Broken Record is the first book ever written about the intriguing, checkered, and often hilarious history of the Grammys. In 1958, a group of record executives, alarmed by the explosive success of rock 'n' roll - and the threat rock posed to "quality" pop - launched the Grammy Awards. Their aim: to cultivate a higher standard of popular taste. From the start, the Grammys have been at odds with and often scornful of not only rock but every other wave of rebellious, street-bred music, from R&B to Woodstock, new wave, and rap. Conservative Grammy voting has led to a long list of follies. Many, if not most, of the best recordings of the last thirty years have failed to win a Grammy, including seminal records by Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, John Coltrane, Merle Haggard, and many, many others. Grammy voters, meanwhile, have lavished awards on the likes of Glen Campbell, Toto, Christopher Cross, and Milli Vanilli. In 1965, the Beatles lost to the Anita Kerr Singers for the Best Pop Vocal Prize. Of course, there have been some shining moments as well - moments which this book recounts: stirring performances, deserving winners, poignant acceptance speeches. Here, after more than three decades of Grammys, Broken Record presents a complete history, with year-to-year highlights, backstage drama, and profiles of dozens of artists. Includes a complete listing of all the Grammy winners.

Despite the biases that the Grammys reflect, they are still the holy grail of the music world. This first comprehensive look at the Grammys presents 30 years worth of stories from behind the dazzling spectacle, covering all the gossipy fun and giving a fascinating, factual account of how the awards originated. Photos.

As the producer of the Grammy Awards show, author Ken Ehrlich has seen it all. From Barbra Streisand to Bono, he has dealt with every major super-talent in music, making key decisions, solving problems, and putting on the most spectacular awards ceremonies in the history of television. For the first time he tells his story - the best and the worst of the rock stars, the divas, and the flash in the pans; the tear-jerkers and heartbreakers; the near-disasters; and of course the wild successes that are all part of Music's Biggest Night.

A devout Catholic, a visionary—and some say prophetic—writer, Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) has gained a growing presence in contemporary popular culture. While O’Connor professed that she did not have an ear for music, allusions to her writing appear in the lyrics and narrative form of some of the most celebrated musicians on the contemporary music scene. Flannery at the Grammys sounds the extensive influence of this southern author on the art and vision of a suite of American and British singer-songwriters and pop groups. Author Irwin H. Streight invites critical awareness of O’Connor’s resonance in the products of popular music culture—in folk, blues, rock, gospel, punk, heavy metal, and indie pop songs by some of the most notable figures in the popular music business. Streight examines O'Connor's influence on the art and vision of multiple Grammy Award winners Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, R.E.M., and U2, along with celebrated songwriters Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Sufjan Stevens, Mary Gauthier, Tom Waits, and others. Despite her orthodox religious, and at times controversial, views and limited literary output, O’Connor has left a curiously indelible mark on the careers of the successful musicians discussed in this volume. Still, her acknowledged influence and remarkable presence in contemporary pop and rock songs has not been well noted by pop music critics and/or literary scholars. Many years in the making, Flannery at the Grammys achieves groundbreaking work in cultural studies and combines in-depth literary and pop music scholarship to engage the informed devotee and the casual reader alike.

When fifteen-year-old Carmen escapes her burning orphanage in Chicago, she has a choice: allow herself to be rounded up by the Red Cross and sent to a new orphanage or run away and try to realize her dream of becoming a famous model in New York City. She decides to run. Navigating the streets of the Big Apple on her own, Carmen does what she must to survive. With some unexpected assistance, she establishes a new identity for herself and makes plans for her future. Along the way, she meets five important men who change her perspective forever. In the end, she must choose between her first love?the man she gives her virginity to?or a man ten years her senior who helps her transform from an inexperienced teenager to a confident woman. The first of a planned trilogy, this romance novel follows a teenage orphan as she seeks a new life for herself.

Over the past 50 years, the Grammy Awards have become so much more than an annual TV event celebrating the best in music. Grammy is the premier music award, the universal code that indicates an album, a song, or artist is the best of the best. This book chronicles the first half-century of the Grammy Awards through revealing text and a rich collection of more than 300 color and vintage black-and-white photos. Wild tells the story not just of the birth and growth of the globe¿s definitive music awards show, but simultaneously details the development of popular music -- and, of course, popular music¿s stars -- while highlighting those special moments that have made the Grammy Awards a TV landmark. Includes an interactive trivia Grammy DVD.

A collection of 150 stories about music from all over Latin America, including Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, as well as Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The stories were originally broadcast on public radio programs on NPR, PRX's The World, BCC, KPCC and Latino USA. The book contains 12 chapters, each following a specific narrative: music and identity; education, community building, immigration, women's empowerment, adversity, social unrest and violence, instruments, producers, place and nation; the music of Brazil, Cuba music and the diaspora. The book's main focus is Latin American music from across the continent, with an emphasis on the music of Latinos and other ethnic groups in Los Angeles. The book also tells a personal story: the author's constant, tireless search for stories that help explain how complex and diverse humans are and how we share something so special that brings us together: music. This edition includes illustrations by Alec Dempster.