He had it all-the heroin chic thing before it was chic, the scars, the swagger, an incredible stage presence. After bursting on to the Australian music scene in 1975, Dragon fast developed a reputation for both hard rocking and hard living. As the highly visible and charismatic lead singer, Marc Hunter was the voice behind such timeless hits as ‘April Sun in Cuba', ‘Are You Old Enough?' and ‘Rain'. Yet Hunter was also a maverick whose destructive genius and serious heroin addiction led to ...

Pop star, mentor and icon, George Young was one of the most important figures in Australian pop music history. Jeff Apter reveals the little-known facts that helped create a music empire.George Young wasn't so much on the charts for the best part of three decades: he and his musical partner Harry Vanda were the charts.George's journey began with the trailblazing Easybeats and continued, alongside Harry, as producer/songwriter for hire with John Pau...

The Cure emerged in the post-punk 70s and defied all expectations to launch a marathon career marked by hit records and a string of sell-out arena shows. Never Enough traces The Cure's roots in middle-class Crawley, Sussex, and tracks their gradual rise, revealing how their first major album Pornography, almost ended the band well before their multi-platinum career began. Also documents Robert Smith's escape into the Siouxie & The Banshees camp during the 80s, and his experimentation with ...

A pure drop explores all of Buckley's fascinating facets and seeks to explain why he became so extraordinarily influential. It was his take on John Cale's cover version of Leonard Cohen's rather obscure song 'Hallelujah' that made the number famous and one solitary album - Grace - that caused everyone from Led Zeppelin and U2 to Radiohead and Coldplay to look up to Buckley as an illuminating spirit. This meticulous exploration of the short life of Jeff Buckley draws on personal letters and...

Don’t Dream It’s Over is the first biography to focus exclusively on Neil Finn, the man who wrote the timeless hits of Split Enz and Crowded House.In early 1980, 21-year-old Neil Mullane Finn wrote 'I Got You', which became the signature song and biggest hit for the Kiwi band Split Enz, co-founded by Neil's big brother Tim several years earlier. Over the next four decades, Neil not only nurtured one of the finest heads of hair in music, but crafted hit aft...

Here is the extreme story of the indestructible LA group from their early funk days to eventual success as one of America's top-selling bands. Despite an epic reputation for exhibitionism, drug taking and debauchery, through it all the Chili Peppers have continued to produce records that shock, challenge and intrigue their fans. Author Jeff Apter has interviewed dozens of people - many speaking openly for the first time - who have moved in and out of the Chili Peppers' circle over the past...

The eclectic Orange County band No Doubt was formed in 1986 by Eric Stefani and John Spence who soon recruited Eric’s younger sister Gwen as co-vocalist. With the addition of Tony Kanal on Bass, they launched a 20 year career that would fuse ska, grunge, alt. rock and shades of several other musical genres into a unique mix.The 1987 suicide of John Spence resulted in the battlefield promotion of Gwen to lead vocalist, a shift that would prove a launch pad for her future so...

Clad in black with dark shades, Roy Orbison had a mystique, style, and voice that were unmistakable and singularly different from his famous peers of the 1950s and '60s. Born in Vernon, Texas, Roy was the son of a guitar-playing oil worker. Already a music fan by age six, Roy went on to form a high school band. Honky-tonk gigs followed. Then a contract at Elvis Presley's label, Sun Records, where Roy found mentors and friends among the likes of Carl Perkins. Following a shift to Monument R...

'Jeff Buckley was a pure drop in an ocean of noise.' – BonoIt was his take on John Cale's cover version of Leonard Cohen's song 'Hallelujah' that made the number famous and his album – Grace – that caused everyone from Led Zeppelin and U2 to Radiohead and Coldplay to look up to Buckley as an illuminating spirit. But who was the man behind the music?Buckley’s many personal letters are revealed for the first time. His struggle with writers block is explored,...

The Cure emerged in the post-punk 70s and defied all expectations to launch a marathon career marked by hit records and a string of sell-out arena shows. Never Enough traces The Cure's roots in middle-class Crawley, Sussex, and tracks their gradual rise, revealing how their first major album Pornography, almost ended the band well before their multi-platinum career began. Also documents Robert Smith's escape into the Siouxie & The Banshees camp during the 80s, and his experimentation with ...

Teenage punk self-taught musician bandleader session man smoker drinker multi-millionaire David Grohl has achieved a rare feat a rock n roll double crown having been a member of two hugely successful and influential bands Nirvana and The Foo Fighters. Loaded with candid interviews and hard truths about Grohls life in music this is the first comprehensive biography of an icon whose career charts rock and rolls rise and fall over the past two decades. Details his drumming and touring with Qu...

The first in-depth biography of Malcolm Young, from the author of High Voltage.'What a great read. The last chapters really got to me - so sad.'Herm Kovac, bandmate and lifelong friend of Malcolm (and co-founder of TMG)Malcolm Young was a legend: the founder and the driving force of AC/DC, a man with what many have called 'the greatest right hand in rock and roll'. That right hand provided the instantly recognisable riffs and muscle behind s...