Stories by J.P. Robinson
Twitter: @MrJPRobinson
Fanatics and Collectors, a collection of true stories about music by J.P. Robinson, is available now via Few Press.
Here are some stories available online:
The mystery of Jesus, the naked hippie dancer (Medium), in which a man dances at gigs most nights for decades, tells people he is the Son of God, and disappears. As recommended by The Guardian and Longreads, a Most Popular story on Longform and a Most Read on Medium.
The Forgotten Song That Made The Beach Boys Cool Again (Medium), in which a hippie poet tries to make The Beach Boys cool, as Charles Manson’s trial begins. As recommended on Longreads and Medium.
My Horn Don’t Dig Those Race Troubles (Medium), in which white supremacists bomb a Louis Armstrong gig. As recommended on Digg and Medium.
The Trial of Chuck Berry (Medium), in which a fourteen year old Apache girl testifies that Berry raped her fourteen times in two weeks. As recommended on Longreads and Medium.
The Egging of Frank Sinatra (Medium), in which an eighteen year old boy gets briefly famous for throwing eggs at Frank Sinatra, then disappears. As recommended on Music Redef and Medium.
This Daring Brit’s Long Lost WWII Diary Chronicles London’s Darkest Days (Narratively), in which a troubled, retired architect puts out fires on St Paul’s in the Blitz, and thinks back to his time in the trenches of World War I.
All Beach, Without A Background (The Real Story), in which Herman Melville considers suicide in a lonely English seaside resort, while visiting Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The Dances of Bittersweet Hill (Aquarium Drunkard), in which a pioneering record collector and writer promotes the first jazz gigs and the first mixed-race band in America.
Kimchi and Pop Song in Pyongyang (Popmatters), in which a North Korean civil servant works to preserve his country’s folk music.
Hot Jazz and Air Raids (Medium), in which invalids and conscientious objectors invent record collecting, during World War Two. As recommended on Medium.
The Fate of Sir Cliff (Medium), in which Cliff Richard visits a retirement complex in his old home town.
The Rotten Etymology of Punk (Medium), in which the strange history of the word “punk” music is unravelled, decades before The Sex Pistols. As recommended on Medium.
