Dusty Springfield led a tragic yet inspiring life, battling her way to the top of the charts and into the hearts of music fans world-wide. Her signature voice made songs such as "I Only Want to Be with You," "Son of a Preacher Man," and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," international hits. In Dancing with Demons, two of her closest friends, Valentine and Wickham, capture, with vivid memories and personal anecdotes, a Dusty most people never glimpsed in this no-holds-barred yet touching portrait of one of the world's true grand dames of popular music.
Dusty Springfield made her name in the 60s with a string of top ten hits. Her unique singing style and distinctive bouffant blonde look made her famous throughout the world. Despite a period in the wilderness during the 70s and 80s, she was back at the top in the 90s until her death from cancer in March l999.Born an Irish Catholic in l939, her background set her almost schizophrenically at odds with herself as she realised her sexuality and moved further into the rock world. Both Penny Valentine and Vicki Wickham knew Dusty well, as friend and manager for much of her career. As well as charting her gay relationships, this book also looks candidly at the period of her greatest self-destruction while living in Los Angeles in the 80s. Covering every area of her career with honesty and affection, Dusty is brought vividly to life.
Known the world over for her unique musical style, distinctive look and a voice that propelled her into the charts time and time again, Dusty Springfield was undoubtedly one of the biggest and brightest musical stars of the twentieth century. Never one to be shy of the spotlight, Dusty broke the mould as the first female entertainer to publicly admit she was bisexual, and was famously deported from South Africa for refusing to play to segregated audiences during apartheid in 1964, just a year after the launch of her solo career. Combining brand-new material, meticulous research and frank interviews with friends, lovers, employees and confidants, journalist Karen Bartlett reveals sensational new details about the soul diva's unconventional upbringing, tumultuous relationships and unbridled addictions, including a lifelong struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. Named one of the Sunday Times's best musical biographies of 2014, this is the intimate portrait of an immensely complicated and talented woman - the definitive account of one of music's most legendary figures.
(Book). Ever wonder what it would be like to be the most recorded musician in popular music? This updated bestselling autobiography spotlights Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and drummer extraordinaire Hal Blaine and his remarkable life experiences. From the Sinatras to the Beach Boys, Blaine drumrolled through the'50s, '60s and '70s, driving over 40 songs to the Number One slot. His works with Phil Spector and the Wrecking Crew sessions, his touring experiences and other hitmaking pressure sessions are amusingly revealed in this rare glimpse into a golden age of music. Exclusive scrapbook photos round out this biography to provide an entertaining and educating book for musicians and fans alike. The update brings his life into the 21st century, including info on his inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, dealing with Spector's infamous trials, and recently, the renewed interest in his golden era of recording with the documentary film on the Wrecking Crew and all the new wave of accocalades that followed.
Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Springfield's beautiful and bizarre magnum opus, remains as fine a hybrid of pop and rhythm and blues as has ever been made. In this remarkable book, Warren Zanes explores his own love affair with the record. He digs deep into the album's Memphis roots and talks to several of the key characters who were involved in its creation; many of whom were - like Zanes - outsiders drawn to the American South and mesmerized by its hold over the imagination. EXCERPT The love that is the subject of 'Dusty in Memphis' is different from the love of her earlier songs: it is a love that is all at once diffuse, dark, unpredictable, ecstatic, and a terrible deal. It is a love too big for the lyrical (and for that matter musical) framework of Dusty's earlier pop productions, no matter the breadth of that work. Like Memphis itself, the love that is the subject of 'Dusty in Memphis' is indeed bursting with the contrary: it happens not simply when you yearn for it, as in some adolescent dream, but when you're not prepared for it; it reveals itself not simply under the star-filled skies where a moon hangs low--in fact, as the first and last tracks on side one attest, it might be at its best when the sun's just arriving at work.
The first major biography of the iconic actor Henry Fonda, a story of stardom, manhood, and the American character Henry Fonda's performances—in The Grapes of Wrath, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Lady Eve, 12 Angry Men, On Golden Pond—helped define "American" in the twentieth century. He worked with movie masters from Ford and Sturges to Hitchcock and Leone. He was a Broadway legend. He fought in World War II and was loved the world over. Yet much of his life was rage and struggle. Why did Fonda marry five times—tempestuously to actress Margaret Sullavan, tragically to heiress Frances Brokaw, mother of Jane and Peter? Was he a man of integrity, worthy of the heroes he played, or the harsh father his children describe, the iceman who went onstage hours after his wife killed herself? Why did suicide shadow his life and art? What memories troubled him so? McKinney's Fonda is dark, complex, fascinating, and a product of glamour and acclaim, early losses and Midwestern demons—a man haunted by what he'd seen, and by who he was.
Featured in the film Twenty Feet From Stardom, the woman whose voice the New York Times said "is as embedded in the history of rock 'n' roll as Eric Clapton's guitar and Bob Dylan's lyrics" tells her story Right out of high school, Darlene Love began singing lead vocals for legendary producer Phil Spector, cutting such classic hits as the number one "He's a Rebel," "Da Doo Ron Ron," and "He's Sure the Boy I Love." As part of the girl group the Blossoms, she held a regular spot on television's Shindig!, and with Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans she toured the country. Later, she sang backup—and collected numerous scintillating backstage stories—with, among others, Dionne Warwick, the Mamas and the Papas, and Sonny and Cher. Now in My Name Is Love, Darlene is ready to tell her tales about Elvis coming on to her backstage during his famous '68 Comeback Special, about wild parties she witnessed at Tom Jones's house, and about her love affair with Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers. She also recalls how she found herself cleaning houses in Beverly Hills, heard herself on the radio, and vowed to make a comeback. That comeback has included roles in all of the Lethal Weapon movies, starring roles on Broadway, and headlining concert appearances worldwide. A dishy, behind-the-scenes showbiz memoir, My Name Is Love is also the inspiring story of a woman who refused to give up.
"Packed with practical suggestions, examples, and tactics..." -Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm "A must-read for any company ready to grow..." -Kevin Ichhpurani, Corporate Vice President, Google The Art of Strategic Partnering is a how-to guide for creating and managing successful strategic partnerships. Written for entrepreneurial leaders and executives, this book shows you how to grow a company and achieve game-changing results. Learn tried-and-true lessons from a Silicon Valley industry expert who has successfully negotiated and managed over 150 strategic partnerships.
The Mogao Grottoes, a World Heritage Site in northwestern China, are located along the ancient caravan routes—collectively known as the Silk Road—that once linked China with the West. Founded by a Buddhist monk in the late fourth century, Mogao flourished over the following millennium, as monks, local rulers, and travelers commissioned hundreds of cave temples cut into a mile-long rock cliff and adorned them with vibrant murals. More than 490 decorated grottoes remain, containing thousands of sculptures and some 45,000 square meters of wall paintings, making Mogao one of the world’s most significant sites of Buddhist art. In 1997 the Getty Conservation Institute, which had been working with the Dunhuang Academy since 1989, began a case study using the Late–Tang dynasty Cave 85 to develop a methodology that would stabilize the deteriorating wall paintings. This abundantly illustrated volume is the definitive report on the project, which was completed in 2010.
