As rock exploded around the world, so young bands would sling their gear into their trusty Ford Transits and bomb up and down the new motorway system to university and polytechnic campuses all over the UK, honing their sound and hoping to get noticed.

A list of acts who put in the hard yards on this circuit reads like a Who’s Who of rock music: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Queen, the Kinks, Dire Straits, AC / DC, Genesis, Nick Drake, Joan Armatrading and Elton John all paid their dues in sweaty and badly ventilated dressing rooms in places like Leeds University and Regent Street Poly. Even Paul McCartney, after the Beatles fell apart, took his new band Wings out on the circuit to get them road tested.

Now, for the first time, seasoned music journalist Paul Sexton sets out to document this extraordinary moment in British music history. Tapping into his huge network of contacts in the music industry, Rock Goes to College is a fascinating, raucous ride of a book, crammed full of incredible, never-before-heard stories of the beginnings of some of the most famous acts on the planet.

Like so many of us, Alice Vincent had become overwhelmed by the sensory overload punctuating her every moment. Then a baby’s heartbeat arrived. A rapid, pulsing whoosh of white noise. An undeniable rhythm. Suddenly, Alice’s life changed. With the birth of her son came a new experience of the sensory world around her.

From the phantom crying heard by mothers across the world to the nightingale’s song and the crackle of the aurora borealis, Hark is a journey into sound and the changing seasons of a life that will ring true for many women.

Persuasive, captivating and bursting with insight, this dual biography by acclaimed journalist Jim Windolf dives into the surprisingly supportive, occasionally rivalrous, always fertile relationship between Bob Dylan and the Beatles.

Few artists have shaped pop culture as profoundly as the Beatles and Bob Dylan. In Where the Music Had to Go, Jim Windolf offers a new, persuasive interpretation of how two of the twentieth century's greatest recording artists influenced one another – and reveals how their apprenticeships, accomplishments and legacies are uncannily intertwined.

From Dylan's early dismissal of the Beatles as being for 'teenyboppers' to his rapid acknowledgment of their talent, the book captures the pivotal moments that pushed Dylan to 'go electric' and inspired the Beatles to deepen their lyrics. Packed with vivid anecdotes (the Beatles rehearsing Dylan songs; Dylan spending hours at Lennon's childhood home), the book paints a picture of a relationship full of camaraderie, rivalry and mutual evolution.

Windolf's meticulous research uncovers hidden gems, peeling back layers of history to reveal the stories fans didn't even know they were missing. From Lennon's and McCartney's lyrical transformations to George Harrison's growth as a songwriter, the book showcases the ripple effects of the Beatles-Dylan connection. More than a music biography, this is a front-row seat to the forces that shaped the sound of a generation.

The tuba’s sound is mighty, emerging, it seems, from deep in the human body. Very little music has, up until recently, been written to play to its strengths. The best the tuba seems to promise is a seat at the back of the band. No stadium shows, no Internet adulation. And yet, this horn-the youngest of all brass instruments-has captured the hearts of an inspired group of musicians ever since its invention in 1835.

In The Perfect Tuba, Sam Quinones embarks on a trek to get to know American tubists. He tells the astounding stories of two men who set out to replicate the “perfect tuba,” an instrument made by York & Sons in the 1930s and never since equaled; of Big Bill Bell, whose 1950s album rearranged the tuba landscape; and of Arnold Jacobs, a tuba guru at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who studied the physiology of breathing and offered rune-like nuggets of wisdom to his legions of students. Quinones also takes us through the tuba scenes of New Orleans, Orlando, Knoxville, New York City, and, most importantly, Roma, Texas, a dusty town in the Rio Grande Valley where a visionary high school marching band director fashioned a program that now regularly wins state championships and sends its students off to college.

After nearly a decade on the front lines of America’s battle with drug addiction, Sam Quinones delivers another story of our nation, this time brought together by the transformative power of shared joy and humble achievement.

‘A lovely writer and performer. A very sweet man, much too nice for his own good…’ – John Cleese

‘He was a great writer and he was eccentric and he was clever without being pretentious’ – Sir Michael Palin

Few individuals have had such an impact on British culture over the past fifty years as the comedy and music icon Neil Innes.

He was the songwriting powerhouse of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. Beatles muse and collaborator. Injector of art college surrealism into 1960s TV comedy. Instigator of a revolution that led directly to Monty Python, the group he repeatedly joined on screen and stage. He was Ron Nasty, co-founder of the much-loved Rutles, the ‘pre-fab four’. Accidental inventor of the phrase ‘Cool Britannia’. Much-loved children’s TV storyteller, thinker, maker, creator, undisputed national treasure and Britain’s sweet idiot laureate.

And through it all, Neil remained one of the kindest and brightest individuals in showbusiness. Musicians, comedians and fans alike loved being around Neil. He created music and joy and art wherever he went. And the person who loved having him round more than anybody else was Yvonne. Neil and Yvonne met at Goldsmiths College in the 1960s and they went on to walk hand-in-hand through life for over fifty years, until Neil’s untimely death in 2019.

This book is a heartfelt, eyewitness tale of the life of one of British culture’s quiet geniuses. It is tribute to life inside the circus, with the gentlest and wisest of clowns.

‘In part, it is an account of how music is made – its core of practice, skills, conventions, traditions – but also an attempt to chart the evolution of expression, what is being said, what felt, what communicated ‘from the heart to the heart’ – how music works upon its listeners, how it moves and stirs, how it reaches and appeals to the highest flights and deepest places (and everything between) of the organising pattern-making mind, the ebb and flow of the sensual body, the centres of emotion.

‘Everything is within the art itself, at whatever epoch, in whatever idiom, whatever genre or intention. Nor is evaluation eschewed – why, as well as how, it is so good and why sometimes so deplorable. The style throughout is inherently allusive and I have tried everywhere to preserve the intonations and rhythms of speech – spontaneous, improvised, natural as breathing’

– Robin Holloway

Written by the renowned BBC broadcaster Petroc Trelawny, with puzzles by Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, this stylish and entertaining book is the perfect blend of classical music knowledge and puzzle-solving fun.

Petroc Trelawny is one of the most recognisable voices in classical music broadcasting, known for presenting BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and formerly Breakfast, as well as anchoring coverage of the BBC Proms and other major national events. With his signature warmth and insight, he brings the stories of classical music to life on every page.

Inside, readers will find a beautifully designed collection of puzzles, quizzes and curious facts covering composers, concert halls, iconic works and much more. Whether you’re a seasoned concert-goer or simply enjoy listening to Radio 3 or Classic FM, this book is packed with detail, charm and challenge.

Can you tell your Bach from your Berlioz? Your Mozart from your Mendelssohn? With 80 puzzles divided into five themed sections – Vocal, Stage, Orchestral, Concertos and Instrumental – this is a book to dip into, puzzle over and return to again and again. No prior musical knowledge is needed, just a curious mind and a love of learning.

Petroc Trelawny’s Classical Music Puzzle Book is the ideal gift for music lovers of all kinds. Perfect for Christmas, birthdays or thoughtful self-gifting, it’s a joyful celebration of music, culture and the fun of figuring things out.