BW&BK; Editor In Chief Martin Popoff has just announced that his latest book is ready for shipping.

ALL ACCESS: The Art And History Of The Backstage Pass is detailed as follows:

The short goods on this gorgeous tome: it’s a large format hard cover coffee table book, measuring 9 ½” x 12”. Full color throughout, the book lots of text plus professionally scanned photos of nearly 1000 passes, broken down as:

276 rare and awesome passes from the ‘70s!

136 killer passes from the ‘80s!

578 (approx. I lost count) gleaming goodies from 1990 to the present!

Here speaks the back cover:

“Hey man, where’s my backstage pass?”

Those immortal words from deep within Queen’s Jazz album somehow capture the excitement and hype and mystery of those colorful talismen known as backstage passes and the power they can hold in offering up a rock ‘n’ roll experience you’ll ever forget.

All Access: The Art Of The Backstage Pass is, first of all, a book celebrating the gorgeous artwork on these little badges of honour. Beginning in the late ‘50s as mere business cards and laminated buttons, the backstage pass has become a symphonic explosion of color, a magnet for wit and whimsy, a concentrated receptacle of artwork every bit as cool ‘n’ catchy as the album cover art more widely celebrated as representations of a band and its vibe.

But All Access is much more than a window into the graphic accomplishments of this vibrant though somewhat classified, precious and underground part of the rock ‘n’ business. Through interviews with some of the pass collecting world’s biggest experts, the book unlocks the history of the pass, its development, its manufacture over the years, and the changes we’ve seen in rock ‘n’ roll security through time.

As well, look for humorous tales of the use and abuse of the pass, the lengths to which fans will go to get close to their rock stars, and what can go horribly wrong in the process. Amidst the anecdotes, you’ll also get a glimpse into the burgeoning world of collecting these shiny little artworks, including helpful hints on spotting counterfeits, on what is hot today and why, and on why the various types and permutations of passes are becoming so valuable as a rock ‘n’ roll collectible."

Price including shipping (sorry, but with packaging, it comes in at over 1 kg and thus rates are high! - .i.e. $17 postage for the US orders on average):

US orders: $42.00 US funds

Int'l orders (surface mail): $44.00 US funds

Int'l orders (air mail): $68.00 US funds

Canadian orders: $37.00 Cdn. funds

PayPal happily accepted! Direct funds to martinp@inforamp.net

Or… send payment to (personal check in US funds, cash, or INTERNATIONAL money order):

Martin Popoff

P.O. Box 65208, 358 Danforth Ave.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M4K 2Z2

Says Popoff: "Books will be signed by me to you, so make clear if it’s a Christmas present or whatever."

Email martinp@inforamp.net with any further questions. Popoff’s next book will be the fourth in the Ye Olde Metal series, Ye Olde Metal: 1978.