Aerosmith. Elvis Presley. Michael Jackson. Nine Inch Nails. Ozzy Osbourne. U2. What do all of these artists have in common? They're rich and rowdy rock 'n' roll renegades whose wild stunts, dumb quotes, and out-of-control lifestyles are featured in Rock Stars Do the Dumbest Things. --Where else will you find an explanation (goodness knows, we need one) of the Spice Girls' fourteen and one-half minutes of fame straight from the mouths of babes--Baby Spice, that is? "We're like a religious cult." --Or where will you learn Izzy Stradlin's (of Guns N' Roses) deep thoughts on the virtues of vomiting out of a bus going sixty-five miles an hour? --And how live octopuses end up in a bathtub with Led Zepplin's female playmates? Whether you're a Metallica or Madonna fan, you'll get plenty of jaw-dropping facts and anecdotes, along with biographical and career highlights of over eighty-eight raunchy rock 'n' rollers. From current starts like Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love, to classic rockers like the Rolling Stones and the Eagles, Rock Stars Do the Dumbest Things is proof that rock music is still crazy after all these years.

With their early experiments in psychedelic rock music in the 1960s, and their epic recordings of the 1970s and '80s, Pink Floyd became one of the most influential and recognizable rock bands in history. As "The Pink Floyd Sound," the band created sound and light shows that defined psychedelia in England and inspired similar movements in the Jefferson Airplane's San Francisco and Andy Warhol's New York City. The band's subsequent recordings forged rock music's connections to orchestral music, literature, and philosophy. "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall" ignored pop music's ordinary topics to focus on themes such as madness, existential despair, brutality, alienation, and socially induced psychosis. They also became some of the best-selling recordings of all time. In this collection of essays, sixteen scholars expert in various branches of philosophy set the controls for the heart of the sun to critically examine the themes, concepts, and problems—usually encountered in the pages of Heidegger, Foucault, Sartre, or Orwell—that animate and inspire Pink Floyd's music. These include the meaning of existence, the individual's place in society, the interactions of knowledge and power in education, the contradictions of art and commerce, and the blurry line—the tragic line, in the case of Floyd early member Syd Barrett (died in 2006)—between genius and madness. Having dominated pop music for nearly four decades, Pink Floyd's dynamic and controversial history additionally opens the way for these authors to explore controversies about intellectual property, the nature of authorship, and whether wholes—especially in the case of rock bands—are more than the sums of their parts.

Steven Hyden explores nineteen music rivalries and what they say about life in this "highly entertaining" book (Rolling Stone) perfect for every passionate music fan. Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually -- what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us? Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me focuses on a pop music rivalry, from the classic to the very recent, and draws connections to the larger forces surrounding the pairing. Through Hendrix vs. Clapton, Hyden explores burning out and fading away, while his take on Miley vs. Sinead gives readers a glimpse into the perennial battle between old and young. Funny and accessible, Hyden's writing combines cultural criticism, personal anecdotes, and music history -- and just may prompt you to give your least favorite band another chance.

Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially successful and influential rock bands of all time. They have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, including 75 million certified units in the United States, and 37.9 million albums sold in the US since 1993. This book is based on fans, friends and colleagues memories of the band from their earliest days in Cambridge through the on stage pyrotechnics of Dark Side and through to the massive stage events like The Wall. Includes new insights into the band with Syd Barrett.

Interest in Pink Floyd remains as intense as ever even 40 years after the release of Dark Side of the Moon, with lavish box-sets collecting demos and out-takes, and Roger Waters’ world tours of The Wall playing to packed stadiums. Now, Mark Blake’s superbly comprehensive and engrossing history of the group, rightly acclaimed as the definitive book on the band, has been fully revised and extended with new interviews to bring the story up to date with the recent appearances of David Gilmour and Nick Mason with Roger Waters at a London date on his The Wall tour.

A collection of crazy-but-true facts, peculiar occurrences, despicable crimes, bizarre records, unbelievable creatures, and many more shocking oddities. Delving into the shocking side of pop culture, science and history, Listverse.com’s Epic Book of Mind-Boggling Top 10 Lists offers a wealth of fascinating reading with over 200 lists and more than 2,000 interesting facts, including: • Alien Artifacts • Creepy Urban Legends • Bizarre Murder Weapons • Horrific TV Accidents • Outrageous Rock Tales • Twisted Circus Acts • Terrifying Villains • Crazy-but-True Movie Plots • Dirty CIA Operations • Monstrously Evil Babysitters • Strange Hamburger Facts • Animal Freaks of Nature • Mind-Blowing Technologies