Why am I passionate about this?

I was born in 1954, the same year as rock and roll. I am a product of the era that spawned me. I was that kid at school who would rather read his music mags than his school books. Over a rich and varied career, I have turned those passions into my profession. I have been a singer in a band, a music journalist, a broadcaster with the BBC national radio network, and have had several music related books published by major publishers. I have also been an academic specialist in my field and have managed to turn all those lifelong interests into a Ph.D. and an M.Phil.


I wrote

Unsung : Unsaid: Syd and Nick in absentia

By Rob Chapman,

Book cover of Unsung : Unsaid: Syd and Nick in absentia

What is my book about?

My book is based on a series of fictional encounters in 1974 between Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and singer-songwriter…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Head-On

Rob Chapman Why did I love this book?

Julian Cope writes like a fan. He doesn’t write like a musician or a music journalist. That’s why I like his books so much.

I find his views refreshing on everything from glam rock to living in Liverpool in the late 1970s. He may be best known for his music with The Teardrop Explodes and as a solo artist, but he doesn’t serve up a boring discography or describe what life was like on the road. He lets you into his head, and best of all, he doesn’t follow any party line. 

By Julian Cope,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Head-On as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Julian Cope's highly acclaimed autobiography and its long-awaited sequel in one extraordinary volume.

Julian Cope shot to fame with eighties band 'Teardrop Explodes' during the Punk era. Hailed as a visionary by those people who recognise his genius and a madman by those who find him perplexing, he has become a cult figure in the music world.

Head-On/Repossessed is written in Cope's own inimitable style and follows his journey through a time of incredible change within the music industry.
Head-on is the highly acclaimed autobiography that The Observer viewed as "book of the year" when it was first released. Repossesed…


Book cover of I Wanna Be Yours

Rob Chapman Why did I love this book?

Poet John Cooper Clarke came up with what I think is still the best definition of punk, “It gave us working class surrealists somewhere to go,” he said. Read his memoir, and you’ll see why.

There can’t be that many punks that served their apprenticeship in Bernard Manning’s notorious Embassy comedy club in Manchester. I love the portrait he paints of growing up in Salford in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s a world of corner shops, close working-class communities, and the eccentric characters that populate them. Coming from a similar world, I can strongly relate to that.

I enjoyed the audiobook even more than the print version because you get to hear John deliver his life story in his distinctive regional twang.

By John Cooper Clarke,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked I Wanna Be Yours as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a memoir as wry, funny, moving and vivid as its inimitable subject himself. A joy for both lifelong fans and for a whole new generation.

'One of Britain's outstanding poets' - Sir Paul McCartney
'Riveting' - Observer
'An exuberant account of a remarkable life' - New Statesman

John Cooper Clarke is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator. At 5 feet 11 inches (32in chest, 27in waist), in trademark dark suit, dark glasses, with dark messed-up hair and a mouth full of gold teeth, he is instantly…


Book cover of Remembered for a While

Rob Chapman Why did I love this book?

I want more than a simple outline of a life when I’m reading a biography. I don’t want a sketch. I want a truly exhaustive account. I want everything.

I want the school reports, the scrapbooks, the family photo album, the letters and diaries, and the gauche snapshots before the child blossomed into a fully formed creative adult.

Well, that’s what you get here. You get first-hand accounts from those who grew up with Nick and a lot of insight from those who saw his music develop firsthand. And who better to collate the lot than his older sister?

By Nick Drake, Gabrielle Drake, Cally Callomon

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Remembered for a While as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Probably the most ambitious, generous and thorough volume about a musician to see publication' Mouth Magazine

The authorised companion to the music of Nick Drake, compiled, composed and edited by Cally Callomon and Gabrielle Drake, with contributions from Nick's friends, critics, adherents, family and from Nick Drake himself.

Remembered For A While is not a biography. It is, rather, an attempt to cast a few shards of light on Nick Drake the poet, the musician, the singer, the friend, son and brother, who was also more than all of these. We hope it will accompany all those in search of…


Book cover of As Time Goes By

Rob Chapman Why did I love this book?

I grew up with the Beatles. I went from 8 to 16 in the time it took the band to go from Love Me Do to Let It Be. I measure my own growth from infancy to adolescence during their lifespan.

The Beatles were more than a band to anyone of my age. They were a planet we all lived on. There have been hundreds of books about them, but few are more insightful than this one by their suave and urbane press officer.

Derek started off his career as a hard-bitten newspaper hack of the old school. Working with the Beatles changed his life. I can relate to that. The Fab Four changed all our lives. 

By Derek Taylor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked As Time Goes By as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The sharpest memoir written by one of the Beatles' inner circle.' Observer

Derek Taylor's iconic memoir is a rare opportunity to be immersed in one of the most whirlwind music sensations in history: Beatlemania. As Time Goes By tells the remarkable story of Taylor's trajectory from humble provincial journalist to loved confidant right at the centre of the Beatles' magic circle. In charming, conversational prose, Taylor shares anecdotes and reminiscences so vivid and immediate that you find yourself plunged into the beating heart of 1960s counterculture. Whether watching the debut performance of 'Hey Jude' in a country pub or hearing…


Book cover of Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music

Rob Chapman Why did I love this book?

I like books that take me via the scenic route. If I’m reading a history of folk music, I don’t just want dry old discographies and lists of bands and their lineups. I want a living, breathing account of where this all came from and what the modern era has inherited.

I want to know about the collectors and archivists and famous composers like Vaughan Williams and Holst who went from town to town and village to village getting information from people of my Grandad’s age about the songs that were passed down to them through the generations. I want a sense of how this stuff is in the very soil and landscape we inhabit.

This book does all that and more. 

By Rob Young,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Electric Eden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A new edition as part of the Faber Greatest Hits - books that have taken writing about music in new and exciting directions for the twenty-first century.

Rob Young's Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music is a seminal book on British music and cultural heritage, that spans the visionary classical and folk tradition from the nineteenth-century to the present day.

'A thoroughly enjoyable read and likely to remain the best-written overview for a long time.'
GUARDIAN

'A perfectly timed, perfectly pitched alternative history of English folk music . . . wide-ranging, insightful, authoritative, thoroughly entertaining.'
NEW STATESMAN

'A stunning achievement.'…


Explore my book 😀

Unsung : Unsaid: Syd and Nick in absentia

By Rob Chapman,

Book cover of Unsung : Unsaid: Syd and Nick in absentia

What is my book about?

My book is based on a series of fictional encounters in 1974 between Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and singer-songwriter Nick Drake. There is no actual evidence that the two men ever met, but over 22 chapters, my book weaves fantasy and fact into a series of plausible alternative realities.

1974 was the last year that both Syd and Nick stepped into a recording studio. Neither man was in the best of mental health, but they were both compelling and charismatic characters, still fighting against the odds to make music. My book gives them a different kind of narrative voice, one which is both sympathetic to their creativity and their personal struggles. It is a book written with love and empathy for its subject matter.

Book cover of Head-On
Book cover of I Wanna Be Yours
Book cover of Remembered for a While

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Book cover of We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter

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What is my book about?

This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands of concerts across Wisconsin and the Midwest, and opening Shank Hall, the beloved Milwaukee venue named after a club in the cult film This Is Spinal Tap.

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What is this book about?

The entertaining and inspiring story of a stubbornly independent promoter and club owner 

This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus at UW–Milwaukee, booking thousands of concerts across Wisconsin and the Midwest, and opening Shank Hall, the beloved Milwaukee venue named after a club in the cult film This Is Spinal Tap.

This funny, nostalgia-inducing book details the lasting friendships Jest established…


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Interested in rock music, folk music, and poets?

Rock Music 247 books
Folk Music 62 books
Poets 75 books