Erik, the Phantom of the Paris Opera House, is one of the great icons of horror literature. This tormented and disfigured creature has made his home in the labyrinthine cellars of this opulent building where he can indulge in his great passion for music, which is a substitute for the love and emotion denied him because of his ghastly appearance. It is in the Opera House that he encounters Christine Daaé whom he trains in secret to become a great singer. Erik’s passionate obsession with a beautiful woman beyond his reach is doomed and leads to the dramatic tragic finale. Gaston Leroux's novel is a marvellous blend of detective story, romance and spine-tingling terror which has fascinated readers ever since the work was first published. 208 page paperback.

Ravi Shankar became a household name when the Beatles started promoting his music in 1968, but he was already a prominent figure in the American West Coast scene, with David Crosby of The Byrds pronouncing him one of the finest musicians on the planet. By 1967, when Shankar had settled in California, Indian music was linked with the psychedelic experience, though Ravi denied taking drugs himself and was horrified by a visit to Haight-Ashbury, centre of San Francisco's hippie scene. The Monterey Pop Festival was initially built round Shankar's performance, and although the Festival was ruthlessly taken over and reorganised by The Mamas and the Papas, Ravi's own performance was widely hailed as a profound religious experience. Shankar had the good fortune to be born in Benares, centre of Hindi pilgrimage. His early career was spent on tour as a dancer, including a visit to Weimar Germany as Hitler was rising to power, and he had meetings with Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. But it was his change to concentrate on the sitar that brought him world fame as he introduced audiences to the two key elements of Indian classical music, the raga or melody and the tala, the time or rhythm. Shankar first visited America in 1956, and he moved to California in time for the Summer of Love, performing at Woodstock as well as Monterey. His international fame increased as he became associated with conductors such as Zubin Mehta and Yehudi Menuhin and he was nominated for an Academy Award for the musical score of the film Gandhi. This comprehensive biography by an author who knew him personally includes not only Shankar's career but also his personal life including many love affairs. 658pp, photos in black and white and colour.

"I never wanted to be a big star. I just wanted to be the biggest at what I do! Powerful, unstoppable, heavy - when that word still meant something good!" - Meat Loaf, as told to Mick Wall. Everything in the story of Meat Loaf is big. From the place he was born (Texas); to the family he was born into (his father weighed 22 stone, his uncle weighed over 40 stone, while Meat Loaf himself weighed 17 stone before he was even in his teens); to the sound he made (a colossal collision between Richard Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen); and of course the records he sold - nearly 50 million in Britain and America alone. From a tumultuous childhood with an alcoholic father to the relentless abusive bullying he endured, nobody could have predicted Meat Loaf's meteoric rise to fame. But when the messianic rock opera Bat Out of Hell was released in 1977, it became one of the biggest albums of all time, selling over 45 million copies worldwide to date. Its release marked the start of a rollercoaster ride of incredible highs and seemingly career-ending lows. By the 80s, Meat Loaf was battling with drug and alcohol addiction and escalating money problems. But just when it seemed like it was all over, the astonishing success of Bat Out of Hell II and the mega-hit 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' marked an extraordinary new wave of success. Now, Mick Wall will bring this extraordinary story up to date, drawing on the hours he spent with Meat Loaf, both in interviews and on tour, as well as offering up a unique insight from those who have known him best. Softback, 310pp, colour photos.

Sub-titled 'The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix', this first-rate analysis is an engaging memorial to a rock revolutionary. 'Arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music' says Jimi Hendrix's citation in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. James Marshall Hendrix remains unique as an African American who broke out of the traditional 'Black' genres of blues, R&B and soul to play hard rock to an overwhelmingly white audience, almost single left-handedly creating what became known as heavy rock. With unprecedented access to Jimi's younger brother Leon, the two most important women in his life, and numerous previously untapped sources, bestselling music biographer Philip Norman resurrects the real Jimi. His death in 1970 aged only 27 when his fame was at its height has long been rock music's greatest unsolved mystery, but finally we learn where the responsibility lay for his lonely, squalid end. Here he is pictured with The Who, record producer Chas Chandler, with the Jimi Hendrix Experience bass player Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell in matching afros and the fashion model girlfriend of Keith Richards, Linda Keith who discovered Jimi in New York. Fabulously detailed about his generosity, threads, contacts, musicians, antics and anecdotes of this Voodoo Chile. A thrilling and star spangled read, 392pp in paperback. Colour and b/w photos.

Concert pianist, composer, recording artist and writer, Mark Tanner has performed both on land and the high seas for more than 30 years and taught music to all ages and abilities. He embraces mindfulness in his creative life and teaching, and now in his special book he encourages sound as meditation. Sound unites us all, yet it is only real for those with ears to hear it. Like light, sound has limitless frequencies, and with it an inexhaustible capacity for stirring our emotions. We all have a favourite tune, drift back in time to memorable songs and a distinctive timbre can seep into our subconscious when we least expect it. Buddhists use bells to help them meditate, to draw deeper to their spirituality. A flowing sound helps us harness our breathing, slowing down our private world. We often say that something 'resonates with us', 'strikes a chord' or 'rings a bell', when what we really mean is that we sense a connection beyond what may be visible or audible to others. Chapters include Deep Listening, The Sound of Speech and Soundscapes including hearing the sea, birdsong, animal noises and finding out about psychoacoustics and experiments with biomusic which began in the 1920s and interest continues to grow. 144pp.

Van The Man's storied career, from the seminal Astral Weeks, through recent albums such as Roll with the Punches and The Prophet Speaks, to see his songs presented as prose and poetry once serve to prove yet again that Van Morrison is one of the greatest singer-songwriters ever. Featuring 120 love songs, work songs, songs about the pains and anxieties of existence, a constellation, various kinds of spiritual quest and the realms of the mystical, dealing with healing and reconciliation and with the self and with others. Paul Muldoon said, 'This mix of genuine humility and hard-won hubris, of mysticism and technical mastery... makes Van Morrison quite simply, and quite indisputably, 'The Bard of Belfast'.' Lifetimes: 'You sit in silence and the river answers and I have loved you many, many years, I saw you standing by the wondrous river and I have come today to calm your fears. Those lifetimes, so many lifetimes with you. The boat man singin' far across the water. What is this feelin' in my heart and soul? The night-time angel spreads her wings around me and I feel the sadness and the river flows. Those lifetimes, so many lifetimes with you...' A magical anthology which will have you reaching for the vinyl. 242pp in elegant Faber hardback.

A companion to David Bowie Aladdin Sane 91557, we have chosen the iconic Dark Side of the Moon album cover design with black background, transparent prism pyramid with a bright white ray from the left transposing into a rainbow on the right. In big typeface are the words PINK FLOYD BACK STAGE AREA ALL ACCESS in a mottled effect as if on an image of a real poster, now printed as a memento onto an A4 sized tin poster with a tiny hole in each corner to affix.

Authorised by Paul Anka himself, this is a biography in film form previously titled Destiny. It is a fascinating portrait of the life and the path of Paul Anka's astonishing five decade career from early number ones like Diana that hit the top of the charts he he was just 16 years old. There are interviews with Paul himself, Donny Osmond, Phil Everley, Frankie Avalon and Burt Baccarach. Paul sings parts of some of his songs from the 120 albums to his name. Our Annie has seen him in concert and he is the writer of some of the most famous songs of our era, many he has given away to become hits and make stars of other entertainers. Enjoy the talent of this great performer and travel with him from his hometown to New York and to the many venues of hopeful young singers and songwriters. 52 minute DVD.

A delightful black and white musical comedy from 1942 with running time approximately 68 minutes on new DVD. Set against the background of World War Two and featuring the music of The Andrews Sisters, the film follows the fortunes of a reluctant army recruit who struggles to adjust to military life until he falls for the charms of a retired officer's daughter. Lots of musical tap-a-long toons, this vintage musical with Harry James and His Orchestra contains The Sisters' original rendition of 'Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree'. 'Even the Jeeps are jivin'' says one character. Running time one hour 15, the dancing sequences are an unforgettable treat.

The authorised biography of The Who's John Entwistle, here is the definitive, no-holds-barred biography of this legendary bassist. Drawing on his own notes for an unfinished autobiography that he started before his death in 2002, plus personal archives and interviews with family and friends, The Ox will give readers a never-before-seen glimpse into the two very distinctive poles of John Entwistle. On the one hand he was the rock star incarnate, larger than life, self-obsessed to a fault, and proudly and almost defiantly so. Extravagant with money, he famously shipped two vintage American cars across the Atlantic without having so much as a driver's licence, built and bigger and more grandiose bars into every home he owned, and amassed an extraordinary collection of possessions from arachnids, armour and weaponry to his Cuban-heeled boots. But beneath the fame and flutter he was also a man of simple tastes and traditional opinions, a devoted father and family man who loved nothing more than to wake up to a full English breakfast, or to have a supper of fish, chips and pint at his local pub. The self-styled lord of his baronial Cotswold manor house of the last 26 years rose from his bed around noon, bleary eyed and thick headed from indulging too much the night before, which was at the age of 57 all too often the case. Lisa Pritchett-Johnson, his American girlfriend, might have invited a gaggle of folk up to the house from the local pub. Entwistle would hardly even have known most of their names, but all of them would have raided the fully-stocked bar he kept downstairs and helped themselves to his drugs, Lisa cajoling them, always one drink and a line ahead of everyone else. He would have joined in regardless as it was never his style to be a bystander at a party. He and Lisa had vicious and spiteful fights but every morning he had his own well-established routine. He dressed in a crisp cowboy shirt, fresh-pressed jeans and a pair of moccasins, which would be changed for Cuban-heeled boots whenever he left the house. Not a crease in sight, or a hair out of place. Hung around his neck on a silver chain was a jewelled spider, gleaming with ruby-red eyes. After Entwistle?s untimely death, many of the stories in this book were shattered away by family, friends and loved ones, but now for the first time collected and we are introduced to the man behind the myth. 344pp, paperback well illustrated with colour and archive photos.