Andrew Darlington

There are many reasons for loving The Yardbirds that go way beyond knowing that the 'group' was the launchpad for three superstar guitarists - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds operated as an interdependent unit, from their 'most blueswailing' origins following The Rolling Stones with a 'Crawdaddy Club' residency, through their series of innovative hit singles - 'For Your Love', 'Evil Hearted You', 'I'm A Man' into 'Shapes Of Things' and beyond, which rivalled The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who at the very bleeding-edge of 1960s rock culture. The neglected psychedelic classics 'Happenings Ten Years Time Ago' and 'Mister, You're A Better Man Than I'carried their legacy over into the punk era. Their cult albums, Five Live Yardbirds, Roger The Engineer and Little Games, remain highly esteemed and collectable decades later, while their sequence in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up movie catches the sixties at its most swingingly iconic. Classic rock seldom came as classic as it does with The Yardbirds, and now considered stars of heritage Rock, this book exhaustively traces the full Yardbirds story track-by-track from first to last, then picks up the narrative as former members become Led Zeppelin, Renaissance, Box of Frogs and the later Yardbirds reunion.

This is the ninth volume in our popular Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy series of anthologies in the footsteps of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and other pioneers of the sword and sorcery genre. The stories and authors included this time are: The Cold Maiden by Eli FreyssonAssassin Eternal: The Memory Eaters by Andrew DarlingtonTo Raise the Shining Walls of Irem Once More by Tais TengFulgin the Grim: Retribution by Ken LizziSnow in Kadhal by Jaap BoekesteinVoyage to Vancienne by Gavin ChappellA Pathway Forward by Lyndon Perry & David BakkeThe Left Eye of Phun Margat by Scott McCloskeySorcery in Nekharet by Steve Dilks Artwork by award-winning artist Jim Pitts

Small Faces. Big Sound. There were but four Small Faces. First, they were the sharp little mod fourpiece of the ‘All Or Nothing’ Decca years, Carnaby Street, Ready Steady Go! and Rave magazine. Then they were the irreverent freakbeat experimentalists of the Immediate years, with ‘Tin Soldier’, ‘Lazy Sunday’ and classic album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. Their hits were praised, covered and imitated by subsequent rock musicians such as Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. When The Small Faces split, Steve Marriott formed Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and the rest of the band became The Faces with the addition of future Rolling Stone Ron Wood and vocalist Rod Stewart. The Faces became one of the biggest rock bands of the seventies via albums such as A Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse and Ooh La La or worldwide hit ‘Stay With Me’. When those bands came to a natural end, and with ‘Itchycoo Park’ returned to the top ten, The Small Faces reformed for two more albums. Were they ill-advised or are they ripe for re-evaluation? The evidence is laid out here. For this is the full story song-by-song, from the very start, to the end …

Sheffield in the late-1970s was isolated from what was happening in London in the same way that Liverpool had been in 1963. A unique generation of electro-experimental groupings evolved in the former Steel City around Cabaret Voltaire and The Future. The Future split into two factions, Clock DVA and The Human League. Then The Human League split into two further factions, Heaven 17, and The Human League as we now know them, fronted by Philip Oakey with Joanne Catherall and Susan Sulley. Dare became one of the most iconic albums of the eighties; the album by which Human League are most instantly recognised. It is a musically ambitious album, both driven and voracious album, with giddy grenades of shared inventiveness. A triumph of content over considerable style, at once phenomenally commercial and gleefully avant-garde. The American success of 'Don't You Want Me', accelerated by the high-gloss movie-quality video, exploiting the band's extreme visual appeal, heralded what was soon termed the Second British Invasion. It was the first of two Human League singles to top the American charts. This book tells the full story, from the band's origins in Sheffield, through the full arc of Human League and the very early Heaven 17 hits, and the albums - track-by-track, into the twenty-first century...

Everyone loved The Hollies. They were the 'group's group'. Never confrontational or rebellious, always smartly suited, always smiling. The band had an unbroken run of immaculate pop singles which, while they seldom had that must-buy factor of the latest Rolling Stones or Beatles record, was hallmarked by tight harmonies and unfailing chart sensibility. Throughout the sixties and well into the seventies, everyone had - own up - at least one or two Hollies singles in their collection. No-one begrudged The Hollies their hits. When 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' and 'Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress' became global million-sellers, The Hollies were inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Graham Nash - by then deep into his second career as part of Crosby, Stills and Nash - was reunited with other members of the outfit, all on stage together in the March 2010 ceremony. This book tells the full story, from the band's origins in Manchester, through the full arc of hits, and the albums - track-by-track, into the twenty-first century, then... now... always

There are a million stories that take place within the arc of Derek Taylor’s life. He lived a charmed life, which started on Saturday, 7 May 1932, in the Liverpool 17 suburb of Toxteth Park South, and saw him becoming a writer best known as the press agent for the Beatles. He became the band's friend and intimate across thirty years. Indeed, there are no shortage of claimants to the ‘honorary’ or ‘fifth Beatle’ status, but Derek’s claim is more valid than most. His urbane charm, his easy intelligence, and the value of his contribution to the Beatles’ collective story are beyond dispute. He put spin on stories decades before the term 'spin doctor' was concocted, with his droll, idiosyncratic way of speaking. It all began in 1964, when he co-wrote A Cellarful Of Noise, the best-selling autobiography of Brian Epstein. Soon after, he became Epstein’s personal assistant and The Beatles' press agent. In 1965 he moved to Los Angeles, where he started his own public relations company, managing PR for bands like Paul Revere And The Raiders, The Byrds, and The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson called him a ‘PR whiz’ and ‘a colourful, slick-talking Brit’. But he could also be a ‘theatrical, slightly conspiratorial man’ according to Ray Coleman. Derek was co-creator and producer of the historic Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He’s there in song when John rhymes ‘Derek Taylor’ with ‘Norman Mailer’ in 'Give Peace A Chance'. He returned to England to work for the Beatles again as the press officer for the newly created Apple Corps. This is the definitive biography of a man that was at the heart of the music world of the 1960s and 1970s. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Beatles of course, but also to anyone yearning for a deep dive into the colourful world of a man who helped define a era.

It's just what it says on the tin. Andy Darlington sounds off about what's wrong (and sometimes right) with the state of the nation with reference to Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Phil Ochs and numerous inspections of his West Yorkshire environment