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The amazing story of Ahmet Ertegun – the driving force behind Atlantic Records, and a crucial figure in popular music in the 20th Century! Ahmet's story is the stuff of legend – and this book delivers the whole thing in stunning detail – from Ertegun's early years as the child of the Turkish ambassador, to his adolescent love of jazz and blues, to his launching Atlantic with his brother – initially to dominate the field of rhythm and blues, then jazz and soul, then even mainstream rock and roll! The hefty book is over 400 pages in length, and features a handful of black and white images too.

Author Mick Brown chronicles the fascinating, tragic world of the Phil Spector – the most fascinating figure in American pop music history – thanks to both his unrivaled genius and artistry, his fabled reclusiveness and ultimately, real life crime noir tragedy. From his epic work with the Ronettes, the Righteous Brothers, The Beatles, The Ramones and the many less iconic artists, to the recluse years and the bizarre shooting in his home, this is richly researched, very well done bio by Brown. Engrossing and briskly readable, even as a fairly hefty girth, Hardcover, more than 500 pages.

A unique account of the oft-told history of Chess Records by author Rich Cohen – focusing on the business acumen the the Chess Brothers, and the brazen approach that brought the music of juke joints to the mainstream. Cohen doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the exploitational side of the Chess story, telling the story of the Chess Brothers and the artists that changed music forever, with a focus on the facsinating and complicated business behind it. Hardcover, 220 pages.

A cool sci-fi story from two of the three brothers who created Love & Rockets – a tight little tale about robot culture, with a vibe that's like some of the best work from the early years of the magazine! The drawings here are most strongly in the famous style of Gilbert Hernadez, but you can also feel the influence of Mario as well – and the high-quality printing has the black and white images really popping off the page, wrapped up in a nice color hardcover! 126 pages, with bonus notes as well.

Some of the greatest albums in rock and roll are those that were never released – including some that finally saw the light of day after decades, like the Beach Boys' Smile! This book really gets at that fact beautifully – showing how, although never issued, some of these key creative projects really represent the ongoing struggle of rock music in the music business – the push and pull between different forces, and the resulting crash when musical moments never come to be! Each chapter tells the tale of a different album that didn't make it – David Bowie's Toy, Seal's Wonderland, and other projects by The Beastie Boys, Beck, Chicago, Ray Davies, Adam Ant, The Jungle Brothers, and others – almost a musical version of the comic book What If? There's also a final chapter on other almost-rans, including a few that might just make it – and the book has a nice breezy style that's nicely journalistic at times. 319 pages, softcover.

A beautiful book on the development of highlife music in Ghana – and one that's way more compelling than the usual historical tome on African music – given the highly visual style of the volume! The book's put together almost like an album cover art collection – as it's overflowing with vintage images of older record covers, 78 rpm labels, and rare photos too! Yet it also contains a huge amount of top-shelf writing, too – information on the growth of the genre from the 50s through the 80s – with detailed sections on longtime Dusty Groove favorites like Ebo Taylor, Osibisa, African Brothers, Joe Mensah, K Frimpong, and many others. Equally cool is the fact that the book features both French and English text – the full amount of each – making it a wicked bi-lingual package. Full color throughout, and a nice oversized package!

A treasure trove of lesser-known work by the Hernandez Brothers – shorter stories that were mostly one-offs from Love & Rockets – and which feature different themes and characters than the long-running Locas and Palomar epics! The book features lots of wonderful stuff from the early years which we'd totally forgotten about – some cute, some creepy, all of it handled with that amazing maturity that the Hernadez pair brought to their comics right from the start. There's some especially great material from Gilbert – done with the depth of some of his Palomar characters, but more pointed – and some of the Jamie stories showcase his earlier love of sci-fi, which dropped out a bit as the years went on. 283 pages, black and white, and packed with greatness!