Ian Gittins

He ran with teenage gangs in Brooklyn before becoming a global rock star in the Summer of Love. He was managed by the mob, hung with Hendrix, trashed thousands of hotel rooms, unwittingly paid for an unknown Led Zeppelin to support him on tour, taught John Bonham (as well as Fred Astaire) a thing or two about drumming, and took part in Zeppelin's infamous deflowering of a groupie with a mud shark. After enrolling in Rod Stewart's Sex Police, he hung out with Kojak, accidentally shared a house with Prince, became blood brothers with Ozzy Osbourne, and got fired by Sharon. He formed an all-blond hair metal band, jammed with John McEnroe and Steven Seagal, became a megastar in Japan, got married five times, slept with 4,500 groupies--and, along the way, became a rock legend by single-handedly reinventing hard rock and heavy metal drumming. Carmine Appice has enjoyed a jaw-dropping rock-and-roll life--and here he is telling his scarcely believable story. Cowritten with Ian Gittins, the coauthor with Nikki Sixx of the New York Times bestseller The Heroin Diaries, Stick It is one of the most extraordinary and outrageous rock-and-roll biographies of our time.

The Cure's story is a fantastical pop fable, but their trajectory has not been one of unbroken success. Along the way, their uneven, uneasy pop odyssey has taken in fierce intra-band tensions and fall-outs, numerous line-up changes and even a bitter court case that saw original group members feuding over payments and ownership of the band's name. There has been alcoholism, substance abuse and countless long, dark nights of the soul, many of which have been translated into luscious dark-rock symphonies. From gawky teenage art-punks in Crawley to gnomic, venerable rock royalty with 30 million record sales to their name, their journey has been a scarcely believable, vivid pop hallucination. This fully updated edition includes a deep dive into the band's long-awaited 14th studio album released in 2024: Songs of a Lost World.

Eight tracks. Endless stories.Allow yourself to be cast away in eight glorious decades of the most iconic show on radio. To mark this momentous occasion, The Definitive Desert Island Discs focuses on 80 of the most powerful and unforgettable interviews, revisiting every era of Desert Island Disc's storied history.Reflecting on how times have changed, the book will feature brand new material as castaways are interviewed about their experiences - did the conversation go how they expected? Would Sir Patrick Stewart still take his beloved billiards table (and a shed to keep it in, of course)? And does Hilary Devey stick by her endless supply of Cointreau?Get lost in lists of the weirdest and most wonderful luxury items, most popular tracks and books throughout the years, and more. Introduced by Lauren Laverne, The Definitive Desert Island Discs is a must-have gem, celebrating an incredible institution that has captured the hearts of a nation for 80 years.

They were such devout futurists that they even came from a New Town. Emerging from the unlikely locale of Basildon at the dawn of the Eighties, the unassuming Depeche Mode became pioneers of British electro-pop. Surviving the abrupt early departure of band founder and chief songwriter Vince Clarke, they quickly gathered a fervent cult following before powering into the mainstream. Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher and Alan Wilder took their dark, venal songs of sex, religion, obsession and death to the world's arenas and stadiums. Over four decades, Depeche Mode have seduced millions from Moscow to Montevideo. Yet it has never been an easy ride. Along the way there have been crippling bouts of self-doubt, depression, intra-band fighting, alcohol abuse... and the catastrophic heroin addiction that almost killed the charismatic yet vulnerable Gahan. From the band's earliest stirrings in Essex to the eve of their 40th anniversary, Faith and Devotion is a tale of triumph from adversity: the extraordinary history of a unique global synth-rock phenomenon. It's the story of Depeche Mode.

The Cure's story is a fantastical pop fable, but their trajectory has not been one of unbroken success. Along the way, their uneven, uneasy pop odyssey has taken in fierce intra-band tensions and fall-outs, numerous line-up changes and even a bitter court case that saw original group members feuding over payments and ownership of the band's name. There has been alcoholism, substance abuse and countless long, dark nights of the soul, many of which have been translated into luscious dark-rock symphonies. From gawky teenage art-punks in Crawley to gnomic, venerable rock royalty with 30 million record sales to their name, their journey has been a scarcely believable, vivid pop hallucination. A Perfect Dream is the tall tale of a truly unique British band. It's the story of The Cure.

Explores all aspects of the most talked about secret society in the world, from its most famous members to its infamous history, revealing the facts behind the fiction of Dan Brown’s new blockbuster. For centuries the Freemasonry has been the subject of rumour and intrigue. From its obscure origins to the suspicion that it exercises huge influence on government and multinational corporations, there has always been more than a whiff of controversy about the organisation. Secrets of the Lost Symbol reveals the truth behind the myths, sifts the facts from the fiction, and unveils the mysterious rites and ceremonies. Ian Gittins delves deep into the true origins of the society, its philosophy and practices, describes the rituals, and profiles a number of key figures. Along the way, he also shows where fact and fiction have fought, and fiction has won the battle.

(Book). A superbly illustrated, in-depth examination of the stories, events, places, and characters that inspired the songs of the Talking Heads, arguably the most significant band to emerge from the late-'70s New York punk scene based around CBGB's club. Led by guitarist-vocalist David Byrne, the band enjoyed major chart success on both sides of the Atlantic with infectious, incendiary singles like "Road to Nowhere," "Psycho Killer," and "Once in a Lifetime." During their influential seventeen-year career, Talking Heads assembled a body of raw yet intellectual rock music second to none. Then in 2002, having vowed to never work together again, the four original Heads reconvened and played live when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ian Gittins has written about music and popular culture for fifteen years for such varied publications as Melody Maker, Q, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Time Out, MTV, and the New York Times . He lives in London, England.