Given the explosion in recent years of scholarship exploring the ways in which disability is manifested and performed in numerous cultural spaces, it’s surprising that until now there has never been a single monograph study covering the important intersection of popular music and disability. George McKay’s Shakin’ All Over is a cross-disciplinary examination of the ways in which popular music performers have addressed disability: in their songs, in their live performances, and in various media presentations. By looking closely into the work of artists such as Johnny Rotten, Neil Young, Johnnie Ray, Ian Dury, Teddy Pendergrass, Curtis Mayfield, and Joni Mitchell, McKay investigates such questions as how popular music works to obscure and accommodate the presence of people with disabilities in its cultural practice. He also examines how popular musicians have articulated the experiences of disability (or sought to pass), or have used their cultural arena for disability advocacy purposes.

It is not impossible to find something humorous about a disease as devastating as Parkinson's. What's Shakin' is not a book about Parkinson's disease, however it is a book about a man who has Parkinson's and the hilarious situations he has fallen into as a result of this disease. The book also has a serious side to it and will offer hope and inspiration to anyone who has had tragedy touch their lives. What's Shakin' is fresh and inspirational. The author's life experiences offer optimism and encouragement to others regardless of what misfortunes they may face.

What makes a speaker riveting? What makes an audience come alive? This book answers these questions by looking beyond the mechanics of speaking; by delving into the mysteries of charisma, and into the source of our own inspiration. It reveals the two most important secrets to public speaking. It reveals that how we see the world is how the world sees us. And if we wish to sparkle at the podium, we must be true to ourselves, for only then can we be true inthe spotlight.

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, and numerous other groups put Britain at the center of the modern musical map. Please Please Me offers an insider's view of the British pop-music recording industry during the seminal period of 1956 to 1968, based on personal recollections, contemporary accounts, and all relevant data that situate this scene in the economic, political, and social context of postwar Britain. Author Gordon Thompson weaves issues of class, age, professional status, gender, and ethnicity into his narrative, beginning with the rise of British beat groups and the emergence of teenagers as consumers in postwar Britain, and moving into the competition between performers and the recording industry for control over the music. He interviews musicians, songwriters, music directors, and producers and engineers who worked with the best-known performers of the era. Drawing his interpretation of the processes at work during this musical revolution into a wider context, Thompson unravels the musical change and innovation of the time with an eye on understanding what traces individuals leave in the musical and recording process.