Omnibus Press

 His story is a bitter-sweet, heart-warming and occasionally droll tale of unlikely success, petty feuding and playful mischief during five years of growing up in the music industry. Wiser but not much richer, Michael became a bicycle courier in Soho after the Undertones split. "Sixty miles a day, fresh air, no responsibilities," he writes. "Sometimes I think it was the best job I ever had. It wasn't, of course."

From aristocratic lineage to convent school, stardom to attempted suicide, junkie to punk, folk singer to torch chanteuse, Marianne has seen her life flash by in banner headlines. 

Researched through over 50 interviews with her family, former lovers and friends, As Years Go By reveals the truth behind the headlines, the person behind the profile. Updated and extensively revised by one of the UK s most acclaimed writers, it is a candid, illuminating account of an endearing yet misunderstood artist.

Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks is a musical visionary, a poet and an enduring style icon with a truly phenomenal life story. The Omnibus enhanced Dreams, Visions & Rumours is a celebratory examination of this tale, tracing Stevie’s life from her Arizona childhood, the magic moment when she joined Fleetwood Mac and the hedonistic turbulence that followed.

Crowned 'The Reigning Queen Of Rock And Roll' by Rolling Stone, and with gold and quadruple platinum solo albums under her beaded belt, Stevie Nicks has enjoyed the ultimate in rock 'n' roll success in her life as a recording artist - but this charmed life has come as a result of grit, self-belief and a devotion to creativity above all; hers has been a journey of intense highs and lows.

This biography, a celebration of the Stevie Nicks phenomenon, takes us on her journey from peripatetic mid-West childhood to her explosion onto the music scene as chiffon-swathed rock goddess, right up to present day. Including exclusive interviews with some of Stevie's associates and collaborators from over the years, author Zoë Howe explores the mystique while retaining the magic of this modern-day musical sorceress and wise woman of rock.

This updated edition includes information about the 24 Karat Gold self-portrait collection exhibition Stevie curated in Hollywood, her work with the LA band Haim, coping with the loss of her close friends Glenn Frey and Prince, being a Rolling Stone cover girl again and more.

<p><em>"Brian Wilson. SMILE: Excellent! The man is my hero. I love him. I weep when I hear his band, I hear him sing. I love him."</em>&nbsp;<strong>&mdash;Paul McCartney</strong></p>

<p><strong>The story of the Brian Wilson's legendary&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking.</strong></p>

<p>"This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>, including the details of the original&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.</p>

<p>With over two dozen new interviews as well as generous excerpts from his extended 2004 interviews with Brian Wilson and&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;collaborator Van Dyke Parks, the book tells the story of&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;by those who were there in 1966 and from the participants in its 2004 resurrection, including all the members of Brian Wilson&rsquo;s band. It also features fan memories of what it was like to see Brian Wilson Presents&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;and what it meant to them.</p>

<p>With a foreword by Melinda Wilson and an anthology of essays from&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;historians, devotees, and music professors, this book promises to be the definitive word on the subject.</p>

<p>&ldquo;If I had to select one living genius of popular music, I would choose Brian Wilson.&rdquo;&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;George Martin</em></strong></p>

<p>"He's a modern-day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music."&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;Questlove</em></strong></p>

<p>"I don't think there is anyone his equal in pop music."&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;Linda Ronstadt</em></strong></p>

<p>"[T]he only real pop genius in the world..."&nbsp;<em><strong>&mdash;Sir Elton John</strong></em></p>

Book by book, year by year, the ultimate literary trip through Bowie’s greatest decade.

With his first starring role in a feature film and his first number 1s on both sides of the Atlantic, 1975 ought to be David Bowie’s golden year. But away from the spotlight the suave soul boy of Young Americans is tumbling into a self-made hell of cocaine, witchcraft and the dark fantasies of his new fascist alter-ego, the Thin White Duke.

As David goes berserk in the Hollywood hills, back in the Britain he’s forsaken there’s a Nazi-crazed murderer stalking the streets where he was born, a masked rapist at large and a power-mad grocer’s daughter on the rise, while sappy nostalgia grinds pop to a standstill. But there are also restless scamps hanging around a certain King’s Road clothes shop, and David’s own drug-fuelled genius daring him to make the album of his life. The Seventies are about to reignite with a bang.

The sixth volume in Simon Goddard’s epic adventure through Bowie’s greatest decade, Bowie Odyssey 75 is an intricately plotted tour de force of rock’n’roll, crime, punishment, politics, punk – and a cautionary tale of tragicomic addiction.

The definitive biography of pop sensations ABBA, revised and fully updated.

Exploding on to the international music scene after winning Eurovision with ‘Waterloo’ in 1974, Abba have since become one of the most famous pop groups in the world. Bright Lights Dark Shadows is the definitive account of the rise, fall and rise of the Swedish pop music titans.

This new edition of the best-selling book has been extensively updated to include details of ABBA Voyage, the phenomenal ninth and final album, the amazing concert experience in London and the ongoing personal lives of Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog.

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Punk protagonist, legendary drinker, Irish musical icon. The complete and extraordinary journey of the Pogues’ notorious frontman from outcast to national treasure has never been told – until now. This revised and updated paperback edition includes Shane's final months and the response to his passing.

A Furious Devotion vividly recounts the experiences that shaped the greatest songwriter of his generation including the formative trips to his mother’s homestead in Tipperary and the explosion of punk which changed his life.

As well as exclusive interviews with Shane himself, author Richard Balls has secured contributions from his wife and family, and people who have never spoken publicly about Shane before: close associates, former girlfriends and the English teacher who first spotted his literary gift. Nick Cave, Aidan Gillen, Cillian Murphy, Christy Moore, Sinead O’Connor and Dermot O’Leary are on the rollcall of those paying tribute to the gifted songwriter and poet.

This frank and extensive biography also includes many previously unseen personal photographs.

In 2011, Janet Devlin wowed X-Factor judges and charmed the nation with her unique vocals and performances. She consistently received the highest consecutive public vote out of all the contestants and gained a place on the live arena tour. But rather than this steering her towards greater musical success, Janet faced numerous challenges which almost cost her her career...

"Believe it or not, you’re holding my life in your hands. Not the picture-perfect version we’ve all become accustomed to, thanks to social media. This is my life as I’ve lived it – no filters.

Each chapter in this book unlocks the truth behind a song from my album Confessional. They span ten years of intense self-discovery married with a lot of self-sabotage. My broken brain has taken me to dark places both in my own head and in the real world. But, with destruction comes creation. I genuinely hope that My Confessional does not personally resonate with you and that you’ve not been to the same Hell that I’ve come to call Home, but if you have let my life be proof that it all works out in the end. I see now that the world is truly what we make of it and that everything happens for a reason. Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself.

Here lyeth my confessional of the sins I want so much to be free from and to finally forgive myself for what I’ve done.

I confess.

Janet Devlin"

• 'Don't interpret me. My songs don't have any meaning. They're just words.' - Bob Dylan.
  
• 'I was a veteran before I was a teenager.' - Michael Jackson.
  
• 'I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian.' - Morrissey.
  
• 'I am the only man who can say he's been in Take That and at least two members of the Spice Girls.' - Robbie Williams.
  
• 'Rehab is a cop-out.' - Amy Winehouse.

• Full-colour maps of the city centre and larger Dublin area
• 'Top 5' lists, with maps, of live venues for rock, traditional folk, classical, jazz and more
• 'Essential Dublin Discs,' as provided by the musicians themselves
• Mini-bios on bands like The Frames, Planxty, and The Crash Ensemble
• Over fifty black and white photos

Listening to the Music the Machines Make is the revolutionary story of electronic pop from 1978 to 1983, a true golden age of British music. This definitive account explores how krautrock, disco, glam rock and punk inspired a new generation to rip up the rulebook and venture toward a new frontier of electronic music – one that laid the foundations for Hip-Hop, house, techno and beyond.

Including an extensive collection of archive images throughout, Richard Evans’s kaleidoscopic narrative draws on years of research, a plethora of archive press materials and the input of key figures, including Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure), Martyn Ware (The Human League, B.E.F., Heaven 17) and Daniel Miller (The Normal, Mute Records).

From the gritty and experimental to the camp and theatrical, this book charts the careers and impact of electronic pop’s earliest innovators and luminaries, from Devo, The Normal, Telex and Cabaret Voltaire to Soft Cell, Gary Numan, OMD, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode.

For many years the exclusive preserve of cinemas, surround sound is currently the hottest topic in the recording world and in recent years has become the dynamo of the audio industry. New media such as DVD and SACD now offer a solid technological foundation for high-quality multichannel reproduction, opening up new perspectives and markets.

Practical Recording 5: Surround Sound is an essential guide to this new world order, providing a thorough breakdown of such problem areas as binaural room scanning, phase cancellation and working with analogue and digital sound. Packed with vital studio tips, including guides to multiple miking and the theory behind speaker placement, Practical Recording 5: Surround Sound is the ultimate guide to recreating the world on playback.

The critically acclaimed definitive biography of Kate Bush, revised and updated for 2024, with a new foreword by Sinéad Gleeson.

Detailing everything from Bush’s upbringing to her early exposition of talent, to her subsequent evolution into a stunningly creative and endlessly fascinating visual and musical artist, Under The Ivy is the story of one woman's life in music. Written with great detail, accuracy and admiration for her work, this is in equal parts an in-depth biography and an immersive analysis of Kate Bush's art.

Focusing on her unique working methods, her studio techniques, her timeless albums and inescapable influence, Under The Ivy is an eminently readable and insightful exploration of one of the world's most unique and gifted artists. The text has been updated to include coverage of Bush’s return to the top of the charts in 2022 following the extraordinary resurgence of ‘Running Up That Hill.’ An eye-opening journey of discovery for anyone unfamiliar with the breadth of Bush’s work, Under The Ivy also rewards the long-term fan with new insights and fresh analysis.