Big music, raggle taggle, sonic rock, spiritual visionaries: the music of Mike Scott and the Waterboys has meant many things to different people over the last forty yeatrs. They can rock with the best of them, play folk tunes that bring admiration from the purists. They can make you laugh, they can make you cry. What is certain is that they have never been boring. In the first of two volumes Ray Dexter analyses every song the Waterboys have recorded and in doing so provides an insight that now other work on the band has provided. Essential reading for the true fan.

"Boy meets girl. Boy is English, girl Hungarian: boy has a good job at a very well-known boarding school in England; girl is an au pair who wants to get back to Hungary as soon as possible. Boy descovers he knows a man who is running an International school in Hungary and he is desperate for boy to work for him. Boy decides you can't fight that sort of coincidence, chucks in the good job at the well-known boarding school and follows the girl to Budapest ... This is a book about real life in one of Europe's most fascinating cities. Ray Dexter shows us deep inside the Hungarian soul and also inside the minds of the expats who have also ended up in the Hungarian Girl Trap"--P. [4] of cover.

A man with a quiff and a hearing aid twirls around with a bunch of gladioli sprouting from his trouser pocket. Two sullen Scotsmen deafen you with descanting feedback. Jackson Pollock paint-splattered mods in flared trousers become the sound of Ecstasy.Five lads from Burnage standing still and playing football style anthems to hundreds of thousands of people. Common People! Bez! Parklife! The -Imperial Phase- is a term defined by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys to describe a time in an artists' career when they were at their commercial peak - when they could do nothing wrong. This book describes the imperial phase of British indie music from the end of the Smiths to the death of Britpop. In 45 coruscating essays Ray Dexter analyses the records that told the story. Artists covered include the Smiths, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, New Order, My Bloody Valentine, Blur, Pulp, Radiohead, The Verve and many, many more.

Renowned rock writer Ian Abrahams - Classic Rock, Record Collector, Mojo - assembles the definitive story of the legendary post-folk gypsy-rock literati The Waterboys and their gently stellar frontman, Mike Scott. Abrahams follows the progress of a band and a man often cited by rock and folk critics alike as both hugely influential and praiseworthy in their own rights, examining the role of Scott as he emphasises a continuity between The Water Boys and his solo work over the last 25 years.

This 240-page book contains a 50,000 word narrative from Waterboys founder/leader, Mike Scott telling the story of the Waterboys great seven-piece band from 1989 through to the release of their 1990 album, Room to Roam. Covering the band members backgrounds, places they played, how they discovered traditional songs & recording at Spiddal House in the West of Ireland. The also features contributions by band members, an incredible collection of photographs, maps, lyrics, manuscripts, master tapes and other archival material.

Founded by Gaz Mayall on July 3, 1980, Gaz's Rocklin Blues is an institution and London's longest running one-nighter club. This book is released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the club and features all the flyers and posters made for the night over the years, as well as photos, anecdotes and everything you wanted to know about this legendary and well-loved night.

History of the "post-post-punk scene" of the 80s.

One of the highest-ranking defectors from Scientology exposes the secret inner workings of the powerful organization in this remarkable memoir that is “not only a cautionary tale but also an inspiring story of resilience” (Leah Remini, New York Times bestselling author). Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission, swiftly rising through the ranks. In the 1980s, Rinder became Scientology’s international spokesperson and the head of its powerful Office of Special Affairs. He helped negotiate Scientology’s pivotal tax exemption from the IRS and engaged with the organization’s prominent celebrity members, including Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, and John Travolta. Yet Rinder couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss—Hubbard’s promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man who did not hesitate to confine many top Scientologists, Mike among them, to a makeshift prison known as the Hole. In 2007, at the age of fifty-two, Rinder finally escaped Scientology. Overnight, he became one of the organization’s biggest public enemies. He was followed, hacked, spied on, and tracked. But he refused to be intimidated and today helps people break free of Scientology. “An intensely personal, cathartic memoir of blind allegiance, betrayal, and liberation” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), A Billion Years reveals the dark, dystopian truth about Scientology as never before.

"Fictional graphic novel telling a magical realist story set in the world of the black market for deceased brides in China"--