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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        August 2018

        Ripped, torn and cut

        Pop, politics and punk fanzines from 1976

        by Matthew Worley

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2019

        Ripped, torn and cut

        Pop, politics and punk fanzines from 1976

        by Subcultures Network

        Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind - and the politics within - the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. Sniffin' Glue (1976-77), Mark Perry's iconic punk fanzine, was but the first of many, paving the way for hundreds of home-made magazines to be cut and pasted in bedrooms across the UK. From these, glimpses into provincial cultures, teenage style wars and formative political ideas may be gleaned. An alternative history, away from the often-condescending glare of London's media and music industry, can be formulated, drawn from such titles as Ripped & Torn, Brass Lip, City Fun, Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Grafity, Hungry Beat and Hard as Nails. The first book of its kind, this collection reveals the contested nature of punk's cultural politics by turning the pages of a vibrant underground press.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        August 2018

        Ripped, torn and cut

        Pop, politics and punk fanzines from 1976

        by Matthew Worley

        Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind - and the politics within - the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. Sniffin' Glue (1976-77), Mark Perry's iconic punk fanzine, was but the first of many, paving the way for hundreds of home-made magazines to be cut and pasted in bedrooms across the UK. From these, glimpses into provincial cultures, teenage style wars and formative political ideas may be gleaned. An alternative history, away from the often-condescending glare of London's media and music industry, can be formulated, drawn from such titles as Ripped & Torn, Brass Lip, City Fun, Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Grafity, Hungry Beat and Hard as Nails. The first book of its kind, this collection reveals the contested nature of punk's cultural politics by turning the pages of a vibrant underground press.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2019

        Ripped, torn and cut

        Pop, politics and punk fanzines from 1976

        by Subcultures Network

        Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind - and the politics within - the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. Sniffin' Glue (1976-77), Mark Perry's iconic punk fanzine, was but the first of many, paving the way for hundreds of home-made magazines to be cut and pasted in bedrooms across the UK. From these, glimpses into provincial cultures, teenage style wars and formative political ideas may be gleaned. An alternative history, away from the often-condescending glare of London's media and music industry, can be formulated, drawn from such titles as Ripped & Torn, Brass Lip, City Fun, Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Grafity, Hungry Beat and Hard as Nails. The first book of its kind, this collection reveals the contested nature of punk's cultural politics by turning the pages of a vibrant underground press.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        June 2022

        The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer

        Radicalism, resistance and rebellion

        by Gregor Gall

        Joe Strummer was one of the twentieth century's iconic rock'n'roll rebels. Frontman, spokesman and chief lyricist for The Clash, Strummer played a major role in politicising a generation through some of the most powerful protest songs of the era, songs like 'White Riot', 'English Civil War' and 'London Calling'. At the heart of this protest was the struggle for social justice and equality. The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer examines Strummer's beliefs on a range of issues - alienation, exploitation, multiculturalism and humanism - analysing their credibility, influence and impact, and asking where they came from and how they developed over his lifetime. Drawing on Strummer's lyrics, various interviews and bootleg recordings, as well as interviews with friends and contemporaries like Billy Bragg, The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer takes the reader on a journey through the political influences and motivations that defined one of the UK's greatest punk icons.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        June 2022

        The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer

        Radicalism, resistance and rebellion

        by Gregor Gall

        Joe Strummer was one of the twentieth century's iconic rock'n'roll rebels. Frontman, spokesman and chief lyricist for The Clash, Strummer played a major role in politicising a generation through some of the most powerful protest songs of the era, songs like 'White Riot', 'English Civil War' and 'London Calling'. At the heart of this protest was the struggle for social justice and equality. The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer examines Strummer's beliefs on a range of issues - alienation, exploitation, multiculturalism and humanism - analysing their credibility, influence and impact, and asking where they came from and how they developed over his lifetime. Drawing on Strummer's lyrics, various interviews and bootleg recordings, as well as interviews with friends and contemporaries like Billy Bragg, The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer takes the reader on a journey through the political influences and motivations that defined one of the UK's greatest punk icons.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2023

        Let’s spend the night together

        Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

        by Subcultures Network

        Let's spend the night together explores how sex and sexuality provided essential elements of British youth culture in the 1950s through to the 1980s. It shows how the underlying sexual charge of rock 'n'roll -and pop music more generally -was integral to the broader challenge embodied in the youth cultures that developed after World War Two. As teenage hormones rushed to move to the music and take advantage of the spaces opening up through consumption, education and employment, so the boundaries of British morality and cultural propriety were tested and often transgressed. Be it the assertive masculinity of the teds or the lustful longings of the teeny-bopper, the gender-bending of glam or the subterranean allure of an underground club/disco, the free love of the 1960s or the punk provocations in the 1970s, sex was forever to the fore and, more often than not, underpinned the moral panics that fitfully followed any cultural shift in youthful style and behaviour. Drawing from scholarship across a range of disciplines, the Subcultures Network explore how sex and sexuality were experienced, presented, conferred, responded to and understood within the context of youth culture, popular music and social change in the period between World War Two and the advent of AIDS. The essays locate sex, music and youth culture in the context of post-war Britain: with a widening and ever-more prevalent media; amidst the loosening bonds of censorship; in a society shaped by changing patterns of consumption and the emergence of the 'teenager'; existing, as Jeff Nuttall famously argued, under the shadow of the (nuclear) bomb.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2023

        Let’s spend the night together

        Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

        by Subcultures Network

        Let's spend the night together explores how sex and sexuality provided essential elements of British youth culture in the 1950s through to the 1980s. It shows how the underlying sexual charge of rock 'n'roll -and pop music more generally -was integral to the broader challenge embodied in the youth cultures that developed after World War Two. As teenage hormones rushed to move to the music and take advantage of the spaces opening up through consumption, education and employment, so the boundaries of British morality and cultural propriety were tested and often transgressed. Be it the assertive masculinity of the teds or the lustful longings of the teeny-bopper, the gender-bending of glam or the subterranean allure of an underground club/disco, the free love of the 1960s or the punk provocations in the 1970s, sex was forever to the fore and, more often than not, underpinned the moral panics that fitfully followed any cultural shift in youthful style and behaviour. Drawing from scholarship across a range of disciplines, the Subcultures Network explore how sex and sexuality were experienced, presented, conferred, responded to and understood within the context of youth culture, popular music and social change in the period between World War Two and the advent of AIDS. The essays locate sex, music and youth culture in the context of post-war Britain: with a widening and ever-more prevalent media; amidst the loosening bonds of censorship; in a society shaped by changing patterns of consumption and the emergence of the 'teenager'; existing, as Jeff Nuttall famously argued, under the shadow of the (nuclear) bomb.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        June 2022

        The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer

        Radicalism, resistance and rebellion

        by Gregor Gall

        Joe Strummer was one of the twentieth century's iconic rock'n'roll rebels and radicals. He was political not just in his views and lyrics but in how he lived his day-to-day life. With Strummer as frontman, spokesman and chief lyricist, The Clash played a major role in politicising a generation, not least at the Rock Against Racism gig in 1978. The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer examines Strummer's beliefs, asking where they came from and how they developed over his lifetime. It also analyses their credibility, influence and impact. The book explores Strummer's fight against alienation, exploitation and oppression (from inequality and environmentalism to anti-militarism and anti-imperialism) and his support for multiculturalism and humanism. Strummer believed that rock'n'roll music was a cultural front in the struggle for social justice and equality. Following his cue, the book reads music and culture as a means to translate hard political messages and ideologies into more accessible forms for audiences not engaged in party politics. Drawing on Strummer's lyrics, interviews and bootleg recordings, as well as interviews with friends and contemporaries like Billy Bragg, The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer reveals Strummer's wide-ranging political influence during his punk heyday and since his death in 2002.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        October 2023

        The Island Book of Records Volume I

        1959-68

        by Neil Storey

        The Island Book of Records brings the early years of this iconic record label to life. A fifteen-year labour of love, the volumes will fully document the analogue era of Island. Offering a comprehensive archive of album cover design and photography, together with the voices of the musicians, designers, photographers, producers, studio engineers and record company personnel that worked on each project, the volumes show in unique depth the workings of the label, covering every LP. Featuring material from recent interviews and from media interviews of the time, and each including a comprehensive discography of 45s, the books are lavishly illustrated with gig adverts (very many at venues which no longer exist), concert tickets, flyers, international LP variants, labels, LP and 45 adverts and other ephemera. These LP-sized editions are a collector's dream, offering a truly unparalleled resource for those interested in music history and a perfect gift for any music lover.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        October 2023

        The art of darkness

        The history of goth

        by John Robb

        This is the first comprehensive history of goth music and culture. John Robb explores the origins and legacy of this enduring scene, which has its roots in the post-punk era. Drawing on his own experience as a musician and journalist, Robb covers the style, the music and the clubs that spawned the culture, alongside political and social conditions. He also reaches back further to key historic events and movements that frame the ideas of goth, from the fall of Rome to Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic art and the occult. Finally, he considers the current mainstream goth of Instagram influencers, film, literature and music. The Art of darkness features interviews with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Damned, Nick Cave, Southern Death Cult, Einstürzende Neubauten, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, Throbbing Gristle, Danielle Dax, Lydia Lunch and many more. It offers a first-hand account of being there at the gigs and clubs that made the scene happen.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        October 2023

        Let’s spend the night together

        Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

        by Subcultures Network

        Let's spend the night together explores how sex and sexuality provided essential elements of British youth culture in the 1950s through to the 1980s. It shows how the underlying sexual charge of rock 'n'roll -and pop music more generally -was integral to the broader challenge embodied in the youth cultures that developed after World War Two. As teenage hormones rushed to move to the music and take advantage of the spaces opening up through consumption, education and employment, so the boundaries of British morality and cultural propriety were tested and often transgressed. Be it the assertive masculinity of the teds or the lustful longings of the teeny-bopper, the gender-bending of glam or the subterranean allure of an underground club/disco, the free love of the 1960s or the punk provocations in the 1970s, sex was forever to the fore and, more often than not, underpinned the moral panics that fitfully followed any cultural shift in youthful style and behaviour. Drawing from scholarship across a range of disciplines, the Subcultures Network explore how sex and sexuality were experienced, presented, conferred, responded to and understood within the context of youth culture, popular music and social change in the period between World War Two and the advent of AIDS. The essays locate sex, music and youth culture in the context of post-war Britain: with a widening and ever-more prevalent media; amidst the loosening bonds of censorship; in a society shaped by changing patterns of consumption and the emergence of the 'teenager'; existing, as Jeff Nuttall famously argued, under the shadow of the (nuclear) bomb.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        September 2024

        Bedsit land

        The strange worlds of Soft Cell

        by Patrick Clarke

        A rich and revealing examination of the legendary pop duo Soft Cell. Soft Cell are not your average pop band. Marc Almond and Dave Ball may be best known for the string of hits they released in 1981, but the powerful first phase of their collaboration embraced a staggering array of sounds, influences and innovations that would change the face of music to come. In Bedsit land, Patrick Clarke plunges into the archives and interviews more than sixty contributors, including the band members themselves, to follow Soft Cell through the many strange and sprawling worlds that shaped their extraordinary career. They lead him from the faded camp glamour of the British seaside to the dizzying thrills of the New York club scene. From transgressive student performance art to the sleaze and squalor of pre-gentrified Soho. From the glitz of British showbiz to the drug-addled chaos of post-Franco Spain. He emerges on the other side with the most in-depth, innovative and entertaining account of the duo ever written.

      • Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups
        April 2023

        Halo

        Die Geschichte hinter Depeche Modes Albumklassiker Violator

        by Kevin May und David McElroy

        Im März 1990 veröffentlichten Depeche Mode das Album, das seitdem als ihr Meisterstück gilt: Violator war das siebte Album der Electro-Rocker, die in den Achtzigern erst Kultstatus genossen hatten und dann zu Weltruhm aufstiegen, ausverkaufte Stadien inklusive. Mit »Enjoy The Silence« und »Personal Jesus« enthielt der Longplayer auch die bis heute größten Hits der Band. Violator blieb insgesamt 48 Wochen in den deutschen Albumcharts vertreten.   Wie dieses bahnbrechende Album zustande kam, dokumentieren die beiden Super-Fans Kevin May und David McElroy ganz genau. Sie sprachen dazu mit einer Vielzahl von Mitstreitern – mit der Produzentenlegende Gareth Jones, dem Remixer François Kevorkian, dem Fotografen und Band-Intimus Anton Corbijn sowie mit zahllosen Toningenieuren, Studiomusikern, Videoregisseuren oder Coverdesignern. Sie alle leisteten ihren Beitrag zu dem Gesamtwerk und konnten währenddessen einzigartige Einblicke in die Arbeitsweise von Martin Gore, Dave Gahan, Andy Fletcher und Alan Wilder gewinnen. Von der damals herrschenden Weltlage und der gesellschaftlichen Situation, in der Violator für viele zum Soundtrack ihres Lebens wurde, berichten zudem zahlreiche Fans aus den verschiedensten Ländern.   Diese packend erzählte Oral History gewährt ein faszinierendes Schlaglicht auf die wohl spannendste Entwicklungsphase dieser einzigartigen Band: Sie nimmt die LeserInnen mit in die Studios, wenn an Samples und Sounds gefeilt wurde, zu Signierstunden in den USA, bei denen beinahe Unruhen ausbrachen, und sie erforscht vor allem die einzigartige Chemie zwischen den vier Bandmitgliedern. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit widmet Halo der oft unterschätzten Rolle des vor kurzem verstorbenen Andy Fletcher, aber es schildert auch den enormen emotionalen Druck, unter dem Sänger Dave Gahan damals stand.   Ein Buch von Fans für Fans – passend zum neuen Album und der kommenden Tournee!

      • Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups
        June 2023

        Applaus, Applaus - Sportfreunde Stiller

        Die Bandbiografie

        by Nicola Bardola

        Die Indie-Rockband Sportfreunde Stiller, Schöpfer der größten Fußball-Hymne Deutschlands (»’54, ’74, ’90, 2006« und »’54, ’74, ‚’90, 2010«), formiert sich bereits Anfang der 1990er Jahre in Germering bei München. 1996 erscheint die EP »Macht doch was ihr wollt – Ich geh’ jetzt!«, 1998 »Thonträger«. Damit beweisen die fußballbesessenen Punk-Popper auf Anhieb ihr musikalisches Können gepaart mit zuversichtlichem Wortwitz. Sie sind dann viel unterwegs und erspielen sich eine Fangemeinde, die sie liebevoll »Sportis« nennt. Mit jedem neuen Album wächst das Mitsingpotenzial ihrer Songs. Mit Liedern wie „Ein Kompliment« (2002), »Ans Ende denken wir zuletzt« (2003) oder »Ich, Roque« (2004) begeistern die drei Musiker aus Bayern den gesamten deutschsprachigen Raum und werden Stammgäste in den Charts. Als im Mai 2006 der WM-Hit »’54, ’74, ‚’90, 2006« erscheint, landen die Sportis auf Platz 1 in Deutschland. Die Fanmeilen der Republik bekommen nicht genug davon.   Peter Brugger (alias Balboa, Fan des FC Bayern, Sänger), Florian Weber (alias Flo, 1860 München, Schlagzeuger) und Rüdiger Linhof (alias Rüde, auch Löwen-Fan, Bassist) sind bald dreißig Jahre nach der Band-Gründung immer noch mit Poesie und Ironie »auf der guten Seite«: Die gleichnamige Veröffentlichung ist 2002 ihr Breakthrough-Album und erreicht Platz 6 der Charts. Alle nachfolgenden Alben erreichen Platz 1 oder 2. Nach 2016 ziehen sich die Sportis zurück. Ob sie jemals wieder gemeinsam auftreten werden, ist lange ungewiss. Das Trio dividiert sich auseinander und verfolgt Soloprojekte. Während des Lockdowns finden die Sportis aber wieder zueinander: Ihr achtes Studioalbum »Jeder nur ein X« erscheint nach sechs Jahren Pause im November 2022.   Was steckt hinter der jahrzehntelangen Freundschaft der Sportis? Was ist das Geheimnis ihres nicht endenden Erfolgs? Die erste Bandbiografie geht diesen und vielen weiteren Fragen nach, beschäftigt sich u. a. mit den Live-Konzerten – vom anonymen Gig im Provinz-Club bis zum Arena-Auftritt vor Tausenden Fans, die jede Zeile mitsingen – und mit den vielen Sportfreunde-Videos, die wesentlich zum Erfolg der Songs beitragen. Auch die Soloprojekte der drei werden vorgestellt, unter anderem Flo’s Arbeit als Schriftsteller und Hip-Hopper. Und auch mit Marc Liebscher setzt sich das Buch auseinander, der die Sportis in Germering entdeckt und bis heute ihr Manager ist. Die drei Musiker sehen ihn weniger als Promoter denn als Bandmitglied. Das hochinformative Buch zeigt die Sportfreunde in ihrer ganzen schöpferischen Vielfalt auf dem Weg von den gut gelaunten Indie-Pop Burschen hin zu den verantwortungsvollen und gesellschaftlich engagierten Musikern, die sie heute sind.

      • The Arts

        Idiot Verse

        by Keaton Henson

        Combining whimsical illustrations with poems of love, humour and celebration of the ups and downs of being a touring recording artist, Idiot Verse is a delightful book in the tradition of Leonard Cohen and John Lennon. It’s a singer-songwriter’s notebook to himself, and the world, and sure to impress fans especially, of which Henson has many.

      • The Arts

        Lana Del Rey: Her Life in 94 Songs: the Early Classics

        by F.A Mannan

        Covers Young Like Me / Rock Me Stable, From The End, Sirens, Lana Del Ray (including Kill Kill EP) Born To Die, Paradise, Ultraviolence, Honeymoon and more. The controversial artist Lana Del Rey seemed to appear fully-formed with her melancholy viral hit 'Video Games' - but the story started long before. She had written and performed for many years under many names with no fanfare. Each time she changed her name, she was drawn inexorably closer to the finished product - a synthesis of real life and fantasy - that we see now. In this anatomy, F.A. Mannan considers everything that has gone into the equation: the music, poetry and films but also the places and experiences that allow the songs to communicate despite the media circus around them. The guide considers the strange way the music industry and press operate today, and the feedback loop between these mechanical business processes and the creative act. The tense gender politics and the blurry notions of authenticity that jut awkwardly into Del Rey's faintly otherworldly image are all given due consideration. This is the definitive treatment of Lana Del Rey's work to date.

      • Rock & Pop music

        Apollo Memories

        The Venue, the Story, the Legend

        by Martin. Kielty

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