Scratching Shed Publishing

PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER – PRE-ORDER NOW

By Tommy Cannon

with a Foreword by Robbie Williams

Tommy Cannon was half of one of the most popular comedy duos British television has ever produced. Wheeltappers & Shunters Social Club … Royal Variety Performances … Saturday night light entertainment … end of the pier during many a seaside season … the pair even made a popular feature film. In short, Cannon and Ball were everywhere.

But just who is this unassuming welder from Oldham, real name Tommy Derbyshire, whose life changed on the day he met Bobby Harper? And when you’re the straight man in the partnership, what happens when you lose your beloved best friend to Covid? You question everything: past, present and whether there’s a future.

Here, for the first time, are Tommy’s reminiscences of a tough start in life, the unexpected fame, fortune and loss of all that – and of how hard he found it to grieve

for his little mate in the red braces. Now, five years on, back on the road and doing what he does best with a huge social media following, he is ready to tell his story.

Edited by Paul Thompson

“I would rather make people laugh, than make them do anything else…”

Hilarious, irreverent, poignant, fanciful, quirky, imaginative, original, musical. Jake Thackray was a storytelling genius who loved using words to entertain, move, surprise and provoke. While his extraordinary songs are rightly celebrated, they were not the beginning of his life as a wordsmith, nor the end. Jake Thackray – The Unsung Writer is a chance to explore Jake’s other writings: love poetry; an experimental short story; his charming script for a school musical; amusing pen portraits; his first published work; tall tales crafted for his concerts; and his acclaimed, colourful columns for the ‘Yorkshire Post’ and ‘Catholic Herald’. This entertaining collection provides fresh insights into Jake’s creativity and the development of his distinctive voice.

Paul Thompson is also the co-author of critically-acclaimed biography Beware of the Bull – The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray

Ever wondered what happened to one-of-a-kind comedian Phil Cool?

Well now you can find out, as told by the man himself…

Young Mick, next door, played drums and bagpipes. Separately, of course, but it still annoyed our neighbours. He’d say stuff like: ‘I’m quitting my band. They’re a bunch of big-heads; not one of them is as talented as I am.’

Then one day, in the early 1970s, he said something sensible. ‘Phil, if you don’t start doing proper gigs now, you’ll be too old and it won’t happen.’ So I made a decision to get serious, leave my job and make the transition from wage to stage. By 1985, after playing every dive in the UK, I’d honed a few hours of decent stand-up and landed a series on BBC2. Game-changer. After that I landed another, which won a Royal Television Award for originality.

A third series, a special and two ITV series followed. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the phone didn’t stop ringing; my memorable face was everywhere. I had realised a dream. Then, as far as most viewers knew, I all but vanished. It’s true big theatres progressively grew smaller, but in fact I carried on walking the boards until my retirement, aged 65.

I am now 76. So here’s the book. I think you’ll like it. For a fair price, you get the head … the tale … the whole damn thing.

A Funny – and Tragic – Memoir of Life in the Met

by Paul Byrne

Paul Byrne joined London’s Metropolitan Police by mistake. By day a Detective Inspector, by night a stand-up comedian, this is a memoir of law enforcement not exactly going to plan. DI Byrne walked a tightrope of death, destruction and disaster, much of it caused by himself. From a near-death experience at the hands of the Australian SAS to causing a diplomatic incident with North Korea, it was a hell of a ride. Yet sucked into a dark and troubling whirlpool of police corruption, eventually he would be forced out of the service a broken man. Paul remains the only serving police officer to be mugged on duty – and the only one to be sacked for writing satire. His story shines an amusing, and at times horrifying, light into the darkest corners of Britain’s largest police force.

“A fascinating account – full of tragic and hilarious stories shot through with Byrne’s wonderful appreciation of the absurdity of life…” – ARTHUR SMITH

(NB: PAPERBACK ONLY – CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A REPRINT)

The labour and the love seep from every page. For Old Molly Metcalfe, for Leopold Alcocks, for Sister Josephine, but mostly for yourself, if your hands aren’t too encumbered, gather a book or two for Jake…” – Jon Richardson

“A timely paean to a velvet larynxed, storytelling wonderman…” – Cerys Matthews

by Paul Thompson and John Watterson

Beware of the Bull – The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray is the critically-acclaimed first biography of the late, great singer-songwriter.

Admired by Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner and Thea Gilmore, among others, Jake was one of the greatest and most original artists of the twentieth century; a unique talent and master storyteller whose songs are full of wit, poetry, irreverence and humanity.

The book reveals a life as extraordinary as his writing: difficult upbringing in the terraces of Leeds; strict Catholic education; transformative experiences in France and Algeria; time as an inspirational, unorthodox and highly creative teacher; meteoric development as a writer and performer; subsequent discovery by the BBC; Abbey Road recordings and influence on The Beatles; fame, fortune and remarkable television career… and Jake’s rejection of it all.

It is a story of a complex, charismatic and self-effacing man whom many loved, but few understood. Beware of the Bull was written with the full support of the Thackray family. Exclusive access to personal papers has allowed for the inclusion of a wealth of rare poems, photographs and ‘lost’ lyrics.

This paperback edition comes with a new foreword by the comedian Jon Richardson, an afterword by the authors, and further appendices with author Neil Gaiman and the distinguished conductor and composer Sir William Southgate.

*Among the Daily Telegraph‘s pick of the best music books of 2022*

Paperback – 512 pages – currently being reprinted

*Postage and packing included with UK orders only. Overseas customers may call us direct on 00 44 113 225 9797 during UK office hours, or order via this site and we will then reply to quote the required amount of postage for your country