I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau


Book Description

I Know This Much – by Gary Kemp, Spandau Ballet's prime mover – is simply the freshest, most exciting and best-written memoir to arrive for years.




Mercury


Book Description

The lead vocalist for the iconic rock band Queen, Freddie Mercury's unmatched skills as a songwriter and his flamboyant showmanship made him a superstar and Queen a household name. The author, a rock journalist, conducted more than a hundred interviews with key figures in Mercury's life, to offer this account of one man's legendary life in the spotlight and behind the scenes.




Tony Hadley


Book Description

With his unique and powerful voice, Tony Hadley has been a successful music artist for more than forty years, from fronting one of the biggest bands of the 80s, Spandau Ballet, to now enjoying a thriving solo career around the world. Featuring stunning imagery and behind-the-scenes photos from his musical adventures, this beautifully illustrated book also captures other professional highlights, like starring on stage in Chicago and appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, as well as his charity work, celebrity friends, childhood in north London, and special family moments. With snaps from his personal photo albums, this amazing visual journey is accompanied by Tony's heartfelt and insightful anecdotes.




How to Meet the Famous


Book Description

Do you know anyone who has met over two hundred famous people-all of celebrities you have seen regularly on the TV or in the movies? This book has been written to give details of some of the people the author has met, to show you his easy way of meeting them, and to tell you about some of the pitfalls you might meet if you go about things without careful planning. Bruce Robertson has had very few failures, most of these being before he perfected a working plan of campaign. Some of the big American stars proved to be the most difficult to have photos with, as they are often surrounded by security guards. Even they are not totally impossible, as the author proves with his unique photo with Mike Tyson when he last visited London-a photo everyone said he would never get. No less than 24 of Bruce's photos of celebrities are reproduced in this volume.




A 1980s Childhood


Book Description

Do you remember trying to solve the Rubik's cube whilst dressed in your He-Man picture pyjamas? Did you try to make 'cool' sound effects with your mouth like Jones from Police Academy? Or maybe you swooned over Scott and Charlene's (aka Jason and Kylie's) wedding of the year? If that sounds like you, there's no mistaking you were a child of the eighties. Rev up your DeLorean, switch on the Flux Capacitor and take a cruise back through the decade that made you the person you are today. This amusing and entertaining collection of reminiscences will jog the memories of all who grew up in the same decade where greed was good, mullets were cool and white dog poo littered the streets.




My Bass and Other Animals


Book Description

Guy Pratt's life as bass player to the stars. The book behind the successful comedy show. Guy Pratt came of age just as playing bass became cool, with the likes of Paul Simonon and Bruce Foxton. Having dallied with Funkapolitan, Pratt suddenly found himself on Top of the Pops and supporting David Bowie with smooth Australian outfit Icehouse. At a ludicrously young age Guy Pratt became a sought after bass player to the stars, finding himself crawling from studio to bar, from hotel to stadium portacabin with Robert Palmer, Womack & Womack, Bernard Edwards, Bryan Ferry and David Crosby, etc. The eighties were in their prime, and with a number of Crolla-suited appearances in windswept videos behind him, he was invited to join Pink Floyd for a series of stadium of extravaganzas to make Bono & co look fairly modest. Pratt has recorded with Madonna, and spent time in the studio with Michael Jackson. He was in The Smiths for a week, has travelled through customs in a wheelchair after a flight with Jimmy Page, and has lived to tell all. MY BASS AND OTHER ANIMALS emerges from the successful stand-up tour of the same name. It charts his journey from a Mod band in Southend to playing with Roxy Music at Live 8.




Finding My Voice


Book Description

Blessed with one of the richest and most distinctive voices in the music business, Elkie Brooks has been entertaining people around the world since the age of fifteen - and even longer, if you count the weddings and bar mitzvahs at which she was asked to perform in her native Manchester as a young girl! It was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne and the notorious 'Mr Big' of the music world, who discovered her, making her change her name from Bookbinder and sending her on a tour of Germany. It was make or break for the still raw Elkie, but as always her voice won through. She went on to become part of cult rock groups such as Dada and Vinegar Joe, before establishing herself as one of the UK's most successful female vocalists. Yet the road to stardom was never an easy one. But for the support of Elkie's great friend Humphrey Lyttelton, she says she might have been dead from drink. She has experienced hardships that would have daunted most, and dealt with them with the same spirit, grit and humour that make her singing so powerful. Along the way she has worked with many of the biggest names in the business and recorded some of the most iconic songs in rock history, including 'Lilac Wine', 'Sunshine After the Rain' and her signature tune, 'Pearl's A Singer'. In Finding My Voice, Elkie tells her remarkable story in her own unique voice, laying bare the reality of stardom and sharing her commitment to the great passion of her life - music.




Riding the Waves


Book Description

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Everything is much easier in life when difficult situations are faced with humour and a smile. But, don't get me wrong, that took years to realise. What a journey...' Whether performing in an arena, presenting a number one TV show or recording a top-ten album, Jane McDonald will never forget her Northern roots. Her down-to-earth Yorkshire charm is as much a part of her as her talent for singing, and here she is telling her remarkable story with characteristic wit and warmth, in her own words. A miner's daughter from Wakefield, Jane was a shy child who struggled with anxiety, but she found the courage to overcome her fears and follow her passion for performing. Jane famously hit the big time overnight on TV show The Cruise twenty years ago, but here she talks for the first time about how she survived the dark legacy of that early success, and climbed right back up for a second bite of the cherry. It hasn't all been plain sailing, but in Jane's world tough times make the good times better, and her spirit, heart and humour sparkle from every page.




Friends Like Us


Book Description

1989. At the end of an idyllic summer holiday, four teenage girls swear to be 'blood sisters', sticking with one another through thick and thin, sharing their secrets come what may. 2005. The four friends' lives have followed very different paths. Single mother-of-two Loreenis struggling to make ends meet, endlessly searching for love via the internet. Just back from California, Karen can finally introduce her friends to her long-term lover. Belhas embarked on a controversial new career as a paparazzi, anxious to make her way in a tough man's world. And Ashley has not been in touch. Just why is she keeping so quiet about her new boyfriend? Despite their pledge, all four women have been keeping secrets from one another. Secrets that finally burst into the open - with surprising and shocking results.




Concepts of Music and Copyright


Book Description

Copyright specialists have often focused on the exploitation of copyright of music and on infringement, but not on the question of how copyright conceptualises music. This highly topical volume brings together specialists in music, musicology and copyright law, providing a genuinely interdisciplinary research approach. It compares and contrasts the concepts of copyright law with those of music and musical performance. Several tensions emerge between the ideas of music as a living art and of the musical work as a basis for copyright protection. The expert contributors discuss the notions of the musical work, performance, originality, authorship in music and in copyright, and co-ownership from the disciplinary perspectives of music, musicology and copyright law. The book also examines the role of the Musicians’ Union in the evolution of performers’ rights in UK copyright law, and, in an empirical study, the transaction costs theory for notice-and-takedown regimes in relation to songs uploaded on YouTube. This unique study offers an interdisciplinary perspective for academics, policymakers and legal practitioners seeking a state-of-the-art understanding of music and copyright law.