The definitive biography of David Bowie

 

Mint condition. HB. 496pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

The 10th January, 2016 will no doubt resonate with David Bowie fans across the globe from now on. The world was shocked to wake to the sudden news of his death from cancer, which he had been secretly battling for eighteen months. The outpouring of grief, empathy and loss has been palpable, honest and raw. And he had only turned sixty-nine.

Respected arts commentator Paul Morley, one of the team who curated the highly successful retrospective exhibition for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, David Bowie Is . . . constructs the definitive story of Bowie that explores how he worked, played, aged, structured his ideas, invented the future and entered history as someone who could and would never be forgotten. Morley will capture the greatest moments of Bowie’s career; from the recording studio with the likes of Brian Eno and Tony Visconti; to iconic live performances from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, as well as the various encounters and artistic relationships he developed with rock luminaries John Lennon, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. And of course, discuss in detail his much-heralded, and critically-acclaimed comeback with the release of Black Star just days before his shocking death in New York.

Morley will offer a startling biographical critique of David Bowie’s legacy, showing how he never stayed still even when he withdrew from the spotlight, how he always knew his own worth, and released a dazzling plethora of mobile Bowies into the world with a bloody-minded determination and a voluptuous imagination to create something amazing that was not there before.

About the Author

Writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic Paul Morley has written about music, art, and entertainment since the 1970s. A founding member of the electronic collective Art of Noise and a member of staff at the Royal Academy of Music, he is the author of Ask: Chatter of Pop; Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City; Piece by Piece: Writing About Joy Division 1977–2007; Earthbound; The North; and Nothing, and he collaborated with music icon Grace Jones on her memoir, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs.

Biography of Adele

 

Ex-library. Excellent condition. PB. 223pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

The compelling life story of the Grammy-winning soul singer Adele's soulful voice, catchy hits, and vulnerable personality have won her critical acclaim and huge popularity.

She has topped the charts in 18 countries—but who is she? What is the truth of the tempestuous life that has so influenced her heartbreaking tracks? How did she overcome the challenges that threatened to derail her career?

This compelling book traces her story from her childhood in London, where she began singing at the age of four. During her teenage years she wrote her own music and attended the BRIT school, alongside the likes of Leona Lewis.

After posting demos on the MySpace website she earned a record deal and quickly captured hearts.

Adele remains an unlikely icon. Her looks are unusual in a formulaic world of celebrity image, she suffers badly with pre-stage nerves, and she once canceled a crucial promotional trip to the U.S. because she felt too down to travel.

This is a full, unflinching portrait of a genuine talent and inspiring, uncompromising woman—the curvy girl-next-door who conquered the world.

Helen Reddy on Helen Reddy

 

Excellent condition. PB. 358pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

With her song ‘IAm Woman', Helen Reddy provided the feminist anthem of the 1970s. In this highly anticipated memoir, Helen reveals that she is much more than the entertainer who first graced the stage at the age of four.

Helen Reddy became the first Australian to win a Grammy, to have her own prime-time variety show on a US television network and to have three number-one hit singles in the same year. then, at the height of her career, Helen's world was shattered by the death of both her parents and also the news that she had a rare, incurable disease.

In this riveting, frank and ultimately brave memoir, Helen reveals the emotional highs and lows that have shaped her as an artist and as a complex woman with a rich inner life sustained by a strong spiritual faith.

Biography of songs from one of world's legendary rock bands

 

Mint condition. PB. 192pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Featuring original and revealing interviews with band members and key people close to them, and tracing the band's meteroic rise from the early days to a group that has galvanized the pop music scene for more than twenty years, Stories Behind The Songs explores the background and inspiration behind every song written by U2, and is the definitive text on the subject. 

As testament to the band's enduring popularity, a full twenty-four years after the release of their first album, "Boy", in 1980, U2 hit Number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb", selling a million copies in three weeks. 

The first single from that album, "Vertigo" won three Grammys. 

U2 remains in every sense a world-class rock 'n' roll band, and this book takes you into the heart of the group, to reveal the inspiration behind their music.

About the author

Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin . He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. He was involved with The Music Show, an exhibition of the Irish music industry held in the RDS in October 2008. He was Chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission (now the BCI) between 1993 and 1998.

Biography of a Beatle

 

Mint condition. PB. 493pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.