Rob Jovanovic – författare

George Michael is an enigma. While he is one of the most open and vocal pop superstars on the planet, he also fiercely protective of his privacy. From the formation of Wham! In 1981 he immediately found fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams. His music formed the soundtrack to the 1980s and he achieved all of this despite growing up in a dysfunctional family where his father openly proclaimed that George had no talent.Wham! split in 1986 but Michael went on to greater things as a solo artist. Along the way he has been embroiled in several controversies, but in refreshing contrast to other superstars, he has been happy to address his issues head-on in the media. Rob Jovanovic''s biography tackles all the issues that formed George Michael and his place as a cultural icon. It also, for the first time, analyses Michael''s musical output and groundbreaking videos.

Kate Bush has written some of the most memorable songs in pop music history. Wuthering Heights, her debut single shot to number 1 in 1978 and she remains something of an enigma over a quarter of a century later. A singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, actress and director, Kate has inspired a devoted following around the world. Rob Jovanovic traces the story of Kate Bush''s career, from her up-bringing in the Essex countryside through her first forays into music with a series of home recordings, to her number 1 debut album that propelled her to international stardom. Including exclusive interviews with studio musicians and choreographers, Jovanovic''s biography emphasises both her voracious talent and her intensely private personality.

The missing Manic - an authoritative look into the life and times of Richey Edwards, the Manic Street Preachers'' guitarist who disappeared in 1995.The disappearance of Richey Edwards, troubled guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers, is one of rock and roll''s great unresolved mysteries. His Vauxhall Cavalier was found abandoned in a service station car park near the Severn Bridge, a notorious suicide spot, in February 1995, a fortnight after Edwards had last been seen. The location of the car and the tape left in the deck - Nirvana''s album In Utero - tended to point to one conclusion. However, it almost seemed too obvious a statement, and in A VERSION OF REASON, Rob Jovanovic unravels the complicated life and final days of Richey Edwards. Piecing together testimony from those close to Edwards Jovanovic seeks to produce an authoritative account of the life and times of Richey Edwards.

“We’ve sort of flirted with greatness,” R.E.M.’s Peter Buck admitted. “But we’ve yet to make a record as good as Big Star’s Third.”

Although Big Star were together for less than four years and had little commercial success, the influence of their three original albums—#1 Record, Radio City, and Third—continues to grow. Big Star bucked all the musical trends of the 70s. In an era of glam and prog rock they wrote catchy, radio-friendly power-pop tunes that remain influential today. Artists as diverse as Primal Scream, R.E.M., The Bangles, The Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Jeff Buckley, and Wilco have spoken about the Big Star legacy.

In the decade since the original version of this book was published, Big Star have made a belated fourth album, In Space, and released an acclaimed four-disc retrospective, Keep An Eye On The Sky. The band have also lost two original members, an influential producer, and the photographer of their iconic logo. But interest in the group is as high as ever in the 21st century, with new bands such as Yo La Tengo and Hot Chip—and even pop superstar Katy Perry—carrying the flame.

Now fully updated, and drawing on firsthand interviews with the band, family members, friends, and the major players at Ardent Records, this is the definitive history of rock’s forgotten band.

At a time in rock and pop history when almost everything has been done before, few artists have proved as restlessly innovative as Beck.

Since bursting onto the scene in 1994 with ‘Loser’, he has zigzagged his way across the contemporary music landscape, consistently remaining one step ahead of expectations and doing things his own way, shape-shifting from indie icon to pop crooner, from folk hobo to Latino-rap hipster, balancing big-budget chart highs with low-key, introspective acoustic albums.

Beck’s early shows saw him clearing the stage with a leaf-blower, and his enthusiasm for the experimental has not diminished with age. In the twenty-first century, he founded the Record Club, which brought together disparate artists to record cover versions of whole albums in a single day for release online. Then he took a troupe of doppelgänger marionettes  out on tour and made the brave decision to release Song Reader as a set of sheet music, challenging buyers to record and play their own versions of his new songs.

Drawing on new interviews with friends, family, collaborators, and bandmates—as well as conversations with Beck himself—Throwing Frisbees At The Sun is a carefully crafted, career-spanning retrospective befitting the many twists and turns of this intriguing performer’s path through life and music.