Offering a unique analysis and discussion of her life, career, and work, this is the true story of Patti Smith. Widely acknowledged as one of the most significant American artists of the rock age, an acclaimed poet, and a figurehead for many liberal political causes, Patti Smith went from an ugly-duckling childhood in postwar New Jersey to become queen of the 1970s New York art scene. Not a tell-all biography, this measured, accurate, and enthusiastic account of Smith's career is written f...

The films that society has termed pornographic movies have been with us for over a century now, since the first flickering kinetoscopes stumbled into life in 1889. Yet beyond a handful of scholarly tracts, and a few glancing references in certain Hollywood histories, there is no modern history of the subject available. Black and White and Blue fills that void. Taking as its cut-off point the late 1970s, when the advent of the home VCR irrevocably changed the face of the adult film industry...

Jeff Beck stands alongside fellow ex-Yardbirds Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton as one of the greatest electric guitarists Britain has ever produced. His work in the past three decades has encompassed progressive, soul, jazz-rock and instrumental music, winning him the accolade of 'the guitarist's guitarist' from innumerable musicians' magazines. Yet despite his eclectic output and many collaborators, fans and critics alike hark back to the short-lived Jeff Beck Group of the late 1960s, featuri...

London's Burning is the story of punk rock as it happened, stripped of hindsight and future legend, and laid bare. Here are the Damned and the Adverts on tour, the Sex Pistols swearing through their prime-time television debut, the Tom Robinson Band conducting a club full of skinheads through the anthem "Glad to Be Gay," rioting Rastas running through the carnage that closed the Notting Hill Carnival, Sid Vicious arguing about which was David Bowie's best song. At the same time, i...

The films that society has termed pornographic movies have been with us for over a century now, since the first flickering kinetoscopes stumbled into life in 1889. Yet beyond a handful of scholarly tracts, and a few glancing references in certain Hollywood histories, there is no modern history of the subject available. Black and White and Blue fills that void. Taking as its cut-off point the late 1970s, when the advent of the home VCR irrevocably changed the face of the adult film industry...

Dave Thompson, author of Virgin's acclaimed Red Hot Chili Peppers biography, takes a new and very detailed look at the creation of one of the world's most influential bands. After all the streets of London had been covered in 'Clapton Is God' tributes, the three top rock instrumentalists of their time, all stars in their own right, came together to form Cream. Cream went on to become the first band to break openthe lucrative US market by dint of their live shows alone.Updat...

There have been many books written about Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, but only by people who weren’t there. Walter Lure was—from the band's chaotic beginnings on New York's Lower East Side, through a now-legendary UK tour with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, and on to a yearlong stay in London—eyewitness and midwife to the birth of UK punk.Now, he tells his story in To Hell and Back, a thrilling ride through the clubs and dives of two continents, in the company of one of t...

Between 1972 and 1976. and then again following their 1979 reunion, Roxy Music were arguably the most exciting, ambitious and vivacious band in the world. They comprised a core four piece of vocalist Bryan Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, horn player Andy Mackay and drummer Phil Thompson, but also featured, at different times, Brian Eno and Eddie Jobson. Emerging during 1972’s long, hot summer of glam rock, the band coud never be readily pigeonholed.The greatest records they made be...

A veteran music journalist explores rock-n-roll's bayou roots in "a jolting 18-track joy ride [that] unlocks secrets and back-stories worth savoring" ( The Wall Street Journal).The bayou of the American south—stretching from Houston, Texas, to Mobile, Alabama—is a world all its own, with a rich cultural heritage that has had an outsized influence on musicians across the globe. In this unique study of marsh music, Dave Thompson goes beyond the storied stomp...

By 1987, David Bowie was at a creative, critical, and commercial low. His most recent album was dismissed by the music press, his latest tour written off as a disaster. Fifteen years after becoming the most colourfully controversial superstar in recent rock history, Bowie was seen as a spent force.Almost twenty years later, Bowie has re-established himself at the very peak of his profession in one of the most extraordinary comebacks in rock history. His 1995 release of the critical...

Living Outrageously Your Hero's Journey is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to discover the answers to one question:For all things in my life, how can I maximise my experience so that I am truly living outrageously?In this ground-breaking manifesto, #1 iTunes podcast host and Peak Performance Coach Dave Thompson reveals how ordinary people can achieve outrageous results in their lives and businesses.This is the go-to guidebook for passi...

All Aboard the Crazy TrainThis is Ozzy Osbourne in all his raw and unfiltered glory; four decades worth of his best quotes, oddest observations, risqué retorts, and yes, even articulate ponderings. Ozzy might come across as a nutter (and rightly so), but when you sit down and seriously consider what he's saying . . . well, he's f**king Ozzy Osbourne and he's got things to say!The Prince of Darkness sounds off on various topics including:• Black Sabb...