The legion of fans who refuse to believe that Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977 has been a major force behind the ever-expanding, elusive, and enduring Elvis myth during the past seventeen years. This network of fervent true believers engages in activities that include a melange of sightings and conspiracy theories. Mass media coverage of these phenomena has evolved from the underground grass-roots level to widespread publicity with social, religious, commercial, and ideological underpinnings. In True Disbelievers, R. Serge Denisoff and George Plasketes examine the implications of various accounts and several perspectives on Elvis Presley's death and transfiguration.

Denisoff and Plasketes also analyze the various media that those who doubt Elvis's death use to popularize their positions, including television, magazines, and books. They review the work of others who have written on the subject, such as Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Major Bill Smith, and raise provocative, yet valid questions about the phenomenon they describe. True Disbelievers takes a pointed look at the music industry as well, and how it has used and commercially benefitted by the continuing belief that Elvis lives. They examine common strands in the many reports of Elvis sightings since Presley's reported death.

Denisoff and Plasketes describe the Elvis phenomenon in serious, objective as well as empathetic terms, placing it in the context of studies of cult figures and their followers. True Disbelievers contains a great deal of fascinating information about America's popular culture and the power and influence of the media in modern society. It will be of significant interest to communication studiesscholars, sociologists, professionals in the music and media industries, and those interested in popular culture.

Seeking to understand youth culture through its visual and musical expression, "In Garageland" presents a pioneering ethnographc study of rock bands and their fans.
The authors explore the functions of rock playing within three socially different peer groups, investigating how their activities relate to the external demands and resources of a postmodern world. Presented in the "dialogic" format--the authorial text juxtaposed on the page with the remarks of those interviewed--the authors analyze the objective, social, symbolic and subjective sources and meanings of rock playing, relating these to theories on modernity, social groups and the production and reception of cultural symbols.
Topics include class as well as sexual conflicts; mainstream and deviant subcultures, and the complex social, psychological and ethical relationships which exist within youth culture. "In Garageland" develops the notion of youth culture research as a way of mirroring our grown-up identities and of staking out the limits of late modern culture in general.

Made in Latin America serves as a comprehensive introduction to the history, sociology, and musicology of contemporary Latin American popular music. Each essay, written by a leading scholar of Latin American music, covers the major figures, styles, and social contexts of popular music in Latin America and provides adequate context so readers understand why the figure or genre under discussion is of lasting significance. The book first presents a general description of the history and background of popular music, followed by essays organized into thematic sections: Theoretical Issues; Transnational Scenes; Local and National Scenes; Class, Identity, and Politics; and Gendered Scenes.

An explanation of types of jobs, and organizations within the rock and pop music business by the former publicist of the Beatles and music journalist and broadcaster. The jobs are related to each other so that a full picture of the music industry is developed on both the creative and administrative side - useful for those following music related courses who wish to work in the industry or perform in it. Ways into the industry are indicated with a full directory listing of useful contact names and addresses.

Thriving within a narrow niche in rock music is the recording on which one artist composes, plays, sings and often produces each track. As a showcase of individual effort and talent, the single-artist rock album has been adopted by artists such as Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, and Prince to produce unique additions to their discographies. To this type of album, Steve Hamelman has affixed the label AlphaSoloism. In All by Myself: Essays on the Single-Artist Rock Album, eleven scholars explore eleven different albums, both well-known and obscure, released between 1970 and 2011. Their essays illuminate aesthetic, technical, and theoretical elements that distinguish AlphaSolo recordings from conventional ones. In addition to providing historical background on studio, live, original, and cover recordings released between the 1970 to the present, the essays explore questions of intention, craft, performance, and reception. All by Myself marks the AlphaSolo subgenre's moment of origin as a musical category and academic field. To date, no study exists on this unique genre of music-making, and All by Myself serves as a call for future investigations into this present and growing phenomenon in rock culture.

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'The story of a band that's always on the brink: of stardom, of madness, of brilliance, of disgrace' Miranda Sawyer, Observer 'You begin to wonder why more biographies aren't tackled with such invention' Record Collector 'This book is a rarity' Mark Lanegan 'One of the finest music books in aeons' Kevin Barry From the mountains of Algeria to the squats of South London via sectarian Northern Ireland, Ten Thousand Apologies is the sordid and thrilling story of the country's most notorious cult band, Fat White Family. Loved and loathed in equal measure since their formation in 2011, the relentlessly provocative, stunningly dysfunctional "drug band with a rock problem" have dedicated themselves to constant chaos and total creative freedom at all costs. Like a tragicomic penny dreadful dreamed up by a mutant hybrid of Jean Genet, the Dadaists and Mark E. Smith, the Fat Whites' story is a frequently jaw-dropping epic of creative insurrection, narcotic excess, mental illness, wanderlust, self-sabotage, fractured masculinity, and the ruthless pursuit of absolute art. Co-written with lucidity and humour by singer Lias Saoudi and acclaimed author Adelle Stripe, Ten Thousand Apologies is that rare thing: a music book that barely features any music, a biography as literary as any novel, and a confessional that does not seek forgiveness. This is the definitive account of Fat White Family's disgraceful and radiant jihad - a depraved, romantic and furious gesture of refusal to a sanitised era.

Issue 2 of Loops, the biannual journal dedicated to music writing from Faber and Domino Records, hosts essays from Andy Miller (Est-ce, est-ce ce bon?: Serge Gainsbourg in the Culture Bunker), Dan Franklin (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Fast: Napalm Death and the Possibility of Life's Destruction) and Frances Morgan on Red Square's Thirty Three and the resonance of re-discovery after the event. And then There's The Man Who Wasn't There, Paul Morley's spectacularly honest and revealing portrait of Michael Jackson and his legacy. So much has been written; so little has been said. Morley unravels and indulges the myth to ask just who he was, how we came to piece him together through our collective desires and fears, and why his destiny so inevitably reflected the dysfunctionality of the culture. This expansive essay takes a sober, brave and imaginative perspective on a story that was written before it was told and mythologised before it was considered. Morley sits alongside Simon Reynolds, Nick Kent, Lavinia Greenlaw, Owen Hatherley, Matt Thorne, Rob Chapman, Rubbish Raver, Miriam Linna, Mark Fisher, Tim Lawrence and Elisa Ambrogio in Loops' second outing.

Youth music is the most creative and contested location on the cultural landscape. It is a vehicel for generational moods and aspirations, a public refuge for fantasies outlawed in daily life, a testing ground for technical ingenuity, an enormously profitable commercial channel for mainstream narratives of thought and behaviour, and one of the corporate state's main theatres for national moral panic. Today's sounds and the debates about their various forms, are inseparable from teh social conditions of the last two decades: class polarization, racial marginalisation, and economic violence enacted to a degree that has left youth, as a whole, with drastically reduced opportunities in life. Youth culture is still responding to these uneven developments with a passion that has been romanticised by some critics as a significant form of resistance, and denigrated by others as an avoidance of direct and political protest.
Microphone Fiends, a collection of original essays and interviews, brings together some of the best known scholars, critics, journalists and performers to focus on the contemporary scene. It includes theoretical discussions of musical history along with social commentaries about genres like disco, metal and rap music, and case histories of specific movements like the Riots Girls, funk clubbing in Rio de Janeiro, and the British rave scene. The contents of the volume engage with the broad tradition of cultural studies and sociology of youth music and culture, but it is also designed to address audiences reached by mainstream music journalism and fans of any musical taste. responding

Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre provides an overview of this diverse and complex musical genre for scholars of classic rock and curious novices alike, with a focus on 50 must-hear musicians, songwriters, bands, and albums. Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre explores in detail the genesis, evolution, and proliferation of classic rock. It begins with a background on the development of classic rock and its subgenres. Next, an A to Z listing of artists (musicians, songwriters, and bands), albums, important concerts, and songs; a chapter on classic rock's impact on popular culture; a chapter on classic rock's legacy; and a bibliography. This organization gives readers the choice of starting from the beginning to learn how classic rock and each of its subgenres emerged after rock and roll or skip ahead to a specific artist, recording, or song in the Must-Hear Music section. This volume stands out from other resources on classic rock for its listening-centered approach. Most books on classic rock focus on trivia, history, terminology, or criticism. It also explores the sound of the music of important artists and offers musical analyses that are accessible to upper-level high school and lower-level undergraduates while at the same time maintaining the interest of classic rock aficionados and scholars. Explains classic rock composition and songwriting techniques as well as studio production values Considers the vast array of classic rock styles as well the diversity of artists who recorded classic rock Includes often overlooked contributors to classic rock such as Jim Croce, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, and The Ventures as well as overlooked subgenres such as soft rock Covers rock and roll's precursors that helped give rise to classic rock as well as how classic rock has continued as a popular music genre from the late 1970s into the present Offers historical context of the development of classic rock, discussing its lasting impact on popular culture and its legacy

Actor performer musician entrepreneur winemaker athlete writer curious adventurer a Maynard James Keenan is the embodiment of the archetypal artist. Best known as the vocalist in award-winning groups Tool A Perfect Circle and Puscifer he has trusted the path he's followed and heeded his inner voice ever open to synchronicities and unexpected turnings along the way.THUntil now fans of Maynard James Keenan a or MJK as he is often called a have had access to only an abridged version of his story. In EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE Keenan partners with his friend of 30 years Sarah Jensen to present a full account of his life and career. From his Midwest childhood to his years in the army to his time in art school a and from his stint at a Boston pet shop to his place in the international spotlight and his influence on contemporary music and regional winemaking a the book chronicles the events that led MJK to take one step after the next to change direction to explore sometimes surprising opportunities.THIncluded are sidebars in his own words often humorous anecdotes that illuminate the narrative as well as commentary by his family members friends instructors and industry colleagues. It also features a foreword by Alex Grey an American visionary artist and longtime friend of Keenan along with a bounty photos of Keenan from childhood to the present.THA comprehensive portrayal of a versatile and dedicated artist EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE pays homage to the people and places that shaped the man and his art. A ENew York TimesE Bestseller in hardcover it is presented here for the first time in paperback.

"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European "A Ukrainian Murakami" Guardian A hugely entertaining romp through the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees, now reporting widely on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his home country. Strange things are happening in the cosmopolitan town of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . . A group of ageing hippies meets at the cemetery in the middle of the night, gathered around a mysterious grave. Among them the ex-KGB officer who means to apologise to all those he spied on; the woman who is allergic to banknotes, and yet works at the money exchange; and Taras, who makes a living driving at top speed over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra, curing paying passengers of their kidney stones. Kurkov's novels are often populated by lonely people going through difficult times, and by his own brand of black humour combined with magic realism (occasionally vodka-fuelled). All those ingredients are found in Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv. Translated from the Russian by Reuben Woolley

In 2007, an unlikely troupe of 1500 Filipino prisoners became Internet celebrities after their YouTube video of Michael Jackson's ground-breaking hit 'Thriller' went viral. Taking this spectacular dance as a point of departure, Dangerous Mediations explores the disquieting development of prisoners performing punishment to a global, online audience. Combining analysis of this YouTube video with first-hand experiences from fieldwork in the Philippine prison, Aine Mangaoang investigates a wide range of interlocking contexts surrounding this user-generated text to reveal how places of punishment can be transformed into spaces of spectacular entertainment, leisure, and penal tourism. In the post-YouTube era, Dangerous Mediations sounds the call for close readings of music videos produced outside of the corporate culture industries. By connecting historical discussions on postcolonialism, surveillance and prison philosophy with contemporary scholarship on popular music, participatory culture and new media, Dangerous Mediations is the first book to ask critical questions about the politics of pop music and audiovisual mediation in early 21st-century detention centres.

Scouse Pop is a journey into the personalities and music of the successful pioneering Liverpool pop bands of the late seventies and eighties. It examines their motivations, their uniqueness and the routes to success which made them into enduring musical innovators. It looks at the reasons why art-pop bands such as OMD, China Crisis, Echo and the Bunnymen, Black and Frankie Goes to Hollywood managed to combine art and commerce with such spectacular success. The bands experienced their own 'revolutions in the head, ' internal revolutions than eventually made many of them household names. The development of these suburban romantics from Liverpool represented a period of intensive creativity and musical romanticism that still resonates today. The spirit of (internal) revolution at the heart of these bands retains a strong fascination for those interested in artistic creation and popular culture. Given the bleak and uninspiring context within which the bands surfaced, how did these musicians achieve great success? Scouse Pop explores this question in detail, and examines the factors that facilitated the transformation of Liverpool teenage dreams into commercial and cultural impact. The music industry, radio and DJs, producers and engineers, the record-buying public and the bands themselves comprise the heart of this account.

With 90 million of the band's records sold worldwide since 1987, Guns N' Roses prolonged rock music past its sell-by date with controversial albums and immense, often riotous, world tours. But the band's complete story has never been fully told - until now. In his sixth major rock biography, Stephen Davis - author of the legendary Hammer of the Gods - details the riveting story of a band that originated in the gutters of Sunset Strip and went on to become the biggest, baddest band on the planet. Davis brilliantly captures the birth of Guns' raw power, which - despite rape charges, drug-induced rampages and a general appetite for destruction - launched the band into the pantheon of rock gods such as Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. With a wealth of detail, Davis looks at Axl's unrelenting quest to release the long-awaited, mystery-shrouded Chinese Democracy album, as well as the further adventures of some of the Gunners under the banner of the hard-rocking band Velvet Revolver. In Watch You Bleed, for the first time, millions of Guns N' Roses fans will learn the whole truth - sometimes funny, sometimes tragic - about the last of the great rock bands.

Pink Floyd are one of the world's most successful rock bands of all time. After their breakthrough record, "The Dark Side Of The Moon", brought prog rock to the masses, they have never looked back, and their influence continues today in rock, ambient and techno music. "Pink Floyd: Glorious Torment" is an unofficial, intriguing review of their path to mega success, tracking too the dismay of Syd Barrett's decline and the battles and the glory of their music. Covering all the major events in their long career this great new book is accompanied by revealing and evocative images of the band.

The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2018 gives biographical information and contact details for some of the most talented and influential artists and individuals from the world of popular music. Now in its nineteenth edition, there are over 7,000 biographies charting the careers and achievements of artists in pop, rock, folk, jazz, dance, world, country music and much more. Key Features: - each entry includes full biographical information: principal career details, recordings and compositions, honours and contact information where available - each entrant is given the opportunity to update his or her information - spans the full range of the popular music industry, from rock to jazz and dance to country - provides information on established names as well as up-and-coming artists - a directory section provides details of music festivals, awards, organizations within the industry, and digital music sources - for ease of reference, the book includes an index of music group members. In one accessible volume this title offers users a vast collection of information on the most famous and influential people in the popular music industry.

The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyricsis an authoritative text, providing standard versions of all the original songs you thought you knew forwards and backwards. These are some of the best-loved songs in the modern American songbook. They are hummed and spoken among thousands as counterculture code and recorded by musicians of all stripes for their inimitable singability and obscure accessibility. How do they do all this? To provide a context for this formidable body of work, of which his part is primary, Robert Hunter has written a foreword that goes to the heart of the matter. And the annotations on sources provide a gloss on the lyrics, which goes to the roots of Western culture as they are incorporated into them. An avid Grateful Dead concertgoer for more than two decades, David Dodd is a librarian who brings to the work a detective's love of following a clue as far as it will take him. Including essays by Dead lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry and Jim Carpenter's original illustrations, whimsical elements in the lyrics are brought to light, showcasing the American legend that is present in so many songs. A gorgeous keepsake edition of the Dead's official annotated lyrics,The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyricsis an absolute must-have for the fiftieth anniversary-you won't think of this cultural icon the same way again. In fact, founding band member Bob Weir said: "This book is great. Now I'll never have to explain myself."

Popular music is not simply a series of musicians, moments, genres or recordings. Audiences matter; and the most ardent audience members are the fans. To be a fan is to feel a connection with music. The study of fandom has begun to emerge as a vital strand of academic research, one that offers a fresh perspective on the nature of music culture. Fan Identities and Practices in Context investigates fan identities and practices in different contexts and in relation to different bands and artists. Through a series of empirical case studies the book reflects a diverse array of objects and perspectives associated with this vibrant new field of study. Contributors examine how fans negotiate their identities and actively pursue their particular interests, touching on a range of issues including cultural capital, generational memory, gender, fan fiction and the use of new media. This book was originally published as two special issues of Popular Music and Society.

Consider this paradox - for many people, rock is dead, crushed by the weight of its own success and popularity, little more than a voice of mainstream commercial entertainment. But for many others, especially among the new conservative Right, rock poses a greater threat now than ever before. What is it about rock that makes it so important in contemporary political struggles?;Bringing together cultural, political and economic analyses, Lawrence Grossberg offers an interpretation of the contemporary politics of both rock and popular culture. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" explores four histories: the changing role of rock in everyday life; the emergence of an affective and popular conservatism; the crisis of contemporary capitalism; and the apparent inability of the Left to respond to these changes. These critical developments are bound together by their concern with postmodernity, understood as both a structure of everyday life and as a sensibility of popular culture. Everyone wants to get out of this place, but only the Right seems to have found a way to benefit from where we are. Bringing together cultural, political and economic analyses, Grossberg offers an interpretation of

The Space Between the Notes examines a series of relationships central to sixties counter-culture: psychedelic coding and rock music, the Rolling Stones and Charles Manson, the Beatles and the `Summers of love', Jimi Hendrix and hallucinogenics, Pink Floyd and space rock. Sheila Whiteley combines musicology and socio-cultural analysis to illuminate this terrain, illustrating her argument with key recordings of the time: Cream's She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow, Hendrix's Hey Joe, Pink Floyd's Set the Controls For the Heat of the Sun, The Move's I Can Hear the Grass Grow, among others.
The appropriation of progressive rock by young urban dance bands in the 1990s make this study of sixties and seventies counter-culture a timely intervention. It will inform students of popular music and culture, and spark off recognition and interest from those that lived through the period as well as a new generation that draw inspiration from its iconography and sensibilities today.

They say there are no second acts in American lives, and third acts are almost unheard of. That's part of what makes Brian Wilson's story so astonishing. As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like In My Room, God Only Knows, and Good Vibrations forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting. Derailed in the 1970s by mental illness, drug use, and the shifting fortunes of the band, Wilson came back again and again over the next few decades, surviving and-finally-thriving. Now, for the first time, he weighs in on the sources of his creative inspiration and on his struggles, the exhilarating highs and the debilitating lows. I Am Brian Wilson reveals as never before the man who fought his way back to stability and creative relevance, who became a mesmerizing live artist, who forced himself to reckon with his own complex legacy, and who finally completed Smile, the legendary unfinished Beach Boys record that had become synonymous with both his genius and its destabilization. Today Brian Wilson is older, calmer, and filled with perspective and forgiveness. Whether he's talking about his childhood, his bandmates, or his own inner demons, Wilson's story, told in his own voice and in his own way, unforgettably illuminates the man behind the music, working through the turbulence and discord to achieve, at last, a new harmony.

The punk band D.O.A., established in 1978, is considered one of the founders of hardcore punk, alongside such other seminal groups as Black Flag and Minor Threat. Their raw, melodic sound, which drew comparisons to The Clash and The Ramones, has always been matched by the band's acute political sensibility. Known for its uncompromising and outspoken anarchist viewpoints, D.O.A. has been active on behalf of many issues, including anti-racism, anti-globalization, freedom of speech, women's rights, and the environment. Its slogan, "Talk - Action = 0," refers to the importance of artists and others who need to "walk the walk" when it comes to their politics.

After more than thirty years, D.O.A. remains as active as ever, touring internationally (including a trip to China, the first punk band to do so) and recording regularly (their thirteenth studio album was released in 2010); their fan base now spans three generations. This large-format book is a sprawling visual history of the group by lead singer and guitarist Joe Keithley--made up of vintage photographs, posters, handwritten lyrics, and other various ephemera--that offers a visceral glimpse into the hardcore life of one of the hardest-working punk bands in the business.

Joe Keithley is the founder of D.O.A. His autobiography "I, Shithead: A Life in Punk" was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2003; now in its third printing, it has been translated into French, German, and Italian.

'Genuinely funny; indeed, the story will keep you entertained for a very long time' Sunday Times Joy Division changed the face of music. Godfathers of the enduring alternative scene, they reinvented rock in the post-punk era, creating a sound - dark, hypnotic, intense - that would influence U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead and many others. This is the rollercoaster story of Joy Division - the friendships, fights, fall-outs; the rehearsals and recording sessions; the larger than life characters - told by the band's legendary bassist, Peter Hook. 'Hook has restored a flesh-and-blood rawness to what was becoming a standard tale. Few pop music books manage that' Guardian 'An honest, enthusiastic account . . . it's a window like no other into the reality of life in this most aloof of bands' Metro 'An immense account of Joy Division's rise . . . having read Hook's book, you'll feel like you were the fifth member of the band' GQ 'A bittersweet, profanity-filled recollection . . . if you like Joy Division, you really have to read it' Q Magazine 'Hook lifts the lid on the real Ian Curtis' NME 'He's frank, incredibly funny, and it isn't shy' Artrocker

This is a comprehensive guide to popular music literature, first published in 1986. Its main focus is on American and British works, but it includes significant works from other countries, making it truly international in scope.

Fans constitute a very special kind of audience. They have been marginalized, ridiculed and stigmatized, yet at the same time they seem to represent the vanguard of new relationships with and within the media. 'Participatory culture' has become the new normative standard. Concepts derived from early fan studies, such as transmedial storytelling and co-creation, are now the standard fare of journalism and marketing text books alike. Indeed, usage of the word fan has become ubiquitous. The Ashgate Research Companion to Fan Cultures problematizes this exaltation of fans and offers a comprehensive examination of the current state of the field. Bringing together the latest international research, it explores the conceptualization of 'the fan' and the significance of relationships between fans and producers, with particular attention to the intersection between online spaces and offline places. The twenty-two chapters of this volume elucidate the key themes of the fan studies vernacular. As the contributing authors draw from recent empirical work around the globe, the book provides fresh insights and innovative angles on the latest developments within fan cultures, both online and offline. Because the volume is specifically set up as companion for researchers, the chapters include recommendations for the further study of fan cultures. As such, it represents an essential reference volume for researchers and scholars in the fields of cultural and media studies, communication, cultural geography and the sociology of culture.