They will talk about their new album, or their upcoming tour, the Grammys, the Brit Awards – so it’s fairly ephemeral,” says Duerden.

There have been many specials, Behind the Musics, documentaries, and again reality shows full of flameouts and band implosions, with death and recriminations left and right. The writing and information was good, but after the 50% mark in the book I skimmed if I didn't know the artist.In telling these stories, Duerden shines a light not just on the struggles of musicians, but on the public’s perception of success. Highlights for me: The Only Ones and their Butlin’s comeback that nearly wasn’t, owing to a crack-addled lead singer; Roisin Murphy’s hatred of her own DJ career (yet one that made her ‘really fucking rich’) and Robbie Williams who - love or hate him - is always good value in any interview. This is a candid, laugh-out-loud and occasionally shocking look at what happens when the brightest stars fall back down to earth.

Exit Stage Left is doing what a lot of music autobiographies do not do - which is tell the story of musicians after the spotlight has passed and fallen onto someone else and the brief illumination of fame is no more. INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH** **GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY** **FINANCIAL TIMES 'BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2022' PICK** 'Incredibly moving. Some artists I was less enthralled by than others, and some stories felt a little repetitive as their careers seemed to follow the same inevitable path (struggle, fame, not-so-famous, obscurity) without offering anything particularly new or insightful. obviously starting with Bill Drummond was always going to set the bar high, and some of the subsequent case studies follow fairly well-worn trajectories, even if Peter Perrett does provide a particularly spectacular iteration of the textbook 'spent it all on drugs'.Possibly my favourite of the lot, though, was Brian Nash from Frankie, who after a brief attempt at a new band, and twenty years as an electrician, became a funeral celebrant: "I tell you, doing funerals is better than doing an acoustic gig any day, because at least every cunt shuts up while you're talking, and there's no one standing at the bar with beer bottles chatting shit cos they're full of coke. Featuring brand new interviews with the likes of: Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Wendy James, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, and Justin Hawkins.