Peter Doggett – författare

No artist offered a more incisive and accurate portrait of the troubled landscape of the 1970s than David Bowie. Cultural historian Peter Doggett explores the rich heritage of Bowie's most productive and inspired decade, and traces the way in which his music reflected and influenced the world around him. From 'Space Oddity', his dark vision of mankind's voyage into the unknown terrain of space, to the Scary Monsters album, Doggett examines in detail Bowie's audacious creation of an 'alien' rock star, Ziggy Stardust, and his increasingly perilous explorations of the nature of identity and the meaning of fame.Mixing brilliant musical critique with biographical insight and acute cultural analysis, The Man Who Sold The World is a unique study of a major artist and his times.

Ambitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on Spotify.Over that time, popular music has transformed the world in which we live. Its rhythms have influenced how we walk down the street, how we face ourselves in the mirror, and how we handle the outside world in our daily conversations and encounters. It has influenced our morals and social mores; it has transformed our attitudes towards race and gender, religion and politics.From the beginning of recording, when a musical performance could be preserved for the first time, to the digital age, when all of recorded music is only a mouse-click away; from the straitlaced ballads of the Victorian era and the ‘coon songs’ that shocked America in the early twentieth century to gangsta rap, death metal and the multiple strands of modern dance music: Peter Doggett takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the history of music. Within a narrative full of anecdotes and characters, Electric Shock mixes musical critique with wider social and cultural history and shows how revolutionary changes in technology have turned popular music into the lifeblood of the modern world.

Were the 1960s really a great time of liberation and joyful experimentation? Growing Up takes an unflinching look at the dark underbelly of the sexual revolution.No era in recent history has been both more celebrated and vilified than the 1960s. And at the heart of all that controversy - the music, drugs, fashion, hopes, dreams and political movements - is sex.In this wide-ranging and eye-opening survey of the sexual landscape of the 1960s, Peter Doggett has assembled a dozen little-known stories that reveal how the sexual revolution transformed people's lives - for better or worse.'An important reappraisal of a decade that changed us, for good and ill' Sunday Times'Fascinating...shows rather conclusively that the sixties was not a sexual paradise' Evening Standard'Creates an account of the 1960s that, unlike most popular histories, does not edit out the grim bits' Mail on Sunday

Read the definitive biography of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, whose music and career illuminate the legacy of 1960s counterculture.Between 1969 and 1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were the most successful, influential and politically potent rock band in America. More than any of their peers, they channelled and broadcast all the radical anger, romantic idealism and generational angst of their era. The vast emotional range of their music, from delicate acoustic confessionals to raucous counter-culture anthems, was mirrored in the turbulence of their personal lives.Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is the first major biography of a band whose first two albums are undisputed rock classics, and which continues to attract a large and loyal following to their sporadic reunions. At the same time, Peter Doggett illuminates the pivotal years of 1960s counterculture through the story of four of its key protagonists, whose music, beliefs and relationships with each other chronicle both its trajectory and its legacy.'A fascinating, rip-roaring and timely re-telling of a corner of music history' Frank Turner

Between 1965 and 1972, political activists around the globe prepared to mount a revolution, from the Black Panthers to the Gay Liberation Front, from the Yippies to the IRA. Rock and soul music supplied the revolutionary tide with anthems and iconic imagery; and renowned musicians such as John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan were particularly influential in the movement. This is the definitive account of this unique period in modern history; a compelling portrait of an era when revolutionaries turned into rock stars, and rock stars dressed up as revolutionaries.

Was the 1960s really that great time of liberation, joyful experimentation and celebration of youth? For this wide-ranging and eye-opening survey of the sexual landscape of the 1960s Peter Doggett has assembled a dozen little-known stories that reveal how the sexual revolution transformed people's lives.

“Particularly poignant ... tasteful and compassionate” ShindigCapturing all the pain and glory of this incredible family saga, Surf’s Up is the definitive tribute to a remarkable band - and the genius who made it all possible.If any man in pop history deserved the tag of genius, it was Brian Wilson. As leader, producer and chief composer of the Beach Boys, he displayed an instinctive command of melody, harmony and arranging skills. The result was a run of hits that included many of the most sparkling and creative records of the 1960s.But there was a dark side to this seemingly effortless success, rooted in his tortured family background. No sooner had Brian masterminded such gems as the Pet Sounds album and Good Vibrations than his psychological demons began to derail his life.The Beach Boys were left struggling for survival, grasping for salvation from such bizarre figures as TM guru the Maharishi and cult leader Charles Manson. Their story could have ended there, but somehow the band survived. Ahead lay decades of trauma, triumph and tragedy, as the band members all developed as songwriters but also found themselves increasingly at odds with each other. Through it all the music survived, as Brian’s younger brother Dennis Wilson emerged as an equally creative but troubled presence.Surf’s Up sees lifelong Beach Boys fan Peter Doggett capture all the glory and pain of this complex family saga. He celebrates the band’s array of musical gems, and also explores many of their passionate obsessions , from surfing and cars to politics and food.Filled with drama and pathos, Surf’s Up is the ultimate tribute to a remarkable band - and the genius who made it all possible.