CATALOGUE

Series "Songs"

A series of reference books, on a song-by-song basis,

dedicated to major artists and songwriters.

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 (February 22, 2023)

"Packed with tons of useful information. Terrific!" (Beatles Blog)

"One of the best Beatles-related references" (John Firehammer, Beatlefan magazine)

"Dense and scintillatingly produced" (Eoghan Lyng, Penny Black Music)

Amazon rating: 4.9 ★ (105)

Visit the Music Is Ideas microsite

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012 (November 18, 2024)

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney’s career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that’s always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Paul McCartney. Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012 traces McCartney’s post-Beatles output from 1990 to 2012 in the form of 250 song entries, filled with details about the recordings, stories behind the sessions and musical analysis. His pop albums, his forays into classical and avant-garde music, his penchant for covering old standards: a complete book to discover how these languages cross-pollinate and influence each other. Accompanied by images, drawing on interviews (including many conducted by the author) and contemporary reviews and enriched with QR codes for a multimedia experience, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art form. The second volume in a series that has established itself as a unique guide to take the reader on a journey into the astonishing creativity of Paul McCartney.

Amazon rating: 4.8 ★ (46)

Peter Gabriel: The Rhythm Has My Soul. The Stories Behind the Songs

(December 27, 2023)

With a solo career spanning 46 years, 10 studio albums, 4 soundtracks and a catalogue of around 200 songs, Peter Gabriel is still one of the most multifaceted, groundbreaking and original artists inhabiting the rock and pop world. “The Stories Behind the Songs” traces Gabriel’s unique output from 1977 to 2023 in the form of a song-by-song analysis, including all his released material - singles, album tracks, covers - and unreleased tracks that have surfaced from live performances and elsewhere. Each of them provides full credits, technical and musical details about the recordings and “behind the scenes” stories told by the people involved (musicians, producers, engineers and Gabriel himself). Drawing on source material, vintage interviews and exclusive conversations specially conducted by the authors for this project, this reference book paints a full portrait of a musical craftsman whose watchword has always been and still is “go ahead”.

"It closes a gap in the discussion of Peter Gabriel's oeuvre " (Genesis News)

Amazon rating: 4.8 ★ (52)

Ringo Starr: I Play the Piano If It’s in C. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970–1997 (March 24, 2025)

Since the breakup of The Beatles, Ringo has forged his own path as a musical artist, even though he was "only" the drummer in the band and not really a songwriter. Starting as an outsider, he's managed to build a remarkable career of over 20 albums. Ringo Starr. I Play the Piano If It’s in C. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1997, the first reference book to address Ringo’s post-Beatles extensive catalogue, covers almost three decades of his career in the form of 157 song entries (including 23 unreleased), filled with details about the recordings, stories behind the sessions and musical analysis. His pop albums and singles, his live activity with the All-Starr Band, his side and unreleased projects (Scouse the Mouse, the Memphis sessions from 1987). In the background, the volume explores Ringo as a composer and singer, as a session musician (with mentions of his most notable collaborations), and even as the creator of the RoR furniture business and the Ring O' Records label. Accompanied by images, drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews and packed with data and anecdotes, this reference book draws the portrait of an extraordinary artist and man.

Amazon rating: 4.4 ★ (17)

Series "Milestones"

A series dedicated to rock and pop classic albums, narrated in depth,

with exclusive interview and accompanied by colour images.

Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run. The Story of a Classic Album

(April 19, 2024)

When Paul McCartney flies to Lagos on 30 August 1973 to record Band on the Run, two members of his band Wings have just decided to leave. McCartney still isn’t aware that Africa will be a unique experience. With him are his wife Linda, the loyal Denny Laine and engineer Geoff Emerick. The stay in Nigeria would prove to be an epic adventure: an unfinished recording studio, tensions with local musicians, press and activist/Lagos guru Fela Ransome-Kuti, challenging weather conditions, a robbery still shrouded in mystery, and a collapse that prompts fears for Paul’s life. Enriched by colour images and with exclusive interviews by the author with Pete Swettenham, assistant engineer to Geoff Emerick in London, and sax player Phil Kenzie, Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run. The Story of a Classic Album tells of McCartney’s masterpiece in an engaging and original way. Based on archive material and on many contemporary accounts by the people who participated in the sessions, the book analyses in detail all the songs, their vocal and instrumental parts (with a special focus on the role of the drums), takes a look at the equipment used for the recordings and debunks some of myths that were always part of the narrative of the album. What was really stolen from Paul in Africa? Music tapes? When did the robbery take place? And what happened when they were recording at AIR Studios in London? An historical account with a narrative touch that makes it a must for all Paul McCartney fans and rock music lovers alike

Amazon rating: 4.6 ★ (33)

"A nice little companion piece to one of Paul's best and most popular LPs." (Beatlefan)

XTC: Skylarking. A Life in a Day: The Making of a Pop Classic

(May 5, 2025)

Multiple reissues hitting the record stores in different formats and configurations over the years testify to the enduring appeal and mesmerising charm of XTC’s Skylarking, an album that stands to this day as a bona fide cult classic, a post-Beatlesque pop-rock masterpiece that arguably represents the Swindon outfit’s finest hour. In this book, XTC: Skylarking. A Life in a Day. The Making of a Pop Classic, the author revives the stories, the bursts of inspiration, the ego struggles, the curios, and the technical/musical details behind the songs and the recording process of the record: Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory themselves (plus a host of other people that were involved in the making of the album at the time) reveal a wealth of new and previously unheard facts, anecdotes and thoughts by way of original and unreleased interviews, supplemented by quotes and information that have been published in books and magazines and on websites over the years. Filled with coloured images, the result is a rich, in-depth exploration of a remarkable artistic creation that in its own way has redefined the meaning and the borders of pop music.

Amazon rating: 4.7 ★ (28)

Paul McCartney: Press to Play. That Unmistakable 80s Sound

(June 4, 2025)

As divisive an album it might be within McCartney's artistic journey, Press to Play touches the hearts of many fans — including a new, younger generation that was then shaping — and offers many points of interest for music historians and musicians. Released in the summer of 1986, the album was an interesting – although commercially unsuccessful – attempt to update McCartney’s vocabulary, with which he firmly planted both feet in the realm of the Eighties.
With its wide range of sonic influences, from synth-pop and video game music to simple rock 'n' roll; its imagery and surrealism; its themes of romance and sexual fervour; and its mix of mellow and harder tracks, Press to Play is an album split in two. There is a certain penchant for glossy perfection, but also a sound research and experimentation that never becomes obvious. Enriched by coloured images, the volume Press to Play. That Unmistakable 80s Sound tells the story of one of McCartney's most obscure records and misunderstood periods (1985–86). In its detailed analysis of the album's sonic wonders, based on contemporary sources and in-depth interviews by the author with key figures such as Hugh Padgham, Jerry Marotta and Carlos Alomar, the book guides readers through the many fascinating aspects of the record (the new Hog Hill Mill Studio, the recording equipment and tricks, the instrumentation, the effects used, the coexistence between analogue and digital). The abundance of instrumentation – which combines modern sounds from the era (DX7 synthesisers, sequencers, emulator, LinnDrum) and vintage pieces such as Hammond organ, Moog, Fender Rhodes – makes it one of the most multilayered albums of Paul McCartney’s career.
The volume covers the supposed “production misunderstanding” with Eric Stewart, the songwriting partnership with the ex-10CC leader, the timeline of the sessions, the stories behind the songs (including B-sides, unreleased material and the single “Spies Like Us”), their harmonic and rhythmic inventions, and lyrical analysis. The many factors that undermined McCartney’s confidence at the time are also explored, including the unfortunate Live Aid performance and Michael Jackson’s acquisition of The Beatles’ song catalogue, leading to discovering what went wrong and why and there's also a chapter devoted to the insecurity showed during the promotion of the album, offering a new psychological and human insight into Paul. Has Press to Play stood the test of time? An unprecedented and incredibly rich historical look at one of Paul McCartney's most forgotten albums.

Amazon rating: 4.5 ★ (23)

Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The Making of an Epic Album

(August 29, 2025)

Released on 5 October 1973, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the peak of Elton John’s trajectory up to that point and would establish itself as the pinnacle of his career, one of the longest and most prolific in rock history. An epic double album that followed the successes of Honky Château and Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player, it combined
Elton’s flamboyant musical inventiveness with Bernie Taupin’s imaginative lyrics, with both writers at their peak.
An album imbued with film heroes and heroines (Marilyn Monroe, Roy Rogers), unconventional female figures, fantasy characters invented by Taupin and brought to life by the incredible variety of Elton John’s musical scenarios, ranging from rock ‘n’ roll to pop, from country to music hall, in a vocabulary of genres that are unforgettable. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Making of an Epic Album tells the story of Elton’s masterpiece – an ambitious LP in the tradition of The Beatles’ “White Album” but recorded mostly in just 16 days in the studio! – with an historical approach. Through a large collection of vintage interviews, exclusive information and rare sources, all of which help to paint the most complete picture of this iconic rock album that continues to amaze and attract new buyers and listeners, the authors fill a gap in the Elton John bibliography with the first book dedicated to this record. The aborted sessions in Jamaica, the return to the familiar Château d’Hérouville in France, the fast and efficient recording process by Elton and his band, the overdubbing and mixing decisions, the story behind the cover, the critical and commercial success of the album, its never-ending legacy: the volume explores all the aspects that made this a legendary record. All the songs – including the other material from the sessions and the single “Step into Christmas” – are analysed in detail through the words of their creators and the musicians who were in the studio with Elton, and for the first time their exact recording order and dates are also revealed. Some technical notes on the playing, from the musicians themselves and from some experts, enrich the song entries and add a further degree of accuracy. A must for all Elton John fans and rock music lovers alike.

Amazon rating: 5.0 ★ (6)

Back to the Egg: The Story of Wings' Last Album (October 27, 2025)

Back to the Egg, which went down in history as Wings’ last album (though it was not intended to be so) and which was released in June 1979, when new wave was increasingly dominating the music scene, is an emblematic case within Paul McCartney’s discography, due to the contradictions that marked its genesis, its conception and its release. The album, which promised a new dawn for McCartney’s band, actually turned out to be Wings’ swansong.
The change in style attempted by McCartney for his music, due to the background of the new musicians that had recently joined Wings, the choice of Chris Thomas as co-producer but also external factors such as the pressure applied by Columbia (with which Paul signed “the most lucrative contract ever”), resulted in a record in line with the current scene, but also in a kaleidoscope of musical genres with a high level of experimentation, confirming the elasticity of its author’s catalogue. Punk and new-wave rock; R&B-soul, music hall and folk; echoes of classical music, avant-garde sounds, gospel and metal, they are all part of Back to the Egg, which earned the band a well-deserved Grammy Award with the Rockestra supergroup experiment.
Enriched by coloured images and photos (including some from the personal archive of Laurence Juber), the volume Back to the Egg. The Story of Wings’ Last Album tells the story of one of McCartney’s most revered albums and periods (1978–80). In its detailed account of the album’s creation and analysis of its songs, based on contemporary sources and in-depth interviews by the author with Wings members Laurence Juber and Steve Holley or key figures such as Steve Howard, Martyn Ford, Phil Thornalley and Kenney Jones, the book guides readers through the elements that make this record unique (the many eccentric locations used, the recording equipment and tricks, the instrumentation).
The volume covers the timeline of the sessions, the stories behind the songs of the album (including “Did We Meet Somewhere Before?” and “Same Time, Next Year” – both intended as film themes but rejected – unreleased material and the single “Goodnight Tonight”), their harmonic and rhythmic inventions, lyrical analysis, and the Wings’ British Tour 1979. Th e many steps that led to the dissolution of Wings are also explored, including the McCartney II sessions, the unfortunate Japan 1980 incident and Paul’s decision to make Tug of War a solo album. A fascinating insight into an album that has undergone a complete re-evaluation over the decades, and into the final days of Wings.

Amazon rating: 5.0 ★ (5)

Series "The Solo Beatles"

A series dedicated to the solo careers of the four Beatles,

with in-depth information and a historical perspective.

The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part One: The Narrative (September 30, 2024)

The solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (1967-1980). Enriched with vintage photos and images, The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part One: The Narrative tells the story of the four from the path that leads to the dissolution of The Beatles, in the period between late 1966 and the end of 1969, going through the Seventies and until the death of John Lennon. The main events of their lives, their records, their tours and concerts, anecdotes and curiosities, lesser-known facts and statements, their public and private fights, their various interests and businesses, the battle for Apple, the invincible myth of their past that follows them everywhere. Also available is The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part Two: The Discography, which tells their stories as solo artists through their complete discographies.

Amazon rating: 4.8 ★ (17)

The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part Two: The Discography (September 30, 2024)

The solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (1967-1980). Enriched with vintage images, The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part Two: The Discography tells the story of their careers as solo artists through their complete discographies (all albums and singles, and even some side projects such as *McGear, Thrillington or Scouse the Mouse), from their first own ventures between 1967 and 1969, going through the Seventies and up to Lennon’s Double Fantasy. The stories behind the songs, the recording dates and musicians involved in the sessions, the charts and the commercial success, the critical reception, their musical influences: a complete reference book with an historical approach. Also available is The Beatles after The Beatles. The Solo Careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo (1967-1980) – Part One: The Narrative, which tells the story of the four from the lead up to the dissolution of The Beatles through to the death of John Lennon.

Amazon rating: 4.8 ★ (15)