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Print: $18.95 Download: $8.95 Collecting three decades worth of of essential interviews with the punk rock pioneers from Queens, NY, RAMONES: INTERVIEWS starts with the band's earliest publicized moments in 1975 and ends with a series of reflections from its principle members prior to their untimely deaths.
Exhilarating, gripping and often fun, these brilliantly honest media interactions -- weaved together by music scribe John D. Luerssen -- allow the members of the trailblazing Ramones the opportunity to tell their unique, unforgettable story. RAMONES: INTERVIEWS is a must read for all Ramones disciples and anyone interested in the real evolution of punk rock.
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Print: $19.95 Download: $7.95 JOHN LENNON: The Essential Interviews collects the pop music legend's most candid and inspirational interactions with the media.
Beginning in the heyday of the Beatles and tracing Lennon over the span of the next fifteen years until his tragic murder in December 1980, this book pays tribute to the iconic musician.
Compiled by pop music journalist John D. Luerssen specifically for Rock Reader Books, JOHN LENNON: The Essential Interviews finds the genius behind the Beatles delivering memorable, newsworthy sentiments like:
"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it."
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."
"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."
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Print: $22.51 Download: $6.95 Collecting all of the essential interviews from Radiohead’s first decade, ‘RADIOHEAD Interviews 1991-2000’ allows the world’s reigning experimental band to tell its own story. From “Creep” blasting alt-rock upstarts to music’s reigning artistic force, the group’s steady climb to world domination is chronicled in these pages.
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Print: $21.95 Download: $6.95 DANCING DAYS: The LED ZEPPELIN Reader traces the history and evolution of one of the biggest selling and influential rock bands of all time. Weaving together essential, informative articles and interviews written about the group during its 1968 – 1980 heyday, award-winning music scribe John D. Luerssen lets Sirs Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham tell their own compelling, sequential story.
In the U.S. alone, the band is responsible for over 110 million albums sold, and continues to sell millions yearly as new fans discover its catalog.
From its formation as The New Yardbirds in late 1968 to its unexpected dissolution in December 1980, following the death of Bonham, DANCING DAYS: The LED ZEPPELIN Reader depicts the group’s gripping, magical and sensational ride.
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Print: $19.95 Download: $6.95 In 2002, the NME declared The Smiths “the greatest artists of all time”. And it’s a notion that’s difficult to dispute. In just five short years, the Manchester foursome conquered the world, forever changing the scope of modern music.
Along the way, the fame seemed to make frontman Morrissey even more peculiar than he already seemed, going from an absolute frenzy of press interviews in 1983 and 1984 before easing up in 1985 and ultimately withdrawing, save for a few critical pieces in 1986 and 1987.
As The Smiths’ frontman recoiled from the public eye, his songwriting accomplishments with guitar maestro Johnny Marr gave way to one brilliant song cycle after another. Inspired, influential and always prolific, Morrissey, Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce were like no other band, either before them or since the group’s unexpected implosion in August of 1987.
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Print: $12.94 Download: $4.95 Despite Minor Threat’s short, three-year run (1980 – 1983) and the fact that it disbanded a quarter century ago, the Washington D.C. hardcore pioneers have gone on to influence countless punk bands and remain as relevant as ever in 2009.
The band’s groundbreaking, remarkably fast approach and messages of abstinence – perfected in the anthem “Straight Edge” – countered the beer-swilling hooliganism of West Coast hardcore bands in the Reagan era. Ferocious and delivered at a breakneck pace, Minor Threat is arguably the most important and influential American punk band of all time.
Minor Threat played its final show on September 23, 1983. SALAD DAYS: The MINOR THREAT Reader celebrates the iconic hardcore band’s legacy in its own words by compiling rare, original out of print interviews and artifacts.
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Print: $19.95 Download: $8.95 From its infancy to its meteoric rise and ultimate legacy, The Nirvana Reader, 1988 to 1992 is a compilation of interviews and rare articles on one of the most beloved and missed bands ever. Few can argue Nirvana defined alternative rock as we now know it.
Compiled and Edited by John D. Luerssen for his newly launched Rock Reader Books imprint, here are the essential and in many cases rarely seen articles that accompanied Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl on their ascent from an aspiring underground trio to self-professed "Flower Sniffin’, Kitty Pettin’, Baby Kissin’ Corporate Rock Whores" to Rock Icons that defined modern rock & roll.
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Print: $24.00 Download: $9.00 THE BEACH BOYS: The Essential Interviews collects the most candid and informative interactions that “America’s Band” ever had with the press. Beginning at the height of the band’s popularity in 1966, this exciting title offers a unique look at the dynamics of the group, with collective interviews and one on one conversations with each of the band’s principals – Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston – at various career intervals.
Tracing The Beach Boys’ forty-plus years in music, this 334 page tome was compiled by pop music journalist John D. Luerssen and offers direct perspective from The Beach Boys – the number one selling American band of all time – themselves. It’s a must-read for any fan.
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Print: $23.99 Download: $9.00 In just six short years, THE CLASH reinvented rock and roll. As influential as it was inspirational, the group helped usher in the U.K. punk movement of ‘76/’77, before evolving into one of the most forward thinking rock acts of the early 1980s.
Staking claim to the slogan “the only band that matters”, The Clash – Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon – were innovators who fused ska, reggae and rockabilly with thought probing rebellion at a time when mediocrity ruled the musical landscape.
From its first-ever gigs with The Sex Pistols to the creation of its triumphant 1979 album ‘London Calling’ and on to the global success of 1982’s ‘Combat Rock’ and everything in between, THE CLASH: ESSENTIAL INTERVIEWS collects the group’s most candid and indispensible media interactions. It is a must-read for any Clash fan.
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Print: $20.00 Download: $8.95 ERIC CLAPTON: The Essential Interviews collects the guitar legend's most candid and inspiring interactions ever with the media. Beginning with his work with Cream and tracing his efforts with Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominos and as one of the most inventive solo artists in the history of rock music, this telling book celebrates Clapton’s life and work as it chronicles his strength in overcoming addiction and the death of his young son. Compiled and edited by John D. Luerssen for Rock Reader Books, ERIC CLAPTON: The Essential Interviews is a must own book for any E.C. fan.
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Print: $14.95 Download: $6.95 As fans continue to mourn the loss of the true King of Pop, who died suddenly on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50, music blogger JIMMY JUPITER reflects on the music icon’s life with this book of essential career-spanning interviews, quotes and artist tributes. MICHAEL JACKSON: The Music, The Memories 1958-2009 is a must-read for anyone hoping to celebrate the life, art and influence of the King of Pop.
"Michael Jackson was my generation's most iconic cultural hero. Courageous, unique and incredibly talented. He'll be missed greatly." - Russell Simmons
"My heart is overcome with sadness for the devastating loss of my true friend Michael. He was an extraordinary friend, artist and contributor to the world. I join his family and his fans in celebrating his incredible life and mourning his untimely passing." - Brooke Shields
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Print: $17.99 Download: $9.00 DESCENDENTS are arguably the most influential American punk band. With the seminal ‘Milo Goes To College’, the group stood in stark contrast to the posturing of most hardcore bands in 1982. Collecting urgency, melody and humor in a way never heard before, songs like “I’m Not A Loser” and “Catalina” essentially forged the punk/pop genre as we now know it. Reformed in ’85, the band kept plugging away despite a number of line-up changes, making three more albums in just three years. Accumulating an arsenal of classics (“Silly Girl”, “Cheer”, “Sour Grapes,” “Clean Sheets”, “Coolidge”), they called it a day in 1987 but reunited again in 1996 to rock Warped!, plug ‘Everything Sucks’ and score an actual hit (“I’m The One”). Seven years later, Milo came out of the lab for ‘Cool to Be You’. READAGE was compiled in homage to DESCENDENTS: from a fan for the fans. In the words of vocalist Milo Aukerman, ‘Enjoy!’
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Print: $17.95 Download: $9.95 Items for barter, casual encounters, farm and garden supplies, tools and vacation rental? Holy crap! 10 million people post classifieds on Craigslist each month, so there must be 10 million and one who actually read them!
When keys are lost and cell phones are found in Boulder, Colorado, the world is promptly alerted via Craigslist. And dudes in Brooklyn with $40 worth of iTunes giftcards will gladly part with them for $40, what a deal!
From locales across the globe like Des Moines and Sydney, Australia, there is what appears to be the free and open trade or barter of temptation and arousal – touted as “erotic services” to those aged 21 and older.
Journalist John D. Luerssen takes a stab at his first humor title and comes up a winner by compiling the recent classic postings of Craigslist.org for all to see.
Simply put, there are some hysterically amusing, downright odd and routinely pathetic postings on the site.
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Print: $22.00 Download: $9.95 With its extraordinary ability to balance art and integrity with commercial success, Death Cab for Cutie has arguably become the most important modern band in America, if not the world. Boasting world class songs, an amiable demeanor and an ever growing collection of gold records, the Seattle-based DCfC asserted its cultural reach when its second major label offering and sixth proper disc, Narrow Stairs, debuted at #1 in May 2008. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: In Print – compiled by music aficionado Jimmy Jupiter – chronicles the beloved group’s decade-long ascent, with a chronological compiling of rare and essential interviews and essays spanning 1999 to 2009.
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Print: $17.95 Download: $7.95 Fusing punk’s jagged roar with a keen sense of melody and an affinity for surf music, The Pixies became one of the most influential American bands of alternative rock’s first wave.
PIXIES: IN PRINT traces the band's thrilling journey, chronicling the challenges and successes of its initial seven year run. Formed in Boston in 1986, the group’s brief anthems, unorthodox song structures and lyrics about space, sex, religion, mutilation and sludge from New York and New Jersey quickly resonated with college radio audiences and the British music weeklies. Major chart success in Europe followed, coupled with MTV acceptance and the support of U2, who picked the band to open its 1992 U.S. tour. But for a group well ahead of its time, such pressures eventually took their toll, leaving the Pixies to split in 1993. But not before their influence was felt by future giants like Nirvana and Weezer, as well as countless others who thrived during the alternative rock boon.
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Print: $23.99 Download: $9.95 Beginning with one of AEROSMITH’s first lengthy interviews in 1973 and spanning the legendary hard rock quintet’s 35-plus years, AEROSMITH: ESSENTIAL INTERVIEWS lets “America’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band” tell its own inspirational story. From its explosive, drug and sex-steered early heyday and the propulsion of mid-70’s classics Toys In The Attic and Rocks, to its fall from grace and initial disintegration as a result of those vices, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford not only survived these experiences, but learned from them and ultimately forged one of the greatest rock comebacks ever.
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Print: $16.95 Download: $6.95 Rock and roll was never the same after the Sex Pistols. Inspired by The Ramones and propelled by Malcolm McLaren, the Pistols -- Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and his replacement Sid Vicious -- ignited the punk-rock revolution in Britain, and the influential reverberations were felt in all corners of the music world.
Expressing the cynical, restive mood of the U.K.'s youth, the Pistols restored a sense of danger to rock music.
With four exceptional singles and one classic album in just 24 explosive months, The SEX PISTOLS READER heads back in time and traces the band's unforgettable dalliance with the media during the years 1976-1978.
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