Sounds of the Sixties


Book Description

Comprehenseive guide to the music of the 1960s.




We Could Have Been the Wombles


Book Description

Everything you wanted to know about one hit wonders. Packed with information, interviews with the one hit heroes and snippets of lyrics from those songs everyone loves to hate, this is the perfect book about this very special element of pop culture.




The Tracks of My Years


Book Description

From his childhood in 1950s Glasgow, when he was affectionately known to his older brothers as ‘the wee bastard’, to his wildnerness years as an accountant when he longed to achieve his dream and join the BBC, Tracks of My Years tells the story of Ken Bruce's remarkable career. Starting work for Radio Scotland in 1977, he was soon interviewing legends like Sean Connery, Billy Connolly and Peter Ustinov, and in the eighties was lured to Radio 2 to take over Terry Wogan’s spot. He has been with the station ever since. Ken writes with insight into the world of radio and delivers lots of brilliant anecdotes from his interviews with celebrities as diverse as Rod Stewart, Keane and Burt Bacharach, who came out with the immortal line (edited out of the final version) “Phil Spector never put a foot wrong,” before adding thoughtfully, “until he shot that girl, of course.” He also writes about bringing up his autistic son and – unusually – the happiness it brings him and his wife and the many positives of what is so often portrayed as a heartbreaking situation.




Preserving the Sixties


Book Description

Re-examining the long-held belief that the Sixties in Britain were dominated mainly by 'youth' and 'protest', the authors in the collection argue that innovation was everywhere shadowed by conservatism. A decade fascinated by itself and, especially, by the future, it also was tormented by self-doubt and accompanied by a fear of losing the past.




A 1960s Childhood


Book Description

Do you remember Beatlemania? Radio Caroline? Mods and Rockers? The very first miniskirts? Then the chances are you were born in the or around 1960. To the young people of today, the 1960s seems like another age. But for those who grew up in this decade, school life, 'mod' fashions and sixties pop music are still fresh in their minds. From James Bond to Sindy dolls and playing hopscotch in the street, life was very different to how it is now. After the tough and frugal years of the fifties, the sixties was a boom period, a time of changed attitudes and improved lifestyles. With chapters on home and school life, games and hobbies, music and fashion, alongside a selection of charming illustrations, this delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in this lively era. Take a nostalgic look at what it was like to grow up during the sixties and recapture all aspects of life back then.




The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001


Book Description

From 1970 onwards the disbanded Beatles were at last free to follow their individual interests. From that point on there were four separate stories... but they were stories that would form a complex overlapping history of quarrels and reconciliations, personal projects and sporadic collaborations. For the first time ever, a noted Beatles expert has meticulously documented the entire period of The Beatles after the break-up.




RUNAWAY - The Del Shannon Story


Book Description

RUNAWAY is a fascinating account of the life and music of 60s rock star Del Shannon. From humble beginnings in the rural Midwest, this bar band guitarist rocketed to overnight superstar status when his first big hit clinched the #1 spot on the American Billboard charts, resulting in an international hit in over 20 other countries during the year 1961. Del Shannon soon followed up “Runaway” with more hits, including “Hats Off To Larry,” “So Long Baby,” “Hey! Little Girl,” “The Swiss Maid,” “Little Town Flirt,” “Two Kinds of Teardrops,” “Handy Man,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” “Keep Searchin’,” and “Stranger In Town.” Shannon was the first American artist to cover a Beatles song in “From Me To You.” In the late 60s and early 70s, he shifted his focus into production, launching the career of country artist Johnny Carver, discovering a group called Smith that saw a #3 hit with a Shannon-Smith arrangement of “Baby It’s You,” and produced fellow contemporary Brian Hyland’s Top 5 hit “Gypsy Woman.” Del worked with Jeff Lynne and Dave Edmunds in the 70s, with Tom Petty seeking him out to produce Shannon’s comeback album in 1981, resulting in a #33 hit “Sea of Love” in America.




Fuzz & Feedback


Book Description

Everything changed in the Sixties, not least music. At the heart of this mesmerizing decade was the electric guitar. Bent, distorted, reverbed and overloaded, its sound drove some of the most revolutionary music ever made. This colorful book, decked out with 340 color photos and four fold-out spreads, traces the guitars, players and music of the '60s year by year - from folk-rock to surf to psychedelia, plus jazz, blues and country. A special section features The Beatles and their influential axes.




1,000 UK Number One Hits


Book Description

The official UK charts started in November 1952 with Al Martin's Here's In My Heart at the top. Since then, there have been over 50 years of changes and we have now reached the 1,000 number one.