The bands, producers, labels and remixers of the diverse dance music culture are listed here in this reference book. Dates, career facts, discographies and star ratings are given, along with considered opinion on the prime movers and shakers in the business.

Remember the 80's? The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80's Music is a complete handbook of information and opinion about the history of the most fragmented and frequently maligned decade in the history of popular music. Here are 1000 entries on the bands, musicians, songwriters, producers and record labels - everyone who had a significant impact on the development of rock and pop music in those ten years, from the New Romantics who brought colour and image to fill the gap left by punk and the new wave, to the stadium acts who provided a launch pad for Live Aid, to the myriad variations of house and techno spawned in the latter half of the Eighties. As well as all the giants of the period the encyclopedia has the range and depth to include artists who flourished briefly and yet were quintessential to the decade. A perfect mix of fact and informed opinion contained in one single volume, distilled from the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, universally acclaimed as the world's leading source of reference on rock and pop history. Informed, infatuating and invaluable.

A guide to the greatest shows and films in the history of the musical, as well as their stars, lyricists and composers. Over 1600 entries provide facts, figures and critical opinion on all aspects of the field.

In the late 1980s the rave phenomenon swept the youth culture of the United Kingdom, incorporating the generations' two newest social stimulants: modern electronic dance music and a notorious designer drug known as Ecstasy. Although the movement began in rebellion against mainstream culture, its underground dynamism soon attracted the interest of novelists, screenwriters, and filmmakers who attempted to reflect the phenomenon in their works. Through artistic and commercial popularization, the once obscure subculture was transformed into a pop-culture behemoth with powerful links to the entertainment industry. This study deals with the transformative effects of film, television and literature on club culture. Chapters furthermore reflect club culture's own effect on crime, ethnicity, sexuality and drug use. As the study traces artistic depictions of club culture's development, each chapter focuses on individual books, films and television shows that reflect the transformation of the club culture into what it is today.

All the facts and informed opinion that you need on the artists who made the history of this decade are contained in this single volume, distilled from The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, universally acclaimed as the world's leading source of reference on rock and pop history.

All the facts and informed opinion that you need on the artists who made the history of this decade are contained in this single volume, distilled from The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, universally acclaimed as the world's leading source of reference on rock and pop history.

The aim of this book is to provide a complete handbook of information and opinion about the history of the music of the 1970s. There are over 1000 entries on the bands, musicians, songwriters, producers and record labels of this decade, everyone who had any significant impact on the development of rock and pop music. From the stars who, unlike Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison, survived the sixties only to be dudded as dinosaurs, to the angry reactions of punk and the new wave and the sounds of glam rock and disco, this encylopaedia aims to answer any query about any aspect of seventies music. As well as the giants of the decade, such as Queen, Abba and Fleetwood Mac, the book also includes those artists who only flourished briefly.

There is a queue, the phone is ringing, the photocopier has jammed and your enquirer is waiting for a response. You are stressed and you can feel the panic rising. Where do you go to find the information you need to answer the question promptly and accurately? Answering queries from users is one of the most important services undertaken by library and information staff. Yet it is also one of the most difficult, least understood subjects. There are still very few materials available to help frontline staff - often paraprofessional - develop their reader enquiry skills. This award-winning sourcebook is an essential guide to where to look to find the answers quickly. It is designed as a first point of reference for library and information practitioners, to be depended upon if they are unfamiliar with the subject of an enquiry - or wish to find out more. It is arranged in an easily searchable, fully cross-referenced A-Z list of around 150 of the subject areas most frequently handled at enquiry desks. Each subject entry lists the most important information sources and where to locate them, including printed and electronic sources, relevant websites and useful contacts for referral purposes. The authors use their extensive experience in reference work to offer useful tips, warn of potential pitfalls, and spotlight typical queries and how to tackle them. This new edition has been brought right up-to-date with all sources checked for currency and many new ones added. The searchability is enhanced by a comprehensive index to make those essential sources even easier to find - saving you valuable minutes! Readership: Offering quick and easy pointers to a multitude of information sources, this is an invaluable reference deskbook for all library and information staff in need of a speedy answer, in reference libraries, subject departments and other information units.

Whatever you were doing and listening to during the eighties, THE VIRGIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EIGHTIES MUSIC will bring it all back. All the facts and informed opinions on the artists who made that decade's musical history are contained in this single volume, distilled from THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC, the world's leading reference on rock and pop history.

The Virgin Encyclopaedia of the Blues is a complete handbook of information and opinion about the history of the most classically simple, enduring and inspiring genre in the history of popular music. All entries have been created from the massive database of The Encyclopaedia of Popular Music, which has swiftly and firmly established itself as the undisputed champion of contemporary music reference books. Brand new research ensures that the 1000 entries are bang up-to-date and cover everyone - the musicians, bands, songwriters, producers and record labels - who has made a significant impact on the development of the blues. It brings together pioneers like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, the influence of Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon on the blues boom of the 1960s, and the most recent blues resurgence featuring Keb'Mo, Larry Garner and Jonny Lang. As well as the giants of the blues, this encyclopaedia has the range and depth to include performers who flew the blues flag during fallow periods, the 1980s band Roomful of Blues for example, or acts like Paul Butterfield, Chicken Shack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who took the music to a wider, whiter, audience. Some blues musicians, including John Lee Hooker and Taj Mahal, seem to last forever. Others simply defined the genre, like Lead Belly, Bessie Smith and Howlin' Wolf. Whomever you remember or want to know more about, each entry gives the essential elements - dates, career facts, discography and album ratings - as well as a sense of context, striking a balance between the extremes of the self-opinionated and the bland.