FEATURED BOOKS

Read & Burn is the first serious, in-depth appraisal of one of the most influential British bands to emerge during the punk era. Tracing Wire’s diverse output from 1977 up until the present, it combines analysis and interpretation with perspective drawn from extensive interviews with past and present members of the group, as well as producers, collaborators, and associates.


Solid Foundation is the definitive history of reggae, from the earliest Jamaican innovators of the 1940s to the new stars of the 21st century. Drawing on more than 300 firsthand interviews, this landmark book tells the fascinating story of some of the most compelling characters in popular music. It features a diverse range of pioneers, such as The Skatalites, The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, dub legends such as Augustus Pablo, Prince Jammy, and Scientist, as well as dancehall giants like Elephant Man, Beenie Man, and Buju Banton. It details the entire evolution of Jamaican popular music, including ska, rock steady, roots reggae, dub, dancehall, ragga, and more.


She Bop is the definitive in-depth study of women in popular music. Drawing on more than 250 firsthand interviews, it covers nine decades of musical history, from ragtime and vaudeville to punk and hip-hop, and features a remarkable cast of trailblazing female performers: Ella Fitzgerald and Madonna, Billie Holiday and Whitney Houston, Dusty Springfield and Beyoncé, and many, many more. This revised and expanded third edition brings the story of She Bop into the 21st century, with extensive revisions throughout and a new final chapter covering the current generation of female performers and the ways in which the internet and digital culture have reconfigured the music industry for women.


“I was six or seven when I noticed the music in my head. It was there in the classroom, on the football pitch, at the dinner table, when I went to sleep and when I woke up. And it’s continued ever since.”

Adventures Of A Waterboy is an evocative, eye-opening memoir by one of the great British songwriters of the past four decades. It is an honest and revealing work, by turns heartfelt and funny, that tells the story of a cocky Scot with a sound in his head and his lifelong efforts to reproduce that sound – a story that runs from teenage fandom to international stardom, from Scotland to New York City and beyond.