Do You Believe in the Power of Rock & Roll?


Book Description

Do You Believe in the Power of Rock & Roll? is a history of alternative rock from John Robb, with the music still ringing in his ears. This collection follows John’s journey from the late 1970s, when he was first caught up in punk’s high-octane thrill, to the present day, via the early days of the rave scene, the birth of electronic and techno, and myriad bands that spun off on their own idiosyncratic paths. John was the first person to write about Nirvana, he coined the term Britpop, and he documented the Stone Roses’ rise out of Manchester before anyone else was interested. He was at every pivotal gig, and has interviewed every key player in the business, including Jordan, the queen of punk, founding father of new American rock Steve Albini, goth-rock guitarist Daniel Ash, infamous Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher, and music greats like Lemmy and Poly Styrene. Few others have witnessed first-hand so many important moments of the last forty years of rock history. Here, they come together to form the essential history of a personal quest to document the ever-changing soundtrack of the modern world.







Alternadad


Book Description

With the publication of Alternadad, Neal Pollack became the spokesperson for a new generation of parents. Pollack, a self-styled party guy known mostly for outrageous literary antics, recounts how he and his wife became responsible parents without sacrificing their passion for pop culture. From an ill-fated family trip to the Austin City Limits Festival, to yanking his son out of an absurd corporate gymnastics class, to dealing with the child’s ongoing biting problem, Pollack captures the wonders, terrors, and idiocies of parenting today. Alternadad is both an engaging and amusing memoir of fatherhood, and a fascinating portrait of a new version of the American family. From the Trade Paperback edition.




Unsigned Unscene


Book Description

Spearmint – “Sweeping the Nation” (Hitback records). Email to [email protected] 11.30 21/12/13. Hi, I've just finished the first draft of my book about the five years I spent promoting various genres of local music during 2002/2007 in and around Chorley, Blackburn and Preston, Lancashire. It champions all the bands and artists that never got to make it further than their hometown fan base...and a few that did. I found your track "Sweeping the Nation" on a Rough Trade CD and have been recommending it to anyone I meet/know as the best song I have ever heard that sums up what my book is about... I am 51 and Northern Soul was an influence on my growing up and appreciation of musical styles. How clever of you to combine the classic back beat sample with a list of the bands you knew about that never made it and then bound it all together with driving guitars and the thumping chorus of: "I've been wasting my life I've finally realised I've wasted so much time....! My book has made me understand that I didn't waste my life because I followed my dream, stuck to what I believed in and have some wonderful memories. I know what Mr Bradshaw meant in his words to Shirley as everything I wanted in life has come true! Thanks again and maybe I'll get to one of your gigs in the New Year. "I wanna hear you on that!" John Winstanley.




Do You Believe in Rock and Roll?


Book Description

Since its release in 1971, Don McLean's song "American Pie" has become an indelible part of U.S. culture. It has sparked countless debates about the references within the lyrics; been celebrated as a chronicle of American life from the late 1950s through the early 1970s; and has become iconic itself as it has been remade, parodied, and referenced within numerous texts and forums. This volume offers a set of new essays that focus on the cultural and historical significance of the song. Representing a variety of perspectives and fields of study, the essays address such topics as historical and literary interpretations of the song's lyrics, its musical qualities, the commentary the song offers on rock and roll history, the continuing significance of the song, and the ways in which the song has been used by various writers and artists. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.




America, the Band


Book Description

As if recovering from a raucous dream of the 1960s, Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek arrived on 1970s American radio with a sound that echoed disenchanted hearts of young people everywhere. The three American boys had named their band after a country they’d watched and dreamt of from their London childhood Air Force base homes. What was this country? This new band? Classic and timeless, America embodied the dreams of a nation desperate to emerge from the desert and finally give their horse a name. Celebrating the band’s fiftieth anniversary, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell share stories of growing up, growing together, and growing older. Journalist Jude Warne weaves original interviews with Beckley, Bunnell, and many others into a dynamic cultural history of America, the band, and America, the nation. Reliving hits like “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” and of course, “A Horse with No Name” from their 19 studio albums and incomparable live recordings, this book offers readers a new appreciation of what makes some music unforgettable and timeless. As America’s music stays in rhythm with the heartbeats of its millions of fans, new fans feel the draw of a familiar emotion. They’ve felt it before in their hearts and thanks to America, they can now hear it, share it, and sing along.




Long Walk Home


Book Description

In this unique collection, critics, musicians, scholars, and fans describe how they have been moved, shaped, and challenged by Bruce Springsteen's music. These essays examine the big questions at the heart of Springsteen's music, demonstrating the ways his songs have resonated for millions of listeners for nearly five decades.




Spirituality, Ethnography, & Teaching


Book Description

Today more than ever, we need an ethnography of spirit so we can identify and describe how spirit dwells and how it communicates. Our lives and our humanity depend on making the connection to spirit more visible and concrete to ourselves, to those we love, and to those we fail to understand. Educators have a special role to play in making the connection to spirit more visible and concrete. In this vital new book, a wide range of scholars and educators share stories about their own personal calls to spirituality. From the Amazon to the coast of Ireland, from the Talmud to the Book of Mormon, and in classrooms across the world, contributors explore the scenes in which spirit lives through insightful autoethnographic research and reporting. Spirituality, Ethnography, and Teaching is dedicated to the journey to the heart of teaching and learning. Each chapter reveals that spirituality, ethnography, and teaching are linked concretely in our experience of and desire for freedom. This collection of stories invites the reader to share in a way of knowing that discloses a radical union in which freedom, communication, and spirit coalesce. This ethnography of spirit calls upon the reader to dwell more deeply in the humanness of life and vocation and to let love flow.




Rock 'N' Roll with It


Book Description

Change happens. Either intentionally or unintentionally, we find ourselves entangled with change on a daily basis. Depending on the day and our mood, our ability to successfully "rock" change or "roll" with the punches can come and go faster than a one-hit wonder. True rock stars understand that change is a journey. They then find the will to grind it out in the face of adversity to achieve the kind of lasting change they seek. Rock 'n' Roll with It offers a unique approach to creating and accepting powerful and lasting change in your life. Presented through the lens of our beloved Rock 'N' Roll, this book will help you create and perform a personal "set list" designed to keep you engaged while developing the characteristics needed to become a true Rock Star of Change. Thought-provoking interviews with legendary change makers will inspire you to put on your leather pants and shake what your Mama gave you. Brant Menswar and Jim Trick, both real-life rock stars and passionate change agents, skillfully guide your journey through change soundly explaining how change works and equipping you with specific strategies to accomplishing the kind of transformational change that leads to the type of life you really want...one that bears fruit and enriches those around you.




The 27s


Book Description

Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Jim Morrison. Brian Jones. Kurt Cobain. Founding bluesman Robert Johnson. All died at 27. Their stories, as well as those of ill-fated members of the Grateful Dead, The Stooges, Badfinger, Big Star, Minutemen, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Mars Volta, are here presented for the first time as a profound and interlocking web that reaches beyond coincidence to the roots of artistic causality and fate.