Performing Arts

AC/DC Album by Album is an in-depth discussion of each of the band's 16 studio albums by prolific rock journalist Martin Popoff and illustrated with phenomenal photography.

Formed in 1973, AC/DC became one of the most popular and bestselling bands in rock history with their no-frills approach to loud, heavy, and sweat-drenched blues-based rock music. This new book from prolific rock journalist Martin Popoff pays tribute to the band's discography by moderating in-depth and entertaining conversations about all 16 of AC/DC's studio albums, every page illustrated with thoughtfully curated performance and offstage photography and rare memorabilia.

Popoff gathers 17 rock journalists and authors who offer insights, opinions, and anecdotes about every release. Together, the conversations comprise a unique history of the band, covering everything from early lineups; the role played by the Youngs' older brother, George; the songwriting and legendary antics of original vocalist Bon Scott; the mega tours undertaken in support of the LPs; the debut of singer Brian Johnson on the band's mega breakthrough, Back in Black; the band's fallow 1980s and 1990s resurgence; and later difficulties, such as Malcolm's onset of dementia and the legal problems of drummer Phil Rudd.

The most familiar entertainment icons and storylines from the 1950s and 60s remain potent signs that continue to resonate within contemporary American society and culture. Both the political Left and Right invoke the events and memories of those decades, celebrating or condemning the competing social forces embodied in and unleashed during those years. In recent decades, the entertainment industry has capitalized on this trend with films and television shows that take a look back on the 1950s and 1960s with a mixture of nostalgia and criticism. Anxiety Muted: American Film Music in a Suburban Age explores how the central concerns of the Fifties and Sixties--and resulting treatment in the motion picture media--can be examined and understood through the music of the time period. With its focus on soundtrack and scoring, the book demonstrates that specific television shows and films offer a more nuanced vision of community and conformity than is usually recognized, revealing much about our own current social anxieties.

They are the band that created metal music . . . and they have defined it for more than four decades. Black Sabbath's career spans eleven different line-ups and nineteen studio albums in addition to the twenty-eight solo albums of the original four members.

The band began in 1968 as a blues rock band on the cover circuit of Birmingham, England. Clawing their way up from the postwar bombed-out suburbs of Birmingham, the four members - guitarist and main songwriter Tony Iommi, bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne, and drummer Bill Ward - would define a new genre of music and make themselves world famous.

Joel McIver explores the complete history of Sabbath, from the precursor bands to the release of the holy trinity of heavy metal - "Black Sabbath" (the song) on Black Sabbath (the album) by Black Sabbath (the band) - to the present. With over 150 photos, a gatefold family tree tracing the development of the band, a complete discography, and a foreword by Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, this is the must-have book for any Sabbath fan.

Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures does exactly what the title says. In 256 pages with over 300 images it provides a timeline to this amazing career, showing highlights along with more mundane moments at home and on tour.

Though this book may not help you to understand Dylan's lyrics, it provides a brilliant photographic background to his life and music. After a contextualizing introduction, Bob Dylan breaks his life into five chapters that cover the story decade by decade from the 1960s. Each chapter has a detailed timeline and a wealth of information.

Robert Allen Zimmerman (as Bob Dylan was born) has had more impact on the music world than could normally be expected of one man. The quicksilver folk hero of the early 1960s has redefined himself regularly over the decades and remains as controversial and brilliant as ever. The voice of the 1960s protest movement, he has not stagnated--over the years, his music has incorporated many styles, including pop music, folk music, gospel, rock, and even jazz. The one continuous thread is that his music is intelligent and literary; he is a poet first and a songwriter--albeit a great songwriter--second. It is Dylan's words that have ensured his continued importance and not his aging voice.

His peers rate him highly: Neil Young, himself no slouch in the music world, said of him in 2005: "He's the master. If I'd like to be anyone, it's him. And he's a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years." Joe Strummer praised Dylan as having "laid down the template for lyric, tune, seriousness, spirituality, depth of rock music."

And if you judge a musician by his awards, Dylan has done pretty well from a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammies in 1990 to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; from France's highest cultural award, the "Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" to the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music; from an honorary doctorate awarded by Princeton University (US) to an honorary degree at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland)--not to mention albums of the year, six entries in the Grammy Hall of Fame, a 2000 Academy Award, a 2001 Golden Globe and a 2008 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Get an intimate view of this legendary singer-songwriter, artist, and writer through this amazing photographic account of his life.

Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL (Sunday Telegraph).

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!

Superior council house dwellers Betty, Reeny, Vera and their men regard themselves as a close knit family team despite their concealed jealousies and occasional recriminations. When Betty's daughter Sandra announces she is pregnant and intends to live unmarried with her student lover, the news explodes like an atom bomb.4 women, 5 men

'...short, sharp, to the point, minimal. 'Never Mind the Bollocks' is a blackmail note - and we got you all to pay up!' - JOHN LYDON

'When we first went in Wessex [recording studios] we went in through this side door. Freddie Mercury was there doing a vocal take and we walked right through with our guitars. He threw a wobbler.' - STEVE JONES

'God Save The Queen' was definitely the pinnacle. It all went sour after that.' - PAUL COOK

'Malcolm was a s***-stirrer. I think he's got a short attention span. He played this game of pitching me against John. Now we realise there was a lot of false information going between us.' - GLEN MATLOCK

On the 40th anniversary of the release of 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols', The Sex Pistols - 1977: The Bollocks Diaries is the official, inside story of the whirlwind year of 1977- the recording and release of 'Never Mind the Bollocks...' and the year the Sex Pistols changed everything. From 'God Save the Queen' to 'Holidays in the Sun' and everything in between, it was a year of chaos and creation.

Straight from the mouths of the Sex Pistols and their collaborators, with first-hand stories of secret gigs, recording sessions, fights, record label meltdowns and a media storm like nothing ever seen before, The Sex Pistols - 1977: The Bollocks Diaries is the inside line, told by the people who were there.

Packed with photography and rare items from the Sex Pistols archives - from gig posters and early album art to master tapes

This new edition covers all the spectacular technical advances in filmmaking of the past ten years, particularly those involving special effects and the electronic revolution. Many of the new and revised entries on such topics as computer animation, virtual reality, Industrial Light and Magic, nonlinear editing, and HDTV are based on the author's on-site inspections of the latest technological tools of the trade and questioning of experts in the field. Another recent development in film is, as Konigsberg remarks, "how much the world of business and the marketplace influence virtually everything in the industry." With style, facts, and figures, he has added up-to-date information on all the corporate players of the movie world and produced small essays on such key concepts as distribution, exhibition, home video, cable television, test booking, and box office. Specific films are cited to illustrate points made throughout the text. This is a dictionary for film students, film buffs, and anyone in the industry, particularly those who actually make the movies. The entries on the practical aspects of filmmaking (camera angles, lighting, film stock, sound, etc.) are myriad - the most plentiful in the book - and presented in clear, highly readable prose. Entries on the art of film as well as the profiles of American and European studios are mini-essays on the history of moviemaking. No other dictionary of film is as inclusive and comprehensive as this. Its encyclopedic scope and down-to-earth accuracy mark it as a true classic.

This deluxe, illustrated official companion to the Dark Tower movie--based on Stephen King's bestselling eight-volume series--explores the art and creation of this extraordinary film, starring Idris Elba as The Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey as his nemesis, The Man in Black.

A gorgeous celebration of the art and creation of the Dark Tower movie, Dark Tower: The Art of the Film includes interviews with actors and the director, the costume designer, and the set designer. From revealing how casting found the stars and the photography team scouted key locations, thoughts on where the Dark Tower can go from here, the book is organized into five parts.

-Part I: The Path to the Tower discusses the origins of the saga and its thematic and cultural influences.
-Part II: The Gunslinger and the Man in Black profiles the two characters as two opposing forces.
-Part III: Mid-World is a journey through the bizarre wasteland of interdimensional detritus that is Mid-World.
-Part IV: Keystone Earth might be our Earth, but the Keystone Earth of the Dark Tower universe is also rocked by quakes and stretched thin by interdimensional stress.
-Part V: The Dark Tower is the wrap-up section collecting insights from the film's major players, sharing their favorite memories and looking back on the journey that led them to this point.

Over three decades ago Stephen King introduced readers to Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger. In 2003 King wrote the last of seven novels in the Dark Tower series. Now fans of the book and of the movie will welcome this big, beautiful, full-color book that they'll need for their collections.

Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling novel Divergent is now a major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet!

With never-before-seen photos; personal interviews with the directors, actors, and writers; and exclusive extras, this lush, oversize volume is a true behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Divergent.

And don't miss The Fates Divide, Veronica Roth's powerful sequel to the bestselling Carve the Mark!

A unique, in-depth look into the hidden lives and mysteries of the monsters from the hit BBC series Doctor Who--a fully illustrated color compendium that reveals proof of the existence of alien life out there and among us, packaged with removable artwork commissioned exclusively for the book.

For years, world governments and multinational organizations like the secretive UNIT have suppressed the truth. In this book, leading alientologist Justin Richards finally blows the lid off the biggest conspiracy to radically alter our world since The Scarlioni Incident.

Not only is there proof that alien life exists. The aliens are already here. Based on exclusive access to classified UNIT and Torchwood files--shocking information that has been suppressed for centuries--The Secret Lives of Monsters reveals the terrifying truth behind the rumors and legends.

Packed with iconic photographs, eyewitness accounts, diagrams and illustrations, and sixteen removable color prints, The Secret Lives of Monsters offers background details on a diverse range of alien species--including planetary and genetic origins, habits, social organization, and first human contact. If you want to know why the Sontaran's probic vent is his weak point or what it is used for; how Daleks reproduce; or how to determine whether your best friend is a Zygon, the answers--as well as everything you need to know to survive future invasions--are here in The Secret Lives of Monsters.

A unique collection of more than 100 never-before-seen letters, notes, and jottings both by and to the Doctor--correspondence by turns entertaining and inspiring, funny and flippant, brilliant and incredible drawn from all fifty-two years of the show.

No one could travel through history--past present and future--as much as the Doctor does without leaving an impression. Much of what we know about this mysterious figure comes from what he does-- the planets he saves and the monsters he defeats. But until now we've had little knowledge of his writings.

These rich and diverse documents paint an extraordinarily detailed picture of the Doctor and include his plea to the Time Lords to help end the War Games, an extract from the written defense he submitted at his subsequent trial, his application for the post of Caretaker at Coal Hill School, his apology to the Queen for missing dinner, even telepathic messages to the High Council on Gallifrey and his famous letter to Santa Claus. Like the Doctor himself, the mood can change in an instant.

The Time Lord Letters captures the best and most dramatic moments of an impossible life. You'll never see the Doctor in quite the same way again.

John Wayne was more than just an on-screen personality beloved by millions the world over. His movie persona was justy that - a persona. The man behind the legend, whom friends and family called "Duke," "Everlovin'" and "Dad," was an even stronger example of old-school American masculinity than the characters he played on the screen. But until now, most only knew the man on the marquee.

With Duke: In His Own Words, the Wayne Family has opened their private archives to enable the creation of this amazing compendium of John Wayne's personal letters, telegrams, cards and memos. In these unaltered exchanges with people from every station of life and all corners of the globe, Duke's true identity jumps off the page. Whether he's writing to fans or family, platoons or presidents, he's always candid, colorfui and quick with a joke.

Inside you'll find:
- An introduction by Ethan Wayne, John Wayne's son
- Exclusive, personal letters Duke sent to family members, friends and fans - along with those to American troops and former Comanders in Chief
- Firsthand stories and anecdotes from Duke's nearest and dearest
- Never-before-seen photos straight from the Wayne Family archives

Duke: In His Own Words offers an honest portrait of the good-natured family man, the opinionated patriot, the humble superstar - all sides of the real John Wayne, and all presented by the man himself.

A remarkable number of Wisconsin towns and cities were home to an opera house in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some were freestanding structures built by local benefactors, industrialists, and capitalists. Others were located within a city hall building and financed by local tax dollars with the support of government officials who believed in the value of the arts for their community

In "Encore! The Renaissance of Wisconsin Opera Houses," Brian Leahy Doyle chronicles the histories of ten Wisconsin opera houses and theaters, from their construction to their heydays as live performance spaces and through the periods when many of these stages went dark. But what makes these stories so compelling is that all but one of the featured theaters has been restored to its original splendor. Just as the beginnings of these theaters were often the result of the efforts of local citizens, Doyle discovers that their restoration is due to the commitment of dedicated and passionate people. More than one of these revived theaters has spurred the revitalization of its surrounding downtown business district as well.

"Encore!" is the second book in the Places along the Way series. Richly illustrated with historic and contemporary photos, the Places along the Way series links Wisconsin's past with its present, exploring the state's history through its architecture.
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This gorgeously illustrated appraisal of the genius behind the scenes in Woody Allen films--Woody Allen himself--is now updated in a paperback edition. 25 full-color and 200 black-and-white illustrations.

Chuck Boyd's love affair with photography began when his mother gave him a camera as a gift when he was thirteen years old. He quickly found his artistic voice, and at the age of sixteen, he went to work for Los Angeles radio station KRLA, covering special artist promotional functions. Shortly after beginning his work at the station, Boyd began working for Tiger Beat, shooting rock-and-roll acts for the influential teen culture and music magazine.

In 1967, Buck Munger, an independent record producer and the national promotion director for Sunn Amplifiers, hired Boyd as Sunn's official photographer. While working with Munger, Boyd had the opportunity to photograph Cream, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, KISS, and dozens of other artists throughout the 1960s and '70s. Since he was often shooting photos for Sunn, Boyd always had unlimited stage access. His photographs represent both his talent and his incredible access to rock-and-roll stars both on and off the stage.

Boyd took his camera everywhere and recorded everything, but he never broke a confidence; he turned down a lot of money over the years to protect the people he considered his friends.

Forever Young stands as a legacy to Boyd's incredible rock-and-roll photography. From stage shots to candid portraits, Boyd saw and documented the lives of a host of legendary musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Who, the Doors, Janis Joplin, the Mamas and the Papas, Tom Petty, the Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys. A portfolio filled with intimate images of rock stars in their youth and in the prime of their careers, these photos, which were only recently discovered, have been lovingly restored and are now being made available to the public for the first time. Capturing the zeitgeist that permeated rock through the 1960s and '70s, these images are a testament to Boyd's status as one of the most trusted and respected photographers in rock-and-roll history.

When FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reported to the Nixon White House in 1972 about the Bureau's surveillance of John Lennon, he began by explaining that Lennon was a former member of the Beatles singing group. When a copy of this letter arrived in response to Jon Wiener's 1981 Freedom of Information request, the entire text was withheld--along with almost 200 other pages--on the grounds that releasing it would endanger national security. This book tells the story of the author's remarkable fourteen-year court battle to win release of the Lennon files under the Freedom of Information Act in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. With the publication of Gimme Some Truth, 100 key pages of the Lennon FBI file are available--complete and unexpurgated, fully annotated and presented in a before and after format.

Lennon's file was compiled in 1972, when the war in Vietnam was at its peak, when Nixon was facing reelection, and when the clever Beatle was living in New York and joining up with the New Left and the anti-war movement. The Nixon administration's efforts to neutralize Lennon are the subject of Lennon's file. The documents are reproduced in facsimile so that readers can see all the classification stamps, marginal notes, blacked out passages and--in some cases--the initials of J. Edgar Hoover. The file includes lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges.

Fascinating, engrossing, at points hilarious and absurd, Gimme Some Truth documents an era when rock music seemed to have real political force and when youth culture challenged the status quo in Washington. It also delineates the ways the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations fought to preserve government secrecy, and highlights the legal strategies adopted by those who have challenged it.

In this spectacular new graphic biography, Marc Olivent's stunning artwork and Jim McCarthy's incisive script perfectly capture the rollercoaster tale of Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, Steve Adler and the many others who have passed through the Guns 'n' Roses story. And it's all here: the feud between Axl and Kurt Cobain, the riots during concerts, the acrimonious departure of Slash from the band, the inevitable drugs and groupies and, of course, the music.

With four pages of reusable stickers, full-color photos, and activities such as tic-tac-toe, word searches, and puzzle pictures, this sticker activity book is perfect for fans who want to relive the action that goes down in the ring. Fans will love the pages filled with the most popular superstars of "Raw," including John Cena, Randy Orton, The Miz, and more!

The Fourth Edition of AHistory amends and vastly expands (by about 40%) the work of Third Edition, continuing to incorporate the whole of Doctor Who into a single timeline. All told, this Fourth Edition takes about 2000 (!!!!!) full-length Doctor Who stories and dates them in a single chronology --- starting with the Universe's origins and working its way forward to the end of time.

Specifically, this Fourth Edition covers all Doctor Who TV episodes through the end of the twelfth Doctor era starring Peter Capaldi (Twice Upon a Time); all New Series Adventures up through Diamond Dogs; the Big Finish audio range up through Static (#233); all Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K9 and Class episodes, novels and comics; the Titan, IDW and Doctor Who Magazine comics; and a cornucopia of other Doctor Who spin-off series (Jago & Litefoot, Counter-Measures and more).

Volume 1 (of 3) of Ahistory Fourth Edition encompasses the Prehistory and History sections (through 1962) of the Doctor Who universe. Also included: a bonus timeline to Big Finish's The Confessions of Dorian Gray audios.

All told, the three volumes of Ahistory Fourth Edition contain more than a million words of hardcore geeky analysis on the world's longest-running Sci-Fi series.