Download or read book Bedsit Disco Queen written by Tracey Thorn and published by Virago. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for eighteen years, between 1982 and 2000, I was one half of the group Everything But the Girl. In that time, we released nine albums and sold nine million records. We went on countless tours, had hit singles and flop singles, were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of our lives. I've been in the charts, out of them, back in. I've seen myself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody and a disco diva. I haven't always fitted in, you see, and that's made me face up to the realities of a pop career - there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, yes, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes.
Download or read book Another Planet written by Tracey Thorn and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2019-02-07 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE 'Tender, wise and funny' Sunday Express 'Beautifully observed, deadly funny' Max Porter Before becoming an acclaimed musician and writer, Tracey Thorn was a typical teenager: bored and cynical, despairing of her aspirational parents. Her only comfort came from house parties and the female pop icons who hinted at a new kind of living. Returning to the scene of her childhood, Thorn takes us beyond the bus shelters, the pub car parks and the weekly discos, to the parents who wanted so much for their children and the children who wanted none of it. With great wit and insight, Thorn reconsiders the Green Belt post-war dream so many artists have mocked, and yet so many artists have come from.
Download or read book My Rock n Roll Friend written by Tracey Thorn and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2021-04-01 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Entertaining, affectionate and righteous' Guardian 'Says so much about being a woman' Cosey Fanni Tutti In 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey’s music career was just beginning, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by gossip and feminism, books and gigs and rock ’n’ roll love affairs. Thorn takes stock of thirty-seven years of friendship, teasing out the details of connection and affection between two women who seem to be either complete opposites or mirror images of each other. She asks what people see, who does the looking, and ultimately who writes women out of – and back into – history.
Download or read book Naked at the Albert Hall written by Tracey Thorn and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her bestselling autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen, Tracey Thorn recalled the highs and lows of a thirty-year career in pop music. But with the touring, recording and extraordinary anecdotes, there wasn't time for an in-depth look at what she actually did for all those years: sing. She sang with warmth and emotional honesty, sometimes while battling acute stage-fright. Part memoir, part wide-ranging exploration of the art, mechanics and spellbinding power of singing, NAKED AT THE ALBERT HALL takes in Dusty Springfield, Dennis Potter and George Eliot; Auto-tune, the microphone and stage presence; The Streets and The X Factor. Including interviews with fellow artists such as Alison Moyet, Romy Madley-Croft and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, and portraits of singers in fiction as well as Tracey's real-life experiences, it offers a unique, witty and sharply observed insider's perspective on the exhilarating joy and occasional heartache of singing.
Download or read book Patient written by Ben Watt and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2014-10-15 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book of the Year: “Unforgettable . . . Few have told such a compelling life-story as skillfully” (San Francisco Chronicle). In the summer of 1992, on the eve of an American tour, singer/songwriter Ben Watt, one half of the Billboard-topping pop duo Everything But The Girl, was taken to a London hospital complaining of chest pain. As his condition worsened, doctors were baffled. He was eventually he was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening autoimmune disease called Churg-Strauss Syndrome. “To paraphrase Joseph Heller,” Ben says, “you know it’s something serious when they name it after two guys.” By the time he came home, two-and-half-months later, his ravaged body was forty-six pounds lighter, and he was missing most of his small intestine. “Unfold[ing] like a page-turning mystery” (The Los Angeles Times), and “told with great wit and without self-pity, Patient is a sobering look at how life can suddenly be transformed into a humbling vaudeville of tests, IV’s, catheters, and bedpans” (The New York Times Book Review). Injecting a frankness and natural humility into his “funny, frightening, and piercingly vulnerable” (Interview) chronicle of a medical nightmare, Ben writes about his childhood, reflects on family, and his shared life with band member and partner, Tracey Thorn. The result is “a vivid, finely wrought look at having one’s future yanked away, and surviving physically and emotionally” (Dallas Morning Star-Telegram). A Sunday Times Book of the Year A Village Voice Favorite Book of the Year An Esquire (UK) Best Non-Fiction Award Finalist
Download or read book Bedsit Disco Queen written by Tracey Thorn and published by Virago. This book was released on 2013-02-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for eighteen years, between 1982 and 2000, I was one half of the group Everything But the Girl. In that time, we released nine albums and sold nine million records. We went on countless tours, had hit singles and flop singles, were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of our lives. I've been in the charts, out of them, back in. I've seen myself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody and a disco diva. I haven't always fitted in, you see, and that's made me face up to the realities of a pop career - there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, yes, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes.
Download or read book Grant I Inside and Outside the Go Betweens written by Robert Forster and published by Omnibus Press. This book was released on 2017-08-14 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In early ’77 I asked Grant if he’d form a band with me. ‘No,’ was his blunt reply.” Grant McLennan didn’t want to be in a band. He couldn’t play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour. However, when Robert Forster began weaving shades Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, Grant was swayed and the 80s indie sensation, The Go-Betweens, was born. These friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant’s tragic, premature death in 2006. Beautifully written – like lyrics, like prose – Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other. Part ‘making of’, part music industry exposé, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, who boldly pursued a creative vision, and whose beating heart was the band’s friendship.
Download or read book Romany and Tom written by Ben Watt and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-02-13 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ______________________ A moving, funny and beautifully written memoir by musician, DJ and writer Ben Watt which carefully chronicles his parents' lives, their marriage and their decline into old age Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, 2014 ______________________ 'Wise, moving and entertaining... a major achievement to rival any of Watt's recordings' - Guardian 'A poignant, life-affirming work' - Financial Times ______________________ Ben Watt's father, Tommy, was a working-class Glaswegian jazz musician, a politicised left-wing bandleader and a composer. His heyday in the late fifties took him into the glittering heart of London's West End, where he broadcast live with his own orchestra from the Paris Theatre and played nightly with his quintet at the the glamorous Quaglino's. Ben's mother, Romany, the daughter of a Methodist parson, schooled at Cheltenham Ladies' College, was a RADA-trained Shakespearian actress, who had triplets in her first marriage before becoming a leading showbiz columnist in the.sixties and seventies. They were both divorcees from very different backgrounds who came together like colliding trains in 1957. Both a personal journey and a portrait of his parents, Romany and Tom is a vivid story of the post-war years, ambition and stardom, family roots and secrets, life in clubs and in care homes. It is also about who we are, where we come from, and how we love and live with each other for a long time. ______________________ 'You know when everyone last month was going 'Ben Watt's Romany & Tom is amazing?' I've just read it. It really is' - Caitlin Moran
Download or read book Big Day Coming written by Jesse Jarnow and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of Yo La Tengo, the massively influential band who all but defined indie music. Yo La Tengo has lit up the indie scene for three decades, part of an underground revolution that defied corporate music conglomerates, eschewed pop radio, and found a third way. Going behind the scenes of one of the most remarkable eras in American music history, Big Day Coming traces the patient rise of husband-and-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, who—over three decades—helped forge a spandex-and-hairspray-free path to the global stage, selling millions of records along the way and influencing countless bands. Using the continuously vital Yo La Tengo as a springboard, Big Day Coming uncovers the history of the legendary clubs, bands, zines, labels, record stores, college radio stations, fans, and pivotal figures that built the infrastructure of the now-prevalent indie rock world. Journalist and freeform radio DJ Jesse Jarnow draws on all-access interviews and archives for mesmerizing trip through contemporary music history told through one of its most creative and singular acts.
Download or read book Le Freak written by Nile Rodgers and published by Spiegel & Grau. This book was released on 2011-10-18 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 10 ROCK MEMOIRS OF ALL TIME BY ROLLING STONE From Chic to Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers is the creative force behind some of the biggest hits ever recorded. Here is the story of how global pop’s greatest genius transformed his own dramatic life into the brilliantly joyful playlist of a generation. You will hear a Nile Rodgers song today. It will make you happy. In the 1970s and 1980s, Nile Rodgers wrote and produced the songs that defined the era and everything that came after: “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” “We Are Family,” “Like a Virgin,” “Let’s Dance,” “I’m Coming Out,” “Rapper’s Delight”—and worked with every influential pop star to create a string of enduring hits, from Diana Ross and Madonna to Duran Duran and David Bowie. Even today, he is still musically relevant: writing and performing record-breaking hits like “Get Lucky” with Daft Punk and Pharrell. But before he reinvented pop music, Nile Rodgers invented himself. From jamming with Jimi Hendrix in a Greenwich Village haze to the decadence of the disco era to witnessing the birth of Madonna on the Danceteria dance floor, Le Freak traces one of the greatest musical journeys of our time. Praise for Le Freak “[An] amazing memoir . . . steeped in the incestuous energy of the times: Punk, funk and art rock mixed it up in the downtown clubs, where musicians partied together and shared ideas. . . . Le Freak has plenty of sex and drugs. But it’s the music that makes it essential. . . . Rodgers gave those dreams a beat—and helped invent pop as we know it today.”—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone “This book is an absolute knockout: exhilarating, warm, and courageous, deeply moving and deeply funny. Le Freak is as much about the greatness of life as it is about Nile Rodgers’s extraordinary musical journey. As Rodgers well knows, the best music is the stuff we feel, the stuff that speaks to us and won’t let go. Le Freak does all that and much more. This is truly one of the best books ever written about art, music, life, and the way we grow to be exactly who we are. Actually, one of the best books period.”—Cameron Crowe “A coming-of-age tale every bit as impressive as the musical insights and star-time chronicles that follow.”—The New York Times Book Review “Consistently entertaining . . . His legacy as a funk-rock visionary is assured, and his autobiography serves as further proof that disco does not suck.”—San Francisco Chronicle “An unforgettable, gripping book.”—The Sunday Times (UK) “Name a star and you can bet they’re in this book, playing or partying with Rodgers. But far from being a succession of name-dropping anecdotes, this autobiography is a wonderfully funny, moving and wise reflection upon the important things in life: the people you love and the things you create.”—The Sunday Telegraph (UK) “Rodgers’s page-turning memoir is packed with emotionally charged vignettes of a tumultuous childhood and equally dramatic adulthood that found him awash in cash, cars, and celebrities. . . . His storytelling skills propel the reader through the book, making the ending all the more jarring. Remarkable for its candor, this rags-to-riches story is on the year’s shortlist of celebrity memoirs.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Download or read book What s It All About written by Cilla Black and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-05-04 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cilla Black is without doubt one of Britain's most treasured personalities. Generations have grown up with Cilla's music, TV shows, and performances. But how much do we really know about 'the girl with the bright red hair and the jet black voice'? What's It All About? is Cilla's own story, told for the first time ever. It's the story of a woman who has worked ceaselessly to stay at the top for forty years despite setbacks and personal tragedy; a life of incredible highs and terrible lows. In this deeply personal autobiography she tells her unique story in intimate and vivid detail for the very first time. This is the real Cilla Black.
Download or read book Lady Sings the Blues written by Billie Holiday and published by Crown. This book was released on 2006-07-25 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation—a fiftieth-anniversary edition updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an insightful foreword by music writer David Ritz Taking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holiday’s rough-and-tumble Baltimore childhood (where she ran errands at a whorehouse in exchange for the chance to listen to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith albums), to her emergence on Harlem’s club scene, to sold-out performances with the Count Basie Orchestra and with Artie Shaw and his band, this revelatory memoir is notable for its trenchant observations on the racism that darkened Billie’s life and the heroin addiction that ended it too soon. We are with her during the mesmerizing debut of “Strange Fruit”; with her as she rubs shoulders with the biggest movie stars and musicians of the day (Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and more); and with her through the scrapes with Jim Crow, spats with Sarah Vaughan, ignominious jailings, and tragic decline. All of this is told in Holiday’s tart, streetwise style and hip patois that makes it read as if it were written yesterday.
Download or read book How I Grew written by Mary McCarthy and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVDIVThe author of The Group, the groundbreaking bestseller and 1964 National Book Award finalist that shaped a generation of women, brings reminiscences of her girlhood to this intimate and illuminating memoir/divDIV How I Grew is Mary McCarthy’s intensely personal autobiography of her life from age thirteen to twenty-one./divDIV Orphaned at six, McCarthy was raised by her maternal grandparents in Seattle, Washington. Although her official birthdate is in 1912, it wasn’t until she turned thirteen that, in McCarthy’s own words, she was “born as a mind.” With detail driven by an almost astonishing memory recall, McCarthy gives us a masterful account of these formative years. From her wild adolescence—including losing her virginity at fourteen—through her eventual escape to Vassar, the bestselling novelist, essayist, and critic chronicles her relationships with family, friends, lovers, and the teachers who would influence her writing career./divDIV Filled with McCarthy’s penetrating insights and trenchant wit, this is an unblinkingly honest and fearless self-portrait of a young woman coming of age—and the perfect companion to McCarthy’s Memories of a Catholic Girlhood./divDIV This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary McCarthy including rare images from the author’s estate./divDIV/div/div
Download or read book Blue All Rise Our Story written by Antony Costa and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2017-10-19 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, more than 15 years after four boys from London were first thrown together to form what would go on to become one of the most successful and infamous groups of the boyband era, Lee, Antony, Duncan and Simon tell their full, no-holds-barred story in their own inimitable words.
Download or read book Letter To My Younger Self written by Jane Graham and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Sunday Times Book of the Year All royalties from sales of this book go to The Big Issue If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say? Over 10 years ago, The Big Issue began to ask some of the best-known, most interesting and most successful figures in entertainment, politics, food, sport and business to give advice, offer hope and share a few jokes with their younger selves. They opened up, in ways they never had, to interviewer Jane Graham, reflecting on their lives and themselves with affection, sympathy and sometimes disbelief. This collection of 100 of the most incredible letters includes Paul McCartney on how he found inspiration, Olivia Colman on overcoming confidence problems, Mo Farah on the importance of losing, Arianna Huffington on knowing your motivations, Jamie Oliver on trusting your instinct and many, many more, including Rod Stewart, Margaret Atwood, Buzz Aldrin, David Cameron, Eddie Izzard, Desmond Tutu, Neil Gaiman, Ruby Wax, Ranulph Fiennes, Tracey Emin, Ian McEwan, Michael Palin, Melanie C, Tim Peake, Dionne Warwick and Ewan McGregor. Letter to My Younger Self is a revelatory and profound exploration into the wit and wisdom that age brings, and of the unique insights that looking back can reveal. Proceeds from the sales of this book go to The Big Issue to continue their work dismantling poverty and promoting social justice. "A truly wonderful book ... a gateway to intelligent, learned and genuinely inspiring stories, moments and people ... We would highly recommend it ... It's a fab cause and put together seamlessly." Magic Radio - October Book Club Pick 'The answers make for great reading.' Sunday Mirror 'This collection is full of insightful stories that will make you think about how you live your own life, and how you want to live it in the future.' Woman's Weekly
Download or read book Some Fantastic Place written by Chris Difford and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize Over the course of a thirteen-album and multi-award-winning career with Squeeze, it was clear from the very beginning that Chris Difford has few peers when it comes to smart, pithy lyricism. In Some Fantastic Place, he charts his life from his childhood in south London to becoming a member of one of Britain's greatest bands and beyond. Along the way Chris reveals the inspiration and stories behind Squeeze's best-known songs, and his greatest highs and lows from over four decades of making music.
Download or read book The Various Haunts of Men written by Susan Hill and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the story begins, a lonely woman vanishes while out on her morning run. Then a 22-year-old girl never returns from a walk. An old man disappears too. When fresh-faced policewoman Freya Graffham is assigned to the case, she runs the risk of getting too invested--too involved--in the action. Alongside the enigmatic detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrallier, she must unravel the mystery before events turn too gruesome. Written with intelligence, compassion, and a knowing eye--in the tradition of the fabulous mysteries of Ruth Rendell and P.D. James--The Various Haunts of Men is an enthralling journey into the heart of a wonderfully developed town, and into the very mind of a killer.
