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Francis Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature
by Sidney Buckland; Myriam ChimènesThis collection of essays provides vivid new insights into Poulenc‘s world, his particular rapport with painters, writers and fellow musicians, and with the socialte who promoted his music through their salons. Contributions from international Poulenc scholars include the influence of various artists on his music, the nature of his affinity for Eluards poetry, his response to texts by Cocteau and Bernanos, and his constant search for suitable libretti. New light is thrown on two friendships, the first with his childhood friend Raymonde Linossier who introduced him to the world of books, the second to his teacher Charles Koechlin who greatly influenced his choral style. A detailed study is also provided of Poulenc‘s four choral works with orchestra. Finally, the reader is allowed a rare view of Poulenc at the microphone, not as interviewee but as radio presenter, in his 1947-1949 series of programmesA bâtons rompus.
There Was a Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream (revised and Updated)
by Ben Sidran Howard S. BeckerA National Jewish Book Award Finalist. A comprehensive social history of Jewish contributions to American popular music in the 20th century. Musician-journalist-producer-author Ben Sidran uses his first person experience to frame the story behind the story of Jews in American popular music. The book includes a significant chapter on Bob Dylan. In this updated edition, Sidran comments on the state of today's popular scene. Ben Sidran has recorded thirty-seven solo albums, produced recordings for numerous artists including Van Morrison, Diana Ross, Mose Allison, and Jon Hendricks, and is the music producer of the acclaimed film Hoop Dreams; he hosted "Jazz Alive" and "Sidran on Record" for National Public Radio and "New Visions" for VH-1 television. Sidran is the author of four previous books and holds a PhD in American Studies from Sussex University.
Truck Song
by Diane Siebert"country sprawling / lined with roads / trucks are hauling / heavy loads ..." Over highways, past farmlands and cities, through rain and sun, all kinds of trucks are carrying goods from one place to another. And when they arrive at their final destination, what next? Another run, of course!
Survival Songs
by Stephanie SieburthHow can a song help the hungry and persecuted to survive? Stephanie Sieburth's Survival Songs explores how a genre of Spanish popular music, the copla, as sung by legendary performer Conchita Piquer, helped Republican sympathizers to survive the Franco regime's dehumanizing treatment following the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Piquer's coplas were sad, bitter stories of fallen women, but they offered a way for the defeated to cope with chronic terror, grief, and trauma in the years known as the "time of silence."Drawing on the observations of clinical psychotherapy, Sieburth explores the way in which listening to Piquer's coplas enabled persecuted, ostracized citizens to subconsciously use music, role-play, ritual, and narrative to mourn safely and without fear of repercussion from the repressive state. An interdisciplinary study that includes close readings of six of Piquer's most famous coplas, Survival Songs will be of interest to specialists in modern Spanish studies and to clinical psychologists, musicologists, and those with an interest in issues of trauma, memory, and human rights.
Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza!
by Annie SiegDebut author-illustrator Annie Sieg takes young readers on an inspiring trip to the music halls of the 1940s, when groups of young female musicians broke racial and gender barriers--and forever changed the face of jazz. Everyone knows about Rosie the Riveter, the icon for working women during World War II. Now prepare to meet a group of young women who did the same for music! From saxophonists and drummers to trumpeters, pianists, trombonists, and singers, talented young women across the country picked up their instruments--and picked up the spirits of an entire nation--during the dark days of World War II. Together they formed racially integrated female bands and transformed the look and sound of jazz, taking important strides for all women in the world of music. Debut author-illustrator Annie Sieg shines a spotlight on the young women who epitomized the sound and spirit of jazz of the era, while opening young readers' eyes and ears to the role of women then and now in music.
Kirche, Musik und ästhetische Bildung: Kirchenmusikpädagogik am Beispiel kirchlichen Singens
by Timm SieringIn diesem Buch wird Kirchenmusik in den Horizont musikpädagogischer Forschung gestellt. Ziel des hiesigen Nachdenkens über die Kirchenmusik und ihre Pädagogik ist die Konzeption einer Ausbildung für ehrenamtliche Kirchensänger*innen, wie sie in der Evangelischen Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck in die Praxis geführt werden soll. Insofern versteht sich die Publikation einerseits als Teil des akademischen Diskurses und andererseits als konstruktiver Beitrag zu einer Kirchenmusik, deren Praxis sich, wie andere kirchliche Handlungsfelder auch, unterschiedlichen Herausforderungen der Gegenwart stellen muss. Das Handlungsfeld Kirchenmusik wird aus der Perspektive der Musikpädagogik auf eine Weise erschlossen, die in dieser Art im Diskurs bislang kaum eine spielt. Die Wahrnehmung kirchenmusikalischen Handelns als musikpädagogischer Lernort schließt das Nachdenken über kirchentheoretische Fragestellungen ebenso ein wie das der ästhetischen Konsequenzen, die das Agieren in diesem spezifischen Feld für musikpädagogisches Nachdenken hat. Insofern verdankt sich das vorliegende Buch der Interdisziplinarität, die am Ort der Kirchenmusik zwischen Musikpädagogik, Musikwissenschaft und Praktischer Theologie aufgespannt wird.
La vida de María Callas: Tan fiera, tan frágil
by Alfonso SignoriniUna biografía novelada de la vida íntima de la gran Maria Callas, la diva por excelencia. «Fiera inmortal [...], generosa y vengativa, [...] majestuosa y vulnerable, Maria Callas marcó su época.»Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, El País Mucho se ha escrito y dicho sobre Maria Callas, uno de los mitos del siglo XX, pero casi nadie ha tenido acceso a su correspondencia privada, unas cartas en las que Maria expresaba su yo más íntimo. Alfonso Signorini, devoto desde la infancia de la voz de la gran artista, tenía entre manos estos documentos cuando se puso a escribir La vida de Maria Callas. Tan fiera, tan frágil, la biografía novelada de la diva que nació en Nueva York en 1923 en una familia de inmigrantes griegos. Toda la vida de Maria Callas desfila por estas páginas, pero no a través de sus éxitos, sino buceando en las dudas y miedos de una mujer que empezó cantando en los peores bares de Nueva York, que fue explotada por la codicia de su madre, que cuando llegó a Italia para iniciar una verdadera carrera tuvo que hospedarse en una pensión de ínfima categoría y que luchó con uñas y dientes por dejar atrás a la niña que había sido. Desde su feroz enamoramiento de Aristóteles Onassis, que la abandonó por Jackie Kennedy, hasta su declive vocal, esta apasionante biografía devuelve a la vida a la gran Callas en un retrato único y descarnado de una diva triste que conoció, a la par, la gloria y la soledad. Reseñas:«Crecí comiendo pan y Callas porque mis abuelos se conocieron escuchando La Traviatta, y toda mi vida he estado acompañado por su voz».Alfonso Signorini «Fiera inmortal, criatura capaz de desafiar una vida de humillaciones para convertir su constante drama personal en arte, icono del divismo [...] en la era de los fenómenos globales, revitalizadora de un modo de expresión caduco como la ópera [...]. Generosa y vengativa, fiera indomable [...] majestuosa y vulnerable, Maria Callas marcó su época».Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, El País
Music to Our Ears (Fountas & Pinnell LLI Purple #Level R)
by Jack SilbertText Elements <p> Genre: Expository <p> Text Structures <p> Main: Chronological Sequence <p> Embedded: Categorical, Compare/ Contrast, Cause/Effect <p> Text Features: table of contents, headings, sidebars, glossary
Keyboard Music Before 1700 (Studies In Musical Genres And Repertories)
by Alexander SilbigerKeyboard Music Before 1700 begins with an overview of the development of keyboard music in Europe. Then, individual chapters by noted authorities in the field cover the key composers and repertory before 1700 in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain and Portugal. The book concludes with a chapter on performance practice, which addresses current issues in the interpretation and revival of this music.
Ravenna, Biblioteca Comunale Classense, MS Classense 545 (Seventeenth Century Keyboard Music Series #12)
by Alexander SilbigerFirst Published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
From the Leader's Chair
by Kenneth SillitoKenneth Sillito is internationally recognised as one of Britain's most distinguished musicians. Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he studied with David Martin at the Royal Academy of Music, and in Rome with Remy Principe. His first major appointment was as associate leader of the newly created English Chamber Orchestra in 1960. He was subsequently appointed leader and remained with the orchestra until 1973, during which time he established a worldwide reputation as both director and soloist. In 1967, he founded the Gabrieli String Quartet, which swiftly established itself as one of this country's leading chamber ensembles. With the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, which he joined in l980, Kenneth led and directed innumerable distinguished recordings and performances until his retirement in 2012. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy in 1971 and awarded the highly prestigious Cobbett Medal in 2017 by The Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to chamber music.
Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music across Twentieth-Century North Africa
by Christopher SilverA new history of twentieth-century North Africa, that gives voice to the musicians who defined an era and the vibrant recording industry that carried their popular sounds from the colonial period through decolonization. If twentieth-century stories of Jews and Muslims in North Africa are usually told separately, Recording History demonstrates that we have not been listening to what brought these communities together: Arab music. For decades, thousands of phonograph records flowed across North African borders. The sounds embedded in their grooves were shaped in large part by Jewish musicians, who gave voice to a changing world around them. Their popular songs broadcast on radio, performed in concert, and circulated on disc carried with them the power to delight audiences, stir national sentiments, and frustrate French colonial authorities. With this book, Christopher Silver provides the first history of the music scene and recording industry across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, and offers striking insights into Jewish-Muslim relations through the rhythms that animated them. He traces the path of hit-makers and their hit records, illuminating regional and transnational connections. In asking what North Africa once sounded like, Silver recovers a world of many voices—of pioneering impresarios, daring female stars, cantors turned composers, witnesses and survivors of war, and national and nationalist icons—whose music still resonates well into our present.
Nine Choices: Johnny Cash and American Culture
by Jonathan SilvermanFor much of his career, Johnny Cash opened his shows with the tagline, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." This introduction seemed unnecessary, since everyone in the audience knew who he was--the famous musical artist whose career spanned almost five decades, whose troubled life on and off the stage received wide publicity, and whose cragged face seemed to express a depth and intensity not found in any other artist, living or dead. For Cash, as for many celebrities, renown was the product of both hard work and luck. Often a visionary and always a tireless performer, he was subject to a whirlwind of social, economic, and cultural countercurrents. Nine Choices explores the tension between Cash's desire for mainstream success, his personal struggles with alcohol and drugs, and an ever-changing cultural landscape that often circumscribed his options. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and textual analysis, Jonathan Silverman focuses on Cash's personal and artistic choices as a way of understanding his life, his impact on American culture, and the ways in which that culture in turn shaped him. Cash made decisions about where he would live, what he would play, who would produce his albums, whether he would support the Vietnam War, and even if he would flip his famous "bird"--the iconic image of Cash giving the finger which is now plastered on posters and T-shirts everywhere--in the context of cultural forces both visible and opaque. He made other decisions in consultation with a variety of people, many of whom were chiefly concerned with the reaction of his audiences. Less a conventional biography than a study of the making of an identity, Nine Choices explores how Johnny Cash sought to define who he was, how he was perceived, and what he signified through a series of self-conscious actions. The result, Silverman shows, was a life that was often tumultuous but never uninteresting.
Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage
by Kenneth SilvermanJohn Cage was a man of extraordinary and seemingly limitless talents: musician, inventor, composer, poet. He became a central figure of the avant-garde early in his life and remained at that pinnacle until his death in 1992 at the age of eighty. Now award-winning biographer Kenneth Silverman gives us the first comprehensive life of this remarkable artist. We follow Cage from his Los Angeles childhood--his father was a successful inventor--through his stay in Paris from 1930 to 1931, where immersion in the burgeoning new musical and artistic movements triggered an explosion of creativity in him and, after his return to the States, into his studies with the seminal modern composer Arnold Schoenberg. We see Cage's early experiments with sound and percussion instruments, and watch as he develops his signature work with prepared piano, radio static, random noise, and silence. We learn of his many friendships over the years with other composers, artists, philosophers, and writers; of his early marriage and several lovers, both female and male and of his long relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham, with whom he would collaborate on radically unusual dances that continue to influence the worlds of both music and dance. Drawing on interviews with Cage's contemporaries and friends and on the enormous archive of his letters and writings, and including photographs, facsimiles of musical scores, and Web links to illustrative sections of his compositions, Silverman gives us a biography of major significance: a revelatory portrait of one of the most important cultural figures of the twentieth century. The book contains 11 URLs which take you to the publisher's website where you can hear excellent recordings of excerpts from several of Cage's compositions.
Voices of Drought: The Politics of Music and Environment in Northeastern Brazil
by Michael B. SilversIn Voices of Drought, Michael B. Silvers proposes a scholarship focused on environmental justice to understand key questions in the study of music and the environment. His ecomusicological perspective offers a fascinating approach to events in Ceará, a northeastern Brazilian state affected by devastating droughts. These crises have a profound impact on social difference and stratification, and thus on forró music in the sertão (backlands) of the region. At the same time, the complex interactions of popular music and social conditions also help create the environment. Silvers offers case studies focused on the sertão that range from the Brazilian wax harvested in Ceará for use in early wax cylinder sound recordings to the drought- and austerity-related cancelation of Carnival celebrations in 2014-16. Unearthing links between music and the environmental and social costs of drought, his daring synthesis explores ecological exile, poverty, and unequal access to water resources alongside issues like corruption, prejudice, unbridled capitalism, and expanding neoliberalism.
Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger
by Anita SilveyPete Seeger, the iconic folk musician and multiple Grammy winner, discovered early in life that what he wanted to do was make music. His amazing career as singer, songwriter, and banjo player spanned seven decades, and included both low points (being charged with contempt of Congress) and highlights (receiving the Kennedy Center Honor from President Clinton). An activist and protester, Seeger crusaded for the rights of labor, the rights of people of color, and the First Amendment right to let his voice be heard, and launched the successful campaign to clean up the Hudson River. Archival photographs and prints, source notes, bibliography, index.
Black Orpheus: Music in African American Fiction from the Harlem Renaissance to Toni Morrison (Border Crossings #Vol. 9)
by Saadi A. SimaweThe legendary Greek figure Orpheus was said to have possessed magical powers capable of moving all living and inanimate things through the sound of his lyre and voice. Over time, the Orphic theme has come to indicate the power of music to unsettle, subvert, and ultimately bring down oppressive realities in order to liberate the soul and expand human life without limits. The liberating effect of music has been a particularly important theme in twentieth-century African American literature. The nine original essays in Black Orpheus examines the Orphic theme in the fiction of such African American writers as Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, James Baldwin, Nathaniel Mackey, Sherley Anne Williams, Ann Petry, Ntozake Shange, Alice Walker, Gayl Jones, and Toni Morrison. The authors discussed in this volume depict music as a mystical, shamanistic, and spiritual power that can miraculously transform the realities of the soul and of the world. Here, the musician uses his or her music as a weapon to shield and protect his or her spirituality. Written by scholars of English, music, women’s studies, American studies, cultural theory, and black and Africana studies, the essays in this interdisciplinary collection ultimately explore the thematic, linguistic structural presence of music in twentieth-century African American fiction.
Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story (Landmarks In Music Since 1950 Ser.)
by Nigel SimeoneOne of the Broadway musicals that can genuinely claim to have transformed the genre, West Side Story has been featured in many books on Broadway, but it has yet to be the focus of a scholarly monograph. Nigel Simeone begins by exploring the long process of creating West Side Story, including a discussion of Bernstein's sketches, early drafts of the score and script, as well as cut songs. The core of the book is a commentary on the music itself. West Side Story is one of the very few Broadway musicals for which there is a complete published orchestral score, as well as two different editions of the piano-vocal score. The survival of the original copied orchestral score, and the reminiscences of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, reveal details of the orchestration process, and the extent to which Bernstein was involved in this. Simeone's commentary considers: musical characteristics and compositional techniques used to mirror the drama (for example, the various uses of the tritone), motivic development, the use and reinvention of Broadway and other conventions, the creation of dramatic continuity in the score through the use of motifs and other devices, the unusual degree of dissonance and rhythmic complexity (at least for the time), and the integration of Latin-American dance forms (Mambo, Huapango and so on). Simeone also considers the reception of West Side Story in the contemporary press. The stir the show caused included the response that it was the angular, edgy score that made it a remarkable achievement. Not all reviews were uncritical. Finally, the book looks in detail at the making of the original Broadway cast recording, made in just one day, included on the accompanying downloadable resources.
Olivier Messiaen: Music, Art and Literature (Music And Literature Ser.)
by Nigel SimeoneWhen Olivier Messiaen died in 1992, the prevailing image was of a man apart; a deeply religious man whose only sources of inspiration were God and Nature and a composer whose music progressed along an entirely individual path, artistically impervious to contemporaneous events and the whims both of his contemporaries and the critics. Whilst such a view contains a large element of truth, the past ten years has seen an explosion of interest in the composer, and the work of a diverse range of scholars has painted a much richer, more complex picture of Messiaen. This volume presents some of the fruits of this research for the first time, concentrating on three broad, interrelated areas: Messiaen's relationship with fellow artists; key developments in the composer's musical language and technique; and his influences, both sacred and secular. The volume assesses Messiaen's position as a creative artist of the twentieth century in the light of the latest research. In the process, it identifies some of the key myths, confusions and exaggerations surrounding the composer which often mask equally remarkable truths. In attempting to reveal some of those truths, the essays elucidate a little of the mystery surrounding Messiaen as a man, an artist, a believer and a musician. Specifically, the volume covers Messiaen's attitudes and associations to Cocteau, Stravinsky's Les Noces, Dutilleux and Toesca, as well as exploring his teaching techniques, the Trait�e rythme, de couleur et d'ornithologie, Messiaen's harmony, performing and transcription techniques, composing for Ondes Martenot, his association with ballet, Saint Fran‘s d'Assise and the influence of his faith. Messiaen himself contributes directly in the form of a speech that he gave about the tapestry-maker Jean Lur and the collection also includes the first literary translation of L' en bourgeon; the garland of poems written by Messiaen's mother, C�le Sauvage, when she was expecting him. The composer de
The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches
by Jeremy SimmondsThe bible of music's deceased idols--Jeff Buckley, Sid Vicious, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Elvis--this is the ultimate record of all those who arrived, rocked, and checked out over the last 40-odd years of fast cars, private jets, hard drugs, and reckless living. The truths behind thousands of fascinating stories--such as how Buddy Holly only decided to fly so he'd have time to finish his laundry--are coupled with perennial questions, including Which band boasts the most dead members? and Who had the bright idea of changing a light bulb while standing in the shower?, as well as a few tales of lesser-known rock tragedies. Updated to include all the rock deaths since the previous edition--including Ike Turner, Dan Fogelberg, Bo Diddley, Isaac Hayes, Eartha Kitt, Michael Jackson, Clarence Clemons, Amy Winehouse, and many, many more--this new edition has been comprehensively revised throughout. An indispensable reference full of useful and useless information, with hundreds of photos of the good, the bad, and the silly, this collection is guaranteed to rock the world of trivia buffs and diehards alike.
27: The Legend And Mythology Of The 27 Club
by Gene SimmonsThe summer of 1969 was a momentous one in modern history. It was a season punctuated with change. Apollo 11 landed on the moon, thousands of young fans flocked to rock &‘n&’ roll festivals like Woodstock and the controversial Altamont Freeway concert, the Manson Family cult were on a high-profile killing spree, and the first uprisings that would become the Stonewall Riots began. It was an electric summer of violent endings, new beginnings, and social unrest.It was also the summer that a myth was born–beginning with the tragic, untimely death of Rolling Stones founder, Brian Jones. The world soon lost two more huge music stars: Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Not only did losing these three beacons of music culture seem to signal the end of a musical era, it also felt like a foreboding sign; they had all died at exactly the same age. All three had lost their lives at the pinnacle of their creative output, and all three were exactly 27 years old.People have speculated that there could be a dastardly lineage, from the poisoning of blues pioneer Robert Johnson in 1938, through these icons of the 60s, and more recently to rebel chanteuse Amy Winehouse&’s death from alcohol poisoning in 2011. Could it be a twisted fate that the world&’s very best creative souls come to early, often violent, deaths at just 27 years old? Over time, this idea began to be known as, &“the 27 club,&” and it has persisted in the public imagination.In 27: The Legend and Mythology of the 27 Club, rock &‘n&’ roll icon Gene Simmons takes a deep dive into the life stories of these legendary figures, without giving credence to the romanticized idea that being in the &“club&” is somehow a perverse privilege. Simmons wills us to acknowledge the extraordinary lives, not the sensational deaths, of the musicians and artists who left an indelible mark on the world.
Kiss and Make-Up
by Gene SimmonsYou wanted the truth, you got the truth--the hottest book in the world!Fueled by an explosive mix of makeup, costumes, and attitude, KISS burst onto the music scene thirty years ago and has become a rock institution. The band has sold more than eighty million records, has broken every concert attendance record set by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, stands behind the Beatles alone in number of gold records from any group in history, and has spawned more than 2,500 licenses. There would have been no KISS without Gene Simmons, the outrageous star whose superlong tongue, legendary sexual exploits, and demonic makeup have made him a rock icon. KISS and Make-Up is the wild, shocking, unbelievable story, from the man himself, about how an immigrant boy from Israel studied to be a rabbi, was saved by rock and roll, and became one of the most notorious rock stars the world has ever seen.Before Gene Simmons there was Chaim Witz, a boy from Haifa, Israel, who had no inkling of the life that lay ahead of him. In vivid detail Gene recounts his childhood growing up in Haifa under the watchful eye of his beloved, strong-willed mother, a concentration camp survivor; his adolescent years attending a Jewish theological center for rabbinical studies in Brooklyn; his love of all things American, including comic books, superheroes, and cowboys; and his early fascination with girls and sex, which prompted him to start a rock band in school after he saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.KISS and Make-Up is not just the classic story of achieving the American dream through the eyes of an immigrant boy making good, but a juicy, rollicking rock and roll read that takes you along for the ride of your life with KISS, from the 1970s, when they were the biggest band in the world, through the '80s, when they took off their world-famous war paint, and into the '90s, when they came back bigger and badder than ever to become the number one touring band in the world. In his own irreverent, unapologetic voice, Gene talks about the girls (4,600 of them and counting); his tight bond with KISS cofounder Paul Stanley; the struggles he and Paul had with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss and their departures from the group; the new band members and Eric Carr's untimely death; the enormous love and affection he has for the people who put him there in the first place--the KISS Army and the ever-loyal KISS fans around the world; his love life, including stories about his relationships with Cher and Diana Ross and with Shannon Tweed, Playmate of the Year, mother of his son and daughter, and his companion of eighteen years; and much more.Full of dozens of photographs, many never-before-seen pictures from Gene's private collection, KISS and Make-Up is a surprising, intimate look at the man behind the mask. For the first time Gene reveals all the facets of his complex personality--son, rock star, actor, record producer, businessman, ladies' man, devoted father, and now author.From the Hardcover edition.
KISS Army Worldwide: The Ultimate KISS Fanzine Phenomenon
by Gene SimmonsThe KISS army is everywhere! For 50 years and counting, KISS has been one of the world' s top touring bands. Here for the first time is a visual history of KISS through never-before-seen concert photos and unique fanzine tributes and memorabilia, starting from this iconic band' s very beginnings in the 1970s and going well into the 21st century. Featuring new interviews with Gene Simmons and fans from all around the world, it is the ultimate tribute to the world' s ultimate rock ‘ n' roll band. Filled with more than a thousand photos— many previously unpublished— of the band and reprints of some of the coolest fanzine pages, this is a book for every die-hard Kiss fan.
On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power
by Gene SimmonsYOU DESERVE TO HAVE POWER.IT IS YOURS FOR THE TAKING.GENE SIMMONS IS HERE TO UNLOCK THE DOORS TO THE TEMPLE.Gene Simmons, KISS front-man, multi-hyphenate entrepreneur, and master of self-invention, shares his philosophy on power—how to attain it, how to keep it, and how to harness it as a driving force in business and in life.As co-founder of KISS, America's #1 gold record-award-winning group of all time, Simmons knows the thrill and seduction of power firsthand. But gold records alone don’t equal power. The decisions you make once you attain a certain level of success are what separate the pretenders from the pantheon.Inspired by Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, Simmons offers his unique take on the dynamics of power in every realm of life, from the bedroom to the boardroom, to the world of rock, celebrity, and social media, to politics. With one-of-a-kind anecdotes from his life and career, as well as stories from historical and contemporary masters of power, including Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Warren Buffett, Michael Jordon, Oprah, and Elon Musk, Simmons crafts a persuasive and provocative theory on how the pursuit of power drives civilization and defines our lives.The rules of power are changing in today’s fast-paced, hyper-connected world in a way that Machiavelli never could have imagined, and we all need to learn to adapt. Simmons tells readers: Ignore the negatives. Be unrelenting. Rise above the rest. You are the architect of your success.
Fabulosity: What It Is & How to Get It
by Kimora Lee SimmonsFabulosity (n): 1: a state of everything that is fabulous 2: a quality ascribed to that which expresses glamour, style, charisma, power, and heartKimora Lee Simmons knows what it means to have fabulosity -- and she wants to tell you how to get it.In this empowering new book, Kimora -- a top model, wife of hip-hop legend Russell Simmons, mother to two daughters, a national media presence, and president and creative director of the multimillion-dollar Baby Phat company -- shares her personal secrets of success and fabulosity.Kimora knows that in today’s ultracompetitive world, it’s not enough for women just to be smart or dress well. With too much to do and competition everywhere, the savvy woman must know how to combine feminine glamour with professional power, business ambition with personal values, and confidence with heart. Kimora is the living picture of all these things. What are Kimora’s secrets to achieving her goals, her signature fabulosity? One is her ability to identify and build upon her own unique talents and strengths. In Kimora’s case, she brilliantly combined the two worlds she knows best -- the high fashion and hip-hop scenes -- to create Baby Phat, her ultrasuccessful hip-hop inspired lifestyle brand.How do you uncover and develop your own special talents? Kimora shares her step-by-step guide to achieving your wildest dreams, including her 16 laws of success, which cover everything you need to become the woman you want to be.Whether you’re college-educated or street smart, just starting out or at the top of your game, Fabulosity has something to say to you. Learn how to cultivate Power, Independence, Confidence, and Positivity in everything you do, whether it’s finding Mr. Right, snagging that corner office, or rocking the latest fashion trend. Packed with useful lessons and Kimora’s personal tips, this book will be your instruction manual to empowering yourself, turning your individual talents into permanent success, and unleashing your inner fabulosity.