Fifty years and 100 million album sales after first appearing on the music scene as one half of pop duo "Sonny and Cher," the Academy Awardwinning singer and actress is an authentic American icon. Throughout Cher’s astonishing career which has encompassed televisual triumphs, a string of international hit singles, sell-out tours, an Oscar statuette for Moonstruck, and a Las Vegas residency her personal life has continually made front (and back) page news. In the shadow of her success, Cher has been linked with many high-profile men, married and divorced twice (the second time to rock superstar Gregg Allman), battled with depression, defied network censors, and dealt with the tragedy of Sonny Bono’s early death. Including exclusive interviews with Cher and those she has worked with on- and off-stage, Cher: Strong Enough documents the ins and outs and ups and downs of a one-name American icon Cher at her outrageous best.

Cher: Strong Enough

Howard, Josiah

Humor & Entertainment

Plexus Publishing

About the Author\nJosiah Howard's short stories, articles and entertainment industry photographs have been featured on various Internet websites and in a variety of newspapers and magazines. He is the author of Donna Summer: Her Life and Music and Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide. His first association with Cher came in 2008 when he was commissioned to write the program for her 2008 post-Farewell Tour return to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. A graduate of New York University, he lives in New York City.\nSixty years and 100 million album sales after first appearing on the music scene as one half of pop duo ‘Sonny and Cher’, the Academy Award–winning singer and actress is an authentic American icon. Throughout Cher’s astonishing career ― which has encompassed televisual triumphs, a string of international hit singles, sell-out tours, an Oscar statuette for Moonstruck, and a Las Vegas residency ― her personal life has continually made front (and back) page news. In the shadow of her success, Cher has been linked with many high-profile men, married and divorced twice (the second time to rock superstar Gregg Allman), battled with depression, defied network censors, and dealt with the tragedy of Sonny Bono’s early death. Including exclusive interviews with Cher and those she has worked with on- and off-stage, Cher: Strong Enough documents the ins and outs and ups and downs of a one-name American icon ― Cher ― at her outrageous best.

Donna Summer dominated the American and European pop charts in the 1970s with dance music classics such as "Last Dance," "Love To Love You Baby," "I Feel Love," "Hot Stuff," and "Bad Girls" -- earning her the title "Queen of Disco." In a career which has now spanned four decades, she has sold over 100 million records worldwide, won five Grammy Awards, scored twenty Top 40 hits, and collaborated with musical giants such as Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, and Quincy Jones. "Donna Summer: Her Life and Music" is the first book in over twenty years to examine this extraordinary performer's life and career. Author Josiah Howard provides in-depth, insightful coverage of: The artistic and commercial high points of her recording career, including her groundbreaking 1970s hits recorded with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte Her pre-superstardom stage and recording work in Europe The carefully conceived image manipulation that she and her record company employed to make her the biggest star to emerge from the disco genre Her largely overlooked success as a songwriter, which includes many of her own hits, and even a #1 country hit recorded by Dolly Parton Controversies which have surrounded her, including her becoming a Born Again Christian at the height of her career, and an antagonistic relationship with the gay community in the 1980s This chronicle and analysis of Donna Summer's triumphs and setbacks -- both professional and private -- paints the definitive picture of an artist who overcame adversity, pushed musical boundaries, and created a catalog of innovative recordings that helped define an era.

Donna Summer: Her Life and Music

Arts & Photography

Music

Tiny Ripple Books

Product Description 
Dazzling, highly stylized, excessively violent and brimming with sex, blaxploitation films enjoyed a brief but memorable period in motion picture history. Never before – and never since – have so many African American performers been featured in films, not in bit parts, but in name-above-the-title starring roles.\n25 years after they first thrilled audiences the body of films known as blaxploitation are enjoying a renaissance. These pictures continue to captivate film fans, and the entire genre, with its bevy of colourful, utterly-contemporary film characters, irresistible soundtrack albums and catchy film titles, is taking its rightful place among the entertainment industry's most enjoyed, and influential, movies.\nAnswering the call for a fresh and appreciative look back at a distinctly American motion picture phenomenon, 
Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide is the first truly comprehensive examination of the genre, its films, its trends and its far-reaching impact, covering every blaxploitation film in detail.\n* A comprehensive introduction to the genre.\n* Interviews with ten renowned blaxploitation movie directors.\n* A complete filmography of the blaxploitation golden age (1970-1980).\n* More than 250 movie listings, which include cast and crew credits along with a full synopsis.\n* Vintage and contemporary film reviews, critiques and commentary plus taglines, ratings, and extensive cross-referencing. 
 Review 
"Josiah Howard's book is frankly the best guide on the subject that I have ever seen." -- 
Jack Hill, director of blaxploitation classics Coffy and Foxy Brown 
 About the Author 
Josiah Howard writes on popular culture and is the author of four books. A senior contributor at 
The Grindhouse Cinema Database and 
Furious Cinema, Howard also lectures on film and has curated festivals internationally in Brazil, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as in the U.S. His writing credits include articles for 
The American Library of Congress, The New York Times and 
Reader's Digest. He lives in NYC. 
 Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION:\nBlaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide came about in stops and starts. I grew up in a small, mostly African-American suburban town in New Jersey called Plainfield. Front Street, the main thoroughfare, boasted a grandly columned bank, a record shop, a 'boutique,' numerous clothing and wig stores, and two movie houses, the old but still somewhat respectable Strand and the West End's faded, partially dilapidated Liberty. 
 My first exposure to blaxploitation films came at the age of twelve, when my best friend's grandmother took me along with her two grandchildren on a three-day trip to New York City. Though I loved our trip to Coney Island's famed 'Astro Land,' it was our trip to 42nd Street's New Amsterdam Theater (before it was renovated and became home to The Lion King) that really left its mark on me. That fateful day in 1974, we took in a 'return engagement' double of Coffy and Trouble Man. The back-to-back barrage of sounds and images simply blew me away. From that point on I was hooked; I went to as many blaxploitation films as I possibly could. 
 As an adult my interest in blaxploitation films continued. I bought the few books that were available on the genre, kept clippings and collected memorabilia, and when the home video market took off, purchased as many films as my meagre earnings would allow. But even though I remained an interested observer and ardent fan of the films, I hesitated for many years to seriously consider putting together a book on the genre. My 'logic' was that there really weren't enough movies to fill an entire book and that, since I already thought I knew everything there was to know about the pictures, it wouldn't be a project that would hold my interest for very long. I was wrong on both counts. Reviewing, cataloguing (and often

Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide

Movies

FAB Press

Dazzling, highly stylised, excessively violent and brimming with sex, blaxploitation films enjoyed a brief but memorable moment in motion picture history. Never before, and never since, have so many African-American performers been featured in films, not in bit parts, but in name-above-the title starring roles. Here's a new and appreciative look back at a distinctly American motion picture phenomenon, the first truly comprehensive examination of the genre, its films, its trends and its far-reaching impact, covering more than 240 Blaxploitation films in detail. This is the primary reference book on the genre, covering not just the films' heyday (1971-1976) but the entire decade (1970-1980). Includes: film posters and ads

Blaxploitation Cinema

Reference

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

Books by Howard, Josiah

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

Cher: Strong Enough

Cher: Strong Enough

Donna Summer: Her Life and Music

Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide

Blaxploitation Cinema