Red Planet Blog

To celebrate the launch of The Fly in the Milk: David Bowie and Cracked Actor Red Planet Books in conjunction with the Walthamstow Rock 'n'Roll Book Club are presenting authors Mark Wardel and Susan Compo along with contributions from Alan Yentob, photographer David Stratford and others at an event in London on October 25 at 21 Soho. Click here for the Eventbrite booking page.

Featuring the story behind the David Bowie documentary Cracked Actor the cover of the forthcoming book The Fly in the Milk has been revealed. It features an iconic image of David Bowie from the film by artist Mark Wardel. The book is released on September 2 and contains original artwork by Mark as well as many photos which have never appeared in print before. the book is available exclusively here

This weekend saw the official launch of David Arnoff's photo book Shot in the Dark and London's Dublin Castle venue. Joining Arnoff were members of the Scientists, Jim Jones All Stars, Adverts, Precillas, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Phobics, among others. On show were photos from the book and other images shot by David. Copies were signed and a good time was had by all. Signed and numbered slipcase special edition of Shot in the Dark is available from this website. Also available is the standard deluxe edition. More on the launch can be found on David Arnoff's Facebook page and at the Retroman blog

March 30 sees the official launch of the third in Garry Bushell’s series based around the year 1979  – When Britain Rocked: '79 The Metal Revival. This is the amazing story of his eye witnessing the birth of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWoBHM). Featuring his writings ‘as it happened’ (mainly for the weekly Sounds). This is a unique insight into the birth of a genre! Unlike the other two volumes which were published previously this is the first time these amazing writings have been collected together in book form. Bands featured Include Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leopard, UFO, Blackmayne, Tank, Oral, Venom, Rainbow and Motorhead. Also included is Garry’s Top 10 New Wave of British Heavy Metal Albums. The book is available now on the Red Planet Music Books website.

Photographer David Arnoff, whose book Shot in the Dark is published by Red Planet, celebrates the 'resurrection' of this excellent work with an afternoon event tthis Sunday (March 19)  at the Dublin Castle in Camden from 1:30-5pm. Entry is free and copies of the book will be on sale! The book, full of his iconic photos of bands and artists such as The Cramps, The Damned, Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, Blondie, The Gun Club, Ramones and Patti Smith

Coming soon is a new hardback book about the Small Faces that covers areas never looked at before. When the Screaming Stopped covers the Small Faces as a live act. The band’s trajectory; the good gigs and the the not so good; the story of the band through the critical eyes of fellow musicians, managers and, of course, fans. The story from their first to last live gigs.

Red Planet announces the launch of second volume of photos from the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties by Neil Mackenzie Matthews to be published in late March and available to pre-order now. Featuring artists as diverse as The Gun Club, David Cassidy, Rock Steady Crew, George Michael, The Jam and Eurythmics. Printed on art-quality paper in brilliant colour this hardback volume will be available on its own or in a slip case together with Volume 1. 

Shot in the Dark is an atmospheric journey through the punk and new wave music scene as experienced mainly in LA. But there’s not sunshine in here. Just the subterranean images from that era. According to the punk website Please Kill Me, David Arnoff’s photographs – live and posed – are distinguished by severely ink-black depths and often solitary figures rising defiantly from backgrounds of abyss.

The recently announced Springtime in New York will be the 16th and newest release in the Bootleg Series from Bob Dylan when it is released in September 17.

This remarkable collection includes 21 never-released recordings from the 1983 Infidels sessions.  The fascinating full story of Infidels and all the previously unheard material is told in Surviving in A Ruthless World:  Bob Dylan's Voyage to Infidels.

We still have a very small number of the limited edition signed slipcase version of Bill Smith's amazing Cover Stories book. Each one of the 200 is signed and numbered and comes in a beautifully printed slip case. The book which features albums by artists as diverse as The Jam, Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Toyah, Johnny Thunders, The Cure, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson UB40 Alison Moyet and many more. Bill provides a narrative for each cover with stories about the artists and about the creative processes.

The establishment of the Bob Dylan Archive [BDA] in Tulsa marks the beginning of a new era of Dylan scholarship, revolutionary in scope and potential impact. Gaining access to multiple early drafts of lyrics as well as preliminary takes of officially released songs will significantly broaden our knowledge of both Dylan’s working methods and his artistic vision. The depth and breadth of the tapes, manuscripts, notebooks, and handwritten notes are simply astounding