He's known the world over for his heyday with Dawn, but that glittering 1970's whirl was just one chapter in Tony Orlando's rich life. Orlando began his showbiz career as a teen heartthrob with the single "Halfway to Paradise" and had a second successful act as a record company A&R man before he was lured back into the limelight as a performer. Fans from the l960s to the present day have loved his voice, his stage presence and his hits, like "Knock Three Times" and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree." Now, Tony has written an autobiography as warm and heartfelt as his songs. Halfway to Paradise is rich with stories from the music world-from doo wop to the disco era, from early recording with Gerry Goffin and Carole King to recent concerts in Branson, Missouri and across the United States. It's also full of behind-the-scenes detail of how it felt to be at the top of the entertainment heap-with his #1-rated CBS show, Tony's life in front of and behind the camera was grand, but sometimes not all it seemed. Orlando succumbed to one of the familiar antidotes to the pressures of a big life: drug use, with its predictable toll on family and friendships. And even as his career was soaring, he was unable to save his best friend Freddie Prinze from a fatal downward spiral. With a return to roots-and to the close-knit family that has always sustained him-Tony restored the order and creativity that have allowed him to thrive through four decades of exuberant entertaining. Halfway to Paradise is a wise, funny and spirited life story, and a must-read memoir for fans.

From the emergence of Bill Haley and his Comets to the meteoric rise of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Halfway to Paradise is an extraordinary photographic tribute to the forces that invented rock. From the 1950s until the early 1960s, photographer Harry Hammond's camera captured rock 'n' roll's most famous names--The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Animals, Dusty Springfield, and many other icons. Now, from the legendary Harry Hammond Archive comes this exciting collection of 250 previously unpublished photographs of British and American musicians. Alwyn W. Turner captures the energy of this explosive period in music history as he tells the story of Britain's embrace--and sometime domination--of rock 'n' roll.

This hugely different biography starts with the Amazing Audition that propelled Billy Fury from unknown to pop star. Marty Wilde discloses new poignant information, Michael Parkinson describes promoting Billy Fury Shows with 200 dancers and narrators. Robert worked with young Ronald Wycherley who showed songs that he was writing. Ann used her artistic ability to become a friend. Avril accommodated Billy, Marty and other performers at no charge because they were so badly paid. Christine watched filming of ‘Ive Gotta Horse’. Colin Paul is a tribute singer with a big story. Billy visited Marion in hospital leading to a lifelong friendship. Myra writes a heart wrenching story of male jealousy. Pauline became a dedicated fan club worker. Peter has produced a guitar instrumental tribute to Billy. Sandra describes meeting Billy Fury when she was 15 and wrote about his shyness. One hundred and twenty pictures accompany the stories to make this a very interesting compilation.

Drawing on archival sources and oral testimony, Keith Gildart examines the ways in which popular music played an important role in reflecting and shaping social identities and working-class cultures and - through a focus on rock 'n' roll, rhythm & blues, punk, mod subculture, and glam rock - created a sense of crisis in English society.

'I couldn't put this book down. Malcolm inspired us to make art out of our boredom and anger. He set us free' Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream Included in the Guardian 10 best music biographies 'Excellent . . . With this book, Gorman convincingly moves away from the ossified image of McLaren as a great rock'n'roll swindler, a morally bankrupt punk Mephistopheles, and closer towards his art-school roots, his love of ideas. Tiresome, unpleasant, even cruel - he was, this book underlines, never boring' Sunday Times 'Exhaustive . . . compelling' Observer 'Definitive . . . epic' The Times 'Gobsmacker of a biography' Telegraph 'This masterful and painstaking biography opens its doorway to an era of fluorescent disenchantment and outlandish possibility' Alan Moore Malcolm McLaren was one of the most culturally significant but misunderstood figures of the modern era. Ten years after his life was cruelly cut short by cancer, The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren sheds fascinating new light on the public achievements and private life of this cultural iconoclast and architect of punk, whose championing of street culture movements including hip-hop and Voguing reverberates to this day. With exclusive contributions from friends and intimates and access to private papers and family documents, this biography uncovers the true story behind this complicated figure. McLaren first achieved public prominence as a rebellious art student by making the news in 1966 after being arrested for burning the US flag in front of the American Embassy in London. He maintained this incendiary reputation by fast-tracking vanguard and left-field ideas to the centre of the media glare, via his creation and stewardship of the Sex Pistols and work with Adam Ant, Boy George and Bow Wow Wow. Meanwhile McLaren's ground-breaking design partnership with Vivienne Westwood and his creation of their visionary series of boutiques in the 1970s and early '80s sent shockwaves through the fashion industry. The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren also essays McLaren's exasperating Hollywood years when he broke bread with the likes of Steven Spielberg though his slate of projects, which included the controversial Heavy Metal Surf Nazis and Wilde West, in which Oscar Wilde introduced rock'n'roll to the American mid-west in the 1880s, proved too rich for the play-it-safe film business. With a preface by Alan Moore, who collaborated with McLaren on the unrealised film project Fashion Beast, and an essay by Lou Stoppard casting a twenty-first-century perspective over his achievements, The Life & Times Of Malcolm McLaren is the explosive and definitive account of the man dubbed by Melvyn Bragg 'the Diaghilev of punk'.

A VIBRANT MEMOIR OF A CHILDHOOD IN THE HEART OF LIVERPOOL The sixties: a new dawn for Britain - a kaleidoscopic crossroads where social upheaval, artistic revolution and excitement for the future rubbed up against urban poverty, inequality and post-war recovery. For comedian Crissy Rock, born in 1958, the following two decades would be the backdrop for a childhood and youth full of adventure, turbulence and discovery, with the city of Liverpool her crucible. In this evocative and nostalgic memoir, Crissy recalls, with extraordinary clarity, growing up in working-class Liverpool, in an era when traditional values of community, family and hard work still counted for everything, even as bold changes in culture, fashion and music swept through the city. In a series of snapshots, she paints a vivid picture of an iconic place in a revolutionary time: from a world of playing by the docks and in the tenements, to the rise of mods and rockers, Beatlemania and dancing in the Cavern Club, and the birth of all-consuming crazes like space hoppers and miniskirts. Written with all Crissy's trademark wit and honesty, Scouse, Choppers & Space Hoppers is at once a nostalgic recollection of a rough-and tumble working-class sixties and seventies childhood, and a celebration of Liverpool itself - a fond glimpse into the heartbeat of the North West from one of its best-loved daughters.

The most famous pop band in the world, even today The Beatles hold centre stage. Anyone who lived through the 1960s remembers them and the digital remastering of their output has ensured that younger generations know them too. How could they not? The songs will live forever and are regularly reused in film or TV scores, on adverts, and on radio channels everywhere. With such coverage and interest, how can there be anything new to say about the band? The Beatles: The Days of their Life manages to do so thanks to the remarkable collection of photographs housed in Mirrorpix, the library of the Daily Mirror, Britain's premier popular daily newspaper. Mirrorpix has a sensational collection of material taken to feed an insatiable desire to see the band, its families, hangers on and what they did. Record launches, publicity events, holidays, flights in and out of the country, TV broadcasts, film work, births, deaths and marriages: everything was photographed. With this sort of coverage, unsurprisingly much material was not published and it is this treasure trove that is exploited in The Bealtes: The Days of their Life. Compiled by Richard Havers, who has a great pedigree in the music business and in music publishing, the book combines great photographs with memorabilia to provide a series of visual snapshots of the Beatles' life and career as Britain's number 1 band.

Could this short, elegant, volume be the only book on British history you'll ever need? A Bit About Britain's History is for anyone who wants a light introduction to Britain's amazing story. If you don't know the basics, or would like a reminder, this book is for you. It is also perfect for those that didn't enjoy history at school, but who have suddenly realised they'd like to understand it a bit better now. Organised clearly and chronologically, A Bit About Britain's History covers every period from a long time ago until quite recently. It begins by briefly mentioning that the place was once inhabited by extremely large lizards, and ends up with a post-war 20th century consumer society. Short articles explain the essential aspects of Britain's past, including how the ancestors of its current inhabitants arrived, how they fought each other, formed nations, fell out over religion, acquired a large empire, became gradually more democratic, helped win a couple of world wars and were left wondering what to do next. At the end of the book are detailed timelines for each period, which provide useful reference and make fascinating reading in their own right. So - what did the Romans achieve? How did Christianity arrive? Who are the English and why did they fight the French so often? What is Henry VIII's greatest legacy? When did democracy start and people get the vote? Why on earth did Britain get involved in WW1? A Bit about Britain's History might be the only book on British history you'll ever need; or it might be your stepping stone to more in-depth academic reading.

Pat Egan is a pioneering music and concert promoter; the first ever to stage arena concerts in Ireland with Queen in 1979 at the RDS. He is also the man behind Ireland’s first major outdoor music festival headlined by a world superstar, Bob Marley at Dalymount Park in 1980. From growing up fatherless and penniless on the inner-city streets of Dublin in the 1950s to representing internationally famous Irish stars such as Colm Wilkinson, Brendan O’Carroll, Phil Coulter and Rebecca Storm, Pat Egan has had a life like no other. Backstage Pass brings you on a journey from pirate radio station Radio Caroline via the No. 5 Club and the opening in 1970 of Sound Cellar, Ireland’s first progressive music store, still trading 51 years on. It tells the inside story of a life presenting concerts by international artists including a 40-year association with Sir Billy Connolly, plus Freddie Starr, Van Morrison, Sir George Martin, Eric Clapton, Queen, Sir Elton John, Dame Shirley Bassey and many more, with stories and anecdotes of working with legends like Gay Byrne, Paul McGrath, Jack Nicklaus, and U2, as well as his early days with Phil Lynott and Rory Gallagher. Along the way we learn how drink, romance, and rock’n’roll tore Pat’s personal life apart and how a loan of £500 helped him turn it all around. How he stayed alive in the wild nightclub business of the 1980s and 1990s, with a shotgun held three inches from his face. Backstage Pass gives a first ever behind-the-scenes insight into the inner workings of the Irish concert business, including an eye-opening look into where your ticket money goes. It also highlights the poor treatment of young Irish acts who can’t get their music played on Irish commercial radio. Lavishly illustrated with rare photos, this is your own backstage pass into the Irish music business. Backstage Pass is essential reading for all those with an interest in the music and concert scene in Ireland today. With a foreword by Billy Connolly. Pat Egan is one of Ireland’s top concert promoters, with over 50 years of experience in the Irish music scene. The author’s royalties will go to St Audeon’s National School.