 | |
| Parent company | Wise Music Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters location | London, United Kingdom |
| Distribution | Worldwide |
| Publication types | Books |
| Official website | omnibuspress |
Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. [1] It publishes around 30 [2] new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 300 titles currently in print. [3]
Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complement the sheet music published and distributed by its parent company Music Sales Group. [4] Music Sales had launched a separate company called Book Sales Ltd and the earliest Book Sales catalogue, issued in the early 70s, included compilations of underground comic strips, art and photography titles and one of the earliest books on the then newly discovered art of video.
After former Melody Maker music journalist Chris Charlesworth joined as Omnibus editor in 1983, [5] it was decided to concentrate exclusively on music books, and among its earliest acquisitions was Rock Family Trees by music archivist Pete Frame which remains in print and have been the basis of two BBC TV series. Over the succeeding decades Omnibus has published many biographies on most of rock musicians. These include Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan, Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon by Tony Fletcher, Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story by Victor Bockris and Catch A Fire: The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White.
Among the rock and pop writers whose work has been published by Omnibus over the years are Richard Williams, Chris Welch, Peter Dogget, Patrick Humphries, David Sinclair and Everett True (UK) and Dave Marsh, Paul Williams, Nelson George, Jerry Hopkins, David Ritz and Danny Sugerman (US).
Wise Music Group has published The Beatles' printed sheet music since the company's inception, and this association is reflected in the many Beatles-related books that Omnibus has published. These include The Beatles: A Diary by Barry Miles, a Beatles insider from the early days, With The Beatles: The Historic Photos of Dezo Hoffman , and The Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles by Dominic Pedlar, an analytical study of their music. In 2007, Omnibus published Colin Larkin's Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise Edition). At 1,600 pages, this is the abridged version of Larkin's 10-volume encyclopedia, a biographical listing of rock, pop and jazz artists. [6]
In 2006, Music Sales acquired Sanctuary Books which added a significant number of additional music books to the Omnibus list, as well as a number of sports, travel and novelty & gift books.[ citation needed ]
In February 2020, parent company Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. [7]
Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised the Beatles' previous work, partly due to the band's exhaustion after a series of tours that had established them as a worldwide phenomenon in 1964. Beatles for Sale was not widely available in the US until 1987, when the Beatles' catalogue was standardised for release on CD. Instead, eight of the album's fourteen tracks appeared on Capitol Records' concurrent release, Beatles '65, issued in North America only.
Traffic is the second studio album by the English rock band of the same name, released in 1968 on Island Records in the United Kingdom as ILPS 9081T (stereo), and United Artists in the United States, as UAS 6676 (stereo). The album peaked at number 9 in the UK Albums Chart and at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. It was the last album recorded by the group before their initial breakup.
Blast from Your Past is a compilation album by English rock musician Ringo Starr, released on Apple Records in 1975. It is both Starr's first compilation LP and his final release under his contract with EMI. It was also the last album to be released on the Beatles' Apple label until it was revived in the 1990s.
Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux is Ringo Starr's second official live album and was released in September 1993.
Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group.
Colin Walker is an English cellist who played with Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) from 1972 to 1973.
Barry Miles is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeared in leftist newspapers such as The Guardian. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Gallery and helped start the independent newspaper International Times.
Brave New World is the third studio album by American rock band Steve Miller Band, released in 1969. It is the band's first album following the departure of founding members Boz Scaggs and Jim Peterman, with Ben Sidran replacing Peterman on keyboards. The album reached number 22 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In Colin Larkin's third edition of All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000) it was voted number 676.
N-Toon was an R&B group from Atlanta created by former Klymaxx frontwoman Joyce Irby in 1996. The group consisted of Lloyd Polite, Justin Clark, Everett Hall and Chuckie D. Reynolds. The group disbanded in 2001.
Music in a Doll's House is the debut album by English progressive rock group Family, released on 19 July 1968. The album, co-produced by Dave Mason of Traffic, features a number of complex musical arrangements contributing to its ambitious psychedelic sound.
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellectual property of composers.
Colin Larkin is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book All Time Top 1000 Albums, and edited the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz, the Guinness Who's Who of Blues, and the Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock. He has over 650,000 copies in print.
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the Grove Dictionary of Music, which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms. It was described by The Times as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Neil Daniels is a freelance British writer specialising in rock and heavy metal. Educated at Middlesex University, where he obtained a BA Honours degree in Film Studies, he has written books on Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Bon Jovi, Linkin Park and ZZ Top.
Chris Charlesworth is a British-based music journalist and author; and, between 1983 and 2016, managing editor of Omnibus Press. He is particularly noted for his work about, and with, The Who, for whom he has worked as an executive producer. Charlesworth also worked as David Bowie's publicist at RCA Records from 1979 to 1981.
All Time Top 1000 Albums is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the public in record shops, universities, schools and the French music trade show MIDEM – and ranked in order. Each album's entry is accompanied by an annotation with a 100-word review, details of its creation, and notes about the band or artist who recorded it.
"Stainsby Girls" is a song by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1985 as the lead single from his seventh studio album Shamrock Diaries. It was written by Rea, and produced by Rea and Dave Richards. "Stainsby Girls" reached No. 26 in the UK and remained in the charts for twelve weeks.
Pink Floyd: The Music and the Mystery is a 2010 non-fiction book by Andy Mabbett about the English rock band Pink Floyd. The book includes a complete discography of all the band's songs and albums as well as a timeline of events and other information. The book was edited by Chris Charlesworth and published as a paperback by Omnibus Press on 1 September 2010. The book is also available as an eBook from Omnibus Press.
