Impossible: My Story by Stan Walker

$39.99 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: near fine

An extraordinary memoir about family, love, belief, redemption and the power of forgiveness. Everything has a reason. Everything has a purpose. Stan Walker is one of the finest singers to emerge from Australia and New Zealand Aotearoa in a generation. When Stan won Australian Idol in 2009, he was thrown head-first into the deep end of the music industry. What followed were some of the highest highs, and the lowest of lows. Few knew about the darkness in Stan's past - the violent upbringing, the sexual abuse and the struggle to be more than just a survivor. Stan Walker: My Story is a personal reflection on life growing up in a family where love and violence were horribly entwined. It's a story about forgiveness and a journey to redemption. It's a tale of a young Maori boy from Tauranga finding his place on the world stage while never forgetting who he is and where he came from. Stan's is a story of survival against impossible odds. Abuse and addiction, poverty and excess, cancer and discrimination - Stan tells it all with startling honesty and insight, and with a wonderful sense of warmth and hope. It's an important and un-putdownable read. ...Show more

The Dreamer: An Autobiography by Cliff Richard

$40.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: near fine

Published to coincide with his 80th birthday, a tour and another new album, national treasure Sir Cliff Richard has emerged stronger than ever after devastating false accusations threatened to ruin his life. As he celebrates 60 years in music, he tells his incredible story in his first, full autobiograp hy. A living history of pop.'Before Cliff Richard and The Shadows there was nothing worth listening to in British music.' John LennonCelebrating sixty years in music, with a hit in every decade since the 1950s, Sir Cliff Richard surely has a story to tell: coming of age in 1950s London, playing at the 2is Cafe where it all began, and now approaching is 80th birthday with record sales of 250m and counting.Cliff Richard was a pioneer - an original, with a new sound style, exploding out of London's post-war skiffle scene. His debut single 'Move It' is widely credited as the record that kick started British rock 'n' roll. Pre-Beatles, Cliff was the teen idol. His story takes us in front of screaming fans across the UK and beyond, onto TV's first pop show Oh Boy!, then through 40 years of Top of the Pops, first with the Kinks and latterly the likes of McFly. He's seen era-defining pop groups and iconic TV shows come and go. He's still making new music, and this summer he's playing to sell-out arenas.His recent struggles have only intensified the devotion of his fans, and spurred him on to a new phase of creativity. He feels the time is right to tell his own story and cement his legacy in the history of pop culture. ...Show more

Killing Time: Short Stories From the Long Road Home by Jimmy Barnes

$44.99 NZD

$49.99 (10% off)

Category: Music

From the rock legend turned master storyteller, this collection of non-fiction short stories is vintage Jimmy. Stories of adventure, misadventure, love and loss from the #1 bestselling author of the critically acclaimed memoirs Working Class Boy and Working Class Man. Outrageous, witty, warm and wise, K illing Time shares more than 40 yarns from an epic life - a dazzling collection of tall tales, out-takes and B-sides from one of Australia's finest storytellers. ...Show more

The Beatles: the Complete Illustrated Lyrics by Welbeck

$65.00 NZD

Category: Music

The lyrics to the songs of the Beatles read like poetry. This book treats them as such, and illustrates each track artistically, paying careful attention to detail and high design standards. The stories, themes and ideas behind nearly 200 songs are explored in this beautiful book that includes photogra phs, artwork and illustration to bring the Fab Four's lyrics to life as never before. ...Show more

Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix by Philip Norman

$37.99 NZD

Category: Music

Celebrated as the most innovative guitarist ever to play, Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) is renowned for symphonic solos and virtuosic picking (sometimes, with his teeth). But, as Philip Norman describes, before Hendrix was setting guitars aflame onstage, he was a shy kid in Seattle,  lucking at a broken ukul ele and looking out for his father, who chided him for playing left- handed. Interweaving new interviews with friends, lovers, bandmates, and his family, Wild Thing vividly reconstructs Hendrix's remarkable life-- from playing in segregated clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit to earning stardom in Swinging London in 1966. For more than four mind- boggling years Hendrix found unparalleled success, making historic appearances at Monterey and Woodstock while becoming the highest paid musician of his day, but it all abruptly ended with his tragic death in the sordid basement of a London hotel. Filled with insights into the greatest moments in rock history, Wild Thing reveals the endlessly complex figure behind the unforgettable riffs. ...Show more

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

$39.99 NZD

Category: Music

It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to write my memoir. I want to tell the story of the moments - the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams, that contributed to the person I am today. Though there have been countless stories about me throughout my car eer and very public personal life, it's been impossible to communicate the complexities and depths of my experience in any single magazine article or a ten-minute television interview. And even then, my words were filtered through someone else's lens, largely satisfying someone else's assignment to define me. This book is composed of my memories, my mishaps, my struggles, my survival and my songs. Unfiltered. I went deep into my childhood and gave the scared little girl inside of me a big voice. I let the abandoned and ambitious adolescent have her say, and the betrayed and triumphant woman I became tell her side. Writing this memoir was incredibly hard, humbling and healing. My sincere hope is that you are moved to a new understanding, not only about me, but also about the resilience of the human spirit. Love, Mariah ...Show more

The Beatles from a to Zed - An Alphabetical Mystery Tour by Peter Asher

$37.99 NZD

Category: Music

A legendary record producer and performer takes readers on an alphabetical journey of insights into the music of the Beatles and individual reminiscences of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.   Peter Asher met the Beatles in the spring of 1963, the start of a lifelong association with the band and its mem bers. He had a front-row seat as they elevated pop music into an art form, and he was present at the creation of some of the most iconic music of our times.   Asher is also a talented musician in his own right, with a great ear for what was new and fresh. Once, when Paul McCartney wrote a song that John Lennon didn't think was right for the Beatles, Asher asked if he could record it. "A World Without Love" became a global No. 1 hit for his duo, Peter & Gordon. A few years later Asher was asked by Paul McCartney to help start Apple Records; the first artist Asher discovered and signed up was a young American singer-songwriter named James Taylor. Before long he would be not only managing and producing Taylor but also (having left Apple and moved to Los Angeles) working with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond, Robin Williams, Joni Mitchell, and Cher, among others.   The Beatles from A to Zed grows out of his popular radio program "From Me to You" on SiriusXM's The Beatles Channel, where he shares memories and insights about the Fab Four and their music. Here he weaves his reflections into a whimsical alphabetical journey that focuses not only on songs whose titles start with each letter, but also on recurrent themes in the Beatles' music, the instruments they played, the innovations they pioneered, the artists who influenced them, the key people in their lives, and the cultural events of the time.   Few can match Peter Asher for his fresh and personal perspective on the Beatles. And no one is a more congenial and entertaining guide to their music. ...Show more

Paul Simon: The Life by Robert Hilburn

$37.99 NZD

Category: Music

Acclaimed music writer Robert Hilburn's "epic" and "definitive" (Rolling Stone) biography of music icon Paul Simon, written with Simon's full participation--but without his editorial control--that "reminds us how titanic this musician is" (The Washington Post). For more than fifty years, Paul Simon has spoken to us in songs about alienation, doubt, resilience, and empathy in ways that have established him as one of the most beloved artists in American pop music history. Songs like "The Sound of Silence," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Still Crazy After All These Years," and "Graceland" have moved beyond the sales charts and into our cultural consciousness. But Simon is a deeply private person who has said he will not write an autobiography or talk to biographers. Finally, however, he has opened up for Robert Hilburn--for more than one hundred hours of interviews--in this "brilliant and entertaining portrait of Simon that will likely be the definitive biography" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Over the course of three years, Hilburn conducted in-depth interviews with scores of Paul Simon's friends, family, colleagues, and others--including ex-wives Carrie Fisher and Peggy Harper, who spoke for the first time--and even penetrated the inner circle of Simon's long-reclusive muse, Kathy Chitty. The result is a deeply human account of the challenges and sacrifices of a life in music at the highest level. In the process, Hilburn documents Simon's search for artistry and his constant struggle to protect that artistry against distractions--fame, marriage, divorce, drugs, record company interference, rejection, and insecurity--that have derailed so many great pop figures. "As engaging as a lively American tune" (People), Paul Simon is a "straight-shooting tour de force...that does thorough justice to this American prophet and pop star" (USA TODAY, four out of four stars). "Read it if you like Simon; read it if you want to discover how talent unfolds itself" (Stephen King). ...Show more

John Lennon - The Complete Songs by Paul Du Noyer

$55.00 NZD

Category: Music

Upon first publication, this book was the first to examine and assess all of John Lennon's solo work. This updated edition includes lyrics and is released on the 40th anniversary of his death and the 80th anniversary of his birth.  

Two Riders Were Approaching: The Life & Death of Jimi Hendrix by Mick Wall

$27.99 NZD

Category: Music

Jimmy was a down-at-heel guitarist in New York, relying on his latest lovers to support him while he tried to emulate his hero Bob Dylan. A black guy playing white rock music, he wanted to be all things to all people. But when Jimmy arrived in England and became Jimi, the cream of swinging London fell under his spell. It wasn't that Jimi could play with his teeth, play with his guitar behind his back. It was that he could really play. Journeying through the purple haze of idealism and paranoia of the sixties, Jimi Hendrix was the man who made Eric Clapton consider quitting, to whom Bob Dylan deferred on his own song 'All Along the Watchtower', who forced Miles Davis to reconsider his buttoned-down ways - and whose 'Star Spangled Banner' defined Woodstock. And when his star, which had burned so brightly, was extinguished far too young, his legend lived on in the music - and the intrigue surrounding his death. Eschewing the traditional rock-biography format, Two Riders Were Approaching is a fittingly psychedelic and kaleidoscopic exploration of the life and death of Jimi Hendrix - and a journey into the dark heart of the sixties. While the groupies lined up, the drugs got increasingly heavy and the dream of the sixties burned in the fire and blood of the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the election of President Richard Nixon. Acclaimed writer Mick Wall, author of When Giants Walked the Earth, has drawn upon his own interviews and extensive research to produce an inimitable, novelistic telling of this tale - the definitive portrait of the Guitar God at whose altar other guitar gods worship. Jimi Hendrix's is a story that has been told many times before - but never quite like this. ...Show more

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton

$69.99 NZD

Category: Music

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend. As told by Dolly Parton in her own inimitable words, explore the songs that have defined her journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished imag es from Dolly Parton's personal and business archives. Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 150 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics. Packed with never-before-seen photographs and classic memorabilia - Explores personal stories, candid insights, and myriad memories behind the songs Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics reveals the stories and memories that have made Dolly a beloved icon across generations, genders, and social and international boundaries.   ...Show more

Elton John: The Definitive Portrait with Unseen Images by Terry O'Neill

$59.99 NZD

Category: Music

"Looking at Terry's photographs is like gazing through a window at the most extraordinary and exciting moments of my life. I'm so glad he was with us throughout the madness: in his evocative and stylish photos he captured those moments as no other photographer could." - Elton John Elton John and iconic photographer Terry O'Neill worked together for many years, taking in excess of 5,000 photographs. From intimate backstage shots to huge stadium concerts, the photographs in this book represent the very best of this archive, with most of the images being shown here for the first time. O'Neill has drawn on his personal relationship with Elton John to write the book's introduction and captions. ...Show more