With new books by or about Rik Emmett, Lollapalooza, The Shangri-Las, Paul and John (and Yoko), Brian Eno, David Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Don Letts, Groudhogs, Oasis and plenty more on the way, it’s clear: If you can’t find something new to read next week, you’re just not trying. To the stacks:
Hoggin’ The Page: Groundhogs – The Classic Years
By Martyn Hanson
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The story of the Groundhogs spans the most exciting years British rock will ever enjoy. Springing from the same early roots as The Animals, Pretty Things and Rolling Stones, they soon garnered a reputation as a blues band backing the likes of John Lee Hooker and many other giants of the genre. From this solid base, they graduated to writing some of the most challenging progressive rock music of the 1960s and 1970s, yet the next generation of musicians like Captain Sensible and others were fans. They were led by visionary guitarist, singer and songwriter Tony McPhee (who sadly passed away in 2023, age 79), abetted by the powerhouse rhythm section of Ken Pustelnik and Pete Cruickshank. DJ John Peel was a big fan and helped to send their Split album into the top five. Other albums such as Thank Christ For The Bomb, Who Will Save The World, Hogwash and Solid cemented their reputation and their 13 studio albums span four decades. Tony’s adventures as a pioneer of the synthesizer — taking it on the road on a solo tour and building one of the first home studios to record with it — shows another side to the complex McPhee that is far less widely known, understood and, let alone, appreciated. This is the story of those classic years.”
Bowieland: Walking In The Footsteps Of David
By Peter Carpenter
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following open-heart surgery, writer Peter Carpenter was given one instruction: ‘Walk, if you want to stay on this planet.’ And so when his hero and inspiration David Bowie died in 2016, he knew what he had to do. The man who was to so many a companion and guide had left no shrine, no focal point of understanding. To reconnect with Bowie, he would take a walk into the past, to the streets, towns and places where David Jones became something more. Walking to recover, to stay alive, Peter realised he was also recovering his lost hero. Leaving behind Heddon Street and Brixton, well-known Bowie shrines, he moved out through South London edgelands and suburbia to remoter haunts: Croydon, Aylesbury, Pett Level, Southend-on-Sea. Finding the windows Bowie had stared out from in Clareville Grove; the streets in Beckenham where he’d scurried by. He sifted through debris on a patch of waste ground in Tunbridge Wells where Bowie’s parents first met. He turned the handle and entered Shirley Parish Hall to find the same stage where a young Jones and The Kon-Rads set up to play back in 1962; and travelled to Berlin to gape at the ruined portico of the Anhalter Bahnhof. In Bowieland, Carpenter’s peripatetic trampings seem to echo Bowie’s own wandering creative spirit, the walks often uncovering hidden layers, and making fresh connections to key Bowie stories, revealing influences conscious and subconscious. Through walking, an understanding is reached of where Bowie sits in the culture, his place among the poets, painters, artists and musicians who came before him, who inhabited the same spaces and in doing so passed on their wisdom to Bowie.”
What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory
By Brian Eno & Bette Adriaanse
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Why do we need art in our lives and our world? What Art Does is an invitation to explore this vital question. It is a chance to understand how art is made by all of us — how it creates communities, opens our worlds, and can transform us. Curious and playful, richly illustrated and full of ideas and life, this book co-authored by British producer / musician / creative visionary Brian Eno and Dutch visual artist Bette Adriaanse is an inspiring call to imagine a different future.”
Volcanic Tongue: A Time-Travelling Evangelist’s Guide to Late 20th-Century Underground Music
By David Keenan
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Volcanic Tongue presents the first collection of multi-award-winning author David Keenan’s music writings. Keenan has been writing about music since publishing his first fanzine, inspired by The Pastels and by Glasgow (and Airdrie’s) DIY music scene, in 1988. Since then, he has written about music for Melody Maker, NME, Uncut, Mojo, The New York Times, Ugly Things, The Literary Review, The Social and, most consistently, The Wire. Volcanic Tongue was also the name of the record shop and mail order that Keenan ran with his partner Heather Leigh in Glasgow from 2005-2015. Volcanic Tongue features the best of his reviews, interviews and think pieces, with exclusive in-depth conversations between Keenan and Nick Cave, members of legendary bands Coil and Throbbing Gristle, krautrock legends like Faust, first lady of English folk Shirley Collins, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, German auto-destructives Einstürzende Neubauten, as well as discographical analysis of groups like Sonic Youth and musicians like John Fahey, extensive writings on free jazz and obsessive in-depth digs into favourites like Pere Ubu, Metal Box-era Public Image Ltd, Sun Ra, guitarist and vocalist John Martyn and many more. It is an essential addition to any music fan’s bookshelf.”
Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain
By Aniefiok Ekpoudom
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Something is happening in Britain, trembling the tracks as it unfolds. Recent years have borne witness to underground genres leaking out from the inner cities, going on to become some of the most popular music in the nation. In this groundbreaking social history, journalist Aniefiok Ekpoudom travels the country to paint a compelling portrait of the dawn, boom and subsequent blossoming of U.K. rap and grime. Taking us from the heart of south London to the West Midlands and South Wales, he explores how a history of migration and an enduring spirit of resistance have shaped the current realities of these linked communities and the music they produce. These sounds have become vessels for the marginalised, carrying Black and working-class stories into the light.”
Gerry Rafferty: Every Album, Every Song
By John Van Der Kiste
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sometimes acclaimed as Scotland’s finest-ever singer-songwriter, Gerry Rafferty was born in 1947. After developing a passion for several genres of popular music during childhood, from traditional folk and classical to rock ‘n’ roll and the early 1960s beat boom, he played in a couple of bands during his teens. After joining The Humblebums, an acoustic duo with future standup comedian Billy Connolly, and releasing a solo album Can I Have My Money Back?, he formed Stealers Wheel, whose debut spawned the transatlantic Top 10 hit Stuck In The Middle With You. Initially a quintet and finally a duo, they split in 1975. He resumed his solo career three years later with the single Baker Street and accompanying album City To City, the global successes of which proved impossible to surpass. Although he disliked many aspects of the music business, rarely toured, never played live in America, and became increasingly reclusive in later years, he released eight more albums before his death in 2011, with a posthumous collection Rest In Blue following 10 years later. This book examines in detail all his recorded songs, some of them quite starkly autobiographical in content, from every stage of his career.”
The Little Book of Oasis Insults
By Jake James
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Welcome to The Little Book of Oasis Insults, now kindly p*ss off. Or stay — if you’ve got the backbone to handle some of the most savage, side-splitting, and downright brutal takedowns ever unleashed by Noel and Liam Gallagher. This is your one-stop shop for the funniest, most outrageous insults ever fired. Whether it’s roasting pop royalty like Adele (‘music for f*cking grannies’), Prince Harry (‘asshole’), their old mate Gary Neville (‘he looks like an estate agent’), or anyone else who dared cross the Gallagher firing line, this book captures the brothers at their sharpest — taking no prisoners and offering zero apologies. It’s part wit, part war, and 100% Oasis. With more insults than Liam’s had parkas, and packed with hilarious illustrations, this is the perfect gift for Oasis fans, insult enthusiasts, or anyone who appreciates the art of a perfectly delivered burn. So, crack it open, have a laugh, and then get out of here, you muppet!”
Oasis Forever: The Essential ‘Noel’edge, Quotes, Quizzes & More
By Pop Press
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Are you the ultimate fan? Show your loyalty to the ultimate rock ’n’ roll stars with this supersonic celebration of the Gallagher brothers. Featuring Liam and Noel’s most outrageous quotes and the quizzes and questions you need to prove you deserve to be at the concerts more than anyone else, this is the ultimate celebration of the band that defined an era. Learn: Where Oasis recorded their iconic first album; what Noel said about Liam after the band broke up in 2009; which Oasis song is Liam’s favourite, and more…”
ABC of Snoop Dogg: A Rhyming Lullaby
By Amber Lily & Aimee Wright
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Celebrate legends who changed the world by singing along to rhyming ABC lullabies. Join Snoop Dogg on an alphabet journey from his early days rapping with Dr. Dre to global stardom. A is for Ambition, driving Snoop’s quest, From humble beginnings to being the best. B is for Beats, crafted with Dre, Together they shaped rap music today. C is for Cadillac, cruising with flair, Bouncing up and down in the Cali air. Young children will love this vibrantly illustrated first biography and so will Snoop fans of all ages.”
