Richard Butterworth – författare

Pink Floyd are one of the most innovative and enduringly successful bands in history. 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, though far from the first concept album, established a new model for quasi-symphonic, long-form investigations into the human condition. It is a record of thoughtfully poignant lyrics and some of the most powerful, genre-defining rock music ever made. Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason and the tragically brilliant Syd Barrett fused English whimsy with electrifying voyages through inner and outer space. Their underground gigs are the stuff of psychedelic legend, but between 1968 and 1971, with Barrett replaced by David Gilmour, their sonic inquiries were never braver. Some were delivered instantly while others were revealed slowly, but all played crucial parts in rock's development. During the 1970s, the music matured as the messages darkened. While Floyd continued to prove that emotional weight can be forged from deceptively modest arrangements, the band's live spectaculars reached a pitch of technical complexity and extravagance none has matched.With insightful analysis and witty objectivity, Richard Butterworth appraises afresh Pink Floyd's official recorded canon, from 'Arnold Layne' to The Endless River and beyond to 2022 and the first all-new Floyd music for 28 years.

Of all the loud, rebellious rock groups forged in the white heat of America's Motor City, MC5 were the most uncompromising. A high-octane force of nature, saluted now as punk pioneers, MC5 were streetwise Detroit factory rats, assembly-line escapees who lit the touchpaper on some of the most combustible rock'n'roll ever heard.It's 1968. An incendiary debut album fuses the raging pungency of free jazz with dislocated cosmic blues and brutally confrontational garage rock. A second will strip the music bare and become an ur-text for Britpunk. A third, exuding maturity and professionalism, will be widely praised. Yet by 1972, their advance ruptured by accident, deception and often self-sewn misadventure, MC5 are done.Despite the tendency to self-ignite, the distractions of activist tomfoolery and management seeking only a soundtrack to sedition, MC5's aim was pure: to get down, party and blow every other rock'n'roll band into insensibility. Now Richard Butterworth dissects MC5's chaotic, magnificent history, their records and the fevered countercultural ecosystem that spawned them: the speedfried music; the bristling posture; the duplicitous record deals; the corrosive drugs. And, of course, the significance of MC5's infamous catchphrase. So right now, it's time to ... kick out the jams, (brothers and sisters).

Jefferson Airplane were not the sole exemplars of 1960s Californian acid rock; the Grateful Dead could equally claim the mantle of house band to the Summer of Love. Airplane's instrumentation was conventional, comprising mainly vocal harmonies, guitars, bass and drums. The band drew upon the folk traditions of The Weavers, the legendary bluesmen Gary Davis and B.B. King, improvisational masters from Miles Davis to Cream, even literary visionaries such as James Joyce and Isaac Asimov.Yet fusing together these influences in the creative furnace of San Francisco between 1966 and 1970, Jefferson Airplane's classic lineup – one ex-model, two ex-folkies, one ex-jazzer and two ex-D.C. guitarslingers – crafted music that was at once powerful, innovative and beautiful. Birthed in the dizzy hippie heartland of Haight-Ashbury, no other group were so wedded to their environment, winning international acclaim with two anthemic hit singles even as they impishly prodded the morés of middle Amerika. A musical and social force of nature, Airplane mirrored the psychedelic dream, burning higher, fiercer and brighter than any of their contemporaries.Combining a concise history of this magnificent band and their milieu with comprehensive and entertaining reviews of all their recordings, this is the most accessible book on the band yet written

This is a fully revised fourth edition of the successful Blackstone's Preparing for Police Duty, the invaluable introduction to the police service for new recruits or those considering a policing career. This highly practical guide informs those interested in a career in the police about the general culture of the policing world; the extended police family, dress-code, badges, shift patterns, equipment and basic information on police powers in relation to the most common crimes. The new edition offers an easy-to-understand outline of the criminal justice system and a summary of the criminal law, and has been fully updated to include the latest changes in the recruitment and entry procedures, as well as new content on policing terrorism, public protest, and neighbourhood policing. Written by an experienced serving police officer, Blackstone's Preparing for Police Duty is an accessible, motivational and informative guide for anyone considering a career in the police service, those on foundation and policing degree courses, and anyone who has recently secured a place as a student officer.

Dinner withDavid Bowie, kissing with Jackie Wilson, close encounters with Iggy Pop, RodStewart and Ron Wood. Not even 20, still less a rock goddess, but ChrissieHynde wasn't hanging around. The talented, charismatic writer-singer escapedOhio for Britain in 1973, hoping to form a rock'n'roll band. She befriendedjournalist Nick Kent, designer Vivienne Westwood, hustler Malcolm McLaren andfamous musicians from Nick Lowe to Lemmy. She wrote for The NME and narrowlyavoided becoming Mrs. Sid Vicious. Meeting Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scottand Martin Chambers, Chrissie finally realised her dream: The Pretenders, oneof the world's most exciting, enduring and best-loved rock groups. The Pretenders proved revelatory, lashinghard rock to the sexy, sassy swagger of streetwise punk and catchy,chart-busting pop. 'Brass In Pocket' was a worldwide hit. America took to itsheart the ex-pat from the Heartlands, as Chrissie became an international starand a reluctant flagbearer for rock's sisterhood. Weathering tragic loss, The Pretenders have continued to make greatmusic. Combining dry wit with diligent research and a deep knowledge of rockmusic, Richard Butterworth appraises The Pretenders' turbulent, vital earlyyears: from Chrissie's arrival in Britain, through the band's 1978 birth to1990 and their fifth album. Enjoy the ride

Of all the loud, rebellious rock groups forged in the white heat of America's Motor City, MC5 were the most uncompromising. A high-octane force of nature, saluted now as punk pioneers, MC5 were streetwise Detroit factory rats, assembly-line escapees who lit the touchpaper on some of the most combustible rock'n'roll ever heard.It's 1968. An incendiary debut album fused the raging pungency of free jazz with dislocated cosmic blues and brutally confrontational garage rock. A second stripped the music bare and became a blueprint for Britpunk. A third, exuding maturity and professionalism, was widely praised. Yet by 1972 their advance ruptured by accident, deception and often self-sewn misadventure, MC5 were done.Despite the tendency to self-ignite, the distractions of activist tomfoolery and management seeking only a soundtrack to sedition, MC5's aim was pure: to get down, party and blow every other rock band into insensibility. Now Richard Butterworth dissects MC5's chaotic, magnificent history, their records and the fevered countercultural ecosystem that spawned them: the speed-fried music; the bristling posture; the duplicitous record deals; the corrosive drugs. And, of course, the significance of MC5's infamous catchphrase. So right now, it's time to KICK OUT THE JAMS (brothers and sisters).Richard Butterworth's grown-up career began in advertising, first as a paste-up artist, later as a graphic designer. Settling on copywriting, for years, he reaped the pleasures, pains and penury of freelancing. As a lifelong believer in the healing and redemptive power of music, however, he knew that humankind's highest art-form would eventually saddle up and ride him into the sunset. Today Richard lives in Cornwall, UK, with his partner Sue, a golden retriever and CD shelf-space in managed but perpetual decline. He still reads and writes about the music he loved before he was a grown-up.