#NewRelease “Don’t You Want Me?” by Richard Easter

London, 1981. As race riots erupt, Prince Charles and Lady Diana prepare to marry & New Romantics dance, an identity-shifting serial killer is operating in plain sight. But no-one has realised except Detective Inspector Anna Leeding, who has secrets of her own…

Don’t You Want Me? is a novel for fans of twists, thrillers, history, music, and popular culture.

Richard Easter, author of The General Theory Of Haunting & The Gentle Art Of Forgetting turns his perspective-and-time-bending literary style to the serial killer genre with Don’t You Want Me?

Amid the cultural and social upheaval of 1981, D.I. Leeding suspects apparent accidents and suicides could be subtle acts of revenge, and strange blue charcoal messages may be the key to something bigger and deadlier.
But in this cat-and-mouse story of vengeance, no-one is quite what they seem, and in 1981, when the New Romantics played with image, first appearances can be deceptive.

1981 was not so removed from today, with a highly divisive celebrity President, and race protests filling the streets. A time when gender and sexual identity were openly questioned, and the far right clashed with the far left. There was an existential threat; today, climate change and Covid-19, in 1981, we hoarded food and prepared for when either the U.S or Russian leader pushed the nuclear button.

So to everyone who was there and those for whom this is their first time, Don’t You Want Me? welcomes you to 1981. It was a hell of a year. (Don’t You Want Me? was released 27th November 2020, the same day The Human League’s hit of the same name was released in ’81.)

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#AudioTour “Heavy Tales” by Jon Zazula

Author: Jon Zazula

Narrator: Jon Zazula

Length: 7 hours 13 minutes

Publisher: Crazed Management LLC

Released: Jul. 21, 2020

Genre: Memoir; Music

Heavy Tales is the detailed, never-before-told story as lived by Jonny Zazula. A riveting, tumultuous journey from renegade youth to metal music mogul, with detailed accounts of the struggles and successes along the way. How he created Megaforce Records and CraZed Management out of a flea market in New Jersey with his wife, Marsha, to discovering Metallica and launching a musical genre that forever changed the scope of music history. The hundreds of artists they worked with would go on to release some of the most prolific and important albums in heavy metal history, giving it its Golden Era.Penned by Jonny Zazula and co-written by Harold Claros-Maldonado, Heavy Tales details the stories of how Jonny Z worked miracles by managing and releasing albums by Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Mercyful Fate, Raven, Overkill, Exciter, Stormtroopers of Death, Method of Destruction, Ace Frehley’s Comet, King’s X, Ministry, Mindfunk, Nudeswirl, Warren Haynes, Disco Biscuits, and many more, and how one night in 1984, he jokingly created rap metal before anyone else conceived the idea.With a foreword written by Chuck Billy, plus a bonus feature gallery with more than 100 rare photographs unearthed from the MegaVault, Heavy Tales is the definitive American story of a family man with a dream, determined to prove to the world that heavy metal belonged on the stage, on the radio, and in your living room.Exclusive only to the Heavy Tales audiobook is a collection of Q+A’s taken from 10 live broadcasts from the Brothers Grimm radio show on Cranium Radio.com, where Jonny answers 89 unfiltered questions from listeners giving an even deeper look into his life.

JONATHAN ZAZULA is the owner of New Jersey’s Rock n’ Roll Heaven record store and founder of Megaforce Records. Zazula’s record store in East Brunswick, New Jersey made him a central figure of the East Coast metal scene, regularly playing demo tapes sent to him through his underground tape-trading network. His central role in the East Coast metal scene would later be an essential factor in launching the career of Metallica. Zazula offered the band their first opportunity to play in the New York area, coordinated a touring schedule, and later released their debut album Kill ‘Em All. Zazula went on to sign and work with other artists including: Warren Haynes, Testament, Tad, Overkill, Frehley’s Comet, King’s X, Ministry, and Anthrax. He lives in Furlong, Pennsylvania, with his wife Marsha and daughter Blaire.

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#FreestyleFriday “Musical Youth” by Joanne C. Hillhouse

Musical Youth cover

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~ Award winning title ~

2nd place in the 2014 Burt Award for Caribbean Literature.
#12 in Amazon Hot New Releases – Teen and Young Adult Performing Arts Fiction – in its first month of release

Featured in Essence Magazine February 2016

Music, Discovery, Love. Can one summer make the difference of a lifetime?

Zahara is a loner. She’s brilliant on the guitar but in everyday life she doesn’t really fit in. Then she meets Shaka, himself a musical genius and the first boy who really gets her. They discover that they share a special bond, their passion for music, and Zahara finds herself a part, not just of Shaka’s life, but also that of his boys, the Lion Crew. When they all get roles in a summer musical, Zahara, Shaka, and the rest of the Lion Crew use the opportunity to work on a secret project. But the Crew gets much more than they bargained for when they uncover a dark secret linking Shaka and Zahara’s families and they’re forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about class, colour, and relationships on the Caribbean island of Antigua.

“There are no missteps in this tender coming-of-age romance, only an enthusiasm for love and life that reverberates triumphantly, as both Shaka and Zahara battle their demons with hope’s persistent chorus.” – CaribbeanBeat Magazine.

“Musical Youth is a beautifully crafted novel with the leitmotiv of music running throughout it. This is a powerful and credible story of young love between two likeable heroes.” – Burt Award for Caribbean literature.

“Musical Youth is a compelling read because Hillhouse has managed to make readers really care about the characters and their struggles.” -Trinidad Guardian.

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About the Author

Antiguan and Barbudan/Caribbean writer Joanne C. Hillhouse has six books – 2 adult novels, 2 teen/young adult novels, 2 children’s picture books – in the international marketplace. Several of her poems, short fiction, non-fiction, and other writing (play/screenplay) have been published in Caribbean and international anthologies and journals. She freelances as a writer, editor, writing coach, and course/workshop facilitator.

Find her online at http://jhohadli.wordpress.com. She coordinates a developmental writing project called Wadadli Pen; read more about that and access the Caribbean literary arts at http://wadadlipen.wordpress.com. Also look for Joanne on social media, especially on Instagram and  Facebook.   And check out her videos on YouTube as ‘antiguanwriter’.

 

#AudioBook “Clayton Byrd Goes Underground” by Rita Williams-Garcia

cover
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground Digital Audio Edition
by Rita Williams-Garcia is $3.99 (Or FREE with Trial)

A National Book Award Finalist

From beloved Newbery Honor winner and three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Rita Williams-Garcia comes a powerful and heartfelt novel about loss, family, and love that will appeal to fans of Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander.

Clayton feels most alive when he’s with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen—he can’t wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton’s mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that’s no way to live.

Armed with his grandfather’s brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping he can join them on the road. But on the journey that takes him through the New York City subways and to Washington Square Park, Clayton learns some things that surprise him.

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground Unabridged Digital Audio Edition is $3.99 at Libro.fm and Kobo now through July 1st.

What Good Music Can Teach Us About Writing

good-music

by Andrea Lundgren

 

I was thinking about this the other day while on hold. I was waiting for a break in the music that signaled that someone was going to rescue me from the unending monotony, so when the music would change from stringed instruments music to a pause, I’d get excited…only to have the music start another movement.

And it got me thinking about plotting. I realized there are three things we can learn from good music (and from bad music, in a let’s-avoid-doing-what-they-did sort of way).

via What Good Music Can Teach Us About Writing

The Year Was 1969


1969


Last week, I was exchanging comments with James about Sugar, Sugar by The Archies. I’d posted a youtube video and the lyrics for a #SongLyricSunday music challenge in mid-December. For those not in the know… or not born yet, Sugar, Sugar was the number one song in the country September 20 through October 11 in 1969, and subsequently, the Billboard Top 100 Song of the Year (RIAA).

Needless to say, we heard it…a LOT! No one thought it odd that a song sang by fictional cartoon characters ruled the airwaves and won the year. The song’s co-author, Andy Kim, would go on to record, Rock Me Gently, a number one hit in 1974.

It got me to thinking—what else were we listening to in 1969?

I was the ripe old age of nine in 1969, with three older siblings and an extensive music collection. (Vinyl 45s were 69¢!) I pulled out paper and pen and listed the songs I could remember. The mister even added a few… and we didn’t even touch the surface. Giving up, we turned to Google… and ended up building a new playlist!

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The Number One Songs of 1969

Heard it Through the Grapevone

 

January 4 – January 25 – Heard it Through the GrapevineMarvin Gaye

 

 

 

February 1 – February 8 – Crimson and CloverTommy James and the Shondells

 

 

 

February 15 – March 8 – Everyday PeopleSly and the Family Stone

 

 

 

March 15 – Aril 5 – DizzyTommy Roe

 

 

 

April 12 – May 17 – Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine5th Dimension

 

 

 

May 24 – June 21 – Get BackThe Beatles with Billy Preston

 

 

 

June 28 – July 5 – Love Theme from “Romeo & JulietHenry Mancini

 

 

 

July 12 – August 16 – In the Year 2525/Exordium and TerminusZager & Evans

 

 

 

 

 

August 23 – September 13 – Honky Tonk WomenThe Rolling Stones

 

 

 

 

September 20 – October 11 – Sugar, SugarThe Archies

 

 

 

October 18 – October 25 – I Can’t Get Next To YouThe Temptations

 

 

 

November 1 – Suspicious MindsElvis Presley

 

 

 

November 8 – November 22 – Wedding Bell Blues5th Dimension

 

 

 

November 29 – Come Together/SomethingThe Beatles

 

 

 

December 6 – December 13 – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him GoodbyeSteam

 

 

 

December 20 – Leaving on a Jet PlanePeter, Paul, and Mary

 

 

 

December 27 – Someday We’ll Be TogetherDiana Ross and the Supremes

 

 

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Any Baby Boomer can tell you that’s a pretty amazing year in music. More than half of these songs are now classics and have been covered by other artists. Some… several times!

Do you have a memorable year of music?

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“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

Victor Hugo
Images from Wikipedia

“Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation” by Questlove

99¢ at time of posting!


Soul Train cover

“Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation

Genre: Music/Humor & Entertainment/History & Criticism

Release Date: December 3, 2013

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From Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of the award-winning hip-hop group the Roots, comes this vibrant book commemorating the legacy of Soul Train—the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of artists such as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J, and Aretha Franklin. Questlove reveals the remarkable story of the captivating program, and his text is paired with more than 350 photographs of the show’s most memorable episodes and the larger-than-life characters who defined it: the great host Don Cornelius, the extraordinary musicians, and the people who lived the phenomenon from the dance floor. Gladys Knight contributed a foreword to this incredible volume. Nick Cannon contributed the preface.

Throwback Thursday: Baby Boomer Edition!

Okay, Gen X-ers, Gen Y-ers, and Millennials – talk quietly amongst yourselves while Baby Boomers get in the WayBack Machine for a Throwback Thursday stroll down Memory Lane!


 

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