Rob Chapman
@scribblerrob.bsky.social
My new novel is called Drum. It's available as a Kindle and Paperback. You can buy it here.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drum-Rob-Chapman/dp/B0G4CQ6FKV/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drum-Rob-Chapman/dp/B0G4CQ6FKV/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Pinned
Contains; Jazz. Jokes. Nazis. The IRA. More jokes. Kinder Transport. Transport Caffs. Lenny Bruce. Samuel Beckett. Bits. Estate Agents. Harold Pinter. More jokes. Accidentally getting famous. Top of The Pops. Top of The Form. Stanislavski. Peter Cook. Peter Sutcliffe. "I wouldn't open with it".
Just another memory jog that I'm doing a turn here on Saturday night, so all you Sussex by The Sea heads get yourself down there for Syd chat and the inevitable off topic delights.
www.tickettailor.com/events/thepi...
www.tickettailor.com/events/thepi...
Buy tickets – Syd's Last Stand - celebrating Syd Barrett – The Piper
Syd's Last Stand - celebrating Syd Barrett – The Piper, Sat 17 Jan 2026 - Q&A with Syd biographer Rob Chapman.plus DJs and dancingCelebrating 58 years since Syd Barrett's last ever performance wit...
www.tickettailor.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Just another memory jog that I'm doing a turn here on Saturday night, so all you Sussex by The Sea heads get yourself down there for Syd chat and the inevitable off topic delights.
www.tickettailor.com/events/thepi...
www.tickettailor.com/events/thepi...
Magnificent. Looks like it belongs in Nik Cohn & Guy Peellaert's Rock Dreams.
Mark E. Smith at The Foresters in Prestwich, Manchester, photo by Charles Gordon Montgomery, early 1980s.
January 13, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Magnificent. Looks like it belongs in Nik Cohn & Guy Peellaert's Rock Dreams.
Have they put the clocks back again without telling us? #darkmornings
January 13, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Have they put the clocks back again without telling us? #darkmornings
Mellifluous saxophone says hold my reed.
January 12, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Mellifluous saxophone says hold my reed.
I'll be interested to see what you think. Sales aren't exactly setting the world alight so far. I need to up my promotion game. Can't just rely on social media.
January 12, 2026 at 11:35 AM
I'll be interested to see what you think. Sales aren't exactly setting the world alight so far. I need to up my promotion game. Can't just rely on social media.
Contains; Jazz. Jokes. Nazis. The IRA. More jokes. Kinder Transport. Transport Caffs. Lenny Bruce. Samuel Beckett. Bits. Estate Agents. Harold Pinter. More jokes. Accidentally getting famous. Top of The Pops. Top of The Form. Stanislavski. Peter Cook. Peter Sutcliffe. "I wouldn't open with it".
January 12, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Contains; Jazz. Jokes. Nazis. The IRA. More jokes. Kinder Transport. Transport Caffs. Lenny Bruce. Samuel Beckett. Bits. Estate Agents. Harold Pinter. More jokes. Accidentally getting famous. Top of The Pops. Top of The Form. Stanislavski. Peter Cook. Peter Sutcliffe. "I wouldn't open with it".
Granted and fair enough Paul. I've had a fair few splainers though. Social media doesn't do nuance.
January 12, 2026 at 8:45 AM
Granted and fair enough Paul. I've had a fair few splainers though. Social media doesn't do nuance.
"His death was no different to his life A work of art". Yeah I expect his wife and son said that too when he confirmed his diagnosis. "Ooh David you're a work of art you are." So easy for critics to write dispassionate wank like that isn't it?
January 12, 2026 at 8:12 AM
"His death was no different to his life A work of art". Yeah I expect his wife and son said that too when he confirmed his diagnosis. "Ooh David you're a work of art you are." So easy for critics to write dispassionate wank like that isn't it?
I never said it did Paul. Nor did the doc. Jaws just happened to be the film they were talking about when the penny dropped.
January 12, 2026 at 7:49 AM
I never said it did Paul. Nor did the doc. Jaws just happened to be the film they were talking about when the penny dropped.
Look, all I said was I'd only just joined the conceptual dots y'know between actual people queuing round the block to see a popular film and the term itself. I didn't say I was the OED or even Eric Partridge y'know. And now it's all this.
January 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Look, all I said was I'd only just joined the conceptual dots y'know between actual people queuing round the block to see a popular film and the term itself. I didn't say I was the OED or even Eric Partridge y'know. And now it's all this.
Oh god I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning to Pedantry Central aren't I?
January 11, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Oh god I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning to Pedantry Central aren't I?
The etymology is clearly ambivalent and disputed (Wiki isn't God. It's 'some guys') but the point I'm trying to make before people started getting pedantic on my ass is that I had never even vaguely associated the term with queues and blocks. It was just some abstract term.
January 11, 2026 at 9:33 PM
The etymology is clearly ambivalent and disputed (Wiki isn't God. It's 'some guys') but the point I'm trying to make before people started getting pedantic on my ass is that I had never even vaguely associated the term with queues and blocks. It was just some abstract term.
In film terms it does. Although I'm finding the spin off discussion about its military origins fascinating.
January 11, 2026 at 9:01 PM
In film terms it does. Although I'm finding the spin off discussion about its military origins fascinating.
No. They showed an actual queue going round an actual block and the penny dropped. I realised I have always abstracted some very literal.
January 11, 2026 at 8:52 PM
No. They showed an actual queue going round an actual block and the penny dropped. I realised I have always abstracted some very literal.
I have a massive confession to make. We're watching a doc that mentions that when Jaws opened the queue went round the block. And I have only just realized what 'Blockbuster' actually means. I am 71 years old
January 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
I have a massive confession to make. We're watching a doc that mentions that when Jaws opened the queue went round the block. And I have only just realized what 'Blockbuster' actually means. I am 71 years old
Nobody wanted it though until Cherry Red said got any old demos.
January 11, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Nobody wanted it though until Cherry Red said got any old demos.
I wasn't bad at the jingle jangly myself for about 5 minutes that same year. It couldn't last. The poster couldn't even get the sodding title right.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9bG...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9bG...
This Way Out
YouTube video by Glaxo Babies - Topic
www.youtube.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:00 PM
I wasn't bad at the jingle jangly myself for about 5 minutes that same year. It couldn't last. The poster couldn't even get the sodding title right.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9bG...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9bG...
I meant 40 obv. My mental abacus is all askew.
January 11, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I meant 40 obv. My mental abacus is all askew.
30 years old and still sounds mighty fine. Pisses on the Smiths.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_w...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_w...
McCarthy - Should The Bible Be Banned?
YouTube video by Cathode Ghosts
www.youtube.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:50 PM
30 years old and still sounds mighty fine. Pisses on the Smiths.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_w...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_w...
I did mine before Xmas and I'm STILL getting 'have you paid us yet' daily e mails and texts.
January 11, 2026 at 2:40 PM
I did mine before Xmas and I'm STILL getting 'have you paid us yet' daily e mails and texts.
My favourite Flirtations youtube clip, which I had till 2024 for it to appear was this splendid version of Dirty Work. Not a proper vid obv but the syncing works beautifully.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Wb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Wb...
dirty work the flirtations
YouTube video by Roxanne Ryans
www.youtube.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:24 PM
My favourite Flirtations youtube clip, which I had till 2024 for it to appear was this splendid version of Dirty Work. Not a proper vid obv but the syncing works beautifully.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Wb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Wb...
Over the years I'm not sure who has bored me more, soul purists or jazz purists.
January 11, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Over the years I'm not sure who has bored me more, soul purists or jazz purists.
They're like a cabal, some of those self appointed NS people.
January 11, 2026 at 1:13 PM
They're like a cabal, some of those self appointed NS people.