An epic journey through sea shanties, high tides and seven seas

From the international bestselling singer comes The Book of Sea Shanties.

The world sang in harmony with Nathan Evans, the Glaswegian postie turned singer of sea shanties. Join him as he takes you through time and seafaring history to discover the true meaning of Wellerman, and who and what exactly was the Drunken Sailor?

Featuring over 35 best loved shanties, Nathan will share the meaning behind each of his favourite shanties and show how they have shaped and inspired him. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it will also include original shanties and bonus content written exclusively for this book.

Whether you’re young or old, gather around and discover the riotous world of sea shanties.

Praise for Nathan Evans:

A ‘Sea Shanty sensation’ Rolling Stone

‘An artist who really lifts the mood when he performs’ Daily Telegraph

‘Too good to miss’ Brian May, Daily Express

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Celebrate 40 years of WHAM! with the Sunday Times bestseller from one half of the world’s most famous bands

‘I couldn’t put it down. Such a fantastic book’ Chris Evans, Virgin Radio
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School mates. Band mates. Soul mates . . .

When Andrew Ridgley took George Michael, the new boy at school, under his wing, he discovered a soul mate.

In Wham! George and Me, Andrew tells the story of how they rode a rollercoaster of success around the world while making iconic records and surviving superstardom with their friendship intact. It is a memoir of love, music, the flamboyant 1980s and living in a pop hurricane.

No one else can ever tell their story – because no one else was there . . .

Forty years on from their explosion into pop music, Andrew Ridgeley tells the inside story of Wham!, his life-long friendship with George Michael and the formation of a band that changed music.
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‘A joyous celebration of the Wham! years. For anyone who was a teenager in the early 1980s, it will take you on a nostalgia trip. It’s an honest but affectionate account of a remarkable duo who remained true to their origins and their friendship throughout it all’ Daily Express

‘As infectious as their music’ Daily Mirror

‘A remarkably generous memoir. In more than one sense, the biography of a friend’ Spectator

‘A great story’ Saturday Live, Radio 4

‘A lovely book. A love letter to George’ Graham Norton, BBC One

‘Charming, heartfelt . . . there’s a real poignancy to Ridgeley’s description of Wham!’s glory days’ Sunday Times

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‘In the Spring of 1989, shortly after my twenty-seventh birthday, as I stood in the sleet at a bus stop in Colchester, it dawned on me that I had probably, all things considered, failed in my mission to become Sting. At least, for the time being.’

Lost in Music is about growing up with pop music – about hearing it, buying it, loving it, and attempting to play it in public for money. A brilliant combination of the confessional and the unapologetic, this is a book for anyone who has ever treasured vinyl, or sung into a roll-on deodorant in front of the bedroom mirror and dreamed of playing Wembley.

Praise for Lost in Music

‘Very, very funny . . . Giles Smith is a wonderful writer’ Nick Hornby

‘A wonderfully funny pop-music memoir . . . You don’t have to know who Nik Kershaw is to laugh out loud at the chapter about him’ Sebastian Faulks, Spectator

‘One of the best books about music that you will ever read . . . It is impossible to read Lost in Music without laughing out loud’ Daily Telegraph

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As the founder of Island Records, fabled music producer Chris Blackwell has discovered and worked with some of the most important musicians of the second half of the twentieth century – from Steve Winwood to Cat Stevens, Bob Marley to Grace Jones, U2 to Roxy Music, plus countless others. He is also widely credited with having brought reggae music to the world stage.

Now, as reflects on his life, Blackwell takes us back to the island where it all began: Jamaica – the place where his family once partied with the likes of Noël Coward, Ian Fleming and Errol Flynn and where, as Jamaican local music began to adopt contemporary American trends, Blackwell’s burgeoning musical instincts flourished. It was also the birthplace of the now-legendary Island Records, founded by Blackwell in 1959.

Five years later, while living in London selling Jamaican records to Caribbean immigrants, Blackwell came across the vocal talents of teenager Millie Small, who he paired with the song ‘My Boy Lollipop’. The producer added a ska beat and released what would be a worldwide hit.

But this was just the beginning of a truly remarkable career. In this fascinating memoir, including up to fifty photos supplied by Blackwell’s team, the music icon will discuss the many artists he’s worked with over the years, as well as unpicking the initiatives, decisions and risks that ultimately brought such success to both Blackwell and his esteemed musical collaborators.

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Foreword by Bob Stanley

On a sunny Saturday morning in May 1956, a fifteen-year-old, then called Harry Webb, was mooching down Waltham Cross High Street. He heard some music blaring out of a parked car. It stopped him in his tracks.

The song was ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley. It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. In that instant, the schoolboy who was destined to take the hit parade by storm as Cliff Richard fell in love with rock and roll. It gave him the thrill, the purpose and the mission that has shaped his life ever since.

Cliff lives in and for music. And with 65 years as a hitmaker, the music filling his head is a broad category. His soundtrack begins by blasting us all back into that first life-changing explosion of rock and also includes great soul soul stars such as Aretha Franklin, longtime colleagues like Elton John, and much-missed close friends Cilla Black and Olivia Newton-John.

This book is meaningful to Cliff on many levels. The 30 or so songs here that make up the soundtrack to his life have each moved him deeply, but it’s also about the legendary artists he met, and often got to know. He shares those stories and memories with you, too.

A Head Full of Music is a vibrant personal journey for Cliff, and it’s a joy to accompany him on it. Get wired for sound with him and read on.

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