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Every Song Tells A Story
and indeed it does, here Mike Hurst who was once a Springfield and then a very successful record producer, tells the story of popular music from the days of the minstrels through to pop. A good read and quite enlightening too.
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Bouffants, Beehives & Backcombing
Early Brit Girls Vol. 1 Although the arrival of the archetypical 60s ‘dolly bird’ was still a couple of years away, by the turn of that decade a whole ‘new look’ Brit Girl was emerging; a slim, wan, wide-eyed young gazelle, the polar opposite of the overtly glam, well-upholstered, tightly-corseted, frilly-petticoated, severely made-up filly of…
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John, Paul, George, Dave, Brian, Tony & More
click sleeve to BUY The Birth Of British Beat Boom Received wisdom would have us believe that The 60s began in Liverpool in 1963, commensurate with the arrival of The Beatles and the ensuing British Beat Boom. Well, that’s certainly the romantic view, but the seeds of the Beat Boom had been sewn a…
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Trampled Under Foot
Next up was a book where Barney Hoskyns tells the life story of the band’s epic rise and fall, through the words of those who were there. Nearly 200 interviewees in their own words, undertaken by him or drawn from the amazing Rock’s Backpages archives of the music press.
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A Technicolor Dream DVD
Many years ago we collaborated with friends and produced this fine documentary about the Sixties Counter Culture. You will see it sometimes on Sky Arts and you can also BUY it on DVD. If you want to see a trailor, just click on this cover image. This release is coded as territory zero/PAL. The title is…
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LONNIE DONEGAN & THE BIRTH OF BRITISH ROCK & ROLL
Just read an excellent new book, this work of deep research and dedication, is the story of the man who arguably kick started the British pop and rock scene and remains one of the most important and influential figures in British musical history. It is the first full-length biography of the skiffle king and godfather of British…
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For them as can read
Now that we have our first three double CDs available (click on the CD series tab), we are racing on with a new book version compiled from the last eight years of interviews, to be published in the New Year. Exciting but scary at the same time. In fact we will have not one, but two new books…
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Love Me Do
Seeing as we are around the 50th anniversary of the single, lets hear it for the man who taught John to play the harmonica part
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Mr Parnes, Shillings & Pence
With the notable exception of the mighty Jack Good, Larry Parnes was very probably the most important non-performing figure in the history of UK Rock’n’Roll. Indeed, without Parnes (and certainly, without Good!) UK R’n’R would have been an entirely different proposition… one which hardly bears contemplating!!! Generally speaking, success owes everything to good luck and…
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Freight Trains, Last Trains And Rock Island Lines
The History Of Skiffle Looking back from the comfort zone of the hi-tech/centrally-heated/24-7/anything-goes 21st Century, it’s virtually impossible to convey just how big an impact Skiffle Music made on the austere cultural wasteland that was 1950s Britain. For starters, those rose-tinted spectacles which we tend to don when reviewing our childhood are a genuinely effective…