Tag: band

  • Eagles

    Eagles

    Take It To The Limit

    The Eagles formed in 1971 as a rock band, at a time when music was once again ripe for change, seem to have been around for ever and ever, which indeed they have, churning out hit after hit, touring endlessly, forming and reforming, but regardless of time passing, keeping their music as alive and fresh as the day it was first released to adoring fans.

    The Eagles gained notoriety for their off and on the stage antics, trashing hotel rooms, instruments and just about anything that came into their orbit: drugs and alcohol the drivers, but their music was something else again; thoughtful, provoking and excellently presented  as the hit charts will read well into history.

    As members of Linda Ronstadt’s super group backing band Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon formed the nucleus of what would later become The Eagles. Ben Fong- Torres followed their rise, fall, rise, fall and rise over the years as a music journalist with the Rolling Stone Magazine, of which he was later to become Editor. Fong-Torres has collated his many stories, meetings and concert attendances, along with a massive amount of research, to create a wonderful history of The Eagles, the super group who just keep on giving, still touring: Now at an age when many are slowing down, they seem to be thriving.

    Hotel California lyrics created uproar, but the track became a serious chart contender, with the beautiful Take It Easy the first single to be released in 1972; Peaceful Easy Feeling was released as a single off the 1972 debut album Eagles and is still considered as  one of their most popular songs.  And so it began!

    The Eagles – Take It To The Limit is a collage of page after page of photographs, with words interspersed to break the pictorial journey, of a group who took the world by storm in 1972 and continue to belt out their unique style of rock music creating new hits, as well notoriety, along their fifty year journey, continuing to enchant young audience’s over and over again, along with their dedicated fans of many years standing.

    Beautifully collated Eagles – Take It to the Limit captures the group over years they have truly fulfilled their ideal: to become a band for their times and somehow along their journey, have become a band for all times.

  • Girl vs. Boy Band The Right Track

    Girl vs. Boy Band The Right Track

    The many unanswered questions we may have about teenagers, bands, music and studies are addressed in this young adult novel. It is fascinating to enter the world of serious musicians, agents, and teenagers struggling with school, identity and friendships. For a teenager it would be an informative read and shown from a point of view of a school student.

     Lark is a secondary school student who nearly always has a song or lyrics in her head. In the gym, she is expecting not to be picked for crab soccer and so lets her mind wander a little. Lark’s mother is an agent and well regarded in the music industry. At the moment, a boy band is staying at Lark’s family home, and the girl has written a song for the band which rocketed up the charts. The boys go to school with Lark, but will be travelling to do a show soon, closely supervised by Lark’s mother.

     There is much inside information about the “Family” and how protected they are by the mum/agent. The problem is that Lark and one of the boys have developed a friendship and like all first romances, there is much tip toeing around letting anyone see them together. The themes of romance and friendships at school are addressed, with issues that do develop getting sorted out.

    There is much to ponder and I’m sure that many girls will thoroughly enjoy the relationships as well as the musicality of this story. The fact that Lark is an exceptional girl, with exceptional talent will be appreciated, while the problems she faces are similar to most teenagers. Also Lark has to deal with shyness; her solution is to write the music in her head, but not to perform it.

     This is an enjoyable read with characters rather thinly drawn, but the substance does come from the hard road of the Music Industry, and shows how without that natural talent, life would be difficult indeed.

  • Girl v’s Boy Band – The Right Track

    Girl v’s Boy Band – The Right Track

    When Lark’s Mum signs up what she considers to be  the next big pop success , the boy band Abby Road, Lark is horrified to find out that not only is she expected to be the cheer squad at the airport, the boys in the band are staying at her place. She is not happy, not happy at all.

    Although she totally understands how hard it is for her Mum to make a success of her record label, she is still finding it hard to fit in to her new school and it is only her friend Mimi that makes the difference.

    She finds that by playing her music, writing her songs about being homesick for her previous life in Nashville, she is able to relax and feel good about the changes in her life. Mimi is a mad keen, talented filmmaker and wants to record everything Lark writes and sings so she can practice her skills. Trouble is that Lark is so shy, painfully so, that she has forbidden Mimi to put any of the footage up on U-tube.

    But when the three boys, Max, Ollie and Aiden erupt into her life suddenly everything changes. Not only is she the not only teen in the house, she somehow seems to have gained three, large, noisy, good looking, musically talented brothers.  Life as she once knew it was no longer!

    So after a concert to end all concerts at school, Lark discovers Mimi has somehow slipped up and failed to retrieve a clip from U-tube and more people than her Mum have seen it. She has to make a decision, to take it down or leave it ……………

    Harmony Jones has taken all the issues that young teens face in their everyday life and woven them into a warm, funny, quirky tale about change, growing up, overcoming your fears and simply learning to fit in.

    Based about music, school, loneliness and friendship, as well as learning to stand up for yourself, this is the first book in a series aimed directly at the Tween market, but also makes a great read for any Teen who enjoys a great story.

    Look out for the next book to discover which decision Lark made and just what comes next!