Omnibus Press

'All the fun youthful dreams and the poignancy of disappointment...magnificent'. Phil Harrison, The GuardianA coming-of-age story about pursuing your dreams and what happens when reality gets in the way. It's 1992 and Andy (aka Horace) dreams of becoming a rockstar with his band, the Pointy Birds. The only problem is that his day job (mis)filing vinyl in a Soho record store is stealing all his time and energy, plus rival bands like Suede, Blur, Pulp and Radiohead are moving on to bigger and better things. But everything changes when someone called Ricky Gervais offers his services as a band manager, and at last the dream can start. Anoint My Head is the tale of a band who didn't become rich or famous, but had a manager who did. It is also the story of a musical era, documenting the rise of some of the biggest Britpop bands of the nineties, plus a comedian who went on to write quite a successful sitcom about a paper merchants in Slough.

It’s the summer of 1996, and Andy is stuck in a dead-end admin job at a Soho picture library. His dreams of becoming an indie rockstar are over, but luckily, he’s found the Next Big Thing through promoting gigs in Camden: a Norwegian three-piece who sound like ABBA meets Nirvana. Plan B is simple, live the dream vicariously by managing them. And when a record company shows interest, a door opens into an exciting new world. The only things standing in his way are a total lack of music industry know-how and his scary boss at work, who disapproves of his extracurricular activities. However, as the clock ticks towards his 30th birthday, success proves elusive. Everyone else seems to be making it, rival bands, ex-bandmates, his old band manager, even the record shop where he once worked has become famous. Andy fears he’ll never escape the day job to live his daydream. But he also knows that in music, there’s always tomorrow.

'[An] absorbing study of an ultra-talented country music icon' MOJOSmart Blonde tells the remarkable story of Dolly Parton's rise from a poor, East Tennessee childhood to superstardom in the male-dominated world of 1960s Nashville. With charm, determination and unparalleled talent, Parton built not only a musical legacy, but a multifaceted business empire. Stephen Miller's biography depicts Dolly's meteoric ascent in sparkling technicolour, crafting a narrative as dazzling as the woman it celebrates. A deeply researched and entertaining portrait, Smart Blonde is full of energy and quick humour, doing justice to a strong woman who has always steered her own course. Through rare interviews with those closest to Parton, including family members, musicians and long-time collaborators, Smart Blonde provides intimate glimpses into her famously private world. This Remastered edition covers Dolly's enduring marriage to Carl Dean until his death in 2025, her lifelong friendship with Judy Ogle and much more.

Peter Freestone was Freddie Mercury's personal assistant and closest confidante for the last twelve years of Mercury's life. Freestone lived with Mercury in London, Munich and New York and was by his side when he died. In this deeply personal book, Freestone paints a striking portrait of Mercury, revealing a sensitive, vulnerable soul hidden behind the world-conquering superstar persona. The two first met at the Biba department store in the early 1970s when Queen were still relatively unknown and remained friends throughout the journey to the band's global superstardom. Freestone witnessed the generosity, the excess and the celebrity friends who came and went. From the famous names - including Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor and Rod Stewart - to the shadowy army of lovers, fixers and hangers-on, Freestone saw them all play their part in Mercury's life. This is the ultimate insider's account of who Freddie Mercury truly was behind closed doors.

John Mayall's story is like no other in the annals of rock and blues. Born in the UK in 1933, he laid the foundations of British blues, nurtured a generation of future superstars and then took the music back to the land of its birth. This extraordinary autobiography offers a vivid glimpse of Britain well before the rock revolution of the sixties, at a time when young men like John found themselves conscripted for national service that, in his case, included eighteen months in Korea. What followed when he returned was an odyssey of musical trailblazing. From Manchester to Laurel Canyon and many points in between, John's account of his long life is both affectionate and compelling - a guided tour through more than sixty years of the music business and its stars, brought to vivid life by one of its undisputed pioneers. This edition has been updated to include coverage of Mayall's life and work up until his death in July 2024.

In this compelling series of conversations, Matt Johnson?songwriter and founder of legendary band THE THE?sits down with BFI Executive Director Jason Wood to reflect on over four decades of fearless artistry. From the band?s post-punk origins to their critically acclaimed 2024 album ?Ensoulment?, Johnson shares candid insights into his life and music.Renowned for his raw emotional depth and razor-sharp socio-political commentary, Johnson offers a revealing self-portrait as someone who has never shied away from exploring life?s darkest corners. Jason Wood is Executive Director of Public Programmes and Audiences at BFI. His other books include 100 American Independent Films, Nick Broomfield: Documenting Icons, The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, 100 Road Movies and 100 American Independent Films

'An irresistible biography' Evening StandardIt remains the greatest comeback in music history. The Lazarus-like saga of Elvis Presley’s fall and rise, from Army discharge through Sixties Hollywood hell to divine black-leather resurrection. As 1968 dawns, the once ‘King’ of rock’n’roll faces cultural oblivion, a fading star lost in a 24/7 delirium of women, pills and holy mumbo-jumbo, isolated from an America unravelling in its own chaos of war, racism, riots and assassinations. Until, against all odds, his world and theirs collide in the performance of his life. First published four years before Baz Luhrmann’s dramatisation of events in the Oscar-nominated 2022 biopic Elvis, Simon Goddard’s The Comeback is no less a vividly cinematic, pelvic-thrusting blockbuster. This Remastered edition includes a foreword from musician and journalist Bob Stanley.

Dear Boy is the best-selling biography of Keith Moon, rock's greatest drummer and wildest character. Hailed by critics as one of the most compelling rock stories ever told, the book traces with striking accuracy Moon's remarkable journey from his working-class North West London childhood, through The Who's glory years, to his California high life, and his tragic, premature death in 1978 at the age of just 32. In researching a life now distorted by myths of debauchery and comic anarchy, Tony Fletcher compiled poignant interviews with over 120 of Moon's friends, family and musical associates. The result is a searingly personal portrait of a boy who never grew up, and who changed the lives of all who knew him. This remastered edition features many photographs from personal and Who archives, as well as a new foreword from Keith's daughter, Mandy Moon.

Book by book, year by year, the ultimate literary trip through Bowie's greatest decade. 1976, and in England the heat is rising. Immigration protests, racist murders, the rise of the National Front and the return of David Bowie, now the Thin White Duke, crowing to the papers how Britain "could benefit from a fascist leader". But with his incorrigible best buddy Iggy Pop in tow, as he gravitates towards the divided city of Berlin, his wake-up call is coming - and with it a brave new musical direction that will cement Bowie's place as the most innovative artist of the decade. The seventh volume of Simon Goddard's critically acclaimed Bowie Odyssey series is a stark and brutal black-and-white tale of art, anger, discord and salvation.

'A thoroughly enjoyable compendium of appalling behaviour.' Nick Logan, Editor of NME (1973-1978), founder of The Face'This book you hold in your hand may well be the definitive one on PUNK - from Baudelaire to the Beats, from Warhol’s Factory to Madam Louise’s in Soho. Read it and be inspired.' Bobby GillespieThe last word on the movement that shook the world. Punk: The Last Word is a powerful reimagining of punk-not just as a sound or style, but as a radical, DIY philosophy rooted in defiance, truth, and individuality. Cultural insider and Wag Club founder Chris Sullivan and Byline Times co-founder and executive editor Stephen Colegrave bring together over 150 original interviews with punk's most iconic figures-Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, Vivienne Westwood, and many others. From musicians and designers to promoters and provocateurs, they paint a vivid portrait of the movement's chaotic rise and lasting impact on both sides of the Atlantic. Tracing punk's rebellious spirit from 19th-century bohemia to the explosion of Kings Road and Coventry in the late '70s, this is, without a doubt, the most in-depth, insider account of punk's evolution and legacy. As the movement approaches its 50th anniversary, its core values-authenticity, resistance, and creative freedom-feel more urgent than ever. Punk isn't just music. It's a way of life.

Marianne Faithfull was the quintessential icon of the Swinging Sixties, with her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and mini skirts embodying the era's vibrant culture. Her high-profile relationship with Mick Jagger further cemented her status in the public eye. Born to an Austrian baroness and an English university professor, Marianne's life was nothing short of extraordinary. In Marianne Faithfull: As Years Go By, Mark Hodkinson offers a deeply researched and richly detailed portrait of her multifaceted journey, one that extends far beyond her association with the Rolling Stones. The biography explores her aristocratic lineage, convent school years, meteoric rise to fame, battles with addiction, and artistic evolution, from folk singer to punk icon and torch chanteuse. Based on over fifty interviews with family, former lovers, and close friends, Hodkinson seeks to uncover the woman behind the myth. Spanning decades of personal and artistic reinvention until her passing in 2025, As Years Go By captures Faithfull's remarkable resilience, adaptability and lasting influence.

In the spring of 2018, Tom Piazza climbed into a cherry-red Cadillac Coupe-Deville with the great singer-songwriter John Prine. The two embarked on a road trip through Florida full of jokes and tall tales, afternoons digging around record stores and long nights playing guitar. Having forged a deep friendship, they decide to embark on a new shared project - to write Prine's memoir together. When Prine died suddenly of COVID in April 2020, that unfinished memoir evolved into an intimate narrative of the artist's final years. The result is a warm and intimate story, richly detailed with hilarious stories of his youth and family in Chicago and Kentucky, his breakthrough into the national spotlight. Piazza offers fans an unforgettable portrait of the beloved musician in the twilight of his life; as a boyish cut-up, an epic raconteur, a great American poet and most importantly, the good friend his fans have always imagined.

First published in 1987, New York Times bestseller, I'm With The Band has been reprinted throughout the years, all over the world. This is the stylish, exuberant and sweetly innocent tale of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s. The story begins with Pamela Des Barres's early obsession with Elvis, her own Beatlemania madness, and her fierce determination to meet the musicians who rocked her world. As soon as she graduated from high school, Des Barres headed for the Sunset Strip, where she made friends with rock stars and immersed herself in the drugs, danger and ecstasy of the freewheeling 1960s. As a member of The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously), which was an all-female group masterminded by Frank Zappa, Des Barres was in the thick of the most revolutionary renaissance in the history of modern popular music. She travelled with Led Zeppelin; lived in sin with Don Johnson; turned down a date with Elvis Presley; and was close friends with Robert Plant, Gram Parsons and Ray Davies. She had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Waylon Jennings, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, and Jim Morrison, among others. She was a mentor and companion, designing the stars costumes, standing by their side through drug and alcohol use and abuse, maintaining friendships through relationships, break-ups and beyond. A woman in possession of her own destiny, Des Barres blazed a trail for women s life-writing, standing up for female voices and experience everywhere. She now runs writing workshops around the world her Groupie Therapy mentoring women writers in their craft. From original diaries, told with great warmth, chutzpah and joie de vivre, this is a frank memoir that wears its heart on its sleeve, and recalls one of rock n roll s most thrilling eras. This edition contains new material from the author, including her response to the vitriolic shaming of groupies, and a foreword by Roisin O'Connor, rock journalist and music correspondent for The Independent.

A GUARDIAN MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025Joe Meek. Wayward genius; the British Phil Spector,the first producer to treat the recording studio as an instrument; head of oneof the earliest independent record labels; creator of some of the mostincredibly influential pop music ever, including 'Telstar', the first Americannumber one single by a British band; and a man tormented by mental healthissues and financial battles. He was all these and more, as author Darryl W. Bullockreveals through numerous original interviews with friends and colleagues in hiscompelling biography of the legendary producer. Love and Fury takes readers on a guided tour ofMeek's fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during hislifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind - thelegendary Tea Chest tapes, rumoured to include recordings by David Bowie, MarcBolan, Ray Davies of the Kinks and others - and examines that events whichultimately led to murder and suicide.

Blues guitar great andFleetwood Mac founder, Peter Green, was an enigma throughout his career. Hisinnovative songwriting and unmistakeable voice shot Fleetwood Mac into themainstream in 1969 with ‘Albatross’, ‘Man of the World’, and ‘Oh Well’. But inMay 1970, he turned his back on stardom and quit the band. Written by Green’s associate and friend, this biography - firstpublished in 1995, now fully revised and updated - challenges the acceptednarrative about why he left the band, and what happened next. It tracks everystage of Green’s career, from his semi-pro years playing bass to his rise tofame in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac. It also takes a closerlook at Green’s solo material and the personal trauma that saw him hit theheadlines. This edition covers his return to the stage in 1996 with Peter GreenSplinter Group and how his final band, Peter Green & Friends, was formed. It also covers the last years of his life and includes new, unseen photographs.

Details Michael's career from his early days with The Jackson 5 to his international fame and success as a solo performer.