My Life is a Rock and Roll Song ... ready to be sung!


Book Description

Born to a Slovenian Mom and an Irish Dad, I grew up in a small Ohio town in the 40's and 50's with many memories of my family struggling during and after World War II. Studies came easy for me, graduating with honors in College Preparatory Classes in 1959. I spent the last years in high school having overcome a "Meatball" weight problem and hanging out with buddies that were "cool." Although I was accepted and had a college scholarship waiting for me, there was this stronger urge to accompany my buddies and join the Marines — promising my parents college would come later. While serving 4 years in the Marine Corps (Univac Computers), I followed one of my "cool" buddies to a local Albany, GA radio station in search of a part-time job and fell in love with the thought of being a DJ with hundreds of girls admiring me and my now Mr. Bronze America muscular body! I did make it with an on-air gig but only got there because of my Sales/Marketing skills. With a few delays, my parents were elated when I graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Telecommunications and a Master's Degree in Broadcast Management. The road to success has taken me on a lot of twists and turns, some right turns — while making my share of boo-boos along the way. There has been more than 50 years invested in writing this book ... some parts based on life — others based on my vivid imagination! During and following a career in radio and helping to build-up and sell radio stations, there was success as a motivational speaker across the country while promoting other famous speakers, including Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino and Norman Vincent Peale. Several money- making projects were always active while living life to the fullest — including looking for the next lady to share it with and the next opportunity to do something exciting! Enjoy!!




Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life


Book Description

Drooling fanatic, n. 1. One who drools in the presence of beloved rock stars. 2. Any of a genus of rock-and-roll wannabes/geeks who walk around with songs constantly ringing in their ears, own more than 3,000 albums, and fall in love with at least one record per week. With a life that’s spanned the phonographic era and the digital age, Steve Almond lives to Rawk. Like you, he’s secretly longed to live the life of a rock star, complete with insane talent, famous friends, and hotel rooms to be trashed. Also like you, he’s content (sort of) to live the life of a rabid fan, one who has converted his unrequited desires into a (sort of) noble obsession. Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life traces Almond’s passion from his earliest (and most wretched) rock criticism to his eventual discovery of a music-crazed soul mate and their subsequent production of two little superfans. Along the way, Almond reflects on the delusional power of songs, the awkward mating habits of drooling fanatics, and why Depression Songs actually make us feel so much better. The book also includes: • sometimes drunken interviews with America’s finest songwriters • a recap of the author’s terrifying visit to Graceland while stoned • a vigorous and credibility-shattering endorsement of Styx’s Paradise Theater • recommendations you will often choose to ignore • a reluctant exegesis of the Toto song “Africa” • obnoxious lists sure to piss off rock critics But wait, there’s more. Readers will also be able to listen to a special free mix designed by the author, available online at www.stevenalmond.com, for the express purpose of eliciting your drool. For those about to rock—we salute you!




A More Beautiful Question


Book Description

To get the best answer-in business, in life-you have to ask the best possible question. Innovation expert Warren Berger shows that ability is both an art and a science. It may be the most underappreciated tool at our disposal, one we learn to use well in infancy-and then abandon as we grow older. Critical to learning, innovation, success, even to happiness-yet often discouraged in our schools and workplaces-it can unlock new business opportunities and reinvent industries, spark creative insights at many levels, and provide a transformative new outlook on life. It is the ability to question-and to do so deeply, imaginatively, and “beautifully.” In this fascinating exploration of the surprising power of questioning, innovation expert Warren Berger reveals that powerhouse businesses like Google, Nike, and Netflix, as well as hot Silicon Valley startups like Pandora and Airbnb, are fueled by the ability to ask fundamental, game-changing questions. But Berger also shares human stories of people using questioning to solve everyday problems-from “How can I adapt my career in a time of constant change?” to “How can I step back from the daily rush and figure out what really makes me happy?” By showing how to approach questioning with an open, curious mind and a willingness to work through a series of “Why,” “What if,” and “How” queries, Berger offers an inspiring framework of how we can all arrive at better solutions, fresh possibilities, and greater success in business and life.




Wild Tales


Book Description

A founding member of the bands Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the Hollies shares the story of his life from his youth in post-war England through his creative relationship with Joni Mitchell and his career as a solo musician and political activist




Ready for a Brand New Beat


Book Description

Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote “Dancing in the Street.” The song was recorded at Motown’s Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording—a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, “Dancing in the Street” gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.




A Head Full of Music


Book Description

Foreword by Bob Stanley On a sunny Saturday morning in May 1956, a fifteen-year-old, then called Harry Webb, was mooching down Waltham Cross High Street. He heard some music blaring out of a parked car. It stopped him in his tracks. The song was 'Heartbreak Hotel' by Elvis Presley. It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. In that instant, the schoolboy who was destined to take the hit parade by storm as Cliff Richard fell in love with rock and roll. It gave him the thrill, the purpose and the mission that has shaped his life ever since. Cliff lives in and for music. And with 65 years as a hitmaker, the music filling his head is a broad category. His soundtrack begins by blasting us all back into that first life-changing explosion of rock and also includes great soul soul stars such as Aretha Franklin, longtime colleagues like Elton John, and much-missed close friends Cilla Black and Olivia Newton-John. This book is meaningful to Cliff on many levels. The 30 or so songs here that make up the soundtrack to his life have each moved him deeply, but it's also about the legendary artists he met, and often got to know. He shares those stories and memories with you, too. A Head Full of Music is a vibrant personal journey for Cliff, and it's a joy to accompany him on it. Get wired for sound with him and read on.




Rock 'n Roll Camp for Girls


Book Description

This book brings the advice and the experience of the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls in Portland, Oregon to girls everywhere.




The Best Fake Book Ever (Songbook)


Book Description

(Fake Book). We've updated this fake book for a fourth edition to ensure that it remains the best ever! Features melody lines, lyrics and chords for 1000+ essential songs: Amazed * At the Hop * Autumn Leaves * Bohemian Rhapsody * Cabaret * California Girls * Centerfold * Chariots of Fire * Crazy * Dust in the Wind * Earth Angel * Eleanor Rigby * Fever * Fire and Rain * From a Distance * Hello, Dolly! * Hey Jude * I Am Woman * Imagine * Joy to the World * Kansas City * La Bamba * Lady * Linus and Lucy * Longer * Me and Bobby McGee * Meditation * Misty * More * More Than Words * My Way * Oye Como Va * Peggy Sue * The Rainbow Connection * Respect * Route 66 * Shout * Spanish Eyes * Stormy Weather * Take Five * Thriller * Time in a Bottle * Unchained Melody * Wave * The Way We Were * Wonderful Tonight * Y.M.C.A. * You've Got a Friend * and hundreds more!




Drive-in Dream Girls


Book Description

During the 1960s, a bushel of B-movies were produced and aimed at the predominantly teenage drive-in movie audience. At first teens couldn't get enough of the bikini-clad beauties dancing on the beach or being wooed by Elvis Presley, but by 1966 young audiences became more interested in the mini-skirted, go-go boot wearing, independent-minded gals of spy spoofs, hot rod movies and biker flicks. Profiled herein are fifty sexy, young actresses that teenage girls envied and teenage boys desired including Quinn O'Hara, Melody Patterson, Hilarie Thompson, Donna Loren, Pat Priest, Meredith MacRae, Arlene Martel, Cynthia Pepper, and Beverly Washburn. Some like Sue Ane Langdon, Juliet Prowse, Marlyn Mason, and Carole Wells, appeared in major studio productions while others, such as Regina Carrol, Susan Hart, Angelique Pettyjohn and Suzie Kaye were relegated to drive-in movies only. Each biography contains a complete filmography. Some also include the actresses' candid comments and anecdotes about their films, the people they worked with, and their feelings about acting. A list of web sites that provide further information is also included.




Behind the Rock and Beyond


Book Description

Teen Time, Bandstand, Dig Richards, Johnny O'Keefe, Sing, Sing, Sing, Col Joye & The Joy Boys, The Delltones, Sydney Stadium, Saigon ... some of the names to be found in Behind The Rock, the refreshing frank reminiscences of Australian rock musicians, Jon Hayton and Leon Isackson. Based on personal diaries, Behind The Rock is a humorous and honest account of life in the Australian rock'n'roll scene from its birth in 1956 to the mid-sixties (and Beyond). With the changing fortunes of the band, the R'Jays, the authors take us behind-the-scenes of Festival Records, 'live' television, stadium concerts and dances, band tours in Australia, New Zealand and war-torn Vietnam and the world of adolescent sex, fans and 'band vultures', bungling managers, and hard-living and heart-broken rock stars. A no-holds-barred, eyewitness story, Behind The Rock is a vital document for understanding the history of 'Oz Rock'.