The eclectic Orange County band No Doubt was formed in 1986 by Eric Stefani and John Spence who soon recruited Eric’s younger sister Gwen as co-vocalist. With the addition of Tony Kanal on Bass, they launched a 20 year career that would fuse ska, grunge, alt. rock and shades of several other musical genres into a unique mix. The 1987 suicide of John Spence resulted in the battlefield promotion of Gwen to lead vocalist, a shift that would prove a launch pad for her future solo career and media celebrity status. Through it all No Doubt went from strength to strength and in 1995, following the departure of Eric Stefani, finally found mainstream success when their third album, Tragic Kingdom, enjoyed over 15 million sales worldwide. Since then this ska-loving band from Southern California has flourished. Despite a frequently changing line-up and the potential distraction of Sven’s parallel solo career, No Doubt have stayed true to their mission to be musical and visual innovators.
If you’ve seen images of the biggest entertainers—Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lil Kim, Britney Spears, Rihanna, J. Lo, or Madonna—on stage in a crystallized costume, you’ve seen the work of The Blonds. The Blonds is an invitation to designer Phillipe Blond and creative director David Blond’s inclusive, wild, and high-octane world. Since 2006, The Blonds have catered to the entertainment industry with glamor-usly over-the-top designs. Celebrities rely on the duo’s intricate corsets, catsuits, and dresses for performances, award shows, editorials, and any other special occasion where they need to move and shine. Their first book, as riotous as the brand’s legendary New York Fashion Week shows, unfolds in several acts, starting with an introduction to Phillipe and David, detailing their inspirations and how they built their rebellious brand over the last two decades. A chapter on their legendary runway shows includes details of their most iconic looks. The centerpiece showcases editorial and stage photography of celebrities, surrounded by anecdotes from the stars about their performances, life on stage, and their love of The Blonds. Including an in-depth look at the duo’s high-profile partnerships, runway shows, and the craftsmanship behind each piece, The Blonds is a backstage pass from sketch to stadium.
1979. The dawn of Thatcher’s Britain. It’s a country crippled by strikes, joblessness and economic gloom, divided by race and class - and skanking to a new beat: 2-Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the new music’s undeniable leaders were The Specials. Bursting out of Coventry’s concrete jungle, their lyrics spoke of failed marriages, petty violence, crowded dance floors, gangsters and race hate - but with a wit that outshone their angry punk forebears. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was the vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, aged only five, Neville was sent to England to live with his father – a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. Growing up black in the Midlands of the Sixties and Seventies wasn’t easy, but then Nev was hardly an angel. His youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanising, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually borstal and Wormwood Scrubs. But throughout there was music, and now Nev tells how a very bad boy became part of the most important band of the Eighties. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2-Tone tour with The Selecter, Madness and Dexy’s – and their clashes with NF thugs. He recalls the band’s increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a new found fame in America, as godfather to bands like Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt. Finally he reflects on The Specials’ reunion and how even now, thirty years on, they can’t help tearing themselves apart.Raucous and charming Original Rude Boy is the story of a man who done too much, much too young. Neville Staple was a frontman with The Specials, a member of the hugely successful pop trio Fun Boy Three and now tours the world with own his own ska act The Neville Staple Band. Visit him at: www.nevillestaple.co.uk Tony McMahon is a journalist and TV producer living in south London.
The Eva Cassidy Songbook for Guitar features five pages of full-color photos with an introduction by father Hugh Cassidy, as well as black and white photos and original artwork. Titles include: Ain't No Sunshine * Anniversary Song * At Last * Autumn Leaves * Fields of Gold * I Wandered by a Brookside * Nightbird * Over the Rainbow * Penny to My Name * Say Goodbye * Songbird * Time After Time * Wade in the Water * Way Beyond the Blue * Wayfaring Stranger * What a Wonderful World.
A collection of poignant, relatable essays from the author of Never Have I Ever about coming out in her late twenties, entering into her first relationship, and figuring out what it means to be an adult. When Katie Heaney published her first book of essays, chronicling her singledom up to age twenty-five, she was still waiting to meet the right guy. Three years later, a lot changed. For one thing, she met the right girl. Here, for the first time, Katie opens up about realizing at the age of twenty-eight that she is gay. In these poignant, funny essays, she wrestles with her shifting sexuality and identity, and describes what it was like coming out to everyone she knows (and everyone she doesn’t). As she revisits her past, looking for any “clues” that might have predicted this outcome, Katie reveals that life doesn’t always move directly from point A to point B—no matter how much we would like it to. In a warm and relatable voice, Katie tackles everything from the trials of dating in New York City to the growing pains of her first relationship, from obsessing over Harry Styles (because, actually, he does look a bit like a lesbian) to learning to accept herself all over again. Exploring love and sexuality with her neurotic wit and endearing intimacy, Katie Heaney shares the message that it’s never too late to find love–or yourself. Praise for Would You Rather? “[Katie] Heaney’s not afraid to examine her past for ‘clues’ to what she realizes is her truth in the present, and reflects on her changing identity with honesty and wit.”—NYLON “An honest, endearing, and laugh-out-loud account of coming to terms with one’s sexual identity.”—W Magazine “Would You Rather? is an extraordinarily generous and affecting book. Katie Heaney has written something with a remarkable amount of room in it—enough for anyone to spread out and connect with. It’s deeply felt, clear-eyed, joyful, and illuminating.”—Mallory Ortberg, author of Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters “Whether you’re single or in a relationship, whether you’re queer, straight, or questioning, whether or not you’re partial to Harry Styles—you will discover something relatable and self-affirming in this honest, heartfelt, hilarious memoir.”—Camille Perri, author of The Assistants
Gwen Stefani is a well-known recording artist, TV personality, and fashion designer. Her work as lead vocalist in the rock band No Doubt propelled her into the spotlight in the 1990s and early 2000s.? After the band's hiatus in 2004, Stefani pursued a career as a solo artist. Stefani has won two Grammy Awards for her work with No Doubt and one for her collaboration with rapper Eve. This compelling edition profiles the life and career of this multitalented entertainer. Chapters discuss her early years in Orange County, explore her time as a lead singer for No Doubt, and offer readers an insight into Stefani's personal life.
