Omnibus Press

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.

"Essential reading for anybody who cares about Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys and the evolution of rock & roll."—Jason Fine, former Editor-in-Chief, Rolling Stone 

An intimate look at Brian Wilson’s rollercoaster of a life and career, it’s told through the eyes of those who were there during Wilson’s most legendary productions including Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations.

Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, 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 and influential artists of the 20th 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.

Revised and updated, God Only Knows covers the decades since the 1985 edition, including Brian’s first acclaimed solo album, his startling return to live performing, the landmark Pet Sounds tour, the “All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson” (which Leaf wrote and produced) and the triumphant and miraculous Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE world premiere in London.

Filled with surprising revelations, insight and behind-the-scenes detail, this indispensable book also features forewords by Jimmy Webb, the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb and Melinda Wilson, Brian’s wife.

The biography of George Clinton, one of music’s most fascinating, colourful and innovative characters, featuring a new cover and foreword by critic Miles Marshall Lewis.

The most comprehensive history of the life, music and cultural significance of a great Black music pioneer and the era which spawned him.

Clinton stands alongside James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone as one of the most influential Black artists of all time who, along with his vast P-Funk army took black funk into the US charts and sold out stadiums by the mid 1970s with his mind-blowing shows and legendary Mothership extravaganzas.

The book contains first hand interview material with Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Jerome Bigfoot Brailey, Junie Morrison, Bobby Gillespie, Afrika Bambaataa, Jalal Nuriddin (Last Poets), Juan Atkins, John Sinclair, Rob Tyner (MC5), Ed Sanders (The Fugs), Chip Monck (“The Voice of Woodstock”) plus other P-Funk associates and friends.

An insiders’ view of the rise of Parliament and Funkadelic from the doowop era and LSD-crazed early shows through to P-Funk’s huge rise, the era of the Mothership and beyond.

John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life traces the powerful, life-affirming story of the former Beatle's remarkable comeback after five years of self-imposed retirement.

Lennon's final pivotal year would climax in several moments of creative triumph as he rediscovered his artistic self in dramatic fashion. With the bravura release of the Double Fantasy album with wife Yoko Ono, he was poised and ready for an even brighter future only to be wrenched from the world by an assassin's bullets. John Lennon 1980 isn't about how the gifted songwriter died; but rather, about how he lived.

Starring the Grammy award winning filmmaker, rock star, dj, radio broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father Don Letts, There And Black Again takes in many lives and places.

It is written as scenes from a movie shot on location in London, Kingston, New York, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Salt Lake City, and Goldeneye. Co-starring a cast of hundreds, including Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Chrissie Hynde, Chris Blackwell, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Keith Richards, Pattie Smith, Chuck D.,McLaren, and Westwood, etc., it takes in major cultural movements from skinhead through punk to Black Lives Matter, and includes scenes of civil unrest, live music, humour, and political struggle.

There And Black Again describes in clear-eyed detail a life of work and love, of battles against prejudice and negativity, of failures and great successes. It describes a six-decade journey through sound and vision which has left a unique body of award-winning work in film, television, and music.

This incredible collection of photos, shot by Darren and Elliott Bloom between 2005 and 2011, chronicles the troubled career of a legendary singer who tragically died at the age of 27. These images capture the highs and lows of a hugely talented but flawed young woman, whose every move attracted the attention of the press.

In Amy: A Life Through The Lens all aspects of Amy Winehouse's life are covered as she enthusiastically talks to fans, inhabits London's clubs and pubs, and browses in neon-lit convenience stores, whilst also revealing an artist troubled by substance abuse and ill-judged relationships. Darren and Elliott Bloom's family knew the Winehouse family and this connection gave them a unique opportunity to work alongside Amy. As her fame grew, the Bloom brothers became Amy's 'official' paparazzi in the hope of clawing back some control over the media feeding frenzy. Many of their images appeared in the acclaimed 2015 Oscar-winning documentary 'Amy'.

Spanning over decades, this is the remarkable, heartfelt memoir from Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, the last surviving member of The Four Tops.

Amidst a backdrop of Detroit, I'll Be There features revealing anecdotes from the group's formation, their early days as backup singers for the likes of Jackie Wilson, and their years working with Berry Gordy at the legendary Motown Records.

With era-defining number ones like 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)' and 'Reach Out I'll Be There' came stardom and also a more enduring reward: the love of four men who become tighter than brothers. Together they comprise one of the most celebrated R&B groups of all time. But remarkable musical success didn't spare Fakir the pain of marital distress, soured investment deals, struggles with sobriety, and the sudden loss of his brothers, all of which he covers in this confessional, unmissable book.

This richly illustrated oral history account of The Jam's rollercoaster final year, led principally by the voice of Jam drummer Rick Buckler, contains a number of previously unseen images and takes in everything from the recording and release of final studio album The Gift and the rigours of the road to the announcement of the split, the final tours, The Tube, and more.

In addition to Buckler's memories of this final year, The Jam 1982 also brings together testimonies from Gary Crowley, producer Peter Wilson, A&R manager Dennis Munday, photographer Neil 'Twink' Tinning, Eddie Piller, Paolo Hewitt, Mat Osman, Belle Stars singer Jennie Matthias ('The Bitterest Pill'), touring musicians Jamie Telford and Steve Nichol and others, to tell the tale of a single, fateful year: the year The Jam, for better or worse, went out at the very top of their game.

The complete lyrics of Syd Barrett – 52 songs written for Pink Floyd and during his subsequent solo career – are presented together for the first time, along with rare photos and artwork, to form this beautifully illustrated book. 

Despite just a three-year tenure with the band, co-founder Syd Barrett's influence on Pink Floyd was profound and long-lasting. If his guitar gave the early Pink Floyd a distinctive hallucinatory sound, his often obscure and surreal lyrics were perhaps even more intoxicating. 

Compiled in collaboration with the Syd Barrett estate, and featuring a foreword from former Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner and a comprehensive introduction by biographer Rob Chapman, The Lyrics of Syd Barrett delves deep into one of rock'n'roll's most imaginative and searing minds.

Don Letts – filmmaker, musician, DJ, broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father – has always defied conformity. A British-born son of Jamaican parents, he seamlessly pivoted between London’s punk and reggae scenes, earning his reputation as the ‘Rebel Dread’.

With reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement and the highs and lows of personal relationships, this impactful book includes moments of civil unrest, live music, humour and political struggle.

This is the refreshing and unexpected story of a man who has never been afraid to tread his own path.

Weighted Down is the first biography of the legendary '60s cult musician Skip Spence.

As a member of era-defining bands Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane, Spence played a large part in setting the agenda and aesthetic for many other groups of the era. His only solo album, the hugely psychedelic and occasionally challenging Oar, cemented his reputation, and he has since gone on to be celebrated by the likes of Tom Waits, Beck, and Robert Plant.

However, the musician's life was aggrieved by substance abuse, erratic behavior, and poor mental health. Cobb regards Spence's life as a whole, warts and all, from his visionary recordings, to his idiosyncratic personality and untimely death at the age of 52.

Skip Spence was a soldier, a rockstar, an innovator, an addict, a cult phenomenon, and a ward of the state. The characters in his story include Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, B.B. King, Neil Young and many more.

Spence's story is the story of the 60s, and one that has never been told in full. It's the story of San Francisco, the biggest bands in America, Columbia Records, The Hells Angels and rock 'n' roll mayhem.

Weighted Down is a first-hand narrative of Skip Spence, told by his friends, bandmates and family, and includes a trove of never-before-seen photographs.

This is the definitive account of the LGBTQ trailblazers of early blues and a fascinating consideration of the intersection between music and LGBTQ history, from the award-winning Darryl W. Bullock.

Queer Blues tells the story of the pioneering LGBTQ composers and entertainers that wrote, performed and recorded these wonderfully outlandish, life-affirming songs and chronicles, including: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker to Frankie ‘Half-Pint’ Jaxon and many more.

Pride, Pop and Politics charts the development of gay culture and the rise of LGBTQ politics, from the formation of the Gay Liberation Front to the present day, through the music that provided the soundtrack.

Fifty years on from Britain’s first Pride march, the long road to LGBT equality continues. Through protest songs and gay club nights, street theatre activism and fundraising concerts, the performing arts have played an influential role in each great stride made.

With new interviews with musicians and DJs, performers and activists, including Andy Bell (Erasure), Jayne County, John Grant, Horse McDonald and Peter Tachell, Pride, Pop and Politics hears from those whose art has been influenced by the campaign for LGBT rights – and helped push it forward.

This informative, eye-opening book is the first to focus on the relationship between gay nightlife and political activism .

A major new biography of Joe Meek, the legendary maverick engineer, songwriter, artist manager and record producer. 

Joe Meek. Wayward genius; the British Phil Spector, the first producer to treat the recording studio as an instrument; head of one of the earliest independent record labels; creator of some of the most incredibly influential pop music ever, including ‘Telstar’, the first American number one single by a British band; and a man tormented by mental health issues and financial battles.

He was all these and more, as author Darryl W. Bullock reveals through numerous original interviews with friends and colleagues in his compelling biography of the legendary producer.

Love and Fury takes readers on a guided tour of Meek’s fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during his lifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind - the legendary Tea Chest tapes, rumoured to include recordings by David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Ray Davies of the Kinks and others – and examines that events which ultimately led to murder and suicide.

Dury always met life head on, both in his relationships and in his music. As rocker, lyricist, artist and actor he was unsentimental and uncompromising. As a man he was harder to fathom – until now.

This acclaimed biography shines a light on it all, chronicling his darker moments as well as his triumphs.

Author Richard Balls talked to more than fifty of Dury’s friends, as well as to Dury himself shortly before his death. This remastered edition includes the continuing success of The Blockheads and tells the inside story of the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, a foreword by Martin Freeman and an afterword from Andy Serkis.

There are vivid insights into harsh post-war schools for disabled children, the fifties art school scene and the ramshackle pub rock circuit, plus a mixed bag of celebrities from Peter Blake to Omar Sharif.

The fascinating true story of the year in which everything changed in the music business.

This is the story of a year in which the record business appeared to be firing on all cylinders, when the CD was at its commercial zenith, bringing in staggering sums of money for the global record business. The good times – and they were phenomenal times, both culturally and financially – looked like they would never end for record labels.

Yet by December 1999, a bomb had been squarely set under their core business. All was to change with the arrival of digital music delivery.

Eamonn will tell the true story and not simply the oft-repeated tale of an industry complacent and caught napping.

Written and Illustrated by Students of the Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center, NY

Florence loved her mother’s piano playing and wanted to be just like her. When she was just four years old she played her first piano concert and as she grew up she studied and wrote music hoping one day to hear her own music performed by an orchestra.

The story of a brilliant musician who prevailed against race and gender prejudices to become the first Black woman to be recognised as a symphonic composer and be performed by a major American orchestra in 1933.

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, a couple of cynical New York jazz fans wormed their way into a record contract and astonished critics with their first album ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ in 1973. Nine albums later, they were among the biggest selling acts in the world. Steely Dan were different from the rest of rock’s super-sellers. They rarely gave interviews and, after some early bad experiences on the road, they refused to tour. They didn’t have their photographs taken and few people knew what they looked like. Steely Dan weren’t even a proper group; it was two musicians and a producer, yet every top notch player in the world lined up to appear on their albums. Brian Sweet, former editor and publisher of Metal Leg, the Steely Dan fanzine, draws back the veil of secrecy that has surrounded Becker and Fagen, presenting the true story of how they made their music and lived their lives

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

Simon Goddard’s electric ride through Bowie’s greatest decade reaches the halfway mark with this fifth instalment. Wickedly funny and shockingly tragic, Bowie Odyssey 74 is the story of one man trying to find his soul in a world that’s gone to the devil.

Darkness looms in 1974. It could be the winter energy crisis. It could be The Exorcist. Or it could be the shock that Britain’s biggest pop star, David Bowie, is about to leave its shores for good.

Bidding the corpse of glam, Ziggy’s haircut, and loyal ‘Bowietania’ farewell, the plan is to storm North America with his highly theatrical Diamond Dogs tour. But by opening night he’s already wishing he was Barry White instead. Then there’s that nasty sniff he can’t get rid of. And that fly in his milk. And the suspicion that, much like every other teen idol named David, fame is driving him completely out of his mind …

This is a day-by-day account of Bowie's life from the start of 1970 to the end of 1980, his golden era that defined his work as a major artist a dozen inspired studio albums, five major tours, two feature films and critically acclaimed theatrical performances in Chicago and New York. He reinvented stage presentation in rock and revived the careers of Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.

David Bowie: The Golden Years chronicles in fascinating detail how it all unfolded, tracking Bowie s creative life from post- Space Oddity London in 1970, through the genesis of Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, his withdrawal to West Berlin and New York in 1980.

Informed by recollections from Bowie himself and his many collaborators, friends and associates of the time, the book illustrates how Bowie's influences and experiences shaped his extraordinary body of work, which in turn has inspired generations of musicians. David Bowie: The Golden Years features rare, unpublished and iconic photographs from a unique era in the private and professional life of one of rock s greatest and most enduring heroes.

A new and expanded edition of Behind the Rainbow, Johan Bakker’s definitive biography of musician Eva Cassidy.

Cassidy's story is one of the most compelling and poignant in recent music history. In this thoughtful and probing study Bakker re-evaluates her career and the fame that came only after her death at the tender age of 33.

Cassidy performed largely in and around Washington D.C.. Iceland was the only place she ever played in Europe, yet her jazzy folk pop would, after her death, make her a star both there and in her homeland. Since her passing she has sold more than ten million records.

Bakker has interviewed Cassidy's friends, colleagues, and family, and by tracing her formative experiences, outlook, and eventual disillusionment with the music business, has crafted a detailed and considered account of her life.

Picking up where the critically acclaimed Salad Daze left off, Heady Daze sees Wayne Hussey revisit the years from 1985 to 1990 leading The Mission through their formation to global success.

From headlining some of Europe’s major festivals, playing with U2, Robert Plant and The Cure and sweeping the UK music papers’ readers’ polls, to the excesses of touring the world and the lurid headlines that followed them wherever they ventured, it’s all here in this memoir packed full of candid moments and hilarious anecdotes.

While she once made headlines with her hedonistic lifestyle, part of Nicks' irresistible appeal is her youthful vulnerability and mystical aura, making her an artist with whom fans have an unbreakable emotional connection.

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 hard graft, 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 Zoe Howe explores the mystique while retaining the magic of this modern-day musical sorceress and wise woman of rock.

This revised edition includes information about the full line-up Fleetwood Mac tour dates ('On With The Show'), the 24 Karat Gold self-portrait collection exhibition Stevie curated in Hollywood to coincide with her 24 Karat Gold album, 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.

Meticulously researched, this is the definitive account of the momentous year that sent John, Paul, George, and Ringo to stratospheric heights.

At the start of 1963, The Beatles were a successful local Liverpool band with one hit single; twelve months, two albums, and the arrival of Beatlemania later, they were on the cusp of world domination.

Featuring daily entries covering every pivotal event, The Beatles 1963 draws on hundreds of new eyewitness accounts and provides numerous unseen photographs.

The classic authorized biography that told it all.

Foreword by Sir Paul McCartney

When Little Richard burst onto the scene in the early 1950s, he was utterly unique. Drenched in sweat, screaming, hollering, and pumping his piano, he made all who followed sound tame. His stage act was so explosive that for years people assumed the real man could never match the flamboyant public image.

Little Richard made himself a star through sheer talent and personality, breaking racial and sexual taboos on his way to becoming the primal force of Fifties rock & roll.

Using Richard’s own words, Charles White chronicles a staggering career that spanned the very inception of rock’n’roll, the rise of The Beatles, tussles with God and the Devil, and an erratic series of comebacks.

This edition includes a new cover as well as pictures from Little Richard’s own archive and a comprehensive discography.

With an introduction by Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and The Human League)

Tina Turner: singer, trailblazer, icon. One of the best-known and most-beloved performers of all time, Simply Tina documents her life, career, and relationship with celebrated music photographer Paul Cox.

When Paul Cox captured Tina’s legendary 1983 comeback performance with Heaven 17, it was the beginning of a friendship that would last for over two decades. During that time, Paul was commissioned to photograph Tina for numerous video shoots and live performances.

This unique and intimate collection contains a variety of never-before-seen images, telling the story of Tina’s career through a mixture of live photos, video shoots, promo shots, candid images and sessions in the recording studio, as well as photographs with such high-profile friends as David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams and many more.

At the start of 1963, The Beatles were a successful local Liverpool band with one hit single; twelve months, two albums and the arrival of Beatlemania later, they were on the cusp of world domination.

Featuring daily entries covering every pivotal event, The Beatles 1963 draws on hundreds of new eyewitness accounts and provides numerous unseen photographs.

Meticulously researched, this is the definitive account of the momentous year that sent John, Paul, George and Ringo to stratospheric heights.

When the anarchic vocalist of Can left the celebrated German band in late 1973, the ensuing decade-long absence was taken by many to be the end of his personal story. But it was just the beginning.

In I Am Damo Suzuki, Kenji Damo Suzuki and co-author Paul Woods illuminate a life in music driven by the principle of randomness. The book spans the influence of western music on Suzuki growing up in post-WWII Japan, his rejection of national traditions and a lifelong journey of exploration.

After his hippie-influenced beginnings as a provocative street musician, Suzuki s story took an unlikely turn after a chance recruitment into Can, one of the most innovative bands of the seventies.

A stint of family life and the role of Japanese salaryman preceded his return to the music world with The Damo Suzuki Band and later with Damo Suzuki's Network, an international vehicle for musical communication using sound instead of words. With contributions from family members, lifelong friends, musical collaborators and Damo's long-term partner, I Am Damo Suzuki is an absorbing portrait of a musical catalyst and enigmatic icon.

An entertaining, definitive and in-depth study of prog rock, with a new cover and a foreword by Steve Hackett (Genesis).

Progressive rock, a genre formed out of a creative surge in the late Sixties and throughout the Seventies. Made by young musicians for a young audience, prog music looked towards new horizons by synthesising rock, jazz, folk, classical and other styles.

While prog has always divided critical opinion, in its heyday it had a large and devoted fanbase, and the era's biggest acts from Pink Floyd to Genesis went on to enjoy long-lasting international and commercial success. Although the scene fragmented in the late Seventies, new generations of young listeners continue to discover the unique sounds of prog today.

Examining the myths and misconceptions surrounding the genre, music journalist Mike Barnes paints a vivid, colourful picture of the Seventies based on his own interviews with the musicians, music business insiders, journalists and DJs, and the personal testimonies of fans of that extraordinary decade.

Offering something new for even the keenest of prog enthusiasts, A New Day Yesterday is an entertaining and in-depth study of both the music itself and the cultural conditions and attitudes that fed into, and were affected by, this remarkable musical phenomenon.