Who's Crazee Now?


Book Description

As lead singer and extraordinary frontman of SLADE, Noddy Holder was one of the most successful musicians of the '70s and '80s. The epitome of the Glam Rock look and lifestyle, they released anthem after anthem as they mixed pure pop madness with football chant choruses. Seemingly on a mission to corrupt the spelling of a generation, the hits are songs we still hold dear today: MAMA WEER ALL CRAZEE NOW, LOOK WOT YOU DUN, CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE. . . In a short few years they had 12 top five hits, 6 of them making #1 spot. Their albums also topped the charts and their huge Christmas anthem MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY has entered the top twenty over 7 times. In the '80s Slade made a brilliant revival with even more hits, especially RUN RUN AWAY and the classic MY OH MY. Today Noddy is as loved by the British public as he has ever been and in this hilarious autobiography he will tell us his complete life story, from growing up in the Midlands, to performing in the working men's clubs. The information of their first group, The N'Betweens and the mutation into an unlikely skinhead group, Ambrose Slade. And then, of course, Glam Rock and all the excesses of lifestyle that accompanied the outrageous clothes, not to mention guitarist Dave Hill's incredible hair style.




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.




Images of England Through Popular Music


Book Description

Drawing on archival sources and oral testimony, Keith Gildart examines the ways in which popular music played an important role in reflecting and shaping social identities and working-class cultures and - through a focus on rock 'n' roll, rhythm & blues, punk, mod subculture, and glam rock - created a sense of crisis in English society.




The Smiths FAQ


Book Description

(FAQ). Revered and massively influential, the Smiths have been called the most important band of the fertile U.K. 1980s music scene. While the group was only active for five years (1982 to 1987), the cult of the Manchester-reared foursome has ballooned in the three decades since its dissolution. Despite a $75 million offer to reunite for a two month tour in 2007, Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the group's principals, refused, opting to leave their legend untainted. The Smiths have since influenced a who's who of alternative music, including Death Cab for Cutie, Radiohead, the Killers, Jeff Buckley, Pete Yorn, the Decemberists, and Oasis. Featuring a foreword by guitarist and "Fifth Smith" who played with the band in 1986, The Smiths FAQ traces the band's history with clarity and detail, illuminating such questions as Who were the Nosebleeds? Why did Morrissey shun the Ramones? Who were the Paris Valentinos? What was Cult guitarist Billy Duffy's connection to the band? How was Morrissey injured during the group's U.S. debut performance? What Smiths single paid homage to T. Rex?. John D. Luerssen (author of FAQ series titles about U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Nirvana) gathers the indispensable early facts, the legendary stories, and inimitable anecdotes that make this a must-own tome for all fans.




The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC


Book Description

Tells the story of the trio through 11 classic rock songs and reveals some of the personal and creative secrets that went into their making. Important figures from AC/DC's long way to the top open up for the very first time, while unsung heroes behind the band's success are given the credit they are due. Accepted accounts of events are challenged while sensational new details emerge to cast a whole new light on the band's history--especially their early years with Atlantic Records in the United States. Former AC/DC members and musicians from bands such as Guns N' Roses, Dropkick Murphys, Airbourne and Rose Tattoo also give their take on the Youngs' brand of magic.




100 Greatest Cover Versions


Book Description

Which Blondie Top Five was originally a flop for a West Coast power pop band? Who wrote Alice Cooper's 1973 hit 'Hello Hurray', and which folk singer first recorded it? Who launched their career with a tear and a cover of a little known Prince song? Where was Joe Cocker sitting when he came up with the idea of covering 'With a Little Help from my Friends?'. Everybody likes a good song and a good story. The 100 Greatest Cover Versions traces the histories of some of the great songs you may know only as second-hand recordings and explores some unusual and creative takes on a few of pop's well-known tracks. Based on the Independent's popular long-running Story of the Song column, this collection features previously unpublished pieces alongside fully expanded, updated stories. Robert Webb details the background to each song how it was written, who first recorded it and how it came to be covered and explains how, in some cases, the cover version has become more popular than the original. Artists range from Patti Smith to the Happy Mondays, David Bowie to Florence + the Machine, and Stevie Wonder to Robert Wyatt. The book also includes additional further listening suggestions and a bonus track. Whether you download, rip from CD or stream your music, the Ultimate Playlist series provides the perfect accompaniment to your personal compilation. The series aims to guide listeners through large and often bewildering back catalogues of the major artists as well as key genres and styles in popular music. If you love music and you enjoy knowing more about the history behind some of pop's greatest songs, then you will love this book.




Slade in the 1970s


Book Description

Slade were one of the biggest British bands of the 1970s. One of the early pioneers of glam rock, they enjoyed an incredible run of six number-one singles, five top-ten albums and a succession of sell-out tours. However, after a failed attempt at an American breakthrough in the mid-1970s, Slade returned to Britain and faced dwindling record sales, smaller concert halls and a music press that had lost interest in them. By the end of the decade, they were playing residencies in cabaret clubs and recorded a cover of a children’s novelty song. But then came a last-minute invitation to play the 1980 Reading Festival, setting in motion one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history. It’s now 50 years since Slade’s 1973 annus mirabilis that saw ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, ‘Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me’ and ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ all enter the UK charts at number one, and this book celebrates the music of this legendary band. From their beginnings in the mid-1960s through each year of the decade that gave them their biggest successes, every album and single is examined, as well as coverage of their raucous live shows and colourful media profile. A former politician, Darren spent many years writing about current affairs but after stepping away from politics he was able to devote time to his first love: music. His first book, The Sweet in the 1970s, was published by Sonicbond in 2021, followed by Suzi Quatro in the 1970s in 2022. Now he turns his attention to the first band he truly fell in love with: Slade. A keen follower of both rock and folk, he maintains a popular music blog – Darren’s Music Blog – and has reviewed albums and gigs for a variety of publications. He lives in Hastings, East Sussex.




Keeping the faith


Book Description

In the 1970s, Northern Soul held a pivotal position in British youth culture. Originating in the English North and Midlands in the late-1960s, by the mid-1970s it was attracting thousands of enthusiasts across the country. This book is a social history of Northern Soul, examining the origins and development of this music scene, its clubs, publications and practices. Northern Soul emerged in a period when working class communities were beginning to be transformed by deindustrialisation and the rise of new political movements around the politics of race, gender and locality. Locating Northern Soul in these shifting economic and social contexts of the English North and Midlands in the 1970s, the authors argue that people kept the faith not just with music, but with a culture that was connected to wider aspects of work, home, relationships and social identities. Drawing on an expansive range of sources, including oral histories, magazines and fanzines, diaries and letters, this book offers a detailed and empathetic reading of a working class culture that was created and consumed by thousands of young people in the 1970s. The authors highlight the complex ways in which class, race and gender identities acted as forces for both unity and fragmentation on the dancefloors of iconic clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, Blackpool Mecca, the Torch in Stoke-on-Trent, the Catacombs in Wolverhampton and the Casino in Wigan. Marking a significant contribution to the historiography of youth culture, this book is essential reading for those interested in popular music and everyday life in in postwar Britain.




The Encyclopedia of Popular Music


Book Description

This text presents a comprehensive and up-to-date reference work on popular music, from the early 20th century to the present day.




The Conservative Party and the extreme right 1945–1975


Book Description

This book reveals the Conservative Party’s relationship with the extreme right between 1945 and 1975. For the first time, this book shows how the Conservative Party, realising that its well known pre-Second World War connections with the extreme right were now embarrassing, used its bureaucracy to implement a policy of investigating extreme right groups and taking action to minimise their chances of success. The book focuses on the Conservative Party’s investigation of right-wing groups, and shows how its perception of their nature determined the party bureaucracy’s response. The book draws a comparison between the Conservative Party machine’s negative attitude towards the extreme right and its support for progressive groups. It concludes that the Conservative Party acted as a persistent block to the external extreme right in a number of ways, and that the Party bureaucracy persistently denied the extreme right within the party assistance, access to funds, and representation within party organisations. It reaches a climax with the formulation of ‘plan’ threatening its own candidate if he failed to remove the extreme right from the Conservative Monday Club.