Omnibus Press

"One of the greatest music writing and production teams in pop music history" - Smokey Robinson

As the creative force behind Berry Gordy Jr.'s Motown Records in the mid-Sixties, a writing credit from Holland Dozier Holland was virtually a guarantee of chart success. From 'Stop! In The Name Of Love' to 'How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You', they were the songwriting and production dream team responsible for some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century.

In this compelling autobiography, brothers Eddie and Brian Holland share their story, starting with growing up in Detroit raised by a single mother and their grandmother, before shining a light on their early musical careers. A gifted lyricist, Eddie started out as a solo singer with Berry Gordy as his manager before partnering up with Brian and Lamont Dozier, both talented arrangers and producers.

Featuring honest and open first-hand accounts, this remastered edition is more than just a behind-the-scenes look at Motown Records at its peak: Eddie and Brian set the record straight on both their personal and professional lives and offer a revealing slice of pop-music history.

With an introduction by award-winning artist Richard Hawley.

So It Started There chronicles the life and career of drummer Nick Banks, including how he came to be in the iconic and beloved band Pulp.

Beginning with his childhood in Rotherham, England, Nick recounts his personal and musical journey through the genres, first as a punk, then as a goth; how it all started when he was first inspired to pick up the sticks by Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook.

Flash forward to the eighties. Nick spies an ad from his favorite band, Pulp, in a local club. He pays Jarvis Cocker and the gang a visit and the rest is history.

From there, Nick describes his growth as a professional drummer and musician, the trials and tribulations of chasing success in the music industry, touring triumphs and horrors, the band’s journey from relative obscurity to becoming a global sensation, and the process of writing and recording their most famous albums.

Written with warmth, humor, and charm, Nick tells all. And with it, tells the story of a band that defined a generation.

This comprehensive manual helps musicians and those working in live music to identify and cope with the various physical and psychological difficulties that can occur during, or as a result of, touring.

It covers topics including mental health, peak performance and performance anxiety, addiction, group dynamics, relationship problems, dealing with the media, physical health, diversity and inclusion, crisis management and post-tour recovery. Written by health and performance professionals, this timely and essential book provides robust clinical advice, cutting edge research, practical strategies, resources and detailed illustrations.

Each chapter is underpinned with personal recollections from musicians and prominent touring personnel, including Nile Rodgers, Justin Hawkins, Philip Selway, Charles Thompson, Katie Melua, Kieran Hebden, Jake Berry, Tina Farris, Taylor Hanson, Trevor Williams, Lauren Mayberry, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Digby, Will Young, Angie Warner, Dale 'Opie' Skjerseth and many more.

Touring and Mental Health is designed to be picked up, put down, read at length and passed around the tour bus.

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.

From Manchester to Laurel Canyon—legendary musician John Mayall.  

With a foreword by Mick Fleetwood. 

John Mayall’s story is like no other in the annals of rock and blues. Born in the UK in 1933, he laid the foundations of British blues, nurtured a generation of future superstars and then took the music back to the land of its birth.

This extraordinary autobiography offers a vivid glimpse of Britain well before the rock revolution of the sixties, at a time when young men like John found themselves conscripted for national service that, in his case, included eighteen months in Korea. What followed when he returned was an odyssey of musical trailblazing.

From Manchester to Laurel Canyon and many points in between, John’s account of his long life is both affectionate and compelling – a guided tour through more than sixty years of the music business and its stars, brought to vivid life by one of its undisputed pioneers. This edition has been updated to include coverage of Mayall’s life and work up until his death in July 2024.

 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."

By 1983, many of Scotland’s post-punk bands had broken up or moved south to chase the major labels in London. That vacuum was filled by an influx of young musicians who were determined to remake the scene in their own image.

In this compelling and dynamic oral history, Grant McPhee chronicles the radical transformation of Scotland’s independent music scene from 1983–1995. Including archival photos and drawing from over 100 interviews with the key players of the time, Grant McPhee allows them to set the scene in their own words; including the Cocteau Twins, Shop Assistants, Teenage Fanclub, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and many more.

Postcards from Scotland is the definitive story of the radicals, misfits and experimentalists who made independent music what it is today.

At the beginning of 1994 Oasis were unknown, though signed to Creation Records. Things changed with the release of their album 'Definitely Maybe', which became the fastest selling British debut album at the time.

That year was one of meteoric change, with Liam and Noel Gallagher setting off on a major tour. Oasis: Their Breakthrough Year is an evocative collection of photos of Oasis taken during that time by Rock photographer Paul Slattery. Having been tipped off to their potential by producer Mark Coyle, who shared early versions of 'Definitely Maybe' when the band where still in the studio, Paul spent the year closely recording their burgeoning success; from sparsly attended shows around the UK to sold-out performances in the U.S. and Japan.

The very first and definitive biography of Peter Tosh, rude boy, founder member of the Wailers and a compelling recording artist in his own right– Tosh was Jamaica’s most controversial reggae star.

For the Mystic Man, music was the message. A fiery advocate of Rastafari and African nationalism as well as the legalization of marijuana, his uncompromising political stance has won him a reputation as Jamaica’s Malcolm X. One of reggae’s most extraordinary stories, the life of Peter Tosh came to an end when he was brutally murdered in 1987 amidst rumors involving the supernatural and Kingston’s criminal underworld.

In this essential biography, John Masouri – esteemed reggae journalist and author of Pressure Drop: Reggae in the Seventies – conducts hundreds of interviews with those who knew Peter Tosh best, including Bunny Wailer and other close associates. Tracing his recording career, we learn of his encounters with Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker, and volatile relationships with Bob Marley and Lee Scratch Perry. Tosh’s darker side is also revealed in tales of the singer’s fascination with the occult and in unprecedented detail, his untimely and tragic demise.

Bowie—in 1976, the Berlin Years

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

1976, and in England the heat is rising. Immigration protests, racist murders, the rise of the National Front and the return of David Bowie, now the Thin White Duke, crowing to the papers how Britain “could benefit from a fascist leader”.

But with his incorrigible best buddy Iggy Pop in tow, as he gravitates towards the divided city of Berlin, his wake-up call is coming – and with it a brave new musical direction that will cement Bowie’s place as the most innovative artist of the decade.

The seventh volume of Simon Goddard’s critically acclaimed Bowie Odyssey series is a stark and brutal black-and-white tale of art, anger, discord and salvation.

A look at the turbulent, triumphant life of one of rock and roll’s foremost icons

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.

As the influential drummer from iconic rock‘n’roll band The Hollies, Bobby Elliott has six decades worth of musical anecdotes. Continually touring since 1963, his adventures have seen him beating Keith Moon in a drumming audition, being serenaded by Joni Mitchell while she was in bed with Graham Nash and being offered a job by Paul McCartney to work with Wings.

Covering all such stories as well as exploring Bobby’s personal highs and lows, It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Story is a funny, honest and enlightening account of sixty years on the frontline of rock ‘n’ roll.

"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." —Paul McCartney

This is the story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of SMiLE is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking.

This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE, including the details of the original SMiLE recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.

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

With a foreword by Melinda Wilson and an anthology of essays from SMiLE historians, devotees, and music professors, this book promises to be the definitive word on the subject.

“If I had to select one living genius of popular music, I would choose Brian Wilson.” —George Martin

"He's a modern-day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music." —Questlove

"I don't think there is anyone his equal in pop music." —Linda Ronstadt

"The only real pop genius in the world..." —Sir Elton John

'A magisterial biography… Thomson’s book adds something new to this conversation…' – Chicago Tribune

Behind The Locked Door is Graeme Thomson’s rich, insightful account of George Harrison’s extraordinary life and career.

As a Beatle, Harrison underwent a bewilderingly compressed early adulthood, buffeted by unprecedented levels of fame and success. After Beatlemania left him unsettled and unfulfilled his became a quest for deeper meaning which travelled far beyond the parameters of his former band and indeed music itself.

This elegant, in-depth biography tracks him assiduously through his many changes and conflicts, from schoolboy guitarist to global superstar, God seeker to independent film-maker, Formula One enthusiast to UNICEF Fundraiser, and marks the perennial struggle of a man attempting to walk a spiritual path lined with temptation.

Drawing on scores of new interviews with close friends and collaborators, rigorous research and critical insight, George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door is the ultimate account of the motives and varied achievements of an often misunderstood man. It is also an intimate character study, beautifully illustrating the eternal yin and tang of Harrison's nature; the definitive account of a compelling, contradictory life.

Look What I Dun is the story of Slade told through the eyes of drummer Don Powell whose life was shattered when, in 1973 at the height of the group's fame, he was involved in a horrific car crash.

Unflinching in his honesty, Powell deals frankly with the aftermath of the accident that took the life of his girlfriend and left him with injuries that affect him to this day. Leaders of the glam rock movement, Slade were the UK's biggest singles band in the years 1971-74. Their many hits have become rock'n'roll standards, not least 'Merry Christmas Everybody', arguably Britain's all-time favorite Christmas song. For Don Powell, though, success came at a price. Lucky to survive, the aftermath of his accident included alcoholism, financial woes and a life of reckless promiscuity. Now sober and settled in Denmark with an adopted family of his own, Don Powell's story - as told to Lise Lyng Falkenberg - is a no-nonsense journey to the heights and depths of the rock world.

Featuring honest and open first-hand accounts, Come and Get These Memories is more than just a behind-the-scenes look at Motown Records at its peak: Eddie and Brian set the record straight on both their personal and professional lives and offer a revealing slice of pop-music history.

As the creative force behind Berry Gordy Jr.'s Motown Records in the mid-Sixties, a writing credit from Holland Dozier Holland was virtually a guarantee of chart success. From 'Stop! In The Name Of Love' to 'How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You', they were the songwriting and production dream team responsible for some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century.

In this compelling autobiography, brothers Eddie and Brian Holland share their story for the first time, starting with growing up in Detroit raised by a single mother and their grandmother, before shining a light on their early musical careers. A gifted lyricist, Eddie started out as a solo singer with Berry Gordy as his manager before partnering up with Brian and Lamont Dozier, both talented arrangers and producers.

When Holland Dozier Holland came together, they helped transform Motown Records from a local soul label into a worldwide hit factory, home to international superstars such as Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, The Four Tops and The Isley Brothers. After an awe-inspiring tenure they left Motown in 1968, continuing their successes at new labels and with new collaborators for years to come.

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.

The Ramones, pioneers of punk rock

The Ramones cut an unforgettable swathe through decades of popular music. With politically charged anger, raw sounds and ferocious 20 minute sets they undercut the glamour of the mainstream music industry and gave the punk movement an authentic voice – a voice which can still be heard echoing through the decades.

Seen through the eyes of the people who were there – musicians, managers, producers, publicists – this insightful biography depicts the Ramones’ rebellion against the establishment, how they forged their unique sound against the pressures of censure and managed to stay honest until the bitter end.

The incredible story of the resurrection of Elvis, from 50’s crooner to late 60’s King of Rock n Roll.

“Goddard not only knows his Elvis, but deftly weaves in the cultural background of the era.” –MOJO

As 1968 dawns, the once King of rock‘n’roll faces cultural oblivion. While elsewhere the Sixties are swinging, for Elvis they’re sinking– in terrible films, drug addiction, paranoia, religious mania and the mercenary wiles of his psychopathic manager. In the words of the hip young director assigned to his first TV special, Elvis’ reputation was “in the toilet.” However the same director, Steve Binder, was now about to save it. Together they would embark on the biggest creative fight of Elvis’ life.

The Comeback plots the incredible true story of Elvis’ fall and rise from Army discharge to iconic black leather resurrection. Simon Goddard takes the reader inside the life, music and mind of Elvis,  isolated from an America unravelling in its own Sixties chaos of war, racism, riots and assassinations, until his world and theirs collide in the greatest performance of his life.

A genre-busting modernist rock‘n’roll fable unlike any music biography you’ve ever read, The Comeback is the definitive account of how it took Elvis eight years on the big screen to lose his crown – but just one magical hour on a small one to win it back.

“A full-blooded insider’s account of life inside the Kling Klang studio. This is a must read for the robots’ fans.” Prog Magazine

As a core member of Kraftwerk, some of the most beautiful, era-defining music has been co-composed by Karl Bartos. From “Computer Love” to “Autobahn,” “Tour de France” to Kraftwerk’s 1982 number one single “The Model,” Bartos’s deft musical hand has undoubtedly shaped the contemporary musical landscape we know today.

For the first time, in The Sound of the Machine Bartos speaks candidly about his life in Kraftwerk for the first time.  He vividly recalls his experiences in the Kling Klang studios during recording, describing the process and perfectly capturing the joy, passion and synergy of people composing and recording together. 

At once cerebral and witty, Bartos’s narrative journeys through his post-war childhood in Germany, his sense of wonder on first hearing The Beatles, his early musical ventures and his parallel career as a musician and teacher. Offering a fascinating insight into both a band and a man at the forefront of musical innovation over the last thirty years, Bartos also looks to the future, sharing his hopes and fears for today’s musical culture. 

Hound Dog Taylor made guitars howl and hips shake. A founding father of lo-fi blues rock—that gritty, stripped-down sound played on cheap guitars with no bass—Taylor and his band The Houserockers played loud, wild gut-bucket boogie that was raw and ferocious, earning them a reputation as "The Ramones of the blues."

Though his influence continues to be heard in the music of contemporary musicians such as Jack White, The Black Keys, and others, Hound Dog Taylor's story has never been fully explored. Off stage, his life was as wild as his music.

From his childhood in 1920s Mississippi to his final years in 1970s Chicago, he was surrounded by racism, crime, and violence. The threat of bloodshed was constant, whether from the Ku Klux Klan, South Side gangs, or even fellow musicians. From drunkenly slicing off his sixth finger with a straight razor, to becoming the artist whose music launched the now-legendary Alligator Records, Goodnight Boogie is the first in-depth biographical study of the Blues Hall of Famer whose life was as compelling as his music.

This is the story of a brilliant and unforgettably original musician who struggled for success while fighting to survive.

Foreword written by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

Say It One Time for the Brokenhearted was the first of many titles by renowned UK music journalist Barney Hoskyns. Thirty years after its publication he revisited the modern-day classic for this revised and expanded anniversary edition that marks the book's first publication in the US.

Fascinated by the collision of country and soul music in the Southern states, Hoskyns and photographer Muir MacKean set out on a journey through the American South to explore the phenomenon of primarily black singers and primarily white musicians joining forces in the 1960s to create musical magic in an era of racial tension.

From Memphis to Muscle Shoals to Nashville, they sat down with dozens of the architects of what's come to be known as Country Soul to capture a story that is as inspiring as it is historically important.

Goin' Off chronicles the rise and fall of Cold Chillin' and its partnership with Warner Bros. Records. It follows the careers of the label's recording artists through first-hand accounts of industry players, producers, MCs, and DJs: Roxanne Shanté was a fourteen-year-old battle rapper who spawned the diss record; MC Shan engaged in a legendary cross-borough feud with KRS-One; Kool G Rap was a foundational participant in what the media dubbed "gangsta rap"; Big Daddy Kane's quick-witted lyricism changed the way people rhyme; the collegiate Masta Ace sought to uplift his community during the height of the crack epidemic; The Genius (aka GZA) co-founded the rap dynasty Wu-Tang Clan; and the enigmatic Biz Markie had the world singing along to his hit anthem "Just a Friend."

Plagued by corporate censorship and a landmark sample-related lawsuit in the 1990s, Cold Chillin' folded, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in controversy and a catalog that influenced multiple generations of rap artists.

Launched by legendary music industry executive Art Rupe in the mid-1940s, the Los Angeles-based Specialty Records emerged as one of the most important independent labels for African-American music in the twentieth century. Recognizing that competing with major record companies was a losing battle, Rupe headed to Central Avenue, the center of L.A.’s black community, where he spent $200 on what were then known as “race records.” He carefully analyzed each, developing his own formula for a successful venture.

Soon, Specialty was scoring R&B hits with artists such as Roy Milton, Camille Howard, Jimmy and Joe Liggins, and Percy Mayfield. Drawn to the music of New Orleans, Rupe went on to sign Lloyd Price, who topped the charts with “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” It was through Price that Specialty acquired its best-known artist, Little Richard. After “Tutti Frutti” exploded in 1955, Richard and the label scored a string of successes with “Long Tall Sally,” “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” and more.

In addition to R&B and the emerging sounds of rock ’n’ roll, Rupe was particularly drawn to the sounds of the church. Black gospel music was an essential element of his company, with a roster that included stars of the genre, such as Sam Cooke’s Soul Stirrers, Sister Wynona Carr, Brother Joe May, Alex Bradford and the Bradford Specials, and others.

From behind-the-scenes producers Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, J.W. Alexander, Harold Battiste, and Sonny Bono, to R&B recording stars Floyd Dixon, Guitar Slim, Jesse Belvin, Larry Williams, and Don and Dewey, this is the story of the legendary Specialty Records.

The story of Metal Blade Records is the story of Brian Slagel-a metal-obsessed Southern California kid who launched a fanzine and landed a record store job before cobbling together what he assumed would be a one-off compilation of fledgling bands from the L.A. scene. Released in 1982, the Metal Massacre LP included the debut recordings of local groups such as Steeler, Malice, Ratt, and Metallica. In the wake of the album's unexpected success Slagel virtually stumbled into creating a proper record label, issuing the first releases by Bitch, Armored Saint, and Slayer the following year.

For The Sake Of Heaviness is an inside look at how Brian built Metal Blade from a one-man operation in his mom's non-air-conditioned garage to the preeminent international home of heavy music that it is today. He shares his insights into signing and working with Amon Amarth, Anvil, As I Lay Dying, Behemoth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Cannibal Corpse, Cirith Ungol, Corrosion of Conformity, D.R.I., Fates Warning, Flotsam and Jetsam, Gwar, King Diamond, King's X, Lizzy Borden, Manowar, Mercyful Fate, Overkill, Raven, Sacred Reich, Six Feet Under, Trouble, Unearth, Voivod, Whitechapel, and others.

Always hard at work on a diverse range of projects, Brian reveals the early advice he gave that helped guide Mötley Crüe's career; how he helped Metallica replace their bassist-twice; his detailed work on Thin Lizzy and Alice Cooper reissues; his behind-the-scenes role in the careers of Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Goo Goo Dolls, and Lamb of God; and his unlikely ventures with kindred metal heads-from hockey star Ken Baumgartner, to celebrity chef Chris Santos, to The Howard Stern Show's Richard Christy, to comedians Jim Florentine, Don Jamieson and Jim Breuer.

Throughout For The Sake Of Heaviness, Brian steps aside to present first-person insights and extended guest interviews featuring friends, colleagues, Metal Blade staffers, and a long list of artists.

As a co-founder of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Chris Hillman is arguably the primary architect of what's come to be known as country rock. He went on to record and perform in various configurations, including as a member of Stephen Stills's Manassas and as a co-founder of The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. In the 1980s he formed The Desert Rose Band, scoring eight Top 10 Billboard country hits. He's released a number of solo efforts, including 2017's highly acclaimed Bidin' My Time—the final album produced by the late Tom Petty.

In Time Between, Hillman shares his quintessentially Southern Californian experience, from an idyllic, rural 1950s childhood; to achieving worldwide fame thanks to hits such as "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Eight Miles High"; to becoming the first musician to move to Laurel Canyon. Featuring behind-the-scenes insights on his time in The Byrds, his productive but sometimes complicated relationship with Gram Parsons, his role in launching the careers of Buffalo Springfield and Emmylou Harris, and the ups and downs of life in various bands, music is only part of his story.

Within the pages of Time Between, Hillman reveals the details of his personal life with candor and vulnerability, writing honestly about the shocking tragedy that struck his family when he was a teenager, his subsequent struggles with anger, and how his spiritual journey led him to a place of deep faith that allowed him to extend forgiveness and experience wholeness.

Chris Hillman is much more than a rock star. He is truly a founding father of American music and a man who has faced down the challenges of life to discover what really matters.

Swing of the Blade follows Brian Slagel's critically acclaimed 2017 book, For the Sake of Heaviness, which delivered a compelling inside look at how a metal-obsessed California teen built Metal Blade Records into the preeminent international home of heavy music. Rabid readers demanded more anecdotes, more bands, and more of Slagel's musical wisdom.

With Swing of the Blade, he delivers. Featuring a foreword by Slayer's Kerry King, the new book is part memoir, part music-business primer, and all metal - delving deep into scenes and bands that fans worldwide obsess about. Slagel serves up more of his favorite memories about iconic musicians and events, and delves into even greater detail about his long and ongoing relationships with Metallica, Armored Saint, King Diamond and other heavyweights.

Swing of the Blade is told in Slagel's humble but authoritative voice. His view for the last 40 years—from the studio, side-stage and boardroom—offers an unprecedented look into the music, business, and passion that has made both Slagel and Metal Blade champions of discovering and nurturing the best heavy music on the planet.

Founded in the late 1980s by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, Seattle-based Sub Pop Records released early recordings by then-upstart regional bands such as Green River, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Tad, Nirvana, Flaming Lips, Afghan Whigs, and Screaming Trees. When the world went grunge crazy in the 1990s, Sub Pop was suddenly the epicenter of Seattle cool.

Emerging organically from Bruce Pavitt's Subterranean Pop fanzine, the story of Sub Pop Records is the story of a couple of irreverent music lovers who stumbled into the record business because they simply loved working with bands they wanted to listen to themselves. From barely paying the bills to the trappings of major music industry success to the inevitable fallout, this is the inside story of the musicians, producers, staffers, and stars who built Sub Pop into an independent powerhouse.

World Domination takes you deep inside the chaotic early days of the label's founding, all the way to the present. It's a fascinating snapshot of a label that has promoted Death Cab for Cutie, the White Stripes, the Shins, Iron & Wine, the Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, Band of Horses, Flight of the Conchords, Fleet Foxes, Sunny Day Real Estate, Shabazz Palaces, the Head and the Heart, Father John Misty, and many others.

Author Gillian G. Gaar, a longtime Seattle-based writer, draws on firsthand interviews, deep research, and her years of covering the Seattle scene as a local music journalist to bring together the first in-depth historical narrative of one of America's more influential independent record labels.

The electrifying sounds of groovin' jump blues, Southern-fried rock 'n' roll, fervent black gospel, and the simmering sounds of the Louisiana swamp came bursting out of Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1950s courtesy of Excello Records and its sister Nashboro label.

Operating out of Ernie's Record Mart ("the Record Center of the South!"), Excello forged a partnership with 50,000-watt clear-channel radio station WLAC. The influential station's dusk-to-dawn broadcasts of rhythm & blues boomed through the stratosphere, captivating millions of teenagers and crossing racial boundary lines.

The unusual partnership paid huge dividends as Ernie Young transformed his shop into one of the largest mail-order record retailers in the world. With his built-in distribution network, Ernie's own label releases by Slim Harpo, Arthur Gunter, Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester, and more landed in record collections across the US.

By the early 1960s, Excello releases were reaching the shores of the UK, where they inspired young Brits such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton to launch their own R&B combos.

Through extensive research and interviews, Shake Your Hips: The Excello Records Story chronicles the tale of one of the most unusual labels to emerge from the 1950s.

Shedding new light on Nashville's rich history as much more than a country music town, author Randy Fox takes readers deep behind the scenes of the rise and fall of an inimitable label whose contributions to blues and R&B continue to reverberate today.

The Insider's Guide to Making Money in the Music Business is the industry bible and the ultimate guide to making money in the music business.

Music is a business of money, contracts, decisions and making the most of every opportunity. To succeed—to make money—to have a career—you have to know what you are doing in both music and business.

This invaluable book tells you how the business works, what you must know to succeed, and how much money you can make in films, television, video games, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, record sales, downloads and streams, advertising, ringtones and ringbacks, interactive toys and dolls, Broadway, new media, scoring contracts and synch licenses, music publishing, foreign countries, and much more.

This indispensable reference is written by industry insiders Todd Brabec, Educator, Entertainment Law Attorney and former ASCAP Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Membership, and Jeff Brabec, Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, BMG.

This paperback edition has been fully updated to include Shane’s final months and the response to his passing.

Punk protagonist, legendary drinker, Irish musical icon. This is the complete and extraordinary journey of the Pogues’ notorious frontman from outcast to national treasure.

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 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 and Sinead O’Connor are on the rollcall of those paying tribute to the gifted songwriter and poet.

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

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.

In John Shuttleworth Takes The Biscuit, English song-writer and presenter John Shuttleworth presents a crumbly selection of songs and stories.

This new book boasts many original and hilarious stories about John Shuttleworth's life in and around Sheffield. There are also lots of his song lyrics reproduced with his kind permission (although permission didn't need to be sought, he really wouldn't have minded them being included. In fact, he would have been devastated if they hadn't been!).

Colorful and eye-catching cartoons by long-time friend and collaborator Kevin Baldwin illustrate some of the songs.

There is even a short story - a cautionary tale starring sleazy salesman, Peter Cornelious, called ‘Peeping Peter’.

Slade were one of the most iconic groups of the 1970s and have influenced countless bands throughout the ages, from Oasis to Quiet Riot and beyond. Although the original quartet (Dave Hill, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, and Don Powell) ceased working as a unit in the nineties, memories of the group remain strong, thanks largely to their festive single, 'Merry Xmas Everybody'. But Slade were always about more than just one song.

Whatever Happened to Slade? charts their emergence and groundbreaking success through to their dissolution and post-Slade careers, considering the strength of their influence on music and popular culture.

Drawing on hours of new interviews and meticulous research, with a foreword by Bob Geldof and an afterword by Jim Moir, Whatever Happened To Slade? reassesses a band that won hearts and perforated eardrums across four incident-filled, bittersweet decades.

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

A new year for David Bowie means new clothes, new boots, new hair and a new name: Ziggy Stardust. To the gloomy blacked-out Britain of powercuts and three-day weeks he may as well be from outer space – if that’s what it takes to make him famous, far be it from him to tell anyone he isn’t. Bowie’s success as the bisexual Starman soon rubs off on his new friends Mott The Hoople and his hero Lou Reed as 1972 becomes Annus Glamrockus. Music, fashion and the old codes of gender will never be the same again. But as his runaway fame quickly blurs all lines between fantasy and reality, neither will David.

The third volume of the Bowie Odyssey series offers a wild and revelatory snapshot of the year of Ziggy as Simon Goddard continues his vivid real-time journey through the decade Bowie changed pop forever.

When LA musicians Russell and Ron Mael moved to Britain in 1973, they hit the pop world as Sparks and looked like Oddballs, even in the context of the Glam Rock movement that made them welcome. Soon defined by their weird and wonderful 1974 single This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us from the Kimono My House album, Sparks went on to release 21 albums over four decades, each record inhabiting a bizarre world of it's own. Their songs were peppered with puns and pop culture nods, as well as nostalgia and jokey images, all mixed up in a kaleidoscope of musical references ranging from rock to glam to disco.

The paperback edition of the critically acclaimed biography. The Sparks story is now celebrated in this book, Daryl Easlea's exploration of their extraordinary career drawing on hours of new interviews and research.

Talent is an Asset comes as close as possible to pinning down the quicksilver nature of two gifted musicians who have gone out of their way to remain unpredictable and elusive, forever entrenched behind a dazzling gallery of jokes, impersonations and musical eccentricities.

The image of Jordan in her white shards of beehive and Mondrian make-up remains one of the most iconic in pop history. Yet few truly understood what was happening behind those watchful eyes when anarchy hit the UK. How did a ballet-obsessed girl from sleepy Sussex journey through the clandestine gay clubs of Brighton and London to arrive at 430 King’s Road, the epicenter of punk? How did she help shape a cultural revolution, navigate the harsh glare of the spotlight at such a young age, and share wild adventures with the likes of McLaren and Westwood, The Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, Derek Jarman, and Andy Warhol—before vanishing from view? This Remastered edition, published in the wake of Jordan’s passing in 2022, celebrates her extraordinary legacy. Featuring commentary from key players including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Cook, Marco Pirroni, Holly Johnson, and her partner behind the SEX/Seditionaries counter, Michael Collins, it offers unparalleled insight into Jordan’s life. Enhanced with images by Simon Barker, Sheila Rock, and Harri Peccinotti, Defying Gravity cements Jordan’s place as one of punk’s true trailblazers.

I Just Can't Stop It is the honest and compelling autobiography from British Music Legend, Ranking Roger, of The English Beat.

As the enigmatic frontman of the multicultural band The English Beat, Ranking Roger represented the youthful and joyous sound of the post-punk 2 Tone movement. As well as his illustrious career with The Beat and its subsequent iterations, this absorbing book explores Roger's upbringing as a child of the Windrush generation, touring America and his outstanding collaborations with artists such as The Clash, The Police and The Specials.

One of England’s greatest blues guitarists, Peter Green was the founder of Fleetwood Mac. Considered an enigma as well as a brilliant musician, he quit the band in 1970.

Written by Green’s close associate, this fourth edition of the biography first published in 1995 challenges the accepted narrative about why he left Fleetwood Mac and what happened next. Revised and updated, the book also includes unseen photographs.

The seminal Sniffin’ Glue fanzine, collected here in its entirety, is a potent slice of 1967 / 77 punk culture.

Sniffin' Glue may have been the closest thing to perfection ever achieved by a fanzine. Untroubled by the demands of owners, publishers, designers and production editors, it was a one-man enterprise that perfectly mirrored the spirit and manners of its subject matter - punk rock - by being intentionally amateurish, passionate, and crude.

Mark Perry’s first issue (1 of 12) set the tone for an exercise in kitchen-table publishing that did not even have a kitchen table. Boldly scrawled in his bedroom, Sniffin’ Glue started out as a fan’s rallying cry, went on just long as it needed to (one year) and then stopped, as good punk enterprises should.

Best known as the divisive but iconic frontman of The Mission and a poster boy for the-then fledgling gothic scene of the 80s, Wayne Hussey has been making music since he was inspired to pick up a guitar by his childhood hero, Marc Bolan. As he began making his name in music with The Invisible Girls, Dead Or Alive and The Sisters Of Mercy, Wayne was at first seduced and then ultimately corrupted, swapping the repression of his religious upbringing for its polar opposite: a lifestyle of total hedonism.

From his early days raised as a Mormon to being schooled in gender bending by Pete Burns, from his move to Liverpool in the late Seventies to his remaining fanaticism with Liverpool FC, Salad Daze is an all-encompassing account of Wayne's personal and musical journey up until the formation of The Mission.

Salad Daze is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the peaks and pitfalls of a life in the music industry, told with plenty of Wayne's wit and charm qualities that helped him survive his own unrestrained ambitions to still be making music today.

Part one of Wayne Hussey's memoirs, covering Wayne's early life through to The Sisters of Mercy.

Best known as the divisive but iconic frontman of The Mission and a poster boy for the-then fledgling gothic scene of the 80s, Wayne Hussey has been making music since he was inspired to pick up a guitar by his childhood hero, Marc Bolan.

As he began making his name in music with The Invisible Girls, Dead Or Alive and The Sisters Of Mercy, Wayne was at first seduced and then ultimately corrupted, swapping the repression of his religious upbringing for its polar opposite: a lifestyle of total hedonism.

From his early days raised as a Mormon to being schooled in gender bending by Pete Burns, from his move to Liverpool in the late Seventies to his remaining fanaticism with football club Liverpool FC, Salad Daze is an all-encompassing account of Wayne's personal and musical journey up until the formation of The Mission.

Salad Daze is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the peaks and pitfalls of a life in the music industry, told with plenty of Wayne's wit and charm qualities that helped him survive his own unrestrained ambitions to still be making music today.

Blues guitar great and Fleetwood Mac founder, Peter Green, was an enigma throughout his career. His innovative songwriting and unmistakeable voice shot Fleetwood Mac into the mainstream in 1969 with 'Albatross', 'Man of the World', and 'Oh Well'. But in May 1970, he turned his back on stardom and quit the band.

Written by Green's associate and friend, this biography - first published in 1995, now fully revised and updated - challenges the accepted narrative about why he left the band, and what happened next. It tracks every stage of Green's career, from his semi-pro years playing bass to his rise to fame in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac. It also takes a closer look at Green's solo material and the personal trauma that saw him hit the headlines.

This edition covers his return to the stage in 1996 with Peter Green Splinter Group and how his final band, Peter Green & Friends, was formed. It also covers the last years of his life and includes new, unseen photographs.

‘For thirty years, I’ve trusted David Leaf with my music and my story’ Brian Wilson

Originally published in 1978, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant musicians of the 20^th century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic.

An intimate look at the Beach Boys’ rollercoaster career, it is told through the eyes of those who were there during their most legendary productions including Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations. It also includes Brian's first acclaimed solo album, his return to live performing, the landmark Pet Sounds tour, the All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson and the Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE world premiere.

Filled with surprising revelations, insight and behind-the-scenes detail, this remastered edition also features forewords by Jimmy Webb, the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb and Melinda Wilson.

Foreword by Johnny Depp.

Long acclaimed as one of the best rock books ever written, Diary of a Rock 'n' Roll Star is Ian Hunter's candid account of Mott the Hoople's five week American tour in November and December 1972.

First published in 1974, it has received a litany of plaudits and been described as what "may well be the best rock book ever" and "an enduring crystallization of the rock musician's lot, and a quietly glorious period piece" from Q and The Guardian.

A brutally honest chronicle of touring life in the Seventies, and a classic of the rock writing genre, Diary of a Rock 'n' Roll Star remains the gold standard for rock writing.

Newly published to include behind-the-scenes photos, a foreword by actor Johnny Depp, a context-setting introduction from Campbell Devine, an epilogue from Ian Hunter and his 2015 Japanese tour diary for the first time.

It's an of-told story: a young Tom Petty lucks his way onto the movie set for Elvis's Follow That Dream. The lightning bolt that is rock 'n' roll struck him and, at that moment, his future was defined and Tom Petty went on to become one of the greatest songwriters in rock 'n' roll history.

This expanded edition of the first authorised book on Tom Petty, and the only one in his own words, includes additional interviews, articles and reviews.

Featuring a foreword and photo captions written by Tom himself, Conversations with Tom Petty is a must-read for all who admire the man behind some of the most memorable rock anthems of a generation.

So It Started There chronicles the life and career of drummer Nick Banks, and how he came to be in one of the most iconic and beloved bands: Pulp.

Beginning with his childhood in Rotherham, Nick recounts his personal and musical journey through the genres, first as a punk, then as a goth; how it all started when he was first inspired to pick up the sticks by Sex Pistols drummer, Paul Cook.

Flash forward to the eighties, Nick has been playing in a handful of Sheffield groups and spies an ad from his favourite band, Pulp, in a local club. He pays Jarvis and the gang a visit and the rest is history.

From there, Nick describes his growth as a professional drummer and musician, the trials and tribulations of chasing success in the music industry, touring triumphs and horrors, the band’s journey from relative obscurity to becoming a global sensation, and the process of writing and recording their most famous albums.

Written with warmth, humour and inimitable northern charm, Nick tells all. And with it, tells the story of a band that defined a generation.

For the first time, in The Sound of the Machine, Bartos speaks candidly and with wit and humour about his life in Kraftwerk, a band widely acknowledged as being one of the most important in modern music.

Some of the most beautiful, era-defining music has been co-composed by Karl Bartos. ‘The Robots’, ‘Computer Love’, ‘Neon Lights’, ‘Tour De France’ and Kraftwerk’s 1982 number one single ‘The Model’ all contain his deft musical touch. 

In The Sound of the Machine, Karl vividly recalls what it was like to be in the Kling Klang studios during recording, describing the process and perfectly capturing the joy and passion of three people composing and recording.

Now, with a successful solo career of 30 years, Karl Bartos recalls his post-war childhood, the amazement he felt on first hearing The Beatles, his first bands, his parallel career as a musician and teacher, his years with Kraftwerk, and his hopes and fears for today’s musical culture.

The image of Jordan in her white shards of beehive and Mondrian make-up is one of the most iconic in pop history. Here is what was really going on behind those watchful eyes when Anarchy hit the UK.

How did a ballet-mad girl from the country make her way, via the clandestine gay clubs of Brighton and London, to the 430 King's Road and the eye of punk's storm in London? How could she share hair-raising adventures with McLaren and Westwood, The Sex Pistols, Adam and his Ants, Derek Jarman and Andy Warhol, and then just disappear?

With commentary from key players including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Cook, Marco Pirroni, Holly Johnson, and her partner behind the SEX/Seditionaries counter, Michael Collins, plus a wealth of never-before-seen images from Simon Barker, Sheila Rock, and Harri Peccinotti, Jordan finally reveals her outrageous life story.

Just like Memphis and Rock'n'Roll, Dusseldorf is regarded as the Mecca for electronic music. The capital of North Rhine-Westphalia became the centre of an analog electronic movement from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. This is the oral account of the city's most influential bands, including Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Die Krupps and many more.

This history uncovers the myths and reality of the bands emerging from the artistic backdrop of a wealthy German post WWII modernistic city and explores the emergence of the electronic scene in Dusseldorf and the conditions that fostered such a creative explosion and became so influential for musicians and artists all over the world.

Interviews include Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey (OMD), Martyn Ware (Human League), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Rusty Egan (Visage) Ryuichi Sakamoto and producer Giorgio Moroder.