Bücher von Zoe Howe

The story of Florence + The Machine makes an exhilarating contrast to the fortunes of those pre-packaged, stage-schooled pop stars who just wanted to be famous.A bookish south London child who had sung at family funerals, Florence Welch exploded onto the international scene after her wild art school party days and a series of life-changing meetings with people like co-writer Isabella Summers, manager Mairead Nash and producer Paul Epworth.The first two albums, Lungs and Ceremonials, went multi-platinum and Florence + The Machine's emotional, quasi-mystical brand of pop brought them international fame. Meanwhile Florence's idiosyncratic fashion sense had grabbed the attention of Gucci and Karl Lagerfeld, so guaranteeing the band an eye-catching icon to match the music.

Wild, defiant and startlingly inventive, The Slits were ahead of their time. Although they created some unique hybrids - dub reggae and pop-punk, African rhythms, funk and free jazz - they were dismissed as being unable to play. This work shows how The Slits phenomenon came about.