Ever wondered where the sayings we commonly use originate? Sometimes the things we say, if we really think about it, make absolutely no logical sense. Take what I’m saying as read but not with a pinch of salt, I think this book will be a sight for sore eyes and will warm the cockles of your heart. This book won’t cost you an arm and a leg and you won’t have to push the boat out to buy it and I’m not trying to pull the wool over your eyes as there are no smoke and mirrors here. If you like idioms it might be right up your alley and I’ll stick my neck out and say you’ll find it top drawer. Hang fire you say, well, this kind of book only comes once in a blue moon so keep your hair on, don’t flip your lid and remember every cloud has a silver lining even if it’s not cloud nine. So don’t drop a clanger and cut me some slack, buy this book and I guarantee you I’ll have you in stitches.

Offers a decade-by-decade history of American singing groups, from the Ames and Mills Brothers, to the Platters and the Beach Boys, to Destiny's Child, the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, and many others, covering more than 380 artists and furnishing information on each group's career, key members, influences, photos, and discographies. Original.

In 1944, as World War II is raging across Europe, fifteen-year-old Jack Raab dreams of being a hero. Leaving New York City, his family, and his boyhood behind, Jack uses a false I.D. and lies his way into the U.S. Air Force. From their base in England, he and his crew fly twenty-four treacherous bombing missions over occupied Europe. The war is almost over and Hitler near defeat when they fly their last mission -- a mission destined for disaster. Shot down far behind enemy lines, Jack is taken prisoner and sent to a German POW camp, where his experiences are more terrifying than anything he'd ever imagined.

After Pearl Harbor, Tin Pan Alley songwriters rushed to write the Great American War Song—an "Over There" for World War II. The most popular songs, however, continued to be romantic ballads, escapist tunes, or novelty songs. To remedy the situation, the federal government created the National Wartime Music Committee, an advisory group of the Office of War Information (OWI), which outlined "proper" war songs, along with tips on how and what to write. The music business also formed its own Music War Committee to promote war songs. Neither group succeeded. The OWI hoped that Tin Pan Alley could be converted from manufacturing love songs to manufacturing war songs just as automobile plants had retooled to assemble planes and tanks. But the OWI failed to comprehend the large extent by which the war effort would be defined by advertisers and merchandisers. Selling merchandise was the first priority of Tin Pan Alley, and the OWI never swayed them from this course. Kathleen E.R. Smith concludes the government's fears of faltering morale did not materialize. Americans did not need such war songs as "Goodbye, Mama, I'm Off To Yokohama", "There Are No Wings On a Foxhole", or even "The Sun Will Soon Be Setting On The Land Of The Rising Sun" to convince them to support the war. The crusade for a "proper" war song was misguided from the beginning, and the music business, then and now, continues to make huge profits selling love—not war—songs.

Step back in time to 1943 and experience what life was liked during World War II - both overseas and on the home front - for one American family. This fascinating historical journey is a rich compliation of interviews, mewspaper clippings, letters and diary transcripts. -- from back cover.