Books published by OMNIBUS PRESS

This volume offers a foundation course for use by students and teachers. You start at the beginning and advance to the point where you can harmonize and play satisfactory piano accompaniments to familiar tunes.

The first official history of Sun Records, written for the celebration of their 70th anniversary.

Listening to the Music the Machines Make is the enthralling, explosive story of electronic pop between 1978 and 1983-a true golden age of British music. This definitive book explores how krautrock, disco, glam rock, and punk inspired an electronic pop revolution and how that revolution went on to establish the foundations for hip-hop, house, and EDM. Drawing on years of research and with exclusive input from key figures-including Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure), Martyn Ware (The Human League, Heaven 17), Dave Ball (Soft Cell), John Foxx (Ultravox), Daniel Miller (The Normal, Mute Records) and Rusty Egan (Visage)-Richard Evans tells the stories of the movement's underground pioneers and its superstars: from Devo, The Normal, Telex, and Cabaret Voltaire to Gary Numan, OMD, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode.

Richard and Fred Fairbrass, better known as Right Said Fred, scored a global Number 1 hit in 1991 with their debut single ‘I'm Too Sexy', selling 30 million albums, being showered with industry awards, and earning plaudits from admirers such as Madonna and Prince. Before that breakthrough, though, the brothers spent over a decade in London and New York, trying to make it in the music industry. Fred played guitar with Bob Dylan and Richard played bass in several David Bowie videos, with the brothers appearing on stage with Joy Division and Suicide, and on film with Mick Jagger. Once fame hit, the good times rolled, the substances mounted up and the groupies formed an orderly queue, but it wasn't long before the brothers realised that fame and fortune is not for everyone. Still Too Sexy is their story, with a foreword by the legendary stunt motorcyclist Eddie Kidd, OBE.

Swimming with the Blowfish is the definitive account of the rise, fall and rebirth of the band that offered an irresistible alternative to the grunge music of the early '90s.

The Beatles - 1963 draws on hundreds of new eyewitness accounts and provides numerous unseen photographs. Meticulously researched, this is the definitive account of the momentous year that sent John, Paul, George and Ringo to stratospheric heights.

The long-awaited memoir of Booker T. Jones, leader of the famed Stax Records house band, architect of the Memphis soul sound, and one of the most legendary figures in music.

Deals with The Beatles and their contemporaries. Focusing on one of the most exciting periods in British rock history, this title provides comprehensive family trees for the quintessential groups of the Liverpool and London scenes.

A new year for David Bowie means new clothes, new boots, new hair and a new name: Ziggy Stardust. To the gloomy blacked-out Britain of powercuts and three-day weeks he may as well be from outer space - if that's what it takes to make him famous, far be it from him to tell anyone he isn't. Bowie's success as the bisexual Starman soon rubs off on his new friends Mott The Hoople and his hero Lou Reed as 1972 becomes Annus Glamrockus. Music, fashion and the old codes of gender will never be the same again. But as his runaway fame quickly blurs all lines between fantasy and reality, neither will David. The third volume of the Bowie Odyssey series offers a wild and revelatory snapshot of the year of Ziggy as Simon Goddard continues his vivid real-time journey through the decade Bowie changed pop forever.

Pride, Pop and Politics charts the development of gay culture and the rise of LGBTQ politics in the UK, from the formation of the Gay Liberation Front to the present day, through the music that provided the soundtrack.Fifty years on from Britain's first Pride march, the long road to LGBT equality continues. Through protest songs and gay club nights, street theatre activism and fundraising concerts, the performing arts have played an influential role in each great stride made.With new interviews with musicians and DJs, performers and activists, including Andy Bell, Jayne County, John Grant, Horse McDonald and Peter Tachell, Pride, Pop and Politics hears from those whose art has been influenced by the campaign for LGBT rights – and helped push it forward.This informative, eye-opening book is the first to focus on the relationship between gay nightlife and political activism in Britain.Darryl W. Bullock won the prestigious Penderyn Music Book Prize in 2022 with The Velvet Mafia, a thrilling account of the gay men who ran the swinging sixties.

Spanning over decades, this is the remarkable, heartfelt memoir from Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, the last surviving member of The Four Tops. Amidst a backdrop of Detroit, I'll Be There features revealing anecdotes from the group's formation, their early days as backup singers for the likes of Jackie Wilson, and their years working with Berry Gordy at the legendary Motown Records. With era-defining number ones like 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)' and 'Reach Out I'll Be There' came stardom and also a more enduring reward: the love of four men who become tighter than brothers. Together they comprise one of the most celebrated R&B groups of all time. But remarkable musical success didn't spare Fakir the pain of marital distress, soured investment deals, struggles with sobriety, and the sudden loss of his brothers, all of which he covers in this confessional, unmissable book.

Celebrating a remarkable 40 years in the music business, Tony Hadley looks back on all aspects of his spectacular career, from Spandau Ballet to Chicago, to his successful solo work and tours with The Fabulous TH Band. This deluxe photobook includes a wealth of unseen images and extended captions from Tony.