The best books about music for International Book Lovers Day

9 August 2024, 11:00 | Updated: 21 August 2024, 14:22

Here are the books about rock'n'roll, musicians, stars and scandals that you need in your library: everything from Britpop to classic rock.

By Radio X

@RadioX

1. Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist: the Joy Division Years: Volume I (2019)

   

   Morris's memoir managed to eclipse the books by his Joy Division bandmates Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner with its pin-sharp prose. Record Play Pause is an often hilarious autobiography which takes the drummer from his childhood through to the rise and fall of Manchester's greatest band. The chapter where Morris discovers that singer Ian Curtis has taken his own life is perhaps the most moving and well-written passages of any music biography you'll encounter.

2. Ian MacDonald - Revoution In The Head: The Beatles' Records And The Sixties (1994)

   

   MacDonald dissects every song by The Beatles, putting them into their cultural and artistic context, with a liberal sprinkling of musicology. Sounds like a snoozefest? Certainly not. Some of the entries can get very verbose, but for a lot of Fabs fans, this is a valuable insight into the group's music and will send you scurrying back to your records for another listen.

3. Michael Azerrad - Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana (1994)

   

   The nearest thing we'll get to an "official" Nirvana biography, Azerrad was in the thick of it during the heady years of 1992/93, gaining access to all the major players in the story. While he inevitably misses out on any perspective gained following the death of Kurt Cobain, Azerrad's book is very much of the moment and untouched by rose-tinted hindsight.

4. Anthony Kiedis - Scar Tissue (2004)

   

   The Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman offers a very stark depiction of his struggles with heroin addiction. It's like Under The Bridge in book form. It starts with Kiedis's dad giving him coke and a night with his girlfriend... and degenerates from there.

5. Johnny Marr - Set The Boy Free (2016)

   

   Inevitably, this is more palatable than Morrissey's autobiography, as young John Maher plots an entertaining course through his years in Manchester funk bands, indie superstardom with The Smiths, “the split” and his rewarding solo years. Best bit: Marr and Bernard Sumner drink their way through an Electronic promo trip with hilarious consequences.

6. Motley Crue - The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band (2001)

   

   The filthiest, sleaziest rock biography ever written is a masterclass in hedonistic excess, coupled with downright misogyny and a few genuinely tragic moments. It may not be the most morally-upstanding book you'll ever read, but it will certainly raise an eyebrow or two. Now a Netflix movie!

7. Keith Richards - Life (2010)

   

   One of the most eagerly-awaited autobiographies of all time, Keef's book did not disappoint. The opening chapters are a but unremarkable, depicting post-war life in Kent, but once Keef and Anita are in the back of a Bentley driving to Morocco, leaving the drug addled Brian Jones behind, the psycho-drama of the Stones ramps up. Soon, our hero is living the outlaw life of a drug addict and things take a darker turn. But - incredibly - Keef lives to tell the tale. Full of quotable homilies and advice for any would-be hell-raisers out there.

8. John Harris - The Last Party: Britpop, Blair And The Demise Of British Rock (2003)

   

   Harris was editor of Select magazine at the height of Britpop, so had a ringside seat as the genre reached its bloated apex at the Oasis show at Knebworth in 1996. He cites the Britpop endorsement of the Blair government as the dying gasp of rock and roll and it's a persuasive argument.

9. Alex James - Bit Of Blur (2007)

   

   The "second drunkest member of Britain's drunkest band" tells his story from middle class suburbia to hanging out with Damien Hirst and Tony Blair. In the process, he spends about £1 million on cocaine and alcohol and notches up many an anecdote. Things find an even keel when he sobers up and gets into producing cheese, but it's an enjoyable ride.

10. Johnny Rogan - Morrissey And Marr: The Severed Alliance (1992)

    

    Morrissey wasn't happy with this detailed look at his work with Johnny Marr and The Smiths, but this is a fine account of the childhoods of the two main players, their long struggle to success and their ignominious split in 1987.

11. Louise Wener - Different For Girls: My True Life Adventures In Pop (2010)

    

    You had the Alex James version, now here's the female perspective on the Britpop years. Wener, who was the lead singer in Sleeper, forged a separate career as a novelist, so this is an expertly written account of her time as a pop star.

12. David Buckley - Strange Fascination: David Bowie - The Definitive Story (1999)

    

    The best book on Bowie's life, career and art, with analysis and insight.

13. Simon Price - Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers) (1999)

    

    Price is a HUGE Manics fan and this tribute to the lives and work of the Welsh band demonstrates that.

14. David Cavanagh - My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize: The Creation Records Story (2000)

    

    This is essentially the tale of Alan McGee and his label Creation, from the Primal Scream days, via the glory years of The House Of Love, Ride, My Bloody Valentine and finally the world-conquering Oasis. But it's more than that - Cavanagh plots the heyday of British indie, back when it truly was independent and its rise and fall during the Britpop years. Some amazing tales and a reminder of some great, underrated bands.

15. Anthony H. Wilson - 24 Hour Party People: What The Sleeve Notes Never Tell You (2002)

    

    Not that Factory Records ever published any sleeve notes, of course. Ostensibly the book of Michael Winterbottom's 2000 film about the rise and fall of Manchester's most famous label, this spirals into a colourful, idiosyncratic and eloquent autobiography of Wilson, adding many more layers to the tale. Find out more about Tony's years in crap local TV, his aborted attempt to become a "serious" journalist, his tribulations with bands like A Certain Ratio and The Durutti Column, and the financial car crash that was The Hacienda. Wilson is sorely missed, but this is his definitive statement. "This is not a book about me. I'm a minor character in my own story. This is about the music and the people who made the music."

16. Stanley Booth - The True Adventures Of The Rolling Stones (1984)

    

    Young journalist Booth weaselled his way onto the crew of the Stones' big comeback tour of the States in 1969 and inadvertently found himself present at one of the most terrifying rock shows of all time: Altamont. The road to the infamous open air show in December 1969 (in which a fan was stabbed to death by Hell's Angels) is paved with the Stones getting used to playing live again after a two year hiatus. As reportage goes, it's one of the best.

17. Nile Rodgers - Le Freak: An Upside Down Story Of Family, Disco And Destiny (2011)

    

    The bassmeister tells his story of working with disco legends Chic, plus all the Studio 54 hedonism that brought along (although it didn't stop him getting turned away from the super club one time). With a CV that includes Madonna, Prince and David Bowie, this is a glittering memoir.

18. Elton John - Me (2019)

    

    The Rocket Man's eye-watering autobiography is a brutally honest tale of addiction, bad temper, bad behaviour and having to cope with overnight superstardom and huge success in the early 1970s. Pound for pound, this memoir has more outrageous anecdotes than any other music book.

19. Mark Lewisohn - The Beatles: All These Years Volume One - Tune In (2013)

    

    Lewisohn is the undisputed king of Beatles research and his latest project is set to supersede all his previous books on the band. This first instalment looks at the Fab Four's formative years in Liverpool and Hamburg and includes a whole stack of new information. This is set to be the definitive word on the subject. The extended version is hundreds of thousands of words longer and still only gets up to their first single! Now THAT'S detailed.

20. Lol Tolhurst - Cured: The Story Of Two Imaginary Boys (2016)

    

    Tolhurst was the original drummer, then keyboard player with The Cure, having gone to school with frontman Robert Smith. His autobiography tells the story of the band’s move from suburban punks from Sussex into the biggest cult band in the world - and Lol’s subsequent battles with alcohol which sees him dropped from the line-up just as Disintegration comes out. Brutally honest, this is a moving story of rock redemption.

21. Jon Savage - England's Dreaming: Sex Pistols And Punk Rock (1991)

    

    The definitive book on the whole punk phenomenon, Savage plots the history of the movement via the central protagonist Malcolm McLaren, from his time as an art student in the late-1960s, briefly managing the New York Dolls in the early 1970s to mashing together fetish clothing with 50s-styled garage rock in the shape of the Sex Pistols. The book dips into all the offshoots and spin offs, and winds up as the 1980s dawn with Sid Vicious dead, the crappy movie The Great Rock And Roll Swindle in the cinemas and McLaren trying to manage Boy George. Some of the chapters are artfully obtuse, but the central story is gripping.

22. Travis Barker - Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums (2015)

    

    The Blink-182 drummer’s memoir is a soul-baring dip into the harrowing plane crash that nearly killed him and his long road to recovery.

23. Michael Azerrad - Our Band Could Be Your Life (2001)

    

    Azerrad powers through 13 brief but informative biographies of some of the key bands in US indie following the explosive arrival of the Sex Pistols on American shores in 1978. Kicking off with the punk uberlords Black Flag, he takes in cult heroes (Mission Of Burma, Big Black), the pioneers who moved to major labels (Husker Du, The Replacements) and some of the "lifers" who are still working at it to this day (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr). Inspirational and full of great anecdotes, dysfunctional behaviour and genuine punk rock, it will make you want to form your own band.

24. Noel Monk - Twelve Days On The Road: The Sex Pistols and America (1992)

    

    Monk was fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) to be part of the crew that took the Sex Pistols on their one and only tour of the US in January 1978. Teenage punks from London and Southern cowboys inevitably don't mix peacefully and the resulting aggravation is a major part of this grimly hilarious account.

25. Simon Reynolds - Rip It Up And Start Again

    

    The ideal follow-up to England's Dreaming, Reynolds follows John Lydon's progress after the Sex Pistols implode, with the foundation of Public Image Ltd and all the other bands that followed in their wake. The story looks at the work of bands like Joy Division, Echo And The Bunnymen and U2, plus electronica (The Human League), industrial (Throbbing Gristle) and stadium rock (Simple Minds) before winding up in 1984 with the advent of cheesy synthetic pop in the shape of Duran Duran and Boy George. An excellent reader.