The Smash Hits Collection


Book Description







The Best of Smash Hits


Book Description

* A compilation of all the best bits from Britain's best-loved, much-mourned pop magazine




Smash Hits


Book Description

The years 1750-1899 -- The years 1900-1939 -- The years 1940-1959 -- The years 1960-1969 -- The years 1970-1979 -- The years 1980-2016.







Smash Hits


Book Description

We are what we listen to. That's the premise of this study of 100 songs that have shaped and defined the American experience, from the Colonial period to the present. Well-known music author James Perone looks at 100 songs that helped tell America's story. He examines why each song became a hit, what cultural and social values it embodies, what issues it touches upon, what audiences it attracted, and what made it such a definitive part of American history and popular culture. The chart-topping singles presented here crossed gender, age, race, and class lines to appeal to the mass American audience. The book discusses patriotic songs, minstrel music, and sacred songs and hymns as well as music in the broad categories of pop, rock, hip hop, jazz, country, and folk. An introduction provides an overview of the history and significant issues raised by the songs as a whole. Individual songs are then presented chronologically, based on when they were written. The revealing commentary for each "hit" is not only interesting and fun, but reveals what it was like to live in the United States at a particular time by unveiling the social, economic, and political issues—as well as the musical tastes—that made life what it was.







The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting


Book Description

(Book). From tips for evaluating recordings, to lively discussions of bootlegs and piracy, to the history of recording formats, to collectible artists and more, The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting covers all the tracks. Designed for anyone who collects records for pleasure or profit, at garage sales or on eBay, this guide is both informative and entertaining. If offers a wealth of detail and informed opinion unique in a field dominated by stodgy price guides. Engaging entries and essays explore the development of all recording mediums, from 78s to MP3; the distinctive character of imports; "most collected artists," from The Beatles to Nirvana; collectible labels, such as Sun, Chess and Motown; original packaging that enhances collectability; and much more.




Tom Jones - An Extraordinary Life


Book Description

The owner of one of the most recognizable faces - not to mention voices - in the entertainment business, Sir Tom Jones is the definition of a national treasure.It has been over fifty years since Jones’s breakthrough single ‘It’s Not Unusual’ reached Number One in the UK, and it seems as if he has been a permanent fixture on our airwaves ever since. Songs like ‘Delilah’ and ‘She’s a Lady’ are by now a part of the nation’s cultural fabric - but this astounding success wasn’t always assured for the legendary Welsh entertainer.Having already overcome a devastating bout of childhood tuberculosis, Tom Jones married his teenage girlfriend at the youthful age of sixteen. With a young family to support, it seemed far more likely that a career as a vacuum salesman was beckoning. However, Jones’s voice was destined for greater things than sales patter, and with thirty-six Top Forty singles to his name, his enduring popularity is a testament to just how talented that voice is.His career hasn’t always been plain-sailing though. Lengthy quiet periods without much professional success, combined with well-documented infidelities in his private life, has meant that Jones has known his fair share of tough times.In An Extraordinary Life, bestselling biographer Gwen Russell charts Jones’s journey from young, unsigned local singer to one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers. With his seventy-fifth birthday behind him, and forging a successful TV career thanks to his work heading The Voice, Jones’s status as a living legend is guaranteed.




Satisfaction


Book Description

Discover the music that influenced some of the biggest stars in Music history in 10 Albums That Changed My Life, a personal, insightful and gloriously illustrated look at the music that matters the most to the artists who matter the most to you. More than a hundred musicians invite you backstage, each revealing in their own words the 10 albums that influenced their lives, their music and their futures. Artists from Punk to Classic Rock, British Invasion to Pop, and Heavy Metal to Modern Rock take the stage in this sonic coming-of-age adventure. With more than 1,000 albums illustrated and profiled, 10 Albums That Changed My Life shares wonderfully intimate perspectives and surprising selections. Consider Henry Rollins, the legendary front man for punk's Black Flag. Slipped into his list of heavy rockers, you'll find The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hair. "I had this record in 4th or 5th grade. It was my mother's. I knew it was subversive and I probably shouldn't be listening to it and that's what made it irresistible to me. Besides, there is some great songwriting and performances on this album," Rollins says. From the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, Rolling Stone's Exile on Main Street to The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Flatt & Scruggs The Original Sound to Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced, the book is packed with classics and cool revelations. Featuring a Foreword by Rock And Roll Hall of Fame artist Nancy Wilson of Heart, 10 Albums That Changed My Life is a fun and fabulous page-turner, tuning into the music that made a difference. And still does.