Mark Beechs 1998 predecessor, The A-Z of Names in Rock generated over 50 radio interviews, 15 articles, 7 features in nationals and two serializations. This extended and updated version covers more genres than just rock (e.g. pop, punk, indie, reggae, soul, country, blues, folk, jazz, heavy metal, grunge and rap artists and bands) and will appeal to music fans internationally, as well as being the must-buy book for pub quiz fans. With almost 3,000 entries, its a chance to discover why artists chose their names and which ones shouldnt have. An informative and often humorous read, the worlds leading expert on music names (BBC), Mark Beech, is guaranteed another best-seller.

The Big Book of Rock & Roll Names tells the behind-the-scenes stories of how the world’s most popular and influential rock and pop acts got their names. By turns fascinating, funny, and bizarre, the pages offer insight into the peculiar choices and idiosyncratic psychologies of hundreds of top musicians from the 1960s to the present. Originally published more than two decades ago to great success, it’s been out of print for years and has now been completely updated and expanded to feature dozens of exclusive interviews including conversations with groups like The Black Keys, The Killers, Twenty One Pilots, Coldplay, Cage the Elephant, and Vampire Weekend. From Arcade Fire to ZZ Top, this diverting and handsome collection reveals the often overlooked but defining histories of hundreds of the biggest names in rock and pop.

Substantially revised and enlarged, this new edition of the Dictionary of Pseudonyms includes more than 2,000 new entries, bringing the volume's total to approximately 13,000 assumed names, nicknames, stage names, and aliases. The introduction has been entirely rewritten, and many previous entries feature new accompanying details or quoted material. This volume also features a significantly greater number of cross-references than was included in previous editions. Arranged by pseudonym, the entries give the true name, vital dates, country of origin or settlement, and profession. Many entries also include the story behind the person's name change.

At last! An A-to-Z reference guide for readers who want to learn the cryptic language of Rock Snobs, those arcana-obsessed people who speak of "Rickenbacker guitars" and "Gram Parsons." We've all been there--trapped in a conversation with smarty-pants music fiends who natter on about "the MC5" or "Eno" or "the Hammond B3," not wanting to let on that we haven't the slightest idea what they're talking about. Well, fret no more! The Rock Snob's Dictionary is here to define every single sacred totem of rock fandom's know-it-all fraternity, from Alt.country to Zimmy. (That's what Rock Snobs call Bob Dylan, by the way.)

Global Popular Music: A Research and Information Guide offers an essential annotated bibliography of scholarship on popular music around the world in a two-volume set. Featuring a broad range of subjects, people, cultures, and geographic areas, and spanning musical genres such as traditional, folk, jazz, rock, reggae, samba, rai, punk, hip-hop, and many more, this guide highlights different approaches and discussions within global popular music research. This research guide is comprehensive in scope, providing a vital resource for scholars and students approaching the vast amount of publications on popular music studies and popular music traditions around the world. Thorough cross-referencing and robust indexes of genres, places, names, and subjects make the guide easy to use. Volume 1, Global Perspectives in Popular Music Studies, situates popular music studies within global perspectives and geocultural settings at large. It offers over nine hundred in-depth annotated bibliographic entries of interdisciplinary research and several topical categories that include analytical, critical, and historical studies; theory, methodology, and musicianship studies; annotations of in-depth special issues published in scholarly journals on different topics, issues, trends, and music genres in popular music studies that relate to the contributions of numerous musicians, artists, bands, and music groups; and annotations of selected reference works.

The author's original Book of Lists is a worldwide phenomenon that has sold over 8 million copies. The Punk Book of Lists will feature approx 200 lists - culled from the historical archives and many generated by noteworthy musicians, lists have been put together by film directors, writers, actors, you name it. Punk Rock is cool and the impact has hit every hip person on the planet! Over 50 wicked caricatures of punk rock stars, by noted underground artist Cliff Mott, are peppered generously throughout the book. You don't have to be punk to love the coolest rock 'n' roll toilet-reading, time-wasting masterpiece ever! Absolutely a jewel in the canon of great music books!