Spirit of Talk Talk

Spirit of Talk Talk is a finely crafted and lavishly produced book celebrating the music created by Talk Talk and illustrated with a treasure trove of images from long-time collaborator and renowned art designer James Marsh. Displayed alongside large original artworks and previously unseen sketches and alternative covers, are rare and previously unseen photographs of the band and a specially commissioned biography of Talk Talk by music journalist and author Chris Roberts. Photographic images have been supplied from the archives of photography luminaries Lawrence Watson, Richard Haughton and Sheila Rock amongst others. The book includes the full transcript of Mark Hollis's final interview about the band and numerous tributes and eulogies from musicians, artists, producers, and people who worked with the band and knew them intimately. There are also honest, touching, and revealing tributes from musicians, artists friends and fans who were, and continue to be, influenced by Talk Talk's music

It Ain't Over ...Till It's Over

But anyone who has ever tried to make a big life change knows it can be a bit more complicated— and frightening—than that. How do you get up the nerve and confidence to actually take the leap? No one knows better than the women profiled in this powerful book by actress, activist, and bestselling author Marlo Thomas. It Ain’t Over . . . Till It’s Over introduces us to sixty amazing women who are proving that it’s never too late to live out a dream—to launch a business, travel the world, get a PhD, indulge a creative impulse, make a family recipe famous, escape danger, find love, or fill a void in life with a challenging new experience. Meet a graphic artist who fulfilled a childhood ambition by going to med school at age forty-two; a suburban mom whose innovative snack recipe for her daughter’s lunchbox turned into a multimillion-dollar business; a private-practice psychiatrist who convinced her husband that they should quit their jobs and take off on an exciting, open-ended, cross-country adventure—in a giant bus, no less!; and a middle-aged English teacher who, devastated to discover that her husband was cheating on her, refused to be a victim, filed for divorce, and began the challenging journey of rebuilding her life. Brimming with anecdotes that will inspire smiles, tears, and—most of all—hope, It Ain’t Over speaks to women of all ages with an empowering message: The best is yet to come

The Secular Religion of Pilgrimage: Pop Culture Pilgrim

Media pilgrimage has become a booming business in the 21st century. Fans of television shows, rock groups and books flock to places associated with their favorite series, artist or writer, trying to embody and perhaps understand what inspired the beloved piece of work, and, more importantly, to cobble together their own personal identity, seeking meaning in an ever-more divergent and fast-paced world. At the same time, participation in organized group activities are dropping. One of the largest down turns in the US and the UK can be seen in the steep decline of attendance at traditional religious venues. This trend dovetails with the radical uptick in on-line sites dedicated to pop culture and celebrities, as well as an array of niche-focused real-time tours allowing fans to experience the spaces, places and scenery featured in their favorite entertainment medium. The Secular Religion of Fandom: Pop Culture Pilgrim examines the function of fandom, specifically the visiting of spaces which have been recently deemed worthy of sanctification and a newly elevated status of importance. It examines how such pilgrimages are used as a means for forming and maintaining a common language of culture, creating a replacement apparatus based on more traditional frameworks of religious worship and salvation, while becoming an ever more dominant mechanism for constructing individuality and finding belonging in a commodified culture. Looking at television shows such as The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, bands like The Stone Roses and Joy Division, and authors like J.K. Rowling and the Brontë sisters, The Secular Religion of Fandom: Pop Culture Pilgrim delves into these issues by examining spaces, fan communities and rituals, providing a unique and provocative investigation into how technology, media and humanistic need for guidance are forming novel ways of expressing value, forging self and finding significance in an uncertain world

Fandom, Image and Authenticity: Joy Devotion and the Second Lives of Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis

Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis. Their early and unexpected deaths propelled them to iconic status as beacons for the values of individuality and authenticity. However, with each passing year, the images of the lead men become farther removed from their original humanity. From Converse to cake, this book examines how their 'brands' lend credibility to commerce, while the increasing worth placed on the singers provides a modern example of a secular belief system propelled by media, technology and the value of immediacy in the 2.0 world. Journeys to spaces and places associated with the two singers are akin to pilgrimages, sacred trips that hope to capture and connect with the very essences that the men have been stripped of in their ever-widening appeal. Within this context, Curtis and Cobain become guides and anglicised role models in the search for personal identity and community in the modern, uncertain world

Joy Devotion: The Importance of Ian Curtis and Fan Culture

Joy Devotion: The Importance of Ian Curtis and fan culture explores the lasting legacy in the fan, post-punk and dot.com economy of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, and what such dedication says about the larger issues facing us in a modern world. Essays on Curtis, exploring ideas of memory, death, technology, fandom and secular religion will be complemented by photos taken at the Ian Curtis Memorial Stone every month for a year, beginning fall 2009 through 2010. Stakeholders in the Curtis legacy, from fans to artists, contribute their personal insights, allowing for intimate and never before allowed access to the very people who Curtis has continued to influence and inspire long past his untimely death in 1980

The Secular Religion of Fandom: Pop Culture Pilgrim (SAGE Swifts)

Media pilgrimage has become a booming business in the 21st century. Fans of television shows, rock groups and books flock to places associated with their favorite series, artist or writer, trying to embody and perhaps understand what inspired the beloved piece of work, and, more importantly, to cobble together their own personal identity, seeking meaning in an ever-more divergent and fast-paced world. At the same time, while technology allows for quicker connection on a global level than ever before, participation in organized group activities are dropping at an alarming rate. One of the largest down turns in the US and the UK can be seen in the steep decline of attendance at traditional religious venues. This trend dovetails with the radical uptick in on-line, virtual sites dedicated to pop culture and celebrities, as well as an array of niche-focused real-time tours allowing fans to experience the spaces, places and scenery featured in their favorite entertainment medium. The Secular Religion of Fandom: Pop Culture Pilgrim examines the function of fandom, specifically the visiting of spaces which have been recently deemed worthy of sanctification and a newly elevated status of importance. It examines how such pilgrimages are used as a means for forming and maintaining a common language of culture, creating a replacement apparatus based on more traditional frameworks of religious worship and salvation, while becoming an ever more dominant mechanism for constructing individuality and finding belonging in a commodified culture. Looking at television shows such as The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, bands like The Stone Roses and Joy Division, and authors like J.K. Rowling and the Bronte sisters, The Secular Religion of Fandom: Pop Culture Pilgrim delves into these issues by examining spaces, fan communities and rituals, providing a unique and provocative investigation into how technology, media and humanistic need for guidance are forming novel ways of expressing value, forging self and finding significance in an uncertain world

Joy Devotion: A Year of Trinkets, Trash and Tributes at the Ian Curtis Memorial Stone

Located just over 15 miles outside of the English hub of Manchester, Macclesfield was the home of the late singer and lyricist Ian Curtis, front man for post-punk pioneers Joy Division. The ashes of Curtis are now buried minutes away from where he lived, at the Macclesfield Cemetery and Crematorium. Though it has been over 30 years since he took his life, an estimated 2,000 people annually make their way to the small, quaint Northern town, on a quest to pay homage to Curtis. Traveling from as far-flung destinations as Japan, Texas and Australia, fans embark on sonic pilgrimages to walk the streets that inspired Curtis, see the house where he once inhabited- and pay their respects at Curtis’s Memorial Stone. As a part of her PhD research, photographer Jennifer Otter captured images of the fans, flowers and fauna every month over the course of a year at the Curtis 'kerb.' Joy Devotion: A Year of Trash, Trinkets and Tributes at the Ian Curtis Memorial Stone documents the ever-changing homages to the singer and provides unique insight into music, community and memory

The secular religion of fandom : pop culture pilgrim

xi, 108 p. ; 23 cm

The Counter-Narratives of Radical Theology and Popular Music

In this unique collection, theologians born and formed during the Cold War offer their insights and perspectives on theological relationships with such musical artists and groups as Joy Division, U2, Nick Cave, and John Coltrane. These essays demonstrate that one's personal music preferences can inform and influence professional interests

The secular religion of fandom: pop culture pilgrim

xi, 108 p. ; 23 cm