Morrissey and Prince and Dolly and Bob and Jungkook and Alanis and Britney and Harry: We’re on a first-name basis around here when it comes to the latest music books (and yeah, I know Morrissey’s his last name; so sue me). Read all about ’em:
This Charming Band: The Story Of The Smiths
By Carolyn McHugh
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This is the incredible story of the 40 years of the The Smiths in a lavishly illustrated hardback edition. Manchester has given birth to many famous bands and musicians, but none have caught the attention or imagination of the public quite as much as The Smiths — formed in 1982 and composed of singer Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. Morrissey and Marr were the band’s songwriting partnership. The Smiths are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerge from 1980s British independent music. They signed to Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their self-titled first album in 1984. Their focus on a guitar, bass and drum sound, fusing 1960s rock and post-punk, was a rejection of the synth-pop sound predominant at the time. Several singles reached the top 20 of the U.K. Singles Chart, and all their studio albums reached the top five of the U.K. Albums Chart, including the No. 1 album Meat Is Murder (1985). They achieved mainstream success in Europe with The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), which both entered the top 20 of the European Albums Chart.”
Revolution: Prince, The Band, The Era
By James Campion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Revolution is a detailed exploration into the era of Prince’s most prolific and groundbreaking music made with considerable inspiration and performed by a unique cadre of musicians he gathered and relentlessly drove to be the sonic, visual, and ideological reflection of his evolving vision. Although being the most self-contained, versatile, and prolific artist of his era, Prince reveled in the band, a multi-racial, intergender unit that acted as both family and loyal acolytes that embodied his ethos, expressed his pathos, and lifted him to rarified heights of pop dominance. This is the story of the genre-shifting, multi-media, trailblazing Prince & The Revolution from their humble inception to their precipitous rise in celebrated hit singles, albums, films, and tours to their controversial and shocking demise.”
Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil
By Harry Freedman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From the day that Bobby Zimmerman first turned on the radio in his parents’ home in Hibbing, Minnesota, he had a pretty good idea that big things were happening. When Bob Dylan arrived in New York one winter morning in 1961, he was a complete unknown. His music and spirit would go on to capture the hearts and minds of a generation, but what no one knew then was that, like so many before him, Dylan was concealing his Jewish origins. Covering the same turbulent years as the hit film starring Timothée Chalamet, this entertaining biography offers new insights into Bob Dylan’s early career. For Harry Freedman, Dylan’s roots are the key to grasping how this young musician burst onto the scene and reinvented not only himself, but popular music. The instinct for escape and reinvention has defined Dylan’s long career. Freedman traces the heady atmosphere of the 1960s and the folk-rock revolution spearheaded by Dylan. Right up until the moment in 1966 when Dylan stepped out onto the stage and went electric — exploring how his musical decisions, genius for reinvention and his Jewishness go inescapably hand in hand.”
Dolly Parton: Journey Of A Seeker
By Michael McCall
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dolly Parton has enjoyed seemingly effortless success as a singer, songwriter, movie and television actor, author, businesswoman, and philanthropist ever since she first hit the record charts in 1967. The sheer magnitude of her talent and charisma has created the impression that Parton merely fulfilled her destiny in becoming an entertainment icon. But she had to fight for each major step forward, intentionally breaking precedents to follow her instincts, even when music industry veterans advised against her daring moves. This book focuses on risks Parton took and turning points through the decades where she overcame obstacles and ignored naysayers to become one of the most widely recognized celebrities across the world.”
The Meaning of Jungkook: The Triumph Of BTS And The Making Of A Global Pop Superstar
By Monica Kim
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jungkook is one of the world’s biggest stars, period. His first album Golden sold more than 2 million copies on the day of its release and stayed on the Billboard 200 for 24 consecutive weeks. How did a young prodigy from South Korea make music history? The Meaning of Jungkook is an unofficial kaleidoscopic exploration of the forces that made Jungkook into the triumph he is today. The book does more than chronicle his humble beginnings in Busan and meteoric rise to fame. A lively narrative, it places him in a larger cultural and historical context, shedding light on the inner workings of the K-pop industry, internet culture, Army, and more. We learn that Jungkook’s ruthless work ethic is a symptom of Korean culture and its singular pursuit for excellence; his style of dance places him in the lineage of Michael Jackson; and “the soldout king” has a unique visual appeal that meets high Korean beauty standards but also subverts it with his irreverent piercings and tattoos. Jungkook’s success is not an accident. Talent and training, the livestreams and good looks, globalization and timing all contributed to the making of Jungkook, the South Korean pop superstar who overcame the odds, and through his success, changed the status quo. This is an unauthorized elevated tribute to the singer, for both his fans and others interested in the genre.”
Alanis: Thirty Years Of Jagged Little Pill
By Selena Fragassi
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On June 13, 1995, 21-year-old Alanis Morissette released Jagged Little Pill, an existential awakening of sexuality, a rail against sexism, and a confessional catch-all of topics related to anxiety, depression, angst, eating disorders, religious dogma, and beauty standards. In an era coming off the high of the ’80s and ’90s pop machine, Alanis was a total about-face, peeling off the sheen of what female music leads could be. She was the voice sitting quietly within women in the post-grunge era who finally felt the freedom to let it all out. Alanis: Thirty Years Of Jagged Little Pill tracks it all with: Interviews from Alanis’s first manager Scott Welch, first publicist Mitch Schneider, and several women music journalists (Lyndsey Parker, Annie Zaleski, Amy Schroeder and Liza Lentini) who have covered her career, as well as quotes from some of today’s biggest names in music. —including Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift — on how important Alanis and Jagged Little Pill were and continue to be. You also get a full rundown of every track on Jagged Little Pill, including the meaning of each song and what inspired it; photos tracing the rise of Morisette’s career and the development of this iconic album; an exploration of the album’s lasting legacy in music and pop culture, including becoming a Broadway musical; and a look at other highlights across Alanis’s’ career. Morisette has become a godmother of confessional singer-songwriter styles, beloved by the new crop of talents, thanks largely to the success of Jagged Little Pill. Celebrate this unstoppable piece of music history that you oughta know.”
Waiting For Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly
By Jeff Weiss
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “America, 2003: A country at war, its shiny veneer beginning to crack. Von Dutch and The Simple Life dominate. And on the cover of every magazine, a 21-year-old pop star named Britney Spears. Tracking her every move for a third-tier gossip rag in Los Angeles was an unknown young writer taking whatever job he could while pursuing his distant literary dreams. He’d instead become an eyewitness to the slow tragedy of a changing nation, represented in spirit by “the coy it-girl at the end of history.” Years later, after finally establishing himself as a celebrated journalist, Jeff Weiss presents Waiting for Britney Spears, a gonzo, nostalgic, and “allegedly true” recounting of his years as a tabloid spy in the lurid underbelly of Los Angeles. Weiss follows America’s sweetheart through Vegas superclubs and Malibu car chases, annulled marriages and soul-crushing legal battles, all the way to Britney’s infamous 2007 VMAs performance. As Weiss lives through the chaos leading to Britney’s conservatorship, he observes, with peerless style, cringe-inducing fashion waves, destructive celebrity surveillance, and a country whose decline is embodied by the devastating downturn of its former golden child. With the narrative flair that established him as a singular chronicler of modern pop culture, Weiss goes for broke in Waiting For Britney Spears, a descent into a neon hall of mirrors reflecting our obsession with fame, morality, and the mystery of what really happened to the last great pop star.”
1975: The Year The World Forgot
By Dylan Jones
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There is a myth that the long, dark days before punk were full of legions of British prog groups; that the likes of Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull roamed the land, soiling the culture like university-educated Orcs. Wrong. The mid-’70s were dense with extraordinarily sophisticated, mature rock music made by singers, songwriters and musicians who had no problem calling themselves artists. And the records they made aspired to artistic status: everyone was trying to make their own masterpiece, and the sense of competitiveness was like something not seen since the mid-’60s. Three-minute pop singles had given way to concept albums and pop-package tours had been supplanted by rock festivals, and rock in general had a renewed sense of ambition. 1975 was the apotheosis of the adult pop, the most important year in the narrative arc of post-war music, and a year that was rich with masterpieces: Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan, The Who By Numbers by The Who, Young Americans by David Bowie, Another Green World by Brian Eno, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell and A Night At The Opera by Queen, amongst countless other legendary albums. These records were magisterial; records that couldn’t be bettered. Who could realistically make a more sophisticated album than The Hissing of Summer Lawns? Or a more complex hard-rock album than Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti? Or indeed a record as unimpeachable and as prescient as Patti Smith’s Horses? 1975, as Dylan Jones expertly illustrates, was the greatest year of them all.”
Beyond The Bassline
By Paul Bradshaw
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The story of Black British music is a 500-year journey from the court of King Henry VIII to the ‘Ends’ of South London; from Africa to the Caribbean to the U.K. and back; from subterranean shebeens and church halls to royal command performances and sold-out stadiums; and from outsider influence to domestic chart domination. It is a story that grapples with the slave trade, the prejudice of unwelcoming institutions and the bias of ignorance while ultimately celebrating the creativity and perseverance of the pioneers and today’s digital age innovators. Published alongside the major British Library exhibition, Beyond The Bassline is a landmark volume of essays, features and interviews which traces a new timeline underpinned by the Black artists and musicians who, over centuries, have shaped Britain’s unique and globally significant musical culture. Illustrating this vibrant history which traverses musical genres from classical, gospel and jazz through to reggae, jungle and Afrobeats are more than three hundred images including contemporary and classic photographs, paintings, posters and record sleeves. Edited by Paul Bradshaw, music journalist and publisher of Straight No Chaser magazine, Beyond The Bassline tells its essential story through specially commissioned pieces from musicians, composers, DJs, writers and photographers, as well as important voices in politics and history.”
Unofficial Harry Styles Crochet: 20+ Projects Inspired By The Music & Style Icon
By Lee Sartori
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Unofficial Harry Styles Crochet is a delightful homage to the iconic style and charisma of Harry Styles, seamlessly blending the art of crochet with his distinctive fashion sense. Crafted by Lee Sartori, this book offers more than 20 creative projects, ranging from fashionable wearables to charming home décor items and whimsical Harry-gurumi. Perfect for both Harry fans and crochet enthusiasts alike, this collection features patterns suitable for beginners to more experienced crocheters, ensuring there’s something for everyone to enjoy and create. With projects as varied as Harry’s many iconic styles, Unofficial Harry Styles Crochet has something for everyone. Whether you’re a fan or a crocheter who wants to create unique gifts for the Harries in your life, you can unleash your crafting prowess.”
