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".
"We were never really Britpop".
Ignore the smears: I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson. And I fully understand the lessons we must learn | Wes Streeting
Ignore the smears: I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson. And I fully understand the lessons we must learn | Wes Streeting
I knew him but not well, and worry now that he thrived in our political culture. There was a failure of moral seriousness, says health secretary Wes Streeting
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:35 PM
"We were never really Britpop".
Basically Sky's commentariat line for weeks now has been "Arsenal drop valuable points in the title race. What does this mean for Starmer's chances of survival?"
February 9, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Basically Sky's commentariat line for weeks now has been "Arsenal drop valuable points in the title race. What does this mean for Starmer's chances of survival?"
Sky political pundits 1pm. blah blah Scottish Labour leader blah blah Starmer's darkest hour
Sky political pundits 5pm. Has Sarwar isolated himself?
ffs media agenda setters. Make up your minds which pen you want us herded into.
Sky political pundits 5pm. Has Sarwar isolated himself?
ffs media agenda setters. Make up your minds which pen you want us herded into.
February 9, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Sky political pundits 1pm. blah blah Scottish Labour leader blah blah Starmer's darkest hour
Sky political pundits 5pm. Has Sarwar isolated himself?
ffs media agenda setters. Make up your minds which pen you want us herded into.
Sky political pundits 5pm. Has Sarwar isolated himself?
ffs media agenda setters. Make up your minds which pen you want us herded into.
What is the best Top 10 hit single where no two successive lines rhyme? Send your entries to From The Underworld competition. c/o PO Box....
February 9, 2026 at 6:11 PM
What is the best Top 10 hit single where no two successive lines rhyme? Send your entries to From The Underworld competition. c/o PO Box....
I started to write a Not A Blog piece a while back on my student engagement with left politics 50 yrs ago. Left it for a bit due to other business and mid Jan head wobble but rejuvenated by 'current events' and seeing all the Spartists on FB I think it might be timely to go back and finish it now.
February 9, 2026 at 4:39 PM
I started to write a Not A Blog piece a while back on my student engagement with left politics 50 yrs ago. Left it for a bit due to other business and mid Jan head wobble but rejuvenated by 'current events' and seeing all the Spartists on FB I think it might be timely to go back and finish it now.
Member of the Permanent Opposition Party on Sky News right now. "After 15 yrs a Labour supporter I cannot in all good..." Yeah yeah yeah I don't want to hear a fucking peep out of you people when Reform come riding in on your ideological purity, not a fucking squeek.
February 9, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Member of the Permanent Opposition Party on Sky News right now. "After 15 yrs a Labour supporter I cannot in all good..." Yeah yeah yeah I don't want to hear a fucking peep out of you people when Reform come riding in on your ideological purity, not a fucking squeek.
Coffee break listening. Because sometimes other people's comps just aren't good enough and you have to play your own. And yes I know. Merry Clayton. Stupid typo.
February 9, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Coffee break listening. Because sometimes other people's comps just aren't good enough and you have to play your own. And yes I know. Merry Clayton. Stupid typo.
Seeing lots of Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall moments in my feed of late where I just want the creator to walk out from behind a partition and say 'you know nothing of my work'. It's ok, it's not you it's me. No actually, it's you.
February 9, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Seeing lots of Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall moments in my feed of late where I just want the creator to walk out from behind a partition and say 'you know nothing of my work'. It's ok, it's not you it's me. No actually, it's you.
R Veronica just played this and once again I am obligated to tell you that there was nothing new about Abba to those if us who listened to European pop in the early 70s. That sound was everywhere.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJcc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJcc...
Stone et Charden - L'avventura (1972)
YouTube video by RTS Archives
www.youtube.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:51 AM
R Veronica just played this and once again I am obligated to tell you that there was nothing new about Abba to those if us who listened to European pop in the early 70s. That sound was everywhere.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJcc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJcc...
50 years then. Doesn't time fly when you're waiting for a real rain to come? I'll never forget walking thru Broadmead in Bristol and seeing that poster above the Odeon. I don't think a poster has ever made me want to see a movie more than that street shot of De Niro did.
Just listened to a fascinating R3 Between The Ears on Bernard Herrmann and writing the score for Taxi Driver. That got me through half an hour of boring Sunday evening kitchen chores a treat.
February 9, 2026 at 8:53 AM
50 years then. Doesn't time fly when you're waiting for a real rain to come? I'll never forget walking thru Broadmead in Bristol and seeing that poster above the Odeon. I don't think a poster has ever made me want to see a movie more than that street shot of De Niro did.
Just listened to a fascinating R3 Between The Ears on Bernard Herrmann and writing the score for Taxi Driver. That got me through half an hour of boring Sunday evening kitchen chores a treat.
February 8, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Just listened to a fascinating R3 Between The Ears on Bernard Herrmann and writing the score for Taxi Driver. That got me through half an hour of boring Sunday evening kitchen chores a treat.
I do hope the new Wuthering Heights winds people up, especially Bronte Society bores, like Lily Cole's appointment did. All these gatekeepers who think they own literacy legacies. Our Alice is already excited about it bcos Charli and all the local moorland locations she recognises. Power to ver kids
February 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
I do hope the new Wuthering Heights winds people up, especially Bronte Society bores, like Lily Cole's appointment did. All these gatekeepers who think they own literacy legacies. Our Alice is already excited about it bcos Charli and all the local moorland locations she recognises. Power to ver kids
Watched Boogie Nights for the nth time last nite. A reluctant yes at first but found myself marvelling again at the structure, it is a masterpiece of character evolution and pacing. The way the 70s ends kerblam and then everyone has a messy 80s. His best film.
February 8, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Watched Boogie Nights for the nth time last nite. A reluctant yes at first but found myself marvelling again at the structure, it is a masterpiece of character evolution and pacing. The way the 70s ends kerblam and then everyone has a messy 80s. His best film.
The commentators not saying a single word during the wonderful ice skating displays. Enjoy it while it lasts, it probably won't catch on. (But thanks anyway, the commentators.)
February 8, 2026 at 10:30 AM
The commentators not saying a single word during the wonderful ice skating displays. Enjoy it while it lasts, it probably won't catch on. (But thanks anyway, the commentators.)
WKCR currently playing a whole bunch of tracks from Blues Jam At Chess. A great album.
February 7, 2026 at 7:09 PM
WKCR currently playing a whole bunch of tracks from Blues Jam At Chess. A great album.
Nice to see the Times giving Community a plug but this bland resume doesn't even begin to convey how and why it's such a great show. We're currently rewatching for the first time since they were first aired and if anything it's even better second time round>
February 7, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Nice to see the Times giving Community a plug but this bland resume doesn't even begin to convey how and why it's such a great show. We're currently rewatching for the first time since they were first aired and if anything it's even better second time round>
Car radio had been left on R2 (a bad thing) but they played Say I'm Your Number One by Princess (a holy thing) but then DJ Famouser crashed the fade with some reliably asinine banter (a shithead thing).
February 7, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Car radio had been left on R2 (a bad thing) but they played Say I'm Your Number One by Princess (a holy thing) but then DJ Famouser crashed the fade with some reliably asinine banter (a shithead thing).
That Times review of the Sajid Javid memoir sounds like a publishers wet dream. "Borderline criminality" in childhood. Ooh they love a bit of 'borderline' don't they? "Like any good Thatcherite who bought £500 of British Gas shares at 14." What bootstrap driven prole can't relate to that?
February 7, 2026 at 11:13 AM
That Times review of the Sajid Javid memoir sounds like a publishers wet dream. "Borderline criminality" in childhood. Ooh they love a bit of 'borderline' don't they? "Like any good Thatcherite who bought £500 of British Gas shares at 14." What bootstrap driven prole can't relate to that?
Oh no! Overnight I've been blocked by drmo499 and 6778909uhhhfvt. If billynoposts, aggressoprofilexyz and weeandcheapbiscuits*%!! follow suit I'll know I've ended up on another list.
February 7, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Oh no! Overnight I've been blocked by drmo499 and 6778909uhhhfvt. If billynoposts, aggressoprofilexyz and weeandcheapbiscuits*%!! follow suit I'll know I've ended up on another list.
If it's going to continue to rain all the time I'm just going to have to find the perfect music to while away a lazy afternoon.
February 6, 2026 at 3:17 PM
If it's going to continue to rain all the time I'm just going to have to find the perfect music to while away a lazy afternoon.
If you missed this one last night. Highly questionable in his later years, predictably boorish too about all the usual fish in a barrel but never ever dull.
I can't tell you how much I am enjoying Damn You England. This from his Spectator column June 1992 is peak Osborne.
February 6, 2026 at 11:11 AM
If you missed this one last night. Highly questionable in his later years, predictably boorish too about all the usual fish in a barrel but never ever dull.
From the Kenneth Williams Diaries 1970. You and me both, Kenneth.
February 6, 2026 at 10:03 AM
From the Kenneth Williams Diaries 1970. You and me both, Kenneth.
The teenager was talking to me over dinner. Every sentence was "I was like and she was like". Alice I said, can you not begin every sentence with I was like. She paused for a micro-second, a flicker of annoyance jolted across her face. "I can't talk like that" she snapped.
February 5, 2026 at 7:52 PM
The teenager was talking to me over dinner. Every sentence was "I was like and she was like". Alice I said, can you not begin every sentence with I was like. She paused for a micro-second, a flicker of annoyance jolted across her face. "I can't talk like that" she snapped.
Sent an e mail on Monday to a place seeking expertise in taking creative writing into prisons, which I've done. Just got a fob off standard response wishing me well in 'seeking work in this area'. ffs I was offering my specialist skills not looking for a fucking job.
February 5, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Sent an e mail on Monday to a place seeking expertise in taking creative writing into prisons, which I've done. Just got a fob off standard response wishing me well in 'seeking work in this area'. ffs I was offering my specialist skills not looking for a fucking job.
When I was at tech we used to get loads of mid-range bands playing. One night we stood in the Kings Arms opposite the college talking to Kevin Coyne and band who were warm and friendly. Hey I said to one of them, you'll be the guitarist in The Police in 3 years and this will all seem like a dream.
February 5, 2026 at 12:46 PM
When I was at tech we used to get loads of mid-range bands playing. One night we stood in the Kings Arms opposite the college talking to Kevin Coyne and band who were warm and friendly. Hey I said to one of them, you'll be the guitarist in The Police in 3 years and this will all seem like a dream.