The Beatles in Perspective: A Carnival of Light

James McGrath, Peter Mills

The Beatles’ lives and work continue to delight fans and influence musicians half a century since their heyday. Yet their contribution to contemporary culture and their relationship to social change remain controversial topics in need of reappraisal. This collection brings togeth...

She's at the Controls

Helen Reddington

She's at the Controls gives a socio-historical examination of the roles of women studio professionals in the UK music industry based on interviews conducted over six years with 30 female studio practitioners at different stages of their careers and working in different genres of popular music includ...

Elvis

Mark Duffett

Elvis Presley remains the single most important figure in twentieth century popular music. To many commentators, however, he has simply embodied the benefits and problems of uncritically embracing capitalism. By 2005 the 'Memphis Flash' sold over a billion records worldwide, yet his cultural signifi...

The Beatles

Ian Inglis

Of all pop music's icons, the Beatles have attracted more attention and generated more discussion than any other performers. The group's transformation from a semi-professional skiffle group in Liverpool to one of the twentieth century's key historical and cultural events has been told and re-told i...

Do You Want to Know a Secret?

Billy J. Kramer

Alyn Shipton

When Billy J. Kramer's "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" by Lennon and McCartney topped the charts in 1963, he was the first singer in the world to have a number one hit with a Beatles song, apart from the Fab Four themselves. This propelled the teenage Kramer into the fast lane, and he followed it wi...

Rufus Wainwright

Katherine Williams

Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright (b. 1973) is famous around the world for his multi-faceted musical style, shown through both his recorded output and his engaging live performances. In this book, Katherine Williams combines aspects of his life story with scholarly readings drawn...

The Music of Fantasy Cinema

Janet K. Halfyard

Fantasy has had a modern resurgence in cinema due largely to the success of superhero narratives and the two major fantasy series, the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Often regarded as mere escapism, works of both literature and cinema wishing to be taken seriously by the public, by critics and...

Brian Wilson

Kirk Curnutt

Finalist, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2012, Performing Arts and Music (Adult Non-Fiction) Brian Wilson is a musical genius. Ever since British press agent Derek Taylor launched a publicity campaign with that theme to promote the landmark LP Pet Sounds in 1966, some variation of that cla...

Send in the Clones

Georgina Gregory

Although musical tributes play a significant role within contemporary culture and despite their relative longevity as a form of entertainment, little serious research has been published on the subject. This book makes an important contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon of the tribute ba...

Bjork

Nicola Dibben

This book provides the first comprehensive musicologically-informed account of Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork. Bjork is internationally recognized for her unique and innovative musical style, as well as her collaborative working relationship with artists, musicians and sound engineers. Her work c...