Tony Fletcher Books

A new edition with a new after word and details of John Entwistle's death and The Who's ongoing career.

Back in print, Moon is the brilliant and heralded biography of one of rock & roll's most notorious and beloved figures: The Who's legendary drummer Keith Moon. Moon was the bad boy of rock & roll, the most manic member of an aggressive and fabulously successful band, a full-throttle hedonist who lived at the center of an unending party. He was also a musical genius who inspired whole generations of artists, a generous friend to nearly everyone who crossed his path, a guileless man of immense personal charm to whom the sweetest sound on earth was surf music. A generation after his death, Moon is still revered as the greatest drummer in rock history and the single wildest personality in an age of pop excess. Here is the truth behind the legend, the result of years of research in which music journalist Tony Fletcher interviewed dozens of Moon's friends, colleagues, and associates. An instant classic that brilliantly illuminates both the tender and self-destructive sides of this singular personality, Moon is the story of one of the most outrageous rock stars ever born.

From the acclaimed biographer of Keith Moon comes an incisive history of New York's seminal music scenes, encompassing the ways in which the city's indigenous art, literature, theatre, and political movements converged to create such unique sounds, as well as the music's vast contributions to our culture. With great attention to the characters, from trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie to Tito Puente, Bob Dylan to the Ramones, All Hopped Up and Ready to Go takes us through bebop, the Latin music scene, the folk revival, glitter music, disco, punk, and hip-hop, as they emerged from the neighbourhood streets of Harlem, the Village, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens.

Yet for all their brilliance and adoration - their famously energetic live shows routinely interrupted by stage invasions - The Smiths were continually plagued by their reticence to play the game, and by the time of 1987's Strangeways Here We Come, they had split.

The group that rose from cult to worldwide fame. Includes rare photos from the band's personal archives and a complete discography.

"Known for the classics "Knock on Wood," "634-5789," "Raise Your Hand," "Big Bird," and "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)," among others, Eddie Floyd's career as a soul legend spans over sixty years. His professional singing career began in Detroit in the 1950s as a founding member of the Falcons, considered "The First Soul Group." A solo artist and songwriter for Memphis's famed Stax Records from 1966 until 1975, Floyd has subsequently been the singer for the Blues Brothers Band and for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, while continuing to perform and record solo. In Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood, Floyd recounts how a three-year stint in an Alabama reform school shaped his young life; recalls the early years of R & B in Detroit alongside future Motown and Stax legends; discusses the songwriting sessions with Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones that produced his biggest hits; addresses his complicated life-long relationship with the often-unpredictable Wilson Pickett; shares his memories of friend Otis Redding; reveals his unlikely involvement in the rise of southern rock darlings Lynyrd Skynyrd; and offers an insider perspective on the tragic downfall of Stax Records. With input from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper, and others, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood captures Eddie's tireless work ethic and warm personality for an engrossing first-hand account of one of the last true soul survivors."--Amazon.com description

'Dear Boy' ist die Bestseller-Biographie über Keith Moon, den größten Drummer und wildesten Charakter des Rock. Von den Kritikern in den USA und in England wurde diese Biografie als eine der großartigsten Rockstorys aller Zeiten gefeiert. Dieses Buch erzählt mit größter Sorgfalt und viel Liebe zum Detail Moons packende Reise von seiner Kindheit in Londons Arbeiterklasse über die ruhmreichen Jahre von The Who bis hin zum Kalifornischen High-Life und seinem tragischen, frühen Tod. Bei seiner Recherche befragte Tony Fletcher über 120 Freunde, Familienangehörige und Arbeitskollegen. Er machte sich selbst ein Bild von einem Leben, das durch Mythen über Ausschweifungen verzerrt und durch die Legenden seiner anarchischen Zügellosigkeit vollends entstellt worden ist. Das Ergebnis ist ein ehrliches und persönliches Portrait von einem unverbesserlich großzügigen Jungen, der sich weigerte, erwachsen zu werden und der das Leben eines Jeden, der ihn kannte, veränderte.