A classically trained countertenor who sang with his high school choir, Dee remembers the day he decided he was "not gonna take it" and stopped caring what people thought about him. Following in the footsteps of his idols Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath, Dee jumped from band to band until he met Jay Jay French and Twisted Sister. But it wasn't until he met his costume-designing soul-mate Suzette that they developed his unique style. Dee's hard work finally paid off with an impressive resume that includes: a monster hit record; smash MTV videos; a long-running radio show, "The House of Hair"; appearances in film (Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Howard Stern's Private Parts, StrangeLand) and television (Growing Up Twisted, Celebrity Apprentice); and a starring role in Broadway's Rock of Ages. He even authored a teenage survival guide that was required reading in Russia! Filled with entertaining anecdotes and candid confessions, Shut Up and Give Me the Miketakes you through the good times and bad with a heavy metal star who worked as hard as he played, and who did it all for his wife, four kids, and millions of "SMF " (Sick Mother F******) fans.

From the acclaimed biographer who brought you the rock biography of Bruce Springsteen comes the life of musician Paul McCartney--from his groundbreaking years with the Beatles to Wings to his work as a solo artist and activist.
More than a rock star, more than a celebrity, Paul McCartney is a cultural touchstone who helped transform popular music as one half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo. In this definitive biography, Peter Ames Carlin examines McCartney's entire life, casting new light not just on the Beatles era but also on his years with Wings and his thirty-year relationship with his first wife, Linda McCartney. He takes us on a journey through a tumultuous couple of decades in which Paul struck out on his own as a solo artist, reached the top of the charts with a new band, and once again drew hundreds of thousands of screaming fans to his concerts. Carlin presents McCartney as a musical visionary but also as a layered and conflicted figure as haunted by his own legacy--and particularly his relationship with John Lennon--as he was inspired by it. Built on years of research and fresh, revealing interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators spanning McCartney's entire life, Carlin's lively biography captures the many faces of the living legend.

Pro Mundo - Pro Domo: The Writings of Alban Berg contains new English translations of the complete writings of the Viennese composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) and extensive commentaries tracing the history of each essay and its connection to musical culture of the early twentieth century. Berg is now recognized as a classic composer of the modern period, best known for his operas Wozzeck and Lulu. Berg, Anton Webern, and their teacher Arnold Schoenberg constitute the "Second Viennese School" which played a major role in the transformation of serious music as it entered the modern period. Berg was an avid and skillful writer. His essays include analytic studies of compositions by Schoenberg, polemics on music and musicians of his day, and lectures and miscellaneous writings on a variety of topics. Throughout his considerable and diverse corpus of writings, Berg alternates between two perspectives: Pro Mundo - Pro Domo, meaning roughly "speaking for all - speaking for myself" commenting at one moment on the general state of culture and the world, and the next moment on his own works. In his early years he also tried his hand at fictional writing, using works by Ibsen and Strindberg as models. This new English edition contains 47 essays, many of which are little known and have not been previously available in English.

THE SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR A DAILY TELEGRAPH BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR A TELEGRAPH BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW STATESMAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Faith, Hope and Carnage is a book about Nick Cave's inner life. Created from over forty hours of intimate conversations with Seán O'Hagan, it is a profoundly thoughtful exploration, in Cave's own words, of what really drives his life and creativity. The book examines questions of faith, art, music, freedom, grief and love. It draws candidly on Cave's life, from his early childhood to the present day, his loves, his work ethic and his dramatic transformation in recent years. From a place of considered reflection, Faith, Hope and Carnage offers ladders of hope and inspiration from a true creative visionary.

For the last 50 years, Clive James has been writing remarkable songs - witty, moving, sometimes satirical, often thrillingly poetic - with his musical partner, Pete Atkin. They've written more than 200 together, releasing the first album of their work in 1970 and the last in 2015. John Peel loved them. So did Kenny Everett. Stephen Fry is a huge fan. And Clive himself believes these songs are the best things he's ever done. Loose Canon explores the sparkling lyrics and brilliantly memorable tunes that have won Clive and Pete a fanatical cult following but still managed to remain the British music industry's best-kept secret. Stephen Fry has written an incredibly generous and enthusiastic foreword.

Show Tunes fully chronicles the shows, songs, and careers of the major composers of the American musical theatre, from Jerome Kern's earliest interpolations to the latest hits on Broadway. Legendary composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Porter, Berlin, Bernstein, and Sondheim have been joined by more recent songwriters like Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Flaherty, Michael John LaChiusa, and Adam Guettel. This majestic reference book covers their work, their innovations, their successes, and their failures. Show Tunes is simply the most comprehensive volume of its kind ever produced, and this newly revised and updated edition discusses almost 1,000 shows and 9,000 show tunes. The book has been called "a concise skeleton key to the Broadway musical" (Variety) and "a ground-breaking reference work with a difference" (Show Music)-or, as the Washington Post observed, "It makes you sing and dance all over your memory."
The eagerly anticipated Fourth Edition, updated through May, 2009, features the entire theatrical output of forty of Broadway's leading composers, in addition to a wide selection of work by other songwriters. The listings include essential production data and statistics, the most extensive information available on published and recorded songs, and lively commentary on the shows, songs, and diverse careers. Based on meticulous research, the book also uncovers dozens of lost musicals-including shows that either closed out of town or were never headed for Broadway-and catalogs hundreds of previously unknown songs, including a number of musical gems that have been misplaced, cut, or forgotten. Informative, insightful, and provocative, Show Tunes is an essential guide for anyone interested in the American musical.

Chapel Royal meets country choir in this collection of eleven strophic psalm-settings, one anthem and two Christmas hymns, for four-part choir without organ. These elaborate settings with fugal passages are suitable for a reasonably competent choir and could provide useful material for evensongs and concerts. The introduction attempts to explain how this London composer, who was trained in the Chapel Royal, came to write music for a country church in Hertfordshire.

Dana Gillespie, the award-winning first lady of the Blues has enjoyed an incredible life and career. Now, she has chronicled her exploits, and as anyone who knows Dana would expect, it is intelligent, insightful, outrageous, and funny. Detailing high points, low points and everything in-between, the book covers, amongst many other things, liaisons with David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Keith Moon, and the cream of 1960's rock royalty; Recording with Jimmy Page and Elton John; Performing as Mary Magdalene in the original London production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and as the Acid Queen in Tommy; Acting in films directed by Nicholas Roeg, Ken Russell and Mai Zetterling; Performing Shakespeare with Sir John Gielgud and Arthur Lowe; Topping the pop charts across Europe; Performing to an audience of one million people in India; And... oh yes... Being British junior waterski champion for 4 years!

Founded in 1915 by the musicologist William Gillies Whittaker, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Bach Choir is one of the oldest Bach choirs in the United Kingdom. This book celebrates the centenary of the choir with a multi-author account of the choir's contributions to musical life and the many personalities who made that possible. It contains almost 200 illustrations, many of them not previously seen.

Jonathan G. Laniyan is privileged to study music up to Higher National Diploma level (H.N.D.) at the Polytechnic Ibadan Nigeria. He also holds Royal Schools of Music Grade 5 in Jazz Piano, Theory and Grades 7 and 8 in Practical Musicianship. He is a composer and arranger of works in Western and African Idiom, hoping to go for further studies to complete a Master's Degree (in music) in the near future.

This is the only English translation of this important book by the world's most distinguished Bach scholar. This work is widely regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the Bach cantatas. It begins with a historical survey of the seventeenth-century background to the cantatas, and performance practice issues. The core of the book is a work-by-work study in which each cantata in turn is represented by its libretto, a synopsis of its movements, and a detailed analytical commentary. This format makes it extremely useful as a reference work for anyone listening to, performing in, or studying any of the Bach cantatas. In this edition all the cantata librettos are given in German-English parallel text. The most recent (sixth) German edition appeared in 1995. For the English edition the text has been carefully revised to bring it up to date, taking account of Bach scholarship since that date.

In The Eyeline of Furtherance, charts John Howard's rise from 70's pop idol to a career in A & R and marketing. The '90s opened up new vistas, ever bigger and better opportunities, working with Elkie Brooks, Madness, Barry Manilow and rock 'n' roll heroes Lonnie Donegan and The Crickets. As John puts it, "I was propelled onwards and upwards, not this time by my own ambition, but by the plans of others who had clearly decided that I was going places in a direction I would never have imagined twenty years earlier." John Howard's first book, Incidents Crowded With Life, followed the ambitions of a young gay singer-songwriter in London in the '70s which were realised after being signed by CBS Records and recording his debut LP at Abbey Road studios. En route, he wrote the theme song for a Peter Fonda movie and was heralded as The Next Big Thing. And all the while navigating a series of disastrous personal events, not least when he broke his back in 1976.

This second updated edition of Notes from a Jazz Life includes Digby Fairweather's career since the year 2000 as a jazz cornetist, band leader, educator and broadcaster, working with George Melly and leading his band the Half-Dozen. The book has much to offer to people who are even marginally interested in jazz in all its wide variety of forms as well as providing insights for regular jazz readers. The author provides revealing reflections on the personal life and career of a musician and, with a wealth of warm, hilarious anecdotes, he writes honestly about all the challenges, frustrations and rich rewards of being part of the jazz world.

Musical director to some of the biggest names in showbusiness, Johnny Harris is also a distinguished composer and arranger in his own right. Flamboyant and energetic as a conductor, he has earned countless accolades for his dynamic stage performances with Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Englebert Humperdinck, Lulu, Liza Minelli and Lynda Carter to name but a few. This biography, written by his daughter Julie Pearce-Martin, takes you on a journey from his student days at London's Guildhall and the Swinging Sixties to the present day and the star-studded Palm Springs Follies in the USA.

Winner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's definitive memoir: an evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe 'Sharp, elegiac and finely crafted' Sunday Times 'Terrifically evocative ... The most spellbinding and diverting portrait of funky-but-chic New York in the late '60s and '70s that any alumnus has committed to print' New York Times 'Render, harrowing, often hilarious' Vogue In 1967, a chance meeting between two young people led to a romance and a lifelong friendship that would carry each to international success never dreamed of. The backdrop is Brooklyn, Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, Scribner's Bookstore, Coney Island, Warhol's Factory and the whole city resplendent. Among their friends, literary lights, musicians and artists such as Harry Smith, Bobby Neuwirth, Allen Ginsberg, Sandy Daley, Sam Shepherd, William Burroughs, etc. It was a heightened time politically and culturally; the art and music worlds exploding and colliding. In the midst of all this two kids made a pact to always care for one another. Scrappy, romantic, committed to making art, they prodded and provided each other with faith and confidence during the hungry years--the days of cous-cous and lettuce soup. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. Beautifully written, this is a profound portrait of two young artists, often hungry, sated only by art and experience. And an unforgettable portrait of New York, her rich and poor, hustlers and hellions, those who made it and those whose memory lingers near.

Having spent many years teaching and inspiring others, Rachel M Davis has fulfilled one of her ambitions as a professional musician, with the worldwide release of her first CD of moving and original solo piano music called 'Dreamcatcher'. Recorded on a Steinway piano under studio conditions Rachel has produced an incredibly beautiful sound. Working with a team of recording specialists, the production is truly world class and has been described as 'The type of music that makes you wish you kept up those piano lessons...' The CD and the book of sheet music will be of enormous interest to a broad section of classical and popular music lovers with a style reminiscent of Enya (Orinoco Flo) Andrew Lloyd-Webber (Phantom of the Opera), Einaudi, and John Barry(Dances with Wolves). You can listen to samples of all 10 tracks at www.rachelmdavis.co.uk where you can also find links to buy the CD and sheet music or download the tracks from digital music sites like iTunes or Amazon.

The Essential Jim Brickman series continues with a volume of songs about hope and patriotism. This collection contains 16 selections, five of which have never before appeared in print, and includes four pages of color photographs. Titles: America the Beautiful * Battle Hymn of the Republic * God Bless America * My Country 'Tis of Thee * The Star-Spangled Banner * and more.