Filmmusik, musikaler och teatermusik

Här finns pianonoter till de bästa sångerna från de populäraste musikalerna genom tiderna: Annie, Chess, Chicago, Evita, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Kristina från Duvemåla, Mamma Mia, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, West Side Story med flera. Samtliga låtar presenteras med ett välklingande pianoarrangemang, sångtexter och ackordanalys. Ur innehållet: Anthem, All That Jazz, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Summer Nights , I Don't Know How To Love Him, Guldet blev till sand, I Could Have Danced All Night, Edelweiss, Tonight och många fler!

Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for DramaNow a major motion picture, available on Disney Plus.Goodreads best non-fiction book of 2016From Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist-star Lin-Manuel Miranda comes a backstage pass to his groundbreaking, hit musical Hamilton.Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims the origins of the United States for a diverse new generation.HAMILTON: THE REVOLUTION gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda, along with Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages - "since before this was even a show," according to Miranda - traces its development from an improbable perfor­mance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later. In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here.Their account features photos by the renowned Frank Ockenfels and veteran Broadway photographer, Joan Marcus; exclusive looks at notebooks and emails; interviews with Questlove, Stephen Sond­heim, leading political commentators, and more than 50 people involved with the production; and multiple appearances by Presi­dent Obama himself. The book does more than tell the surprising story of how a Broadway musical became an international phenomenon: It demonstrates that America has always been renewed by the brash upstarts and brilliant outsiders, the men and women who don't throw away their shot.

Come along backstage and peek inside the spectacular and sometimes scandalous world of musical theatre.See the world's most-loved musical productions come to life in this lavishly illustrated book!This show-stopping reference book includes:- A chronological structure that makes the book work as a history of musicals- Includes a 20-page reference section with key details on over 100 additional musicals- Neat timelines summarise the plot, characters, and songs for 20 top musicalsFrom The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music to Mamma Mia and Les Misérables, fall in love all over again with the songs, stories, characters, creators, and legendary stars from every era of musical theatre. Take a journey through the years and immerse yourself in the behind-the-scenes world of musical theatre! From the dance halls and vaudeville to the silver screen and sensational Broadway shows, this go-to musical guide has all the glitter and glamour of the West End. It's Showtime! Delve into profiles of successful creators such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Packed with profiles of musical icons and fun infographics that summarise the plot, characters and songs, Musicals: The Definitive Visual Guide is the perfect way to embrace your inner "theatre geek". With a foreword by Elaine Paige, this updated edition gives greater coverage on the smash-hit Hamilton and includes mention of new and popular stage and movie musicals. It's a must-have or the ultimate gift for musical theatre fans.Complete the Series:If you enjoyed this illustrated celebration of musicals, look out for more titles in this series from DK. Uncover the most mesmerising moments in ballet history in Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated Story.

This delightful book features enchanting, Wicked-themed illustrations and a range of prints and patterns that will transport you into the thrillifying world of the Wicked films. Featuring 160 pages of beautiful paper you can use to decorate a journal, wrap a gift, create a wall collage, or personalize a note to a friend. Spark your creativity with this one-of-a-kind collection of colorful and unique paper! ENDLESS POTENTIAL: Paper Magic: Wicked makes the perfect gift for mixed media artists, scrapbookers, mood/vision/inspiration board enthusiasts, and DIY people of all ages. UNIQUE TEMPLATES: Features easy-to-use templates for notecards, envelopes, bookmarks, and stickers to get you started. QUALITY CONSTRUCTION: Give your craft projects added flair without needing to cut up your existing books and magazines with these timeless patterns and illustrations on high-quality paper.

Film Themes: The Piano Collection brings together 30 favourite themes and songs from such films as Star Wars, Frozen, Hunger Games, How To Train Your Dragon and Twilight, plus several pieces from the Harry Potter film series and “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme” from the acclaimed new movie La La Land. All pieces have been arranged for the intermediate pianist.

In 1973, in a tiny upstairs theater in London, a sweet transvestite in fishnets, platform heels, and a corset strutted on stage and tossed off his cape—and the world was never the same. Now, for the first time, show creator Richard O’Brien opens his archives to provide an unprecedented look at the origins of Frank N. Furter and Rocky Horror in this unique and stunning two-volume set.It Was Great When It All Began: The Original Annotated Theatrical ScriptBefore the cult movie classic, there was the cult stage show. See where it all began with this original 1973 theatrical script, presented in all its Rocky Horror glory. Production notes, stage directions, and the full script with lyrics are accompanied by rare performance images from the 1973 London and 1974 Roxy (Los Angeles) casts. Remembrances from cast members and an archival piece written by Richard O’Brien offer insights into what makes a winning Rocky Horror stage performance. You’ll feel like you’re in the front row of that little London theater. And because today’s stage productions often reflect the movie, the book also includes a Virgin’s Guide—a complete theatrical script annotated with classic audience callbacks and partici . . . pation.Strange Journey: The Illustrated Oral History of Rocky HorrorRocky Horror’s strange journey began onstage, but the full story is much more. Based on the groundbreaking documentary Strange Journey by Richard’s son, Linus O’Brien, this official oral history chronicles the saga from its stage origins to its lasting cultural impact. Never-before-seen images and ephemera from Richard O’Brien’s personal archive are paired with new interviews from cast and crew—including Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon—shadow cast performers, and of course, Richard O’Brien himself. Cultural icons like Trixie Mattel share how Rocky Horror shaped their lives and the LGBTQ+ community. Packed with fascinating stories, rare imagery, and archival treasures, Strange Journey paints a vivid portrait of how this cult classic became a global phenomenon.DEFINITIVE COMPANION: Experience the cult classic stage play like never before, featuring the complete script and lyrics, original cast photography, and insights from the original cast and show creator Richard O’Brien.EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL: Discover never-before-seen set photography and design sketches from Richard O’Brien’s personal collection.NEW INTERVIEWS: Includes fresh interviews with cast, crew, and cultural historians, offering new perspectives on this enduring cultural phenomenon.

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and THE TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023. The exhilarating and startlingly honest autobiography of the living legend.‘Glorious, exuberant, chatty and candid, a 970-page victory lap past all who ever doubted, diminished or dissed her . . . generous dollops of chutzpah … Nobody puts Barbra in the corner’ New York Times‘A fascinating read… Streisand writes relatively succinctly, with warmth and wit. Behind the sequins, beneath the wigs and through the glass of the recording studio, there’s just a woman who dreamed of being famous and make it happen, on her terms. It’s an accomplished and entrancing walk through a life well lived’ Evening Standard‘The mother of all memoirs’ New YorkerBarbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment.She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognisable voices in popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture.In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed.She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she's found in her marriage to James Brolin.No entertainer's memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand's, and this engrossing book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.Praise for My Name is Barbara:‘A brilliant memoir’ Hillary Clinton'Exhilarating … leaves blood on the page … My Name Is Barbra is 992 pages of startling honesty and self-reflection, deadpan parenthetical asides, encyclopedic recall of onstage outfits, and rigorous analyses of her films' Vanity Fair‘A Streisand obsessive’s dream come true. It addresses all the rumours and misrepresentations of her long and extraordinary life, from nearly missing out on A Star is Born to dating Pierre Trudeau, Omar Sharif and Marlon Brando. The wait has been worth every word!' Richard E Grant, Sunday Times‘Mystical, messy, bawdy and funny … My Name is Barbra confides her insecurities and a ravening hunger for fame … silent but eloquent and vociferous writing' Peter Conrad, The Observer‘At heart this is a story so bursting with life, fury, unbelievable ambition and food (Streisand loves to eat) that you come away from it exhausted but smiling … hear hear!’ The Guardian‘This enormous, poignant memoir from the ultimate showbusiness trouper shows that you can never have it all (even if you’re Barbra). The writing is great and the likeable formidable personality shines through . . . deeper than the average celebrity memoir’ The Times‘No less than a living legend … Streisand’s story is truly inspirational and it’s one that you’ll want to pick up again and again’ GlamourST Bestseller, November 2023. ST Music Book of The Year, 2023.

During a seven-decade career that spanned from 19th century Vienna to 1920s Broadway to the golden age of Hollywood, three-time Academy Award winner Max Steiner did more than any other composer to introduce and establish the language of film music. Indeed, revered contemporary film composers like John Williams and Danny Elfman use the same techniques that Steiner himself perfected in his iconic work for such classics as Casablanca, King Kong, Gone with the Wind, The Searchers, Now, Voyager, the Astaire-Rogers musicals, and over 200 other titles. And Steiner's private life was a drama all its own. Born into a legendary Austrian theatrical dynasty, he became one of Hollywood's top-paid composers. But he was also constantly in debt--the inevitable result of gambling, financial mismanagement, four marriages, and the actions of his emotionally troubled son. Throughout his chaotic life, Steiner was buoyed by an innate optimism, a quick wit, and an instinctive gift for melody, all of which would come to the fore as he met and worked with luminaries like Richard Strauss, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, the Warner Bros., David O. Selznick, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, and Frank Capra. In Music by Max Steiner, the first full biography of Steiner, author Steven C. Smith interweaves the dramatic incidents of Steiner's personal life with an accessible exploration of his composing methods and experiences, bringing to life the previously untold story of a musical pioneer and master dramatist who helped create a vital new art with some of the greatest film scores in cinema history.

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and THE TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR. The exhilarating and startlingly honest autobiography of the living legend.'Over almost a thousand pages, the diva to end them all documents her rise to the top and the tears and joys that went with it … What really brings this alive is Barbra Streisand’s admission of the insecurity that drives her.' The Times'Exhilarating … leaves blood on the page … My Name Is Barbra is 992 pages of startling honesty and self-reflection, deadpan parenthetical asides, encyclopedic recall of onstage outfits, and rigorous analyses of her films' Vanity Fair'I have been patiently waiting for Barbra Streisand’s autobiography for 54 years….My Name is Barbra is a Streisand obsessive’s dream come true. It addresses all the rumours and misrepresentations of her long and extraordinary life, from nearly missing out on A Star is Born to dating Pierre Trudeau, Omar Sharif and Marlon Brando. The wait has been worth every word!' – Richard E Grant, Sunday TimesBarbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment.She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognisable voices in popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture.In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed.She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she's found in her marriage to James Brolin.No entertainer's memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand's, and this engrossing book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.Praise for My Name is Barbara:‘The mother of all memoirs’ New Yorker‘A brilliant memoir’ Hillary Clinton‘Glorious, exuberant, chatty and candid, a 970-page victory lap past all who ever doubted, diminished or dissed her . . . generous dollops of chutzpah … Nobody puts Barbra in the corner’ New York Times‘At heart this is a story so bursting with life, fury, unbelievable ambition and food (Streisand loves to eat) that you come away from it exhausted but smiling … hear hear!’ The Guardian‘Mystical, messy, bawdy and funny … My Name is Barbra confides her insecurities and a ravening hunger for fame … silent but eloquent and vociferous writing' Peter Conrad, The Observer‘This enormous, poignant memoir from the ultimate showbusiness trouper shows that you can never have it all (even if you’re Barbra). The writing is great and the likeable formidable personality shines through . . . deeper than the average celebrity memoir’ The Times‘A glorious doorstopper… with warmth and wit. Behind the sequins, beneath the wigs and through the glass of the recording studio, there’s just a woman who dreamed of being famous and make it happen, on her terms. It’s an accomplished and entrancing walk through a life well lived’ Evening Standard‘No less than a living legend … Streisand’s story is truly inspirational and it’s one that you’ll want to pick up again and again’ Glamour

Wild Sound turns an analytic eye and ear to the role of background sound in cinema, to the way that film sound captures, creates, represents, and even critiques the environments that we inhabit. Listening beyond music and dialogue, this book explores the relationship between location sound, sound libraries, and wider practices of field recording in the creation of the film soundtrack. Wild Sound is also interested in the wildness of sound, in the ways in which ambient environmental sounds gesture to a world beyond the frame, and sometimes invite the chaotic, unmanageable energies of the world outside into the hyper-controlled domain of the film. ‘Wild sound’, or ‘wild track’, is a film industrial term for non-synchronised sounds that often originate from a process of field recording. Immanently useful as atmosphere and sonic filler, these sounds often smuggle a dangerously noisy materiality into the systems of cinema. Ambient sound has been chronically under-appreciated and critically under-examined in the study of cinema. This book asserts that the background sounds of place onscreen are never neutral. Pigott reveals them to be carefully constructed ‘sonic environments’ that play a quiet but substantial role in determining how film audiences feel about the places, people and events that populate the screen. Each chapter tracks individual sounds across a wide range of international films from the history of cinema, providing rich cultural context and technical detail, drawing out the multiple meanings and formal characteristics of those ambient sounds that are often dismissed as inconsequential. Pigott demonstrates the value of paying close attention to the cinematic sound of place, at a time when it has never been more vital to examine how we imagine and treat our environments.

The first comprehensive collection of the letters of one of the most successful American songwriters of the twentieth centuryFrom Anything Goes to Kiss Me, Kate, Cole Porter left a lasting legacy of iconic songs including "You're the Top," "Love For Sale," and "Night and Day." Yet, alongside his professional success, Porter led an eclectic personal life which featured exuberant parties, scandalous affairs, and chronic health problems. This extensive collection of letters (most of which are published here for the first time) dates from the first decade of the twentieth century to the early 1960s and features correspondence with stars such as Irving Berlin, Ethel Merman, and Orson Welles, as well as his friends and lovers.Cliff Eisen and Dominic McHugh complement these letters with lively commentaries that draw together the loose threads of Porter’s life and highlight the distinctions between Porter’s public and private existence. This book reveals surprising insights into his attitudes toward Hollywood and Broadway, and toward money, love, and dazzling success.

Martin Zenck porträtiert den 2024 verstorbenen Wolfgang Rihm als einen kosmopolitischen Komponisten, der auf der Welthaftigkeit der Musik und auf der Freiheit des Komponierens kompromisslos besteht. Der Autor legt eine breite Darstellung des Rihm’schen Œuvres vor: der Lieder, der Instrumentalmusik, des sakralen Werks sowie des zentralen „Nietzsche-Komplexes“ und vor allem des Musiktheaters: von der Artaud-Trilogie und der „Hamletmaschine“ nach Heiner Müller bis hin zu den Opern, die Rihm auf der Textbasis von Goethe („Proserpina“) und Hölderlin („Oedipus“) verfasst hat.Gegenüber der Deutungshoheit und kraftvoll-energetischen Sprache Rihms findet dieses Buch seinen eigenen methodischen Ansatz, indem es zwar der Selbstinterpretation des Komponisten Raum gibt, auf der anderen Seite aber das Rihm’sche Werk in einen neuen Verstehenshorizont stellt. Dazu dienen theater- und literaturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven, philosophische und produktionsästhetische Zugänge sowie die musikalische Analyse und die Untersuchung von Aufführungen und Aufnahmen.Im Zentrum des Buches steht so der Dialog zwischen dem Komponisten und seinem Interpreten Martin Zenck: die Suche nach Bedeutungsdimensionen innerhalb der Rezeption, nach einem „Sinnüberschuss“ gemäß der Rihm’schen Maxime, dass „das Werk immer mehr weiß als der Autor“.

The New York Times Bestseller From the award-winning composer/co-lyricist behind such iconic projects as Hairspray, Sister Act, Mary Poppins Returns, and Smash comes a wickedly funny, no-holds-barred memoir.In Never Mind the Happy, musical dynamo Marc Shaiman looks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks, and unforgettable collaborations. Along the way, he charts the personal highs and heartbreaks that have shaped him—spending his teenage years in community theater, starting a decades-long collaboration with Bette Midler in the ’70s, surviving the AIDS crisis of the ’80s, his award-winning film music career in the Hollywood of the ’90s, right up to the peaks (and valleys) of creating Broadway musicals from 2000 on. Candid, hilarious, and deeply human, Shaiman’s story is a tribute to the power of music, the pull of the spotlight, and the beat that never stops. Part showbiz tell-all, part love letter to the melancholy that fuels creativity, told with perfect comic timing—along with a few wrong notes, and plenty of standing ovations.

They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play. Their songs and dance numbers served to advance the drama and reveal character, a sharp break from the past and the template on which all future musicals would be built.Though different in personality and often emotionally distant from each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein presented an unbroken front to the world and forged much more than a songwriting team; their partnership was also one of the most profitable and powerful entertainment businesses of their era. They were cultural powerhouses whose work came to define postwar America on stage, screen, television, and radio. But they also had their failures and flops, and more than once they feared they had lost their touch.Todd S. Purdum’s portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations will captivate lovers of musical theater, lovers of the classic American songbook, and lovers in general. He shows that what Rodgers and Hammerstein wrought was truly something wonderful.

This book is a more personal history than has ever before been written by or about Marianne Faithfull. Anecdotal, conversational, intimate and revealing, this is her no-holds-barred account of her life, her friends, her triumphs and mistakes.A decade after the publication of ‘Faithfull’, one of the most acclaimed rock autobiographies of all time, Marianne Faithfull is back, vowing periodically leave her wicked ways behind and grow up, but finding that somehow strange things keep happening.A wry observer of her slightly off-kilter world, Marianne muses nostalgically about afternoons languishing on Moroccan cushions at George and Pattie's, getting high and listening to new songs. She fondly recalls the outlandish antics of her Beat friends Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs; is frequently baffled at her image in the press (opening the paper to read of her own demise: 'Sixties Star in Death Plunge'); terrified by the curse sent by Kenneth Anger; mortified by her history of reckless behaviour; not to mention her near-death experience in Singapore while looking for an opium den.Marianne peoples her anecdotal memoir with legendary characters one can imagine only Marianne assembling around her, both the eccentric and the beautiful, from Henrietta Moraes and Donatella Versace to Sofia Coppola, Juliette Greco, and Yves St. Laurent's dog. Here is Marianne on the dark side of the sixties and the bright side of the nineties, which saw her collaborating with the likes of Blur and Jarvis Cocker; compelling recollections of an unconventional childhood in her father's orgiastic literary commune to a hilariously decadent few days at Lady Caroline Blackwood's deathbed. Here she is her blossoming movie career, on her records as subliminal autobiography. This is as intimate a portrait as we've ever had of Marianne, as she meditates on sex and drugs, confronts her alter-ego, the Fabulous Beast, and faces her own mortality in her battle with breast cancer.Since her last book Marianne has, in her own words, 'made quite a few records, gone on many tours, tried to play it straight, and… Well, the rest is the subject of this book.'

“You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.” One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera—Broadway’s longest running show—and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him.The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening,’ to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini’s Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion—a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments.A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued.Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writing songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first mega-hit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera.Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities—Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more—Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.

An indelible and irresistible portrait of the crucial formative years of the legendary rock band KISS and the music scene they changed forever-culminating with the groundbreaking success of their classic 1975 album Alive! and the smash single "Rock and Roll All Nite" Including original interviews with: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent, as well as members of Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Rush, Slade, Blue Oyster Cult, Mott the Hoople, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Raspberries, the James Gang, the New York Dolls, Iggy & the Stooges, the Ramones, Suzi Quatro, Argent, and Uriah Heep.

From an early age, Richard Hell dreamed of running away. He arrived penniless in New York City at seventeen; ten years later he was a pivotal voice of the age of punk, cofounding such seminal bands as Television, The Heartbreakers, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids-whose song "Blank Generation" remains the defining anthem of the era, an era that would forever alter popular culture in all its forms. How this legendary downtown artist went from a bucolic childhood in the idyllic Kentucky foothills to igniting a movement that would take over New York and London's restless youth culture-cementing CBGB as the ground zero of punk and spawning the careers of not only Hell himself, but a cohort of friends such as Tom Verlaine, Patti Smith, the Ramones, and Debby Harry-is a mesmerizing chronicle of self-invention, and of Hell's yearning for redemption through poetry, music, and art. An acutely rendered, unforgettable coming-of-age story, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp evokes with feeling, lyricism, and piercing intelligence both the world that shaped him and the world he shaped.