Reckless: The Saga of Australian Crawl by Jeff Apter

Reckless is the story of Australian Crawl, told by Jeff Apter, the country's most prolific music biographer. It is a music book that pairs well with the records, which is handy in a shop that sells both.

Australian Crawl turned up on Countdown in 1979 and, over about seven years, became one of the biggest bands in the country, with albums like The Boys Light Up and Sirocco and hits including Reckless, Errol and Downhearted. To the public they were tanned surfies from the Mornington Peninsula, even if not all of them surfed. Behind the scenes there were the usual strains over songwriting, money and direction, and then the death of guitarist Guy McDonough in 1984, which the band never really recovered from.

Drawing on interviews with band members and insiders, Apter tells the whole arc: the rise, the hits, the frontman James Reyne, and the slow unravelling. A good one for anyone who bought these records the first time round, and for Father's Day.

'A meticulously researched, cracking read that hands you an all-access pass to one of Australia's most iconic bands.' Kate Halfpenny, The Age

'Reckless will reignite and re-excite fans of that era.' Paul Christie, Mondo Rock