Everything about Kirsty MacColl defied the conventional "pop" category, yet she embraced and defended the genre, redeeming it with literate writing that had seldom been seen in British pop since the glory days of Ray Davies and the Kinks. Her music was funny, irreverent and endearingly catchy and her five albums in almost twenty years became symbolic rescue missions to retrieve British pop music from all that was saccharine and shallow, manufactured and mainstream. Overcoming agonising stage fright, long periods of writer's block and depression, she created a hugely successful solo career and collaborated with a legion of people from the Rolling Stones to the Happy Mondays. Her tragic death in a senseless boating accident came shortly after the release of her long-awaited album Tropical Brainstorm, an Anglo-Latin pop hybrid that embraced her passion for Cuba. The One and Only is the definitive Kirsty MacColl biography and a tribute to a highly original talent.

Kirsty MacColl: The One and Only

Biographies & Memoirs

Bragg, Billy

O'Brien, Karen

Arts & Literature

Andre Deutsch

What does it mean to be English? What does it mean to be British? Does the rise in popularity of the St. George’s flag represent a new beginning or symbolize the return of the far right? Is the Union Jack too soaked in the blood of empire to be the emblem of a modern multicultural state? In a country in which everyone is born under two flags, what does it mean to be a patriot? In 2006, Billy Bragg saw his home town become the front line in the debate over who does and does not belong in 21st century Britain—an apparent reaction to the July 2005 terror attacks on London, when four British citizens from the immigrant community killed 52 innocent people and injured many more. This book is an urgent, eloquent and passionate response to these events. Reflecting on his family history and revisiting the music that inspired him, Billy Bragg pits his own values against those of traditional Britishness in a search for a sense of belonging that is accessible to all and in so doing, offers positive hope to a nation no longer sure of its own identity.

The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging

Humor & Entertainment

Black Swan.

One of Kirkus Reviews Best Music &amp; Entertainment Books of 2017 As heard on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross &amp; seen on PBS Newshour "Nothing short of masterly." ― The Wall Street Journal "A remarkable history of skiffle.... Bragg impresses throughout with engaging prose and painstaking research. He further enlivens the text with personal insights and witty asides that give the material a unique cast few professional writers would dare.... an accomplished work." ― Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Superb account of the politically aware, working-class skiffle craze of the 1950s.... Writing with an expert practitioner's appreciation for music, Bragg tells the story of British rock-'n'-roll's forerunner with verve and great intelligence." ― Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) Skiffle -- a "do-it-yourself music craze with American jazz, blues, folk, and roots influences - is a story of jazz pilgrims and blues blowers, Teddy Boys and beatnik girls, coffee-bar bohemians and refugees from the McCarthyite witch hunts. Skiffle is reason the guitar came to the forefront of music in the UK and led directly to the British Invasion of the US charts in the 1960s. Emerging from the trad-jazz clubs of the early '50s, skiffle was adopted by the first generation of British "teenagers" ― working class kids who grew up during the dreary, post-war rationing years. Before Skiffle, the pop culture was dominated by crooners and mediated by a stuffy BBC. Lonnie Donegan hit the charts in 1956 with a version of Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line" and soon sales of guitars rocketed from 5,000 to 250,000 a year. Like punk rock that would flourish two decades later, skiffle was home grown: all you needed were three guitar chords and you could form a group, with mates playing tea-chest bass and washboard as a rhythm section. ROOTS, RADICALS AND ROCKERS is the first book to explore the Skiffle phenomenon in depth ― Billy Bragg'fs meticulously researched and joyous account shows how Skiffle sparked a revolution that shaped pop music as we have come to know it.

Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World

Arts & Photography

Music

Faber & Faber Social

Roots, Radicals & Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World is the first book to explore this phenomenon in depth – a meticulously researched and joyous account that explains how skiffle sparked a revolution that shaped pop music as we have come to know it. It’s a story of jazz pilgrims and blues blowers, Teddy Boys and beatnik girls, coffee-bar bohemians and refugees from the McCarthyite witch-hunts. Billy traces how the guitar came to the forefront of music in the UK and led directly to the British Invasion of the US charts in the 1960s. Emerging from the trad-jazz clubs of the early ’50s, skiffle was adopted by kids who growing up during the dreary, post-war rationing years. These were Britain’s first teenagers, looking for a music of their own in a pop culture dominated by crooners and mediated by a stuffy BBC. Lonnie Donegan hit the charts in 1956 with a version of ‘Rock Island Line’ and soon sales of guitars rocketed from 5,000 to 250,000 a year. Like punk rock that would flourish two decades later, skiffle was a do-it-yourself music. All you needed were three guitar chords and you could form a group, with mates playing tea-chest bass and washboard as a rhythm section.

Billy Bragg is one of Britain's most distinctive and accomplished songwriters, whose work has articulated the passions, both personal and political, of Britain during the past five decades. A Lover Sings contains over seventy of his best-known lyrics, selected and annotated by the author. 'Sexuality', 'A New England', 'Levi Stubbs' Tears' — these are unadorned, poetic songs that skilfully interweave everyday observation with much broader concerns: of fairness and outrage, of generosity and love. A Lover Sings reveals a unique sensibility: principled and proudly of the Left, funny, forthright and tender. It is a remarkable collection.

A Lover Sings: Selected Lyrics

Musician and activist Billy Bragg diagnoses the crisis of accountability in Western democracies in this new series of political pamphlets from Faber. We live in a world where strongman politics are rising; neo-liberalism has hollowed out political parties; and corporations have undermined democracy. Ordinary voters feel helpless to effect change, resulting in outbreaks of populist anger, and traditional platforms for debate are losing their viability as readers source information online. In this short and vital polemic, progressive thinker and activist Billy Bragg argues that accountability is the antidote to authoritarianism, and that without it, we can never truly be free. He shows us that Freedom requires three dimensions to function: Liberty, Equality, and Accountability – and the result is a three dimensional space in which freedom can be exercised by all.

The Three Dimensions of Freedom (Faber Social)

Religion & Spirituality

What does it mean to be English? What does it mean to be British? Is the cross of St. George a proud symbol of a great tradition, or the badge of a neo-Nazi? In a world where British citizens can lay bombs to kill their countrymen, where religious fundamentalism is on the increase, and where the BNP are somehow part of the democratic process, what does patriotism actually mean? Identity can change depending on what company a person are in. For example, someone could describe themselves British to one person, Scottish to another and, say, a Londoner to another, and be right every time. But problems arise when someone tries to tell you what you are, based on your skin tone, religion, accent, surname, or whatever. This book is Billy Bragg's urgent, eloquent, and passionate response to the events of July 7, 2005, when four bombs tore through a busy morning in London, killing 52 innocent people and injuring many more. A firm believer in tolerance and diversity, he felt himself hemmed in by fascists on one side and religious fanatics on the other. The suicide bombers were all British-born and well integrated into our multicultural society. Yet, they felt no compunction in murdering and maiming their fellow citizens. Inclusivity is important, but without a sense of belonging to accompany it, what chance social cohesion? But where does a sense of belonging come from? Can it be conferred by a legal document? Is it a matter of blood and soil? Can it be taught? Is it nature or nurture? This book pulls no punches in its insights, and its radical vision offers a positive hope for a country teetering on the brink of catastrophe.

The Progressive Patriot

Transworld Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bragg, Billy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bragg, Billy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bragg, Billy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Kirsty MacColl: The One and Only

The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging

Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World

Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World

A Lover Sings: Selected Lyrics

The Three Dimensions of Freedom (Faber Social)

The Progressive Patriot