An insightful study of seven great pop musicians who expanded the boundaries of musical creativity in their own different ways during the peaks of their careers in the second half of the 20th Century. The musicians discussed in this work are Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Sun Ra, James Brown, and Sigmund Snopek III. The author Bob Mielke teaches American Literature and Culture at Truman State University.

Almost 20 years ago Michael Brocken created from his doctoral research, what became both a seminal and contested volume concerning the social mores surrounding the British Folk Revival up to that point in time: The British Folk Revival 1944-2002. In this long-overdue second edition he revisits not only his own research, but also that of others from the 1990s and early 21st century. He then considers how a discourse of folkloric authenticity emerged in the closing years of the 19th century and how a worrying nationalistic immanence came to surround folk music and dance during the inter-war years. Brocken also proposes that the media: records, radio and TV in post-WWII folk revivalism can offer us important insights into how self-directed learning of the folk guitar emerged. Brocken moves on to consider the business structures of the contemporary folk scene and how relationships are formed between contemporary folk business and the digital and social media spheres. In his penultimate chapter he discusses the masculinisation of folk traditions and asks important questions about how our folk traditions are carried and are authorised. In the final chapter he also considers the rise of an exciting new folk live music built environment.

Dark Side of the Spoon: The Rock Cookbook features thirty recipes inspired by some of the most renowned rock acts of today and yesteryear. The dishes are accompanied by exclusive artworks from thirty top illustrators. Catering for cooks of all abilities and tastes, this book will help you master a wide range of starters, mains and desserts - including Smashing Pumpkin Pie, Fleetwood Mac and Cheese and Primal Bream. Dark Side of the Spoon celebrates the many humorous parallels between food and rock, and is a must-have for anyone with a love for cooking, music or illustration, or indeed all three.

Most know that the legendary English rock band the Who performed concerts at ear-splitting volume, smashed their instruments, and became one of the world's most influential groups. Their period from 1964 to 1976 saw the creation of such classic songs as "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" as well as the Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia albums. But how many know the stories of those fans affected by their music and live performances, or the angst and insecurities that drove bandleader Pete Townshend to new heights during this time? Who saw Pete Townshend handing his guitar from the stage to a grateful fan, and what happened next? Or who has seen photos of bassist John Entwistle being anything but the "Quiet One"? Or what happened backstage at Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festival? This book offers what Pete Townshend himself describes as an "intriguing and extremely insightful take on the Who and myself". The reader will be thrown into untold stories, hundreds of previously unpublished photographs, and uncirculated recordings clarifying the misinformation, myths, and legends. It is a labour of love from a fan for fans that gives voice to a collective consciousness that might otherwise fall silent over time.

- A comprehensive guide to musicals that are based on musicians' existing back catalogues - how they work, why they work and why they are so successful. - Written for musical theatre students at all levels - primarily on the 150 BA degrees across the UK and North America. - The first book to address this relatively new genre of musical theatre, doing so with in-depth and wide ranging analysis.

Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture examines the relationship between geek culture and popular music, tracing a history from the late 1960s to the present day. The term "geek rock" refers to forms of popular music that celebrate all things campy, kitschy, and quirky. In this collection of essays, contributors explore the evolution of this music genre, from writing songs about poodles, girls, monster movies, and outer space to just what it means to be "white and nerdy." Editors Alex DiBlasi and Victoria Willis have gathered eleven essays from across the world, covering every facet of geek culture from its earliest influences, including *Frank Zappa *Captain Beefheart *Devo *They Might Be Giants *Weird Al Yankovic *Present-day advocates of "Nerdcore" Geek Rock offers a working history of this subgenre, which has finally begun to come under academic study. The essays take a variety of scholarly approaches, encompassing musicology, race, gender studies, sociology, and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Geek Rock will be of interest to readers of all backgrounds: music scholars, college and university professors, sociologists, and die-hard fans.

An in-depth look at the life of one of pop music's hottest international stars, revealing the details of Rihanna's unhappy childhood to her successful career. Features exclusive interviews with old schoolfriends, producers, and songwriters and is a must-read for fans new and old.

Race and Gender in the Western Music History Survey: A Teacher's Guide provides concrete information and approaches that will help instructors include women and people of color in the typical music history survey course and the foundational music theory classes. This book provides a reconceptualization of the principles that shape the decisions instructors should make when crafting the syllabus. It offers new perspectives on canonical composers and pieces that take into account musical, cultural, and social contexts where women and people of color are present. Secondly, it suggests new topics of study and pieces by composers whose work fits into a more inclusive narrative of music history. A thematic approach parallels the traditional chronological sequencing in Western music history classes. Three themes include people and communities that suffer from various kinds of exclusion: Locales & Locations; Forms & Factions; Responses & Reception. Each theme is designed to uncover a different cultural facet that is often minimized in traditional music history classrooms but which, if explored, lead to topics in which other perspectives and people can be included organically in the curriculum, while not excluding canonical composers.

Author Nick Johnstone unravels the all too short life and career of one of Britain's most brilliant and troubled stars. Amy Amy Amy tracks Winehouse's erratic journey to fame from her North London Jewish family home, detailing her meteoric rise to stardom and the two albums that catapulted her to the top. Her well-publicised problems with alcohol and drugs, anorexia, bulimia and personal relationships kept her in the headlines, always threatening to obscure her extraordinary musical gifts. Amy Amy Amy redresses the imbalance, giving full measure to Winehouse's talent while offering an honest account of her multiple personal crises. This updated edition of Amy Amy Amy takes the story up to July 2011 and Amy's tragic and unexpected death at her home in Camden Town following an aborted European tour and her final appearance on stage with her goddaughter at the Roundhouse in Camden.

Teaching commercial and popular music continues to be a hot topic This book connects both the practical and the theoretical aspects of pedagogy in these areas

The story of a remarkable time and place: Los Angeles from the dawn of the singer-songwriter era in the mid-Sixties to the peak of The Eagles' success in the late Seventies. 'Hotel California' is an epic tale of songs and sunshine, drugs and denim, genius and greed, and is the first in-depth account of the LA Canyons scene between 1967 and 1976. Hoskyn's history of this vital period in the development of today's great musical influences spans the rise of Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Eagles, James Taylor and Jackson Browne, and focuses on the brilliance and determination of David Geffen, the man who linked them all. Covering genius, drug-crazed disintegration, and the myriad relationships between these artists and the songs that issued from them, and drawing on extensive interviews with countless stars, singers, writers, managers, executives and scenesters, 'Hotel California' is a pop-culture classic.

* Intense focus on the emergence of a new, post-Civil Rights Movement black identity * Offers an alternative history and musicology of the Black Power Movement * Defines Black Power Music - a musical and political reality * Explores the intense interconnections between black popular culture and black political culture * Essential reading for all students engaged in black popular music studies, African American studies, popular culture studies, ethnic studies as well as sociology, ethnomusicology and political science.

When Muddy Waters came to London at the start of the '60s, a kid from Boston called Joe Boyd was his tour manager; when Dylan went electric at the Newport Festival, Joe Boyd was plugging in his guitar; when the summer of love got going, Joe Boyd was running the coolest club in London, the UFO; when a bunch of club regulars called Pink Floyd recorded their first single, Joe Boyd was the producer; when a young songwriter named Nick Drake wanted to give his demo tape to someone, he chose Joe Boyd. More than any previous '60s music autobiography, Joe Boyd's White Bicycles offers the real story of what it was like to be there at the time. His greatest coup is bringing to life the famously elusive figure of Nick Drake - the first time he's been written about by anyone who knew him well. As well as the '60s heavy-hitters, this book also offers wonderfully vivid portraits of a whole host of other musicians: everyone from the great jazzman Coleman Hawkins to the folk diva Sandy Denny, Lonnie Johnson to Eric Clapton, The Incredible String Band to Fairport Convention.

Whether in Yes, Asia, GTR, ABWH, Tomorrow or the Steve Howe Trio and - there's more - Steve Howe has continually proved himself to be one of the world's greatest guitarists. Here, for the first time, he looks back on his five-decade long career. From jamming onstage with Jimi Hendrix to sharing Abbey Road studios with The Beatles, Steve's stories are steeped in rock 'n' roll history. Including a number of unseen photographs and a full discography, All My Yesterdays is a must-read for fans of Yes, one of prog rock's most legendary bands.

This first book-length exploration of geographical engagement with puppets examines constructions of puppets in contemporary popular British culture and considers the various ways in which puppets and humans (not just puppeteers) are unified in diverse cultural media. Organised around themes of metaphorical, performative and transformational puppets, the work draws out how puppets are used in diverse cultural media (fiction, music, television, film and theatre), how they are constructed through those uses, and to what effect. Both puppets as generalised forms (bodily, relational or ideational) and specific puppet characters (Mr Punch, Pinocchio) are explored. Building upon existing associations between puppets and the grotesque, the volume extends understandings of the puppet by elaborating borderscaping strategies through which puppets are constructed and an alternative perspective on the uncanniness of puppets. Geographically, it unearths distinct puppet spatialities, identifies the socially critical potential of puppets, rescales geo/bio-politics at the interpersonal level, and highlights the potential of puppets within posthuman debates about the status of the human. This work will be of interest to anyone fascinated by puppets, as well as those in fields such as geography, anthropology, cultural and media studies, and those interested in the grotesque, posthumanism and/or non-representational scholarship.

For a century and more, the idea of democracy has fuelled musicians' imaginations. Seeking to go beyond music's proven capacity to contribute to specific political causes, musicians have explored how aspects of their practice embody democratic principles. This may involve adopting particular approaches to compositional material, performance practice, relationships to audiences, or modes of dissemination and distribution. Finding Democracy in Music is the first study to offer a wide-ranging investigation of ways in which democracy may thus be found in music. A guiding theme of the volume is that this takes place in a plurality of ways, depending upon the perspective taken to music's manifold relationships, and the idea of democracy being entertained. Contributing authors explore various genres including orchestral composition, jazz, the post-war avant-garde, online performance, and contemporary popular music, as well as employing a wide array of theoretical, archival, and ethnographic methodologies. Particular attention is given to the contested nature of democracy as a category, and the gaps that frequently arise between utopian aspiration and reality. In so doing, the volume interrogates a key way in which music helps to articulate and shape our social lives and our politics.

It didn't take long after Jimi Hendrix's death for the artist to become a myth of music. He has been surrounded by a shroud of intrigue since he first came into the public eye, and the mystery has only grown with time. Much has been written and said about him by experts and fans and critics, some of it true and some of it not; Starting at Zero will set the record straight. This is Hendrix in his own words. The lyricism and rhythm of Jimi Hendrix's writing will be of no surprise to his fans. Hendrix wrote prolifically throughout his life and he left behind a trove of scribbled-on hotel stationary, napkins and cigarette cartons. Starting at Zero weaves the scraps and bits together fluidly with interviews and lyrics revealing for the first time a continuous narrative of the artist's life, from birth through to the final four years of his life. The result is a beautifully poetic, charming and passionate memoir as smooth and memorable as Hendrix's finest songs. The pieces of Starting at Zero came together in large part because of the inspiration of Alan Douglas. Douglas first met Jimi Hendrix backstage at Woodstock, and soon after became Hendrix's producer and close friend. In creating the book he joined forces with Peter Neal, who edited Hendrix's writing with the reverence and light touch it deserved.

In Hungary, jazz was at the forefront of heated debates sparked by the racialised tensions between national music traditions and newly emerging forms of popular culture that challenged the prevailing status quo within the cultural hierarchies of different historical eras. Drawing on an extensive, four-year field research project, including ethnographic observations and 29 in-depth interviews, this book is the first to explore the hidden diasporic narrative(s) of Hungarian jazz through the system of historically formed distinctions linked to the social practices of assimilated Jews and Romani musicians. The chapters illustrate how different concepts of authenticity and conflicting definitions of jazz as the "sound of Western modernity" have resulted in a unique hierarchical setting. The book's account of the fundamental opposition between US-centric mainstream jazz (bebop) and Bartok-inspired free jazz camps not only reveals the extent to which traditionalism and modernism were linked to class- and race-based cultural distinctions, but offers critical insights about the social logic of Hungary's geocultural positioning in the 'twilight zone' between East and West to use the words of Maria Todorova. Following a historical overview that incorporates comparisons with other Central European jazz cultures, the book offers a rigorous analysis of how the transition from playing 'cafehouse music' to bebop became a significant element in the status claims of Hungary's 'significant others', i.e. Romani musicians. By combining the innovative application of Pierre Bourdieu's cultural sociology with popular music studies and postcolonial scholarship, this work offers a forceful demonstration of the manifold connections of this particular jazz scene to global networks of cultural production, which also continue to shape it.

A Pitchfork Best Music Book of 2022 When Tom Breihan launched his Stereogum column in early 2018, "The Number Ones"-a space in which he has been writing about every #1 hit in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, in chronological order-he figured he'd post capsule-size reviews for each song. But there was so much more to uncover. The column has taken on a life of its own, sparking online debate and occasional death threats. The Billboard Hot 100 began in 1958, and after four years of posting the column, Breihan is still in the early aughts. But readers no longer have to wait for his brilliant synthesis of what the history of #1s has meant to music and our culture. In The Number Ones, Breihan writes about twenty pivotal #1s throughout chart history, revealing a remarkably fluid and connected story of music that is as entertaining as it is enlightening. The Numbers Ones features the greatest pop artists of all time, from the Brill Building songwriters to the Beatles and the Beach Boys; from Motown to Michael Jackson, Prince, and Mariah Carey; and from the digital revolution to the K-pop system. Breihan also ponders great artists who have never hit the top spot, like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and James Brown. Breihan illuminates what makes indelible ear candy across the decades-including dance crazes, recording innovations, television phenomena, disco, AOR, MTV, rap, compact discs, mp3s, social media, memes, and much more-leaving readers to wonder what could possibly happen next.

This book delves into the aural splendor of the Beatles' discography, breaking down each song and taking a close look at how the group's music sounds through headphones rather than external speakers. Mistakes, studio chatter, secret meanings and other audio esoterica are all identified and discussed. Thousands of books have been written about the Beatles' music, but this is the first to look at their discography through the prism of headphones, which yield a unique, artistic listening experience. The author argues that the Beatles should be heard through headphones to appreciate the real depth of their musical creativity and to fully understand the timeless songs that remain influential to this day.

Musical Gentrification is an exploration of the role of popular music in processes of socio-cultural inclusion and exclusion in a variety of contexts. Twelve chapters by international scholars reveal how cultural objects of relatively lower status, in this case popular musics, are made objects of acquisition by subjects or institutions of higher social status, thereby playing an important role in social elevation, mobility and distinction. The phenomenon of musical gentrification is approached from a variety of angles: theoretically, methodologically and with reference to a number of key issues in popular music, from class, gender and ethnicity to cultural consumption, activism, hegemony and musical agency. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, empirical examples and ethnographic data, this is a valuable study for scholars and researchers of Music Education, Ethnomusicology, Cultural Studies and Cultural Sociology.

During the five years it has taken to collate this work, authors Weird and Gilly have spoken to over fifty family members, close friends and colleagues including exclusive interviews with Suzi Ronson, David and Maggi Ronson (brother and sister), Minnie Ronson (mother), Steve Popovich (manager), Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Ian Hunter, Chrissie Hynde, Glen Matlock, Cherry Vanilla, Steve Harley, Bob Harris, Joe Elliott and a host of others. As a result, this book provides a deeply intimate and compelling insight into the life and times of an extraordinarily talented guitarist. A man who was tender and caring off the stage, yet fierce and electrifying on it. Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Ian Hunter and Annette Peacock are just a few of the names that were to become associated with the Mick Ronson legend. He toured with Bob Dylan, played with Mott The Hoople, worked with Lou Reed and produced an impressive number of albums with arresting originality. From his days as a mobile grocer to his performances at Wembley Stadium, this minutely detailed biography also includes scores of unpublished photographs and unseen rarities including: a hand-written six-page autobiography by the man himself, love letters to his first girlfriend, family album photographs and an exhaustive discography. After losing his battle with cancer, Mick passed away in the spring of 1993 at the young age of 46. This book is a salute to his remarkable music and legacy. Fully revised and updated with scores of new unpublished photographs and even more rare memorabilia.

Late nineteenth-century France was a nation undergoing an identity crisis: the uncertain infancy of the Third Republic and shifting alliances in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War forced France to interrogate the fundamental values and characteristics at the heart of its own national identity. Music was central to this national self-scrutiny. It comes as little surprise to us that Oriental fears, desires, and anxieties should be a fundamental part of this, but what has been overlooked to date is that Britain, too, provided a thinking space in the French musical world; it was often - surprisingly and paradoxically - represented through many of the same racialist terms and musical tropes as the Orient. However, at the same time, its shared history with France and the explosions of colonial rivalry between the two nations introduced an ever-present tension into this musical relationship. This book sheds light on this forgotten musical sphere through a rich variety of contemporary sources. It visits the cafe-concert and its tradition of 'Englishing up' with fake hair, mocking accents, and unflattering dances; it explores the reactions, both musical and physical, to British evangelical bands as they arrived in the streets of France and the colonies; it considers the French reception of, and fascination with, folk music from Ireland and Scotland; and it confronts the culture shock felt by French visitors to Britain as they witnessed British music-making for the first time. Throughout, it examines the ways in which this music allowed French society to grapple with the uncertainty of late nineteenth-century life, providing ordinary French citizens with a means of understanding and interrogating both the Franco-British relationship and French identity itself.

The political has always been part of popular music, but how does that play out in today's musical and political landscape? Mixing Pop and Politics: Political Dimensions of Popular Music in the 21st Century provides an innovative exploration of the complex politics of popular music in its contemporary formations. Amid the shifting paradigms of power in the 2020s, the chapters in this book go beyond the idea of popular music as protest to explore how resistance, subversion, containment, and reconciliation all interact in the popular music realm. Covering a wide range of international artists and genres, from South African hip-hop to Polish punk, and addressing topics such as climate change and environmentalism, feminism, diasporic identity, political parties, music-making as labour, the far right, conservatism and nostalgia, and civic engagement, the contributors expand our understanding of how popular music is political. For students and scholars of music, popular culture, and politics, the volume offers a broad, exciting snapshot of the latest scholarship on contemporary popular music and politics.