A gripping crime novel inspired by the "Jack the Stripper" killings in 1960s London. Bad Penny Blues is the latest gripping crime fiction from Cathi Unsworth, London's undisputed queen of noir. Set in late 1950s and early 1960s London, it is loosely based on the West London "Jack the Stripper" killings that rocked the city. The narrative follows police officer Pete Bradley, who investigates the serial killings of a series of prostitutes, and, in a parallel story, Stella, part of the art and fashion worlds of 1960s "Swinging London," who is haunted by visions of the murdered women.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Barry Cryer is one of the great comedians of the last 50 years. This is a sparkling series of hilarious and true anecdotes, almost all of which have never been told before! Barry Cryer has collaborated with all the greats from Max Miller to Tony Hancock, Bob Hope, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, John Cleese, Frankie Howerd, Kenny Everett, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Dave Allen, Richard Pryor, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Graham Chapman, the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise - in fact almost all the great comedians and comic writers since the mid 1950s. Barry's set of experiences with these legends of humour is unique, and will delight all who made PIGS CAN FLY a runaway porcine bestseller. In this completely new, organically grown book, old Baz recalls, reminisces, recounts and other words beginning with 'R', on a trip down Memory Lane, pausing only for tea and macaroons at the Stannah Stairlift Cafe. What memories - if only he can remember them. Currently 74, a third of his life has already passed and he invites you to enjoy this wonderfully funny account of it, a decorous orgy of nostalgia.

Given the phenomenal fame and commercial success that the Beatles knew for the entire course of their familiar career, their music per se has received surprisingly little detailed attention. Not all of their cultural influence can be traced to tong hair and flashy clothing; the Beatles had numerous fresh ideas about melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, form, colors, and textures. Or consider how much new ground was broken by their lyrics alone -- both the themes and imagery of the Beatles' poetry are key parts of what made (and still makes) this group so important, so popular, and so imitated. This book is a comprehensive chronological study of every aspect of the Fab Four's musical life -- including full examinations of composition, performance practice, recording, and historical context -- during their transcendent late period (1966-1970). Rich, authoritative interpretations are interwoven through a documentary study of many thousands of audio, print, and other sources.

Rock 'n' Roll fanatics, mods, beat group wannabes, underground hippies, glam rock icons: David Bowie and Marc Bolan spent the first part of their careers following remarkably similar paths. From the day they met in 1965 as Davie Jones and Mark Feld, rock 'n' roll wannabes painting their manager's office in London’s Denmark Street, they would remain friends and rivals, each watching closely and learning from the other. In the years before they launched an unbeatable run of era-defining glam rock masterpieces at the charts, they were both just another face on the scene, meeting for coffee in Soho, hanging out at happenings and jamming in parks. Here, they are our guides through the decade that changed everything, as the gloom of post-war London exploded into the technicolor dream of the swinging sixties, a revolution in music, fashion, art and sexuality. Part dual-biography, part social history, part musical celebration of an era, The London Boys follows the British youth culture explosion through eyes of two remarkable young men on the front lines of history.

The Beatles Off The Record is the most comprehensive oral history of The Beatles ever published - an 'as it happened' story of the greatest pop group of them all. Featuring a wealth of quotes from the Sixties by John, Paul, George and Ringo themselves and a host of others who were close to the group during the heady days of Beatlemania and beyond, including their families, fellow musicians, Brian Epstein, George Martin and dozens more. As Hunter Davis, The Beatles official biographer, states in his foreword; ...compared with some of The Beatles' later selective and polished or faulty and fading memories, this is much nearer the truth. Well, as it appeared to be, at the time...

In this lively and fully-illustrated work, two music historians break down every album and every song ever released by the Beatles, from "Please Please Me" (U.S. 1963) to "The Long and Winding Road" (U.S. 1970). All the Songs delves deep into the history and origins of the Beatles and their music. This first-of-its-kind book draws upon decades of research, as music historians Margotin and Guesdon recount the circumstances that led to the composition of every song, the recording process, and the instruments used. Here, we learn that one of John Lennon's favorite guitars was a 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Capri, which he bought for £100 in 1960 in Hamburg, Germany. We also learn that "Love Me Do," recorded in Abbey Road Studios in September 1962, took 18 takes to get right, even though it was one of the first songs John and Paul ever wrote together. And the authors reveal that when the Beatles performed "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, John's microphone wasn't turned on, so viewers heard only Paul singing. The hundreds of photographs throughout the book include rare black-and-white publicity stills, images of Beatles instruments, and engaging shots of the musicians in-studio. All the Songs is the must-have book for the any true Beatles fan.