Other books that might interest you

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  Depeche Mode's 101

  Mary Valle

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  Depeche Mode’s 101 is, at first glance, a curious thing: a live double-album by a synth band. A recording of its “Concert for the Masses,” 101 marks the moment when doomy, cultish, electronic Depeche Mode, despite low American album sales and a lack of critical acclaim, declared they had arrived and ascended to the rare air of stadium rock. On June 18, 1988, 65,000 screaming, singing Southern Californians flocked to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl to celebrate DM’s coronation.The concert also revealed the power of Southern California radio station and event host KROQ, which had turned Los Angeles into DM’s American stronghold through years of fervent airplay. KROQ’s innovative format, which brought “new music” to its avid listeners, soon spread across the country, leading to the explosion of alternative rock in the 1990s.Eight years after its founding in Basildon, Essex, Depeche Mode, rooted in 1970s Krautrock, combined old-fashioned touring, well-crafted songs, and the steadfast support of KROQ to dominate Southern California, the United States, and then the world, kicking open the doors for the likes of Nirvana in the process. 101 is the hidden-in-plain-sight hinge of modern music history.

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  Music Lyrics and Life - A Field...

  Mike Errico

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  Music, Lyrics, and Life is the songwriting class you always wish you'd taken, taught by the professor you always wish you'd had. It's a deep dive into the heart of questions asked by songwriters of all levels, from how to begin journaling to when you know that a song is finished. With humor and empathy, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mike Errico unravels both the mystery of songwriting and the logistics of life as a songwriter. For years, this set of tools, prompts, and ideas has inspired students on campuses including Yale, Wesleyan, Berklee, Oberlin, and NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. 
   
   
   
  Alongside his own lessons, Errico interviews the writers, producers, and A&R executives behind today's biggest hits and investigates the larger questions of creativity through lively conversations with a wide range of innovative thinkers: astrophysicist Janna Levin explains the importance of repetition, both in choruses and in the exploration of the universe; renowned painter John Currin praises the constraints of form, whether it's within a right-angled canvas or a three-minute pop song; bestselling author George Saunders unpacks the hidden benefit of writing, and revising, authentically; and much more. The result is that Music, Lyrics, and Life ends up revealing as much about the art of songwriting as it does about who we are, and where we may be going. 
   
   
   
  This audiobook includes a bonus afterword not included in the print edition.

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  One The: The Life of Boxer...

  David Serero

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  The One : The Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali 
  A one-Man-Play by David Serero 
  The One is a powerful, intimate journey into the heart and soul of the man the world called “The Greatest.” Through riveting dialogue, poetic monologues, and emotional storytelling, David Serero brings Muhammad Ali’s voice, spirit, and humanity to life in this immersive audio experience. 
  From the streets of Louisville to the global stage, from Olympic gold to exile and redemption, The One reveals the fighter behind the legend: the faith, humor, courage, and conviction that made Ali not only a champion in the ring, but a revolutionary figure who changed the world. 
  Blending history, emotion, and theatrical performance, this audiobook captures the rhythm and music of Ali’s life: the punchlines, the poetry, and the pain of a man who stood tall against every obstacle. 
  Whether you know him as a boxer, a hero, or a symbol of freedom, The One invites you to hear Muhammad Ali like never before: raw, honest, and unforgettable. 
  This powerful production, which premiered in Off-Broadway, New York, in 2024, explores the iconic boxer's life, struggles, and triumphs, tracing his journey from Cassius Clay to becoming a global symbol of resilience, activism, and the champion of champions. 
  Serero, known for his bold storytelling and transformative performances, takes on the complex character of Ali, blending drama, history, and intimate reflection to capture the essence of the boxer’s persona. THE ONE delves into critical moments from Ali's career, his battles inside and outside the ring, and the personal sacrifices he made in his fight for justice, equality, and peace. “I wish to treat Ali as a Shakespearean character. He has everything that Shakespeare would love. He rose to fame, fell, then stood up again and fought against many, including himself,” said David Serero.

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  Our Homes - Other Ways to Solve...

  Harrison Gardner

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  What if the answers to our housing crisis weren't locked in government policy or developer margins but already being built, quietly, by communities across the world? 
  In Our Homes, Eco-builder and broadcaster Harrison Gardner explores inspiring, practical responses to the housing crisis - rooted not in a single solution, but in a diversity of approaches. From Cooperative Housing and land trusts to shared equity models and modular design, this book reveals how a patchwork of community-led ideas is already shaping a more hopeful future. 
  Part handbook, part call to action, Our Homes is a concise and accessible guide for anyone seekingto reimagine where and how we live. Because solving the housing crisis won't come from one fix, but from many. And it won't just be about building houses. It will be about building the kind of future we want to come home to.

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  Why Alanis Morissette Matters

  Megan Volpert

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  Since 1991, only three albums have sold more than 15 million copies---Metallica (Metallica), Come on Over (Shania Twain), and Jagged Little Pill, by Alanis Morissette. JLP won Grammys, Junos, and stayed in the Billboad 200 for more than a year. The record remains a touchstone for many listeners, as evidenced by the Tony Award-winning musical by the same name that premiered in 2018. If you listened to the radio in 1995, you probably recognize "You Oughta Know," "One Hand in My Pocket," and several other songs if only for Morissette's distinctive voice (or, as the author puts it, "this aggressively female noise").  
  Megan Volpert works through Alanis Morissette's career via JLP, her best-known record. Each chapter dives into one of the 13 tracks from the album, dissecting that song while connecting to later work that extends the relevant theme. For instance, the first chapter makes the point that "All I Really Want" reflects a highly sensitive person rather than an angry one, and discusses Morissette's producing on the documentary Sensitive (2015). Later chapters take up mental health, queer symbolism, skepticism vs. Catholicism, as well as more explicitly feminist concerns. As with most of the books in this series, her own experience is an occasional but consistent lens. As she writes in the prologue, JLP got the author through high school and it captures a "specifically female existential anger" that suggests deploying some memoir is appropriate. References to Derrida, Sophocles, and the films of Kevin Smith among others balance the personal side. Publication of this book will coincide with the 30th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill. (Officially released on June 13, 1995.)

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  American Legends: The Life of...

  Editors Charles River

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  In the early 20th century, Westerns were one of the most popular genres in Hollywood, and one of the young stars at the forefront was Roy Rogers, who had come from an Ohio farm to transform himself into a cowboy. Regardless of his background, Rogers certainly looked the part of the quintessential cowboy, along with his wife Dale Evans and his horse Trigger. His versatile singing and acting abilities made him successful both on radio and on the screen. 
  Rogers came of age at a time when the “singing cowboy” was at the apex of his popularity, and that was favorable because he actually got his start in show business as a singer. In the early ‘30s, he bounced around several groups as a country music singer before earning national attention as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers, who were signed to Decca and had a couple of hits. As a result, when he first appeared in movies in 1935, it was usually in bit roles that required singing, but when Gene Autry threatened to quit acting in 1938, Rogers was viewed as a suitable replacement for lead roles. As it turned out, he became the premiere “singing cowboy” in Autry’s stead, and from 1939-1954, he was one of the Top 10 Western stars in Hollywood, and a Top 10 movie star overall during some of those years. 
  As Rogers evolved into the “King of the Cowboys”, he became a pop culture icon, and he was shrewd enough to capitalize on his image. All sorts of Roy Rogers merchandise hit stores, from action figures to comic strips, and Rogers even banked on the popularity of his horse Trigger by featuring him enough to make the horse a household name as well. Even today, people can find the name Roy Rogers all over the place, if only because he eventually had his name lent to a popular fast food chain in later years.

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