T-Rex icon Marc Bolan day-by-day through super stardom to tragic car crash death.

Marc Bolan was the very first superstar of the 1970s. As the seductive focus of T. Rex he revelled in fame and fortune, released a string of classic records before tragically losing his way. The fatal car accident in 1977 cut short his planned comeback as a punk rocker, but also served to fix Bolan as the definitive icon of the Glam years. Bolan's music and chameleonic style were to influence a generation of future bands. In his various guises he could be a beatnik, a mod, a punk, a hippie and a Glam hero. This biography of a pop obsessive draws from interviews with many friends and colleagues including broadcaster John Peel, brother Harry and band members Mickey Finn and Bill Legend.

Forty years after his tragic death, this homage to Marc Bolan pays tribute to one of the pioneers of the glam rock movement. Marc Bolan was the wizard who brought magic to rock music - his heart beat to the rhythm of rock. Moving from early folk influences and songs on the mythology of Tolkien, he transformed himself into a unique, sparkling and effervescent glam-rock icon. His boogie roots combined with Marc's own natural glitter dust, and propelled him forward on an adventure, with fortunes that were to ebb and flow over a decade. His diamond-studded halo was extinguished on 16 September 1977, at a time when his music was in the ascendancy. The annals of history are strewn with stories of artists who passed away in shocking circumstances of those that died too young, from substance abuse, mysterious illnesses or even murder. Sometimes, the shock of their passing immediately elevates their standing in cultural memory and cements their work in a favourable light. Marc Bolan died at twenty-nine years of age, in a tragic car crash - an accident that could have been avoided. However, it took many years for people to start appreciating what Marc Bolan brought to a rock music scene in the early seventies which had stagnated in some corners after the explosion of creativity in the sixties. Yet, gradually, acclaim has grown for how he enriched the period, bringing colour and humour to an increasingly leaden genre. Much like Hendrix before him, and Cobain after him, his natural charisma and striking beauty have underpinned his status as a dreamlike bard, an enigmatic pin-up whom boys wished they looked like and girls wished they were with. Yet it was his scorching talent as a performer and songwriter which have formed the bedrock for longevity as a legend. Including rare and unpublished photographs, and works of Marc's own poetry, this book is put together by a true, original fan - one who followed Marc Bolan on tour, who bought every piece of vinyl he released and who was fortunate enough to have made Marc's acquaintance during the peak of his career. Published forty years on from Bolan's death, Beautiful Dreamer is unashamedly a book of love, a book that every Marc Bolan fan will identify with, because it paints a picture of the man that the fans idolised, worshipped and continue to cherish to this day.

This text presents a comprehensive and up-to-date reference work on popular music, from the early 20th century to the present day.

Explores the many ways glam rock paved the way for new explorations of identity in terms of gender, sexuality, and performance

Who are pop dandies? Why are stars like David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Doherty and Robbie Williams so dandified? Taking up a wide range of British pop stars, Hawkins seeks to find out why so many have cast themselves in roles that often take style to absurd extremes. In this study, male pop artists are mapped against a cultural and historical background through a genealogy of personalities, such as Oscar Wilde, W.H. Auden, Andy Warhol, No Coward, Derek Jarmen, David Beckham and countless others. A critical analysis of issues and approaches to musical performance through masculinity becomes the focal point of this fascinating study. Ranging from the sixties to beyond the twentieth century, The British Pop Dandy considers the construction of the male pop icon through the spectacle of videos, live concerts and films. Why do we derive pleasure from the performing body, and how is entertainment linked to categories of gender and sexuality? The author insists that pop performances can be understood through human characteristics that relate to the particulars of dandyism, camp and glamour, and this he theorizes through the work of Charles Baudelaire. One of the political objectives of the dandy is to liberate himself through a denial of the structures that assume fixed identity. Not least, it is acts of queering in pop music that characterize entire generations of male artists in the UK. Setting out to discover what distinguishes the British pop dandy, Hawkins considers the role of music and performance in the articulation of hyperbolic display. It is argued that the recorded voice is a construction that idealizes self-representation, and absorbs the listener's attention. Particularly, camp address in singing practice is taken up in conjunction with a discussion of intimacy, which forms part of the strategy of the performer. In a range of songs and videos selected for music analysis, Hawkins points to the uniqueness of the voice as it expresses a transgressive quali

Covering four decades of music history, this engaging book explores a genre of pop music that has been overlooked, under-reported, and ineffectively characterized—but which nevertheless remains immensely popular. The very qualities that made glam unusual and undervalued are now being reintroduced into our culture through video, music, and cyber and computer mediums, while artists such as Lady Gaga have made glam popular once more. Carefully explaining this misunderstood genre, The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock explores glam's attraction and the reasons it has endured. With the help of copious examples, the book covers the style from the pre-glam British invasion of 1964-69 through the classical glam era (1970-75); the metamorphosis into glam goth, glam metal, and glam new-romanticism (1976-90); and the style's reemergence (1990-present). It provides a theoretical basis for musicians' attraction to this highly visual and theatrical form of pop music and sets glam in a historical context, following the format through MTV, videos, and vibrant stage and theatre presentations. Finally, the book explores the hybridization of glam with other styles, illustrating how the genre has progressively reemerged as a premier form of performance pop.

In 1952 the first Gibson Les Paul solidbody electric guitar was made and 2002 will be the 50th anniversary of its creation. This book is a chronicle of the entire range of Gibson Les Paul guitars, the stories surrounding their creation and the artists (such as Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton) who played them. Made by the Gibson company, the Les Paul was the result of a collaboration with brilliant guitarist Les Paul, one half of the famous Les Paul and Mary Ford Duo. Every model is described and its different specifications unravelled, with colour photographs that reveal the complexity and beauty of these important guitars over the last 50 years.

(Book). Rikky Rooksby's revised and updated bestseller explores more than 200 classic riffs, from Cream and Led Zeppelin, through Nirvana and Soundgarden, to Metallica, U2, and the White Stripes. The first half of the book analyzes classic rock riffs and reveals the stories behind their creation. Easy-to-read text describes and explains each riff, supported by illustrations and audio examples. The book's second section shows how to construct great riffs and why they work. Readers learn how to shape a melody, integrate a guitar riff with the rest of a song, enhance a riff with effects, and work with intervals and scales to build riffs.

Updated in its 3rd edition, Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning presents quickly applied methods for analyzing and resolving planning and policy issues at state, regional, and urban levels. Divided into two parts, Methods which presents quick methods in nine chapters and is organized around the steps in the policy analysis process, and Cases which presents seven policy cases, ranging in degree of complexity, the text provides readers with the resources they need for effective policy planning and analysis. Quantitative and qualitative methods are systematically combined to address policy dilemmas and urban planning problems. Readers and analysts utilizing this text gain comprehensive skills and background needed to impact public policy.