Rob Chapman

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".

I recently recorded a 40-minute conversation with Bill Drummond for his sort-of podcast series Spoke in the Wheel. I don't know how long it will be live - a lot of his stuff appears only once a year on the date it was first published. So it may or may not be here: www.penkilnburn.com/spoke-in-the...

Thanks for the sales surge everyone. (Joke) More txt in the alt if I can tempt you. I was always going to keep my sources secret but when I was getting Drum's voice I imagined the delivery of Arnold Brown channeling the mind of Jerry Sadowitz. There you go folks. You can have that morsel for free.

It will have been 50 yrs ago that I bought what was probably my last ever copy of Rolling Stone. News travelled more slowly then and although we'd all heard the Brian stories these images were shocking and not a little distressing too.

Hey you. Christmas is coming sooner than you think. Why not buy the book lover in your life the first two parts of what literally nobody is calling my Outsider Trilogy. Details on my website. www.rob-chapman.com

On the other hand, Unsung Unsaid stubbornly refuses to stop selling. Coming up to three years now and there hasn't been a single zero sales month in all that time. It all balances out I guess.

Celebrating my latest deeply embedded bout of insomnia by checking my October sales figures and noticing that Drum hasn't sold a single copy this month. Think I definitely misplaced my optimism with that one. We move on regardless. Taster in the alt text.

Watched Cléo from 5 to 7 last night. Great film. 90 mins proper. Top cameo from Michel Legrand and silent film silliness from Godard and Anna Karina.

I don't know what the wind is like over in Manchester and Liverpool right now but both this afternoon's games could be reduced to a swirling farce.

What a wonderful record The Carnival Is Over is. Fab40 no 1 written all over it. It took Nick Cave's version to convince the kind of people who need convincing what a great song it is.

Separated at birth, musically at least. Home of The Brave and Guess I'm Dumb.

Record company really didn't know what to do with Cher after I Got You Babe, did they? She makes some really draggy records until Bang Bang and The Beat Goes On.

Tuning in for the BigL Fab40 Oldies Project just played this stone cold Northern classic. Epic tune. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxa...

Update. Try 4.30 instead of 5.30. "This house has been out at sea all night" - Ted Hughes.

Ah, I see it's annual wake up at 5 am instead of 6 Sunday tomorrow then for all us insomniacs.

Very sad to hear that Derrick Harriott died today. I love the way he’d effortlessly blend soul, funk and pop with reggae and dub to create something really special, like this LP he recorded with The Revolutionaries #RIP 🟢▶️ open.spotify.com/album/5n0ox5... 🍏▶️ music.apple.com/gb/album/reg...

My thoughts are with Rochdale fans who ventured out in this this afternoon to watch their team get tonked 5-0 at home.

Random scan #4. 1976. Ladbroke Grove dude Mick Farren in a hurry. "Out of my way punk. The Titanic sails at dawn."

Random scan #3. Mid 1970s, some local nightclub dj.

Utterly rainy afternoon random scan #2. 1960s Mongolian stamp. It's it pretty?

Random scans #1 Late football results. Can't remember the year. 1930s I think. Some anorak will know.

It's a do nothing wet afternoon so I think I might scan a few old random archive pics for your enjoyment or indifference. (The latter is fine.)

Spare a thought for our Alice. And her Mum. Poland flight got back 1.30 am to Manc. I hour late. So far so normal. They then waited for connection bus back home. Which didn't turn up as coach company had it booked for Monday! Emergency had to be sent for. From Preston! 5am they got back here. zzzzz

Supercar is on Talking Pics. Hadn't seen it in decades. Had completely forgotten that it was a show about a race of people whose faces have been completely paralyzed by Botox.

I have no interest whatsoever in the Mercury Prize but would have been outraged if there had been any other winner this year.

Has anyone else experienced consequences of these rogue AI cyber leaks today? I had a weird elaborate e mail supposedly from wiredgov.co.uk with details of applying for tenders and allsorts. Anyway, long story short I now own HS2.

That thing where you regret not making notes on that biography you read a while ago for some future book project and then discover that you did. Put that in your Creative Writing class organisational skills 101 Mister Chaos Brain.

I know this normally happens to Orwell or Oscar Wilde but I've just seen the following quote attributed to Bill Burroughs and no he sodding didn't. "A psychotic is a guy who has just found out what is going on." The term he used was paranoid and the rest is a crude paraphrase too, but hey, internet.

My daughter is touring Auschwitz today as part of a school history trip. We felt that it was as necessary to send her as my Dad (and many of his generation) did when he got us to watch THAT episode of The World At War. Never forget.

I think Carrick is about to get the "vote of confidence" from the Board.

Was hoping to hold out till the weekend clock change before we put the heating on but I have to tell you that at half past pissing down on this wet Wednesday afternoon I'm on the verge of cracking.

Alice will be just about checking into her Hotel in Krakow old town about now I expect. 2 am she was up and about this morning with minimal fuss. She even had an early night (9pm!) last night bless her, to prepare for the rigours of RyanAir.

Which Beatles tune seems to lend itself best to a jazz arrangement and why is it Norwegian Wood?

Was reminiscing via DM about an old BBC mate and I suddenly grew fond for the days when the BBC would fly me to Paris just to interview Nick Kent for a doc. Sorry to be 'we had the best of it' guy but it becomes more and more apparent every day that we bloody did. Education, freelancing, the lot.