The definitive story of The Stone Roses by Simon Spence, with an updated final chapter covering the reunion rollercoaster ride. From the Manchester backwaters to the worldwide 2012 tour, War and Peace lays bare the irresistible tale of the last of the great bands. . Based on 400 hours of interviews with over seventy of The Stone Roses' closest associates, including six former band members, War and Peace is the first major biography of the band that defined a generation. Originally planned in collaboration with Reni, the reclusive drummer, this book had been a year in the making when the Roses, against all odds, announced their re-formation. It is a remarkable coda to an astonishing story. In 1989 their debut album and the single 'Fools Gold' made them the most exciting British export since the Sex Pistols. With their incendiary aura the Roses became figureheads of the 'Madchester' movement. War and Peace traces the band's genesis, studded with violent gigs and abandoned recordings, and shaped by their infamous manager Gareth Evans. The Roses' legendary gigs culminated in the era-defining Spike Island show in 1990. From this pinnacle the unravelling was spectacular. But the true story behind their rise and fall - and resurrection - has never been told. Until now. * With 40 unseen photos, including from renowned rock photographer Dennis Morris 'This is the one. It's the definitive biography of the band, stuffed with photos that have never been seen before. The writing feels really fresh and definitive. It's a classic' Alex Heminsley BBC 6 Music Book of the Month 'A comprehensive, no-holds-barred account... details with steely, forensic precision the story of the group's ascent, heyday and spectacular implosion. All the triumphs and disasters are here' The Sunday Times 'An era-defining, definitive biography' Q Simon Spence collaborated with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham on the acclaimed memoirs Stoned and 2Stoned. He has written for the NME, i-D, Dazed &amp; Confused and the Independent. He was at the Stone Roses' legendary Blackpool and Alexandra Palace shows in 1989 and covered their era-defining Spike Island show for The Face.

The Stone Roses: War And Peace

Biographies & Memoirs

Spence, Simon

Arts & Literature

VIKING

The definitive story of The Stone Roses by Simon Spence, with an updated final chapter covering the reunion rollercoaster ride.From the Manchester backwaters to the worldwide 2012 tour, War and Peace lays bare the irresistible tale of the last of the great bands. Based on 400 hours of interviews with over seventy of The Stone Roses' closest associates, including six former band members, War and Peace is the first major biography of the band that defined a generation. Originally planned in collaboration with Reni, the reclusive drummer, this book had been a year in the making when the Roses, against all odds, announced their re-formation. In 1989 their debut album and the single 'Fools Gold' made them the most exciting British export since the Sex Pistols. With their incendiary aura the Roses became figureheads of the 'Madchester' movement. War and Peace traces the band's genesis, studded with violent gigs and abandoned recordings, and shaped by their infamous manager Gareth Evans. The Roses' legendary gigs culminated in the era-defining Spike Island show in 1990. From this pinnacle the unravelling was spectacular. The definitive biography of The Stone Roses, a must have for fans. This paperback book has 343 pages and measures: 19.7 x 12.7 x 2.5cm.

The Stone Roses: War and Peace

Arts & Photography

Music

Penguin

The Stone Roses: The True Story

Written in collaboration with the band and featuring over 100 interviews with the key figures, 'The Stone Roses' lays bare the band that rocked the world.

Stone Roses

St. Martin's: Griffin

The Stone Roses captures the magic―and chaos―behind the UK band's rise, fall, and recent resurrection. The iconic Brit pop band The Stone Roses became an overnight sensation when their 1989 eponymous album went double platinum. It was a recording that is still often listed as one of the best albums ever made. Its chiming guitar riffs, anthemic melodies, and Smiths-like pop sensibility elevated The Stone Roses to a cult-like status in the UK and put them on the map in the U.S. But theirs is a story of unfulfilled success: their star imploded as their sophomore effort took years to complete and the band broke up acrimoniously in 1996. Sixteen years later, they reunited and have been playing sold out gigs, thrilling fans around the globe, and working on new material. In 2013, they nabbed the coveted headline spot at the Coachella Festival. 
With one hundred interviews of key figures, forty rare photographs, and exclusive insider material including how they created their music, The Stone Roses charts the band's rise from the backwaters of Manchester to becoming the stars of the "Madchester" scene to their successful comeback years later. Going beyond the myths to depict a band that defined Brit pop, Simon Spence illustrates their incandescent talent and jaw-dropping success while contextualizing them in the 90s music scene. This is the definitive story of The Stone Roses.

Humor & Entertainment

Peter Doherty's is the last of the great rock 'n' roll stories - bad boy and public enemy. To his devoted fans, he is a cult hero, a modern-day Rimbaud. Musically, he has defined the past twenty years of indie rock with his sound, lyrics, lifestyle and aesthetic.\nSince The Libertines rose to international fame, Doherty has proved endlessly fascinating. A whirlwind of controversy and scandal has tailed him ever since the early 2000s, so much so that all too often his talents as a songwriter and performer have been overlooked; for every award and accolade, there is a scathing review. Hard drugs, tiny gigs on the hoof, huge stadium shows, collaborations, obliterations, gangsters and groupies - Doherty has led a life of huge highs and incredible lows.\nWith his wildest days behind him, Doherty candidly explores - with sober and sometimes painful insight - some of his greatest and darkest moments, taking us inside the creative process, decadent parties, substance-fuelled nights, his time in prison and tendency for self-destruction. With his trademark wit and humour, Doherty also details his childhood years, key influences, pre-fame London shenanigans, and reflects on his era-defining relationship with Libertines co-founder Carl Barât and other significant people in his life. There is humour, warmth, insight, baleful reflection and a defiant sense of triumph.\nA Likely Lad is Doherty's version of the story - the genuine man behind the fame and infamy. This is a rock memoir like no other.

A Likely Lad

Doherty, Peter

Constable

The shocking story of the boy band that became immersed in the cult-like world of their manager
What happened to the Bay City Rollers is one of the greatest scandals of the music industry. This unflinching book reveals the dark truth behind “Rollermania,” which gripped the UK in the 1970s and spread around the world as the Edinburgh boy band scored number one international hits. When the Screaming Stops exposes the sinister undercurrents that ran beneath the band’s phenomenal success.
Former band manager Tom Paton controlled his charges and promoted them as wholesome teen idols while subjecting them to various forms of sexual abuse. In Paton, the industry cliché of the manipulative and venal pop manager found its most grotesque expression. Dazzled by sudden global fame and corrupted by Paton’s unquenchable sexual appetites, the Bay City Rollers soon became part of his world of depravity, victimhood, crime and psychosis. Band members became hooked on drugs, and their fall was almost as rapid as their rise, leaving them penniless and emotionally destroyed. Three years after they fired Paton, in 1979, he was finally convicted of gross indecency with teenage boys.
That such exploitation could have happened to one of the world’s most famous boy bands is a brutal reminder that conspiracies of silence about sexual exploitation were once the norm in the music and entertainment business. When the Screaming Stops is a no-holds-barred exposé of sex, drugs and financial mismanagement based on over 500 hours of interviews with many of the band’s closest associates, including former members. 45 b&amp;w and color images

When the Screaming Stops: The Dark History of the Bay City Rollers

Omnibus Press

Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas

'Their story is a vindication for every northern hooligan rock band out there. Happy Mondays sparked a British guitar pop renaissance.' ÿÿAlan McGee
In 1985, when the Happy Mondays exploded onto the Manchester music scene like a Molotov cocktail, no one had heard anything like them before. As they developed into the face of the Acid House `Madchester' movement, critics ranked them alongside The Velvet Underground and the Sex Pistols as cultural lightning rods, and that was just for the music.
The stories of their excesses are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend: the overdoses, fights on stage, the death threats, the gangsters, the stabbings and shootings in the studio. Yet this seemingly unhinged and uncontrollable band - encouraged by their equally crazed benefactors at Factory Records - transformed British music forever, leaving behind five infectious albums of unparalleled dirt and delight.
Twenty-five years after their breakthrough appearance on Top of the Pops, in November 1989, Simon Spence, the acclaimed biographer of The Stone Roses: War and Peace, tells the story of how the Happy Mondays came to provide the soundtrack to Britain's last great youth movement. Based on extensive interviews with the band and key associates, he reveals the truth behind the mythic stories that have ensured their outlaw reputation, and unravels the chaos that led to the group's ultimate implosion and the tragic collapse of Factory Records.
A riotous mix of pills, thrills and joyous chart hits, this is the untold story of Britain's greatest rock 'n' roll gang.

Aurum Press

What happened to The Bay City Rollers is one the great scandals of the music industry. This unflinching book exposes the sinister undercurrents and dark truths behind ‘Rollermania’, the pioneering boy band fad that gripped the UK in the seventies and spread across the world as the Edinburgh lads scored number one international hits. For the first time, former lovers, band members, and record industry insiders have been interviewed to build up the shocking story of the boy band that became immersed in the cult-like world of their Svengali, Tam Paton, a man who oversaw a culture of stalking, sackings, routine sexual abuse and career-furthering prostitution. Former band leader Paton controlled his charges and promoted them as clean-living teetotalers while subjecting them to various forms of sexual abuse. In Paton, the industry cliché of the manipulative and venal pop manager found its most grotesque expression. Dazzled by sudden global fame and corrupted by Paton’s unquenchable sexual appetites, The Bay City Rollers soon became part of his world of depravity, victimhood, crime and psychosis. Tragedies bedevilled every aspect of The Bay City Rollers' career. A 12-year-old girl was left brain damaged in an accident outside Paton's fortified home. A 15-year-old was shot in the head at the home of the lead singer, Les McKeown, who only months earlier had knocked over and killed a woman while behind the wheel of a super-charged sports car he could barely control. Homes were burned down, a policeman killed, a fan committed suicide and two band members claimed that Paton raped them. Nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts were commonplace. One band member was convicted of possessing child pornography and accused of sex with a 13-year-old. Band members became hooked on drugs, and their fall was almost as rapid as their rise, leaving them penniless and emotionally destroyed. Three years after they fired Paton in 1979 he was finally imprisoned, convicted of gross indecency with teenage boys. Predictably, the millions of pounds promised by Paton simply disappeared. The band spent a decade in litigation with Sony Records. Paton, who died in 2009, emerged from eventual imprisonment for gross indecency to become a major gangster who ran a huge drug business. The legacy of one of pop's cruellest scandals is still being felt. When The Screaming Stops – a milestone of relentless investigative writing and uncompromising exposure – is hardly a comfortable read but today more than ever it's an essential one. That such exploitation could have happened to one of the world’s most famous boy bands is a brutal reminder that conspiracies of silence about sexual exploitation were once the norm in the music and entertainment business. When The Screaming Stops is a no-holds-barred exposé of sex, drugs and financial mismanagement based on over 500 hours of interviews with many of The Bay City Rollers’ closest associates, including former band members.

When The Screaming Stops: The Dark History Of The Bay City Rollers

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

Books by Spence, Simon

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

The Stone Roses: War And Peace

The Stone Roses: War and Peace

The Stone Roses: The True Story

Stone Roses

The Stone Roses: War and Peace

A Likely Lad

When the Screaming Stops: The Dark History of the Bay City Rollers

Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas

Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas

When The Screaming Stops: The Dark History Of The Bay City Rollers