Ira A. Robbins – författare

In his first novel, Kick It Till It Breaks, veteran music journalist Ira Robbins satirizes the foibles and fanaticism of '60s radical activists.Ydinia Ochreman is the leader of a terrorist organization; her travels and exploits drive the story, which involves a colorful cast of dubious characters, including the incompetent FBI agent on her trail, a pacifist protest leader with a complicated agenda, a cranky peg-legged bar owner, an Irish atheist on a quest to end organized religion and a lost soul from Memphis who ends up in London. The dark humor of Kick It Till It Breaks is tempered by abiding respect for those who sacrificed their lives to end the war in Viet Nam.

In Marc Bolan Killed in Crash, an ordinary schoolgirl in 1972 London is pulled into the world of a fading rock star and becomes the secret weapon in a plan to revive his career.As playful glam rock is busy upending the bluesy and serious sounds of the late ’60s, 15-year old Laila Russell makes a serendipitous entry into the cutthroat music business via a handbag accidentally left on the Tube. Laila picks it up and takes it home, hoping to locate the mysterious – and attractive – woman who it belongs to.The mysteries of sex and songwriting, connivance, fame, family, and the music business collide to bring Laila to a high-flying life she could never have imagined. But there are consequences. Filled with detailed and knowing musical history as its backdrop, Marc Bolan Killed in Crash is a colorful romp through an extraordinary era of chart pop.Written with a deep knowledge of the city, its music and its vernacular, the story draws together a number of colorful characters whose shifting loyalties, ambitions and status come to a head with two stunning acts: one of betrayal, the other of violence.

If you've ever wondered how or why anyone becomes a critic, some of the answers are in Music in a Word Volume 1, an anthology-cum-memoir by veteran music journalist and Trouser Press magazine co-founder Ira Robbins.The first of three volumes collects articles, essays, album and concert reviews, previously unpublished interviews and other writing mingled with colorful recollections of 50 years spent on a musical soapbox. Profusely illustrated with images from the author's archive.

The second volume of veteran rock critic Ira Robbins' anthology-cum-memoir, Music in a Word, compiles extensive writing about nine artists: the Who, Cheap Trick, Ramones, Nirvana, the Clash, Kinks, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards/Rolling Stones and the Replacements.Profiles, interviews (some previously unpublished), concert and record reviews and much more.

The third volume of Ira Robbins’ Music in a Word is an annotated collection of feature articles, previously unpublished interviews, album liner notes, book reviews, obituaries, critics' polls and correspondence.Subjects covered in Music in a Word Volume 3 include David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Television, Radiohead, Morrissey, CBGB, Isaac Hayes, Dusty Springfield, Stray Cats, ELO, Johnny Thunders, Adam Ant, Nick Lowe, Fountains of Wayne, Lester Bangs, Patti Smith, Bryan Adams, Blondie, They Might Be Giants and more.

Zip It Up!, a massive annotated anthology of the highly regarded American music magazine Trouser Press (1974-1984), offers readers an immersion in rock journalism as it was practiced in its heyday — as well as a deeply informative history of many important rock artists.Known variously as “America’s Only British Rock Magazine” and “the bible of alternative rock,” Trouser Press was an important chronicler of trends and developments, from the British Invasion to new wave and punk. The features assembled here go deep, while the interviews include impertinent questions of the sort few have the courage to ask. Throughout, the writing is witty, smart and packed with strong opinions. The book includes the longest, most detailed interview Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin has ever given as well as fascinating and entertaining interviews with and profiles of Pete Townshend, Robert Fripp, KISS, Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, Malcolm McLaren, the Ramones and Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple.

Published for a decade, from 1974 to 1984, Trouser Press — once billed as "e;America's Only British Rock Magazine"e; but later called by some "e;the bible of alternative rock"e; — provided enthusiastic and knowledgeable coverage of independently made and released music as well as artists from many genres: classic rock, glam, pub rock, art rock and prog, punk, new wave, reggae, techno-pop and post-punk, many of them early in their now-legendary careers. This far-reaching and extensive anthology, edited and newly annotated by one of the magazine's co-founders, is an immersion in rock journalism of a form that is no longer widely practiced: features that go deep into artists' history and interviews that ask the impertinent questions, all written with wit, intelligence and a willful expression of opinions and values.Includes vintage articles on Adam Ant, Syd Barrett, Black Flag, Black Uhuru, Ritchie Blackmore, Blondie, Kate Bush, Cheap Trick, the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Cure, Devo, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Brian Eno, Eurythmics, Bryan Ferry, Robert Fripp, Gang of Four, Genesis, the Go-Go's, Human League, Joan Jett, Joy Division, the Kinks, Kiss. Nick Lowe, Malcolm McLaren, New York Dolls, Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop, Public Image Ltd., Ramones, Lou Reed, R.E.M., Residents, Todd Rundgren, Sex Pistols, Small Faces, Sparks, Television, Peter Tosh, T. Rex, U2, the Who, X, X-Ray Spex and Frank Zappa.