A riveting oral biography of the proto-punk Detroit rockers MC5, based on original interviews with the band and key members of their inner circleFew bands have dared to ignite a revolution through their fusion of activism and art like MC5. Managed by the charismatic radical and hippie spokesman, John Sinclair, MC5 wasn’t just a band; they were a thunderous proclamation of dissent, amplifying the voices of the marginalized long before it was fashionable. From champi...

A riveting oral biography of the proto-punk Detroit rockers MC5, based on original interviews with the band and key members of their inner circleFew bands have dared to ignite a revolution through their fusion of activism and art like MC5. Managed by the charismatic radical and hippie spokesman, John Sinclair, MC5 wasn’t just a band; they were a thunderous proclamation of dissent, amplifying the voices of the marginalized long before it was fashionable. From champi...

The #1 National BestsellerShortlisted for the 2019 Speaker’s Book AwardNominated for the 2019 Heritage Toronto Book Award“Barclay combines his admiration of the band with his knowledge of the music industry to make a clever, touching, and very informative book that may well be the definitive work on an important piece of Canadian pop culture.” — Publishersweekly.com, starred reviewTh...

The New York Times Bestseller**One of Rolling Stone's 10 Best Music Books of 2015"Petty and Zanes have decided to tell the unvarnished truth, and the result is not only the definitive account of Petty's life, but one of the best rock biographies in recent memory."** — Rolling StoneAn exhilarating and intimate account of the life of music legend Tom Petty, by an accomplished writer and musician who t...

The all-access biography and unprecedented look at the life, career, and legacy of a pint-sized kid from Long Island who became a music legend.“A funny, revealing, and poignant look at [Billy] Joel’s long career.”—Boston GlobeExhibiting unparalleled intimate knowledge, Fred Schruers chronicles Joel’s rise to the top of the charts, from his working-class origins in Levittown and early days spent in boxing rings and sweaty clubs to h...

The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever.Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties -- when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives re-energized Am...

The twentieth anniversary edition of the "utterly and shamelessly sensational" history of punk music—featuring new photos and an afterword by the authors ( Newsday).A contemporary classic, Please Kill Me is the definitive oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Richard Hell, the Ramones, and scores of other punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that explosive era.Editors Legs McNeil ...

This account of Led Zeppelin's decadent life on the road by their longtime tour manager "dishes up the real dirt as only an insider's report can" ( Kirkus Reviews).No one knew Led Zeppelin like Richard Cole. The band's tour manager for more than a decade, Cole was there when they burst onto the music scene, achieved cult status, cut platinum records, and transformed popular music. Second only to the Beatles in sales for years, Led Zeppelin was rock's premie...

From a legendary music journalist with four decades of unprecedented access, an insider's behind-the-scenes look at the major personalities of rock and roll.Lisa Robinson has interviewed the biggest names in music--including Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Patti Smith, U2, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Jay Z and Kanye West. She visited the teenage Michael Jackson many times at his Encino home. She spent hours talking to John Lennon at his Dakota apartment--and ...

**Uncover never-before-told stories in this epic tale of self-discovery by Rock ’n’ Roll legend Stevie Van Zandt.An instant New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Publishers Weekly bestseller!**The first true heartbeat of Unrequited Infatuations is the moment when Stevie Van Zandt trades in his devotion to the Baptist religion for an obsession with Rock and Roll. Groups like the Beatles an...

A delicious romp through the heyday of rock and roll and a revealing portrait of the man at the helm of the iconic magazine that made it all possible, with candid look backs at the era from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and others.The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and publisher, and the pioneering era he helped curate, is told here for the first time in glittering, glorious detail...

In September 1968, four English lads gathered together for the first time in a small, stuffy London rehearsal room in a basement filled with wall-to-wall amplifiers. It was their first big tryout as musicians, and each of them was nervous. Would they come together as a band? Or would they crash and burn, becoming nothing but a rock footnote? Then the room exploded, with wailing chords, howling vocals, and a locked-tight rhythm section—a sonic assault of heretofore unknown power. Here for t...