The Life and Music of Harry Styles is written in an enthusiastic tone and fan-focused style, richly illustrated with photographs of the heartthrob and charts the evolution of Styles's career – from his discovery on the X Factor to his rise to a global super star and the next step: conquering the world as a solo artist and actor in 2017's Dunkirk, 2021's Eternals and landing the starring role in 2022's Don't Worry Darling. Having been a leading member of One Direction – possibly the most success...
This is the life story of the 20-something north London girl who has taken the music world by storm. Topping the charts for weeks on end and winning consistent international critical acclaim, she already has two Grammys and a clutch of other awards. Although she acknowledges influences as diverse as The Spice Girls and Etta James, Adele's unique brand of "heartbroken soul" is very much her own, reflecting her own emotions and roller-coaster love life. In the image-obsessed world of pop music, A...
A little more than 50 years ago, in 1955, Ali Akbar Khan issued an LP called "Music of India: Morning and Evening Ragas", with spoken introduction by violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Until then, Indian music was terra incognita in the West. When the same album was reissued as a CD in 1995, under the title "Then and Now", it was nominated for a Grammy. Between "then and now" has been the explosive influence of Indian music and culture in the West. Words such as karma, yoga, raga, nirvana, all once unkno...
Over 30 hits from the greatest female artists of the 21st Century, arranged for piano, voice and guitar. Includes Behind These Hazel Eyes (Kelly Clarkson), Fallin' (Alicia Keys), Hung Up (Madonna), Strict Machine (Goldfrapp), Push The Button (Sugababes), Here With Me (Dido) and No More Drama (Mary J Blige).
The only internationally successful, million-selling group to emerge from the late seventies London punk scene, the Clash set out to change the world with a potent mix of politics, iconic imagery, and blazing rock'n' roll. It was an agenda mirrored in the Clash's music, which swiftly evolved from ferocious punk rock to incorporate reggae, ska, funk, jazz, soul, and hip-hop. Passion Is a Fashion draws on over 70 interviews with the key participants in the story,roadies, producers, friends, and...
Islands of Eight Million Smiles (Harvard East Asian Monographs)
by Hiroshi Aoyagi
Like Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, singer, composer, and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo and his music came to represent his native country's anticolonial struggle and cultural identity. Mapfumo was born in 1945 in what was then the British colony of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The trajectory of his career-from early performances of rock 'n' roll tunes to later creating a new genre based on traditional Zimbabwean music, including the sacred mbira, and African and Western pop-is a metaphor for Zimbabwe's evol...
Calypso, a traditional form of music in the Caribbean, began in Trinidad and Tobago as a subtle protest against British rule. Influenced by African and native Caribbean rhythms, the calypso (along with Jamaican raggae) defines the music of the region. Louis Regis examines the evolution of the political calypso from 1962 to 1987, the period of Trinidad/Tobago's independence from Britain, and presents the text of lyrics from this popular folk-urban musical form. Following the songs and their theme...
A biography of singer/songwriter James Brown comprising interviews with the singer and the people who knew him. The book is illustrated with rare photographs and includes a comprehensive discography.
A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist uses data, facts, and science to deliver hilarious, fascinating answers to some of the most famous questions in pop music history. “Is there life on Mars? Where have all the flowers gone? Pop songs can pose excellent questions and James Ball has given them the answers they deserve.”—The Times (UK) Some of the most famous questions of our time have come to us in pop songs. “What is love?” “How soon is now?” “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” But do yo...