Although Blur's Popscene single in March 1992 and Suede's single The Drowners in May 1992 are widely considered to be the best early examples of the genre, the term 'Britpop' was not used until 1993. Over the next few years it developed as a hugely significant, musical, cultural and social phenomenon in the UK. This book is a timely guide to many of the significant artists and recordings of the genre and quite a few less well known ones.

In August 1994, Manic Street Preachers released The Holy Bible, a dark, fiercely intelligent album that explored such themes as mental illness, murder and war. Richey Edwards, the band's lyricist and motive force, vanished five months later; he was never found. In his absence The Holy Bible entered the rock canon alongside Joy Division's Closer and Nirvana's In Utero, the valedictory works of troubled young men. This book tells the dramatic story of Manic Street Preachers' masterpiece. Tracing the album's origins in the Valleys, an industrialised region of South Wales where the band spent their formative years, the author argues that The Holy Bible can be seen as a meditation on the uses and abuses of history.

Discover UK Shoegaze and Dream Pop is an excellent comprehensive guide to the development of both genres in the UK. It includes detailed discographies, personnel details, biographies, analysis of their music and, where applicable, rarity ratings for all the 80s and 90s acts featured. You’ll recognise some names but several less well known acts are included too. There’s also a detailed postscript section on the re-emergence of Shoegaze and Dream Pop in the UK in the 21st century and the bands involved in it. This book is the latest in a quartet of books Vernon has written about UK music commencing with the Two Volume Tapestry of Delights (2014), A Sharp Shock To The System (2019) and The Britpop Bible (2022). These three previous titles appeared in print but in view of the cost of living crisis Discover UK Shoegaze and Dream Pop has been published digitally to reduce the retail price and make it affordable for more of you. You will discover a lot about UK Shoegaze and Dream Pop from this book, which is profusely illustrated throughout. There is nothing similar out there!

Why have both pop and politics in Britain become the preserve of an unrepresentative elite? From chav-pop pantomimes to retro-chauvinist ‘landfill indie’, the bland, homogenous and compromised nature of the current 'alternative' sector reflects the interests of a similarly complacent and privileged political establishment. In particular, political and media policing of female social and sexual autonomy, through the neglected but significant gendered dimensions of the discourse surrounding ‘chavs’, has been accompanied by a similar restriction and regulation of the expression of working-class femininity in music. This book traces the progress of this cultural clampdown over the past twenty years. ,

This book explores the ways in which popular music can criticise political, social and economic structures, through the lens of alternate rock band Manic Street Preachers. Unlike most recent work on popular music, Peters concentrates largely on lyrical content to defend the provocative claim that the Welsh band pushes the critical message shaped in their lyrics to the forefront. Their music, this suggests, along with sleeve art, body-art, video-clips, clothes, interviews and performances, serves to emphasise this critical message and the primary role played by the band’s lyrics. Blending the disciplines of popular music studies, culture studies and philosophy, Peters confronts the ideas of German philosopher and social critic Theodor W. Adorno with the entire catalogue of Manic Street Preachers, from their 1988 single ‘Suicide Alley’ to their 2018 album Resistance is Futile. Although Adorno argues that popular music is unable to resist the standardising machinery of consumption culture, Peters paradoxically uses his ideas to show that Manic Street Preachers releases shape ‘critical models’ with which to formulate social and political critique. This notion of the ‘critical model’ enables Peters to argue that the catalogue of Manic Street Preachers critically addresses a wide range of themes, from totalitarianism to Holocaust representation, postmodern temporality to Europeanism, and from Nietzsche’s ideas about self-overcoming to reflections on digimodernism and post-truth politics. The book therefore persuasively shows that Manic Street Preacher lyrics constitute an intertextual network of links between diverse cultural and political phenomena, encouraging listeners to critically reflect on the structures that shape our lives.

This book is intended to make any reader, firstly laugh, then in no particular order, flinch, be jealous, feel sick, feel sorry, angry and disgusted or just plain sad. This is the original story of nobodies, but the type of people a lot of people can relate to, to some degree. Events are sometimes in random order, due to the author's sometimes random memory. The main dilemma in writing a 'warts n' all' book, is, whilst it's fine to do so if you are famous, on the other hand, when even your wife can barely remember who you are, it's a bit different! Basically, who gives a shit? But going with the old cliché 'Everyone has a book in them' here's mine. It is a book of many contrasts, wild and excessive and funny to some, but at some points it is balanced out with the tales of the complete opposite, about family, heartbreak and loss, and has some pretty morbid moments I must admit, but this is generally about the knowledge that you gain in this life, I can't say I have learned completely yet, who does? But I'm getting there, and if I don't, who really gives a toss anyway? I didn't invent Penicillin, or The Wheel, or even American Idol, I'm just a regular guy in some respects. There is a great quote out there which that wholeheartedly sums up my philosophy towards life, 'Live as if you'll die tomorrow. Dream as if you'll live forever.' There is also a historical element to some of the recollections, relating to people and places, just to try to make me look a bit more clever if possible, well I need something! As for writing about real life, as a musician formerly, I now understand when a band says you have your have the first part of your life to write your first album, it's the same with writing about real life, all your own experiences are exhausted after that. As anyone who knows me, I'm one of the worst liars in the universe, imagination I'm crap at, I do prefer real life. So I won't be forging a career in Fiction anytime soon. Anyway, it's all academic, I'll probably get banned from writing books ever again, if anybody ever reads this. Names have been changed to protect the slightly guilty, the guilty, and the really guilty, I hope I've not dropped anyone in this too much. There are certain stories which I cannot and will not write about, too sensitive for some people I know, and are frankly a bit too harsh for this book, and that's saying something.

Covering everything visitors (and residents) need to know about accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, and employment, this just may be the definitive companion for those who want to experience all that London has to offer. Area by area, and pub by pub, it's here. Photos.