Kirjahaku

A biography of the British singer songwriter who died aged twenty six, having made three albums, all now recognised as classics.

'It's Number One - it's Top of the Pops'. It's not just the story of a long-running television programme. The story of Top of the Pops is the story of British popular music. It is a shadow history of British rock & roll, and beyond. It is the story of 'Auntie' BBC getting down with the kids. It is the story of how a 6-week show turned into a pan-global phenomenon and how for 40 years, Top of the Pops was a British institution. 'It's Number One - it's Top Of The Pops' for every generation from 1964, until the show ended in 2006, that was the sentence every young television viewer sat down to hear. At its peak, a quarter of the UK's entire population was watching. Top Of The Pops was the pivotal pop television programme over its 2,000 weekly episodes, the programme gave peak airtime to every act, from The Beatles to Beyonce - from Cream to Coldplay - from Pink Floyd to Pink! From its humble beginnings in 1964 from a disused church through to the programme's pan-global appeal in the 1990s, Top Of The Pops has become synonymous with the best in pop television. With a span of nearly half a century, there are so many highlights: The Beatles only live appearance, in 1966, promoting 'Paperback Writer' - the Who getting banned - the first colour edition in 1969 - David Bowie's breakthrough performance of 'Starman' in 1972 - Nirvana's chaotic 1991 appearance promoting 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - the Blur versus Oasis battle - Justin Timberlake playing bass with the Flaming Lips in 2003 - Top Of The Pops II was launched in 1994, bringing the programme to a whole new audience. Around the same time, the BBC licensed the "Top Of The Pops" brand to over 90 countries, with estimated audience of 100 million. Though it ceased broadcasting in 2006, thanks to the internet, compilation CDs; repeated viewing on BBC4 - Top Of The Pops lives on. This is the first book to tell that incredible story.

In what was a momentous year of social change, the Rolling Stones experienced the most significant twelve months of their career. At the start of 1969, they were a successful blues band returning to their rock’n’roll roots after a recent experiment with psychedelia. By December, they had released the classic album Let It Bleed, lost one of their founding members, played an era-defining concert at Hyde Park to half a million people and witnessed a fan stabbed to death at Altamont Speedway. With a notorious 1967 drug bust on their CV and a career finally coming out from under the shadow of their rivals The Beatles, everything – the good, the bad and the ugly – suddenly crystallised for the Stones as the Swinging Sixties stumbled to a close. Rolling Stones 69 is the definitive account of the transformative year that saw the Stones truly earn their reputation as “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”.

There had been stars before. There had been films prior to Cleopatra. But in all the cynical, greedy, magical, histrionic history of the movies, there had never been a combination like that of Elizabeth Taylor and Cleopatra.Other films may have taken more money, won more awards or attracted better reviews, but none have come close to the legend that is Cleopatra.What began in 1958 as a remake of the 1917 Theda Bara film, which starred Joan Collins and was projected to cost $2 million, would open five years later, having cost nearly twenty times as much. The budget had skyrocketed enormously as the production went through extravagant sets in two different countries, two directors and six leading men – and this was on top of Elizabeth Taylor’s $1 million fee.But it was the off-screen romance between the two on-screen leads that really cemented Cleopatra’s place in cinema history. Within weeks of Richard Burton’s arrival in Italy, he and Taylor embarked on a tumultuous and passionate love affair that kept the Cuban Missile Crisis off the front pages and was denounced by the Vatican. Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood is a story of lust, excess and hubris – and how one film nearly brought Hollywood to its knees.

It's an album-by-album, track-by-track run down of every Beatles song on record and includes "The Beatles Live At the BBC" album, various compilations and the three best-selling Anthology sets released in 1995 and the 1 compilation, the Love medley CD and the re-mastered back catalogue albums.

The first full biography of the group in nearly 20 years.Written by bestselling author and music journalist Patrick Humphries.Contains previously unpublished interviews with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr conducted by the author during his 40-year career as a music journalist. Patrick Humphries was there for the 1963 tsunami of Beatlemania - he still has his Fan Club membership card. Today, he feels the Beatles' UK origins have been overlooked for too long. Inside With the Beatles: Previously unknown details of the Beatles' third film are revealed... Paul talks about the controversial Lennon/McCartney songwriting credit... George reflects on Beatlemania and Ringo on his skiffle roots... Plans for Lonnie Donegan to act as go-between to coax John Lennon out of his New York exile... First-hand accounts of Liverpool and Hamburg paint a picture of the Beatles' roots, plus an exhaustive analysis of how their American breakthrough was achieved... There are fly-on-the-wall accounts of Paul rehearsing for a world tour... and the Beatles' Love musical in Las Vegas... There are interviews with George Martin, "fifth Beatle" Chas Newby, Cavern DJ Bob Wooler, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and his memories of Beatlemania, and Tom Jones discussing plans for him and Elvis Presley to recruit the Beatles as their backing band... And the last words John said to Paul. As well as telling the story from the birth of Ringo Starr in 1940 to the group's break-up in 1970, With the Beatles also tells the story of how the Beatles' brand continues to live on long after their demise. With unique access to archives, interviews and all media, Patrick Humphries traces the Beatles' progress in cyberspace, on film and in print. The author reveals how the group dominates auction house sales, including an interview with Hilary Kay from BBCs Antiques Roadshow on the group's enduring appeal. The long battle with Steve Jobs' Apple is chronicled and how the Beatles' own Apple meticulously guards their legacy with box sets, re-releases and documentaries. With the Beatles is that rarest of things, a new look at the enduring impact and legacy of the world's most influential band."With the Beatles is a terrific book. More than the story of how the group emerged out of the Fifties to become the most famous musical ensemble ever, it is also a social history of a time of rapid change... Patrick Humphries is a well-known writer on popular music and his scholarship in music is evident from the number of interviews with the famous (including three Beatles) and the not so famous who populate his book. Not only does the author know and love the Beatles' music, he understands the roots from which they and their original fans sprouted. Many books have been written about the Beatles, and this is one of the very best, in that it was written not just by a fan, but by a writer who knows well the milieu that created them and the world that was changing around them as they sang and played. If you want to understand the Beatles, look no further than this book." Ray Connolly, author of Being John Lennon"Like the venerated and cherished map from Robert Louis Stevenson's fabled Treasure Island, Patrick Humphries paints a detailed and unique portrait to understanding the meaning and treasured legacy of the Beatles." John Bezzini, Buzz's Beatles Book/Print Blogand owner of possibly the largest English language Beatles book collection in the world"If you thought you knew everything about the Beatles, this book makes you think again. Through many new insights compiled from the people who were there, Patrick Humphries gives us the context and delivers a fresh view of a group that played such a decisive role in modern music and culture over the last 60 years."Phil Manzanera"Patrick Humphries is one of the all-time great biographers of rock music. Few others come close. His interviews with the Beatles are ripe for revival as they allow him to present a fresh perspective on this most scrutinised and loved of bands."Colin Hall, author of The Songs The Beatles Gave Away and custodian of 'Mendips' 2004-2023Earlier praise for the authorNick Drake: The Biography "This book works as a sad fable of an unusual casualty of the 1960s counter culture" The Sunday Times"Patrick Humphries has written a rich, moving account of a troubled spirit... The writing is zestful and intelligent and the text illuminating..." Uncut"An exquisite portrait... A short, sweet and sad story..." MojoRolling Stones '69"Patrick Humphries' excellent book... brings an engagingly fresh perspective, delivering his narrative in an amused clear-eyed and balanced prose..." The Spectator"Well-regarded rock critic Patrick Humphries... tells the story briskly and with genuine insight" Planet Rock