive!but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Saul "Slash" Hudson was born in Hampstead to a Jewish father, an album cover artist, and a black American mother of Nigerian descent, who created David Bowie's look in The Man Who Fell to Earth. He was raised in Stoke until he was 11, when he and his mother moved to LA. Frequent visitors to the house were David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Ron Wood and Iggy Pop, . At this time Slash got into BMX bikes, and would eventually turn professional, winning won major awards and money, b... read more

In Listen to This, Alex Ross, the music critic for The New Yorker, looks both backward and forward in time, capturing essential figures and ideas in classical-music history as well as giving an alternative view of recent pop music that emphasizes the power of the individual musical voice in whatever genre. Alex Ross's award-winning international bestseller, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, has become a contemporary classic, establishing him as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. In Lis... read more

We didn't know where it was all going. We just didn't know. One day in 1968 Don McCullin, then regarded as the world's most accomplished war photographer, received a commission from the Apple Corporation to spend a day photographing the Beatles. McCullin had just returned from covering the bitter fighting during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and was the most hardened photojournalist in the field. He was astonished by the invitation. On Sunday 28 September he met the Beatles at the Sunday Times studio and began to photograph them in... read more

Bono is one of the most influential musicians at work today. Over the past twenty-five years his band, U2, have sold a staggering 130 million albums and collected 14 Grammys. Their success has made Bono one of the most recognisable faces in the world. Here, in a series of conversations with his friend, the music journalist, Michka Assayas, Bono reflects on his transformation from extrovert singer of a small, Irish, post-punk band into an international rock star. Along the way he speaks candidly about his childhood, about his mother... read more

Music at the Limits brings together three decades of Edward W. Said's essays on music. Addressing the work of a wide variety of composers and performers, Said analyses music's social and political contexts, and provides rich and often surprising assessments. He reflects on the censorship of Wagner in Israel; the relationship between music and feminism; and the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Rossini, Schumann, Stravinsky and others. Always eloquent and often surprising, Music at the Limits reinforces Said's reputation as one of the m... read more

Celebrate the world's most seductive instrument. An obsessive, full-color book in the irresistible format of Shoes and Handbags--which together have over 700,000 copies in print--guitarS delivers a feast of 500 guitars in vibrant color, plus players, makers, legends, myths, and more. Here are guitars that made history, that changed the course of music, that inspired new generations of players and listeners. Here are milestones in the guitar's search for its true self--Torres's classical, the amazing Gibson L-5--and experiments th... read more

Presents the history of the AC/DC band from their beginnings in Sydney to trail-blazing the US mainstream to the devastating death of lead singer Bon Scott in 1980.

Whether they played to 80,000 in a stadium or festival, or for a few dozen people in a pub, the world's greatest musical performers have helped change forever our concept of live entertainment. This beautifully-crafted book brings together the best-ever collection of photographs and stories from New Zealand concerts over the past half century, from the legendary Johnny Cash in 1959 to today's high-tech extravaganzas. Almost 600 photographs, many of them rare and previously unpublished, show how we sang, screamed and danced to acts ... read more

This is the definitive biography of Freddie Mercury. Written by an award-winning rock journalist, Lesley-Ann Jones toured widely with Queen forming lasting friendships with the band. Now, having secured access to the remaining band members and those who were closest to Freddie, from childhood to death, Lesley-Ann has written the most in depth account of one of music's best loved and most complex figures. Meticulously researched, sympathetic, unsensational, the book - like the forthcoming film - will focus on the period in the 1980s... read more

Chronicling the highs and lows that have punctuated the life of a musical genius, this in-depth biography reveals new insight into the legendary songs of Leonard Cohen. Covering each stage in his prolific career�his early years as a poet and author in Canada, his relocation to New York City and subsequent impact within the folk and rock scenes,... read more

The Girl in the Song tells the stories of 50 women who have inspired classic rock songs. Who was Emily in Pink Floyd's See Emily Play? What happened to Suzanne Verdal, immortalised in Leonard Cohen's Suzanne? Did life change for Prudence Farrow after John Lennon penned Dear Prudence? And whatever happened to 'the girl with mousy hair', an ex-girlfriend Bowie sings about in Life on Mars? This fascinating book explains how each song came about, when it was released, the impact it had on the charts and then gives a mini-biography of t... read more

Tom Waits, even with his barnyard growl and urban hipster yawp, may just be what the Daily Telegraph calls him: 'the greatest entertainer on Planet Earth.' Over a span of almost four decades, he has transformed his music and persona not to suit the times but his whims. Along with Bob Dylan, he stands as one of American music's last elder statesmen, still capable of putting out records that matters. Journalists intent upon cracking the code are more likely to come out of a Waits interview with anecdotes about the weather, insects, o... read more

'Someone called and said Kurt died. I just f*****g lost it.' He has sold over 40 million albums. He's been in bands that have changed popular music forever. He saw his best friend commit suicide. He starts supergroups. He's the nicest guy in rock. From Nirvana to Foo Fighters, from brotherhood to bitter rivalry, from breathless highs to lifeless lows, Paul Brannigan gives an unparalleled, intimate and extraordinary account of the life and times of Dave Grohl. In 1990, little-known punk-metal upstarts Nirvana added a new drummer ... read more

Brings together Cohen's song lyrics and a generous selection of his poetry (originally published between 1956 and 1992).