Music and sport books we recommend on this show

Wild Tales: A Rock n Roll Life by Graham Nash 

This is a superbly written book by perhaps the most underrated member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, describing his earliest days trying to form The Hollies in his native Salford, meeting the Everly Brothers as an unknown, being hugely inspired by the Beatles and later in the 1960s escaping to California. 

It’s at this point that the book, named after one of his best solo albums, really lives up to its title. He details the many escapades and multiple fall outs between the members of the four piece supergroup he’s best known for and the complicated relationships between all four of them 

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young 

Nash’s book overlaps to a certain extent with this endearingly rambling tome from one of his colleagues. Young’s writing, like his musical work,is more off the cuff, detailing his obsession with model trains and following that unrelated kind of train, a train of thought, into unrelated anecdotes from the past, in nothing resembling chronological order! 

There’s almost a better sense of him in the Nash book than in his own work and, seeing as this pair are the two that probably fell out with each other the least, they’re certainly complimentary about each other. 

Unlike Simon’s choices, despite tempers flaring on this stage or that studio, there’s very little boxing in these two books, but they are a fantastic “One-Two” for trying to understand the solo and group dynamics of one of rock music’s most celebrated units. 

Around the world in 80 minutes by Rob Kitson

I always liked the Now That’s what I Call Music albums. Two tapes, four sides of music, (A pig with headphones and shades on the cover… really. Google it) to me it was like the compilers knew they had to put 7 or 8 awful tunes on so the albums covered all the bases but there was always one side that was top to toe gold. In my memory at least. 

Rob Kitson’s pulled of the rugby equivalent of side 1 of Now 9(see below) with Around the World in 80 minutes. It’s rugby’s greatest funkin hits, revisited. 

Will Carling on what it was like to be told the whole of Scotland hated him, Ray Gravell apologising to Jonathan Davies’ mother who had just watched on as he flattened her son. And, perhaps a little heavier but the amazing story of how Jason Robinson emerged from a childhood next to a heroin addict brother to reach the mountaintop with England’s world cup winners in 2003.

Funny, moving and above all entertaining to an audience who just love getting inside stories on great moments

Now 9 Side 1

1. Jackie Wilson : ”Reet Petite”

2. Mental as Anything : ”Live It Up”

3. Simply Red : ”The Right Thing”

4. Erasure : ”Sometimes”

5. Robbie Nevil : ”C'est la Vie”

6. Hot Chocolate : ”You Sexy Thing”

7. The Blow Monkeys : ”It Doesn't Have to be This Way”

8. The Housemartins : ”Caravan of Love”