Bonnier Books Ltd Paperback English
Reach for the Stars: 1996–2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party
Winner of the 2024 Penderyn Music Book Prize
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<p><b>***WINNER OF THE 2024 PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE***</b><br><br><b>A <i>Times</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Telegraph</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Guardian</i> Book of the Year </b><br><b>A Rock 'n' Roll Book Club Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Guardian</i> 50 Best Holiday Reads</b><br><b>An <i>Independent</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Mojo</i> Music Book of the Year </b><br><b>A Resident Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Classic Pop</i> Book of the Year</b><b><br><br>'This really is a wonderful book for pop kids everywhere' - RICHARD OSMAN</b><br><br>Using the arrival of the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point, this fascinating new narrative will explore, celebrate and contextualise the thus-far-uncharted period of British pop that flourished between 1996 and 2006. A double-denim-loving time before the glare of social media and the accession of streaming. <br><br> The bastions of '00s pop - armed with buoyant, immaculately crafted, carefree anthems - provided entertainment, escapism and fun for millions. It was a heady, chorus-heavy decade - populated by the likes of Steps, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear'Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others - yet the music was often dismissed as inauthentic, juvenile, not 'worthy' enough: ultimately, a 'guilty pleasure'.<br><br> Now, music writer Michael Cragg aims to redress that balance. Using the oral-history format, Cragg goes beneath the surface of the bubblegum exterior, speaking to hundred's of the key players about the reality of their experiences. <br><br> Compiled from interviews with popstars, songwriters, producers, choreographers, magazine editors, record-company executives, TV moguls and more, this is a complete behind-the-scenes history of the last great movement in British pop - a technicolour turning-point ripe for re-evaluation, documented here in astonishing, honest and eye-opening detail.</p>
<p><b>***WINNER OF THE 2024 PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE***</b><br><br><b>A <i>Times</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Telegraph</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Guardian</i> Book of the Year </b><br><b>A Rock 'n' Roll Book Club Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Guardian</i> 50 Best Holiday Reads</b><br><b>An <i>Independent</i> Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Mojo</i> Music Book of the Year </b><br><b>A Resident Book of the Year</b><br><b>A <i>Classic Pop</i> Book of the Year</b><b><br><br>'This really is a wonderful book for pop kids everywhere' - RICHARD OSMAN</b><br><br>Using the arrival of the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point, this fascinating new narrative will explore, celebrate and contextualise the thus-far-uncharted period of British pop that flourished between 1996 and 2006. A double-denim-loving time before the glare of social media and the accession of streaming. <br><br> The bastions of '00s pop - armed with buoyant, immaculately crafted, carefree anthems - provided entertainment, escapism and fun for millions. It was a heady, chorus-heavy decade - populated by the likes of Steps, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear'Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others - yet the music was often dismissed as inauthentic, juvenile, not 'worthy' enough: ultimately, a 'guilty pleasure'.<br><br> Now, music writer Michael Cragg aims to redress that balance. Using the oral-history format, Cragg goes beneath the surface of the bubblegum exterior, speaking to hundred's of the key players about the reality of their experiences. <br><br> Compiled from interviews with popstars, songwriters, producers, choreographers, magazine editors, record-company executives, TV moguls and more, this is a complete behind-the-scenes history of the last great movement in British pop - a technicolour turning-point ripe for re-evaluation, documented here in astonishing, honest and eye-opening detail.</p>