Yeha-Noha – Sacred Spirit, Chants and Dances of the Native Americans, Virgin, 1995
God Is A DJ – Faithless, Sunday 8pm, BMG, 1998
Mas Que Nada – Jorge Ben, Samba Esquema Novo, PolyGram, 1963
Here I Come (Broader Than Broadway) – Barrington Levy, Here I Come, Greensleeves, 1985
You Got Me – The Roots, Things Fall Apart, MCA, 1999
Toccata and Fugue – Johann Sebastian Bach, eighteenth century
Keep On Movin’ – Soul II Soul, Club Classics Vol. One, Virgin, 1989
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) – Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (are made of this), RCA, 1983
Happy Birthday – Stevie Wonder, Hotter than July, Tamla, 1980
New York, New York – Liza Minnelli, New York, New York, Capitol, 1977
Sympathy For The Devil – Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet, ABKCO/Decca/London, 1968
Frozen – Madonna, Ray of Light, Warner, 1998
Me Against the World – 2Pac, Me Against The World, Interscope, 1995
Brown Paper Bag – Roni Size, New Forms, Talkin’ Loud, 1997
Could You Be Loved – Bob Marley & The Wailers, Uprising, Island, 1980
Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N’ Roses, Appetite For Destruction, Geffen, 1987
Hooray for Hollywood – Hollywood Hotel (soundtrack by MGM Orchestra), 1937
Gentleman – Fela Kuti, Gentleman, Creole Down Home Records, 1973
Stan – Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, Interscope, 2000
I Want Her – Keith Sweat, Make It Last Forever, Elektra, 1987
Run On – Elvis Presley, How Great Thou Art, RCA, 1967
Beat It – Michael Jackson, Thriller, Epic, 1982
Blowin’ In The Wind – Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Columbia, 1963
Police Officer – Smiley Culture, Police Officer, Fashion Records, 1984
Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz, Are You Gonna Go My Way, Virgin, 1993
Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack, Blue Lines, Virgin, 1991
Losing My Religion – R.E.M., Out of Time, Warner Bros, 1991
Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve, Urban Hymns, Virgin, 1997
Acknowledgements
Where do I start to acknowledge those who gave me assistance? I suppose with God who gave me strength and persistence.
Then there’re the other two musketeers, my mother and sis,
Followed by my family – to all a big thanks and kiss.
Friends effervescent with help are too many to mention,
Add old colleagues and mentors, they would need their own section.
Jessica, Trevor, Shur, James, Alex, David and the rest,
Guiding lights who helped me rise to my best.
The research was vital so I name but a few:
Blues & Soul, Heat, The Economist, NME – respect’s due.
What inspired me to write – Jon Stewart and The Daily Show news.
Gratitude to contributors and reviewers who helped light the fuse.
All at Puffin and Penguin a debt for completing the mission,
(In alphabetic order: Anna Barnes, Caroline Delaney, Lily Dessau, Francesca Dow, Ciara Franck, Debbie Hatfield, Kirsty Howarth, Nathan Hull, Hannah McMillan, Wendy Shakespeare, Sarah Topping and Tom Weldon.)
A brotherhood whom I must highlight:
Sham, Mojo, Jon, Yemi, Nas for your support and insight.
The final thanks goes to Lamya – my very own LV,
Without your love this book just wouldn’t be.
He just wanted a decent book to read ...
Not too much to ask, is it? It was in 1935 when Allen Lane, Managing Director of Bodley Head Publishers, stood on a platform at Exeter railway station looking for something good to read on his journey back to London. His choice was limited to popular magazines and poor-quality paperbacks – the same choice faced every day by the vast majority of readers, few of whom could afford hardbacks. Lane’s disappointment and subsequent anger at the range of books generally available led him to found a company – and change the world.
We believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it’
Sir Allen Lane, 1902–1970, founder of Penguin Books
The quality paperback had arrived – and not just in bookshops. Lane was adamant that his Penguins should appear in chain stores and tobacconists, and should cost no more than a packet of cigarettes.
Reading habits (and cigarette prices) have changed since 1935, but Penguin still believes in publishing the best books for everybody to enjoy. We still believe that good design costs no more than bad design, and we still believe that quality books published passionately and responsibly make the world a better place.
So wherever you see the little bird – whether it’s on a piece of prize-winning literary fiction or a celebrity autobiography, political tour de force or historical masterpiece, a serial-killer thriller, reference book, world classic or a piece of pure escapism – you can bet that it represents the very best that the genre has to offer.
Whatever you like to read – trust Penguin.
www.penguin.co.uk
Join the conversation:
Twitter Facebook
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Block D, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Gauteng 2193, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
penguin.com
First published 2012
Copyright © Dillon Khan, 2012
Headphones illustrated by Jimi Crayon
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Typeset by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
ISBN: 978-0-141-96944-2