Classic_Pop_Issue_30_July_2017

Whenever an artist beloved

to millions dies, an inevitable

influx of product ensues,

many of questionable quality.

Thankfully, Picturing Prince...,

a collection of images by

photographer Steve Parke who

worked with Prince for 13

years, part of which was as

art director at Paisley Park, is

a beautiful tribute.

Offering an intimate look at

the enigmatic icon, the book

focuses on the mid- to late-90s

period, during which Prince

(which he wasn’t called at that

time but we’ll stick to it here)

released his Emancipation, The

Rainbow Children and Rave

Un2 The Joy Fantastic albums.

Mostly unseen, the images

are posed portraits of Prince

around his Paisley Park

complex and, while offering an

intimate look at him, he remains

pristinely made-up throughout

• the most “off-duty” Prince
  appears is when he has kicked
  off his trademark high heels.
  It is in Steve’s warm
  commentary and countless
  anecdotes that offer up a more
  humanised picture of the star,
  discussing, among other things,
  his musical tastes, dietary
  requirements, favourite pastimes
  and famous friends – all while
  respecting Prince’s notorious
  need for privacy. Stunning
  photography, beautifully
  presented, this is one for the
  fans to treasure. ML

As the mother of Dave, Virginia

Hanlon Grohl is something of

an authority on the subject of

raising a rock star.

Even so, in order to formulate

a concise picture of the gamut

of emotions evoked when

your child chooses a career

in music, she has spent the

past few years conducting

interviews with the mothers of

some of music’s biggest names,

including Pharrell Williams,

Amy Winehouse, Dr Dre, the

HAIM sisters, Michael Stipe

and the Beastie Boys’ Mike

D. While the creative paths

of those women’s children

have taken various directions,

from the fulfilling to the tragic,

From Cradle To Stage is an

enlightening account of the

pride, concern, surprise and

often, grief, that come with

the job of being a rock star’s

mother. As well as being

a biographical account of Dave

and her relationship with him,

the book highlights that almost

all of those featured in the

book began their musical

endeavours at around the

age of 12 years old, often

at the cost of their academic

achievements. This revelation

forms the basis of the manual

side of the book, which offers

a guide to anyone whose

child is favouring aspirations

of a life in music, yet that in

no way diminishes the

entertaining and emotional

stories of the subjects. ML

Having previously written the

superb biography Bright Lights

Dark Shadows – The Real Story

Of ABBA as well as the liner

notes of their album reissues,

produced documentaries and

worked on the ABBA museum in

Stockholm, Carl Magnus Palm’s

knowledge on the Swedish

supergroup is undeniable.

Over the course of 450

fact-packed pages he dissects

every song and studio session,

ensuring ABBA’s studio time is

documented in comprehensive

fashion, not only including

dates that songs were recorded,

but dates that individual parts

of tracks were recorded. With

unlimited access to previously

unheard studio sessions,

outtakes and scrapped songs as

well as having conducted brand

new interviews with Benny,

Bjorn and countless session

musicians, Carl has produced

the ultimate ABBA artefact.

Illustrated throughout with

the original studio track sheets

(which are complete with notes

and amends from the group),

record sleeves and press ads,

this is as close as it gets to being

in the studio with Sweden’s

fab four as their classics were

created. Mark Lindores

WOLFGANG FLÜR

KRAFTWERK:

I WAS A ROBOT

OMNIBUS PRESS

STEVE PARKE

PICTURING PRINCE:

AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT

OCTOPUS BOOKS

VIRGINIA

HANLON GROHL

FROM CRADLE TO STAGE

CORONET

CARL MAGNUS PALM

ABBA: THE COMPLETE

RECORDING SESSIONS

(REVISED AND

EXPANDED EDITION)

CMP TEXT

Originally published in

Germany in 1999 amid

his acrimonious split from

Kraftwerk, Wolfgang Flür’s

tell-all book about his time as

percussionist of the electro

pioneers has been expanded

at a fruitful time for fans of the

band, coming amid a major

reissue campaign of their LPs

and ahead of a new tour.

Billed as the ultimate

demystification of the men

behind the machines, Kraftwerk:

I Was A Robot is very much

conflicted, one minute

recounting warm tales of the

group as they revelled in their

success, the next condemning

the times and his relationship

with his former bandmates.

Examining the backgrounds

of all the band members

and citing their differences

as the main catalyst for the

dysfunction within the group

is an interesting viewpoint, as

are the stories of the creation of

the band’s iconic tracks (which

never veer into OTT techie

mode) and tales of behind-the-

scenes debauchery involving

orgies and wild nights in

Germany’s notorious nightclubs.

Despite the relationships

between Wolfgang and his

former bandmates being more

harmonious than when the

book was first published, this

amended version still retains an

undercurrent of bitterness that

suggests Wolfgang regrets how

things transpired. ML

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