Pop Idle: 30 years on the road as a professional singer

by Dave Dawson

Like hordes of others, best-selling author Dave Dawson has spent decades crisscrossing the country as a solo full-time professional musician. During his 30 years on the road, he has performed thousands of shows before tens of thousands of people, yet still remains one of the army of anonymous entertainers who literally sing for their supper, as part of the Never Ending UK Tour. From pubs to clubs, dives to luxury hotels, theatres to gardens, and hen nights to care homes, there’s hardly a live environment that he hasn’t encountered, enjoyed or endured.

Along the way, he’s had brushes with fame and fandom, strippers and stalkers, crooks and colourful characters, pissed-up punters and prima donnas… and has banked a wealth of experience at the brunt of the live music circuit.

In this, his fifth book, Dave takes the reader with him as he encounters the Great British Public head on with only a microphone stand and an ad-lib to hide behind. Alongside light-hearted and cautionary tales, Pop Idle provides an invaluable insight into the pleasures and perils that await anyone dedicated or mad enough to want to forge a path into the music industry at the bottom rung of the showbiz ladder

Dave Dawson, under the pseudonym Dave Philpott, is the co-author of the cult comedy bestsellers, Dear Mr. Kershaw, Dear Mr Pop Star, Grammar Free In The UK and Dear Catherine Wheel

233 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2024

Reviews

[Jim Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A laugh-a-minute group of anecdotes with an astute assessment of the music entertainment business. Dave Dawson has seen a lot in his long singing career from gangsters and male-strippers to dodgy agents, stalkers and everything in-between. A must-read!

[Yvonne (It's All About Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished reading: April 12th 2024

"Songs are multi-functional power tools, which is very unsettling for the handyman wielding them in public with a blindfold on."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

I was invited to read the memoir Pop Idle earlier this month... Since I had such a great time with the author’s other collab title Dear Mr. Pop Star, I simply couldn’t resist. The humor in that particular title was right up my alley, and I've been looking forward to dive into this music memoir and join Dave Dawson on his journey through thirty years on the road as a professional singer. And I have to say that I had an absolute blast reading Pop Idle!

This memoir is a collection of anecdotes and and events that happened during his career as a professional singer. The story isn't told in any chronological way, but instead switches back and forth and is mostly grouped by theme. This structure didn't slow down the pace at all, and I can imagine Pop Idle being the perfect book for when you can only squeeze in a chapter or two at the time. Not that I didn't fly through it myself, because I couldn't resist that temptation of just one more page and one more chapter to discover what else happened to the author during his years on the road.

What made this memoir stand out for me was the humor, which I once again found to be a perfect match for me. Even the more serious topics are tackled in a way that inevitably makes you chuckle. The life of a professional singer definitely isn't an easy one and there are many obstacles along the way; I can understand why it would take a special kind of thick skin to be able to deal with all the negativity over the years. I suspect the sometimes self-deprecating humor sure has something to do with it all, and I loved that there were some valuable lessons along the way for the new generation of professional singers.

If you are looking for a well written and witty music memoir that mixes more serious topics with a healthy dose of humor along the way, Pop Idle will most definitely deliver.

[Cathy Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Dawson has an appealing writing style peppered with wry humour and after having read Dear Mr Pop Star, I knew Pop Idle would be a read I’d enjoy.

This is a realistic account from someone who has been on the live music circuit for many years. Pop Idle is an engaging and entertaining read, with some more serious undertones, including dodgy agents, con men and stalking. It’s a real, down to earth insight into the life, with its inevitable ups and downs, of an entertainer and all that that entails, not least of all luck, opportunities missed and being in the right place at the right time.

Pop Idle (the play on words will become apparent) recounts Dave Dawson’s years traveling from venue to venue, across the length and breadth of the country. It’s a very well written account of his life as a professional performer which encompasses most venues you could think of, from the luxurious to the less salubrious and the anecdotes cover a range of emotions from the poignant to the laughable.

I particularly liked the account of a show at a care home and this remark from one of the residents…
“Thank God we’ve got a singer today. Last week we had a girl playing the harp. I know we’re all close to the end but there’s no need to rub it in. That’s just taking the piss.”

Another amusing care home exchange came when one lady asked Dave for something by Deer Streets. He was nonplussed and confessed he’d never heard of Deer Streets. It turned out the lady meant Dire Straits. Impressed, Dave was surprised she knew the group and commented to that effect. It transpired Mark Knopfler was her son. There were several other surprising revelations concerning famous people and others who, although not famous, were incredible in their own right.

'My encounters with all these remarkable people made my boast of two Palladium shows and an uncle who’d been in The Who look a bit shit…but they shrunk my head… I’ve not had “ears in different time zones” for quite a while.'

I didn’t realise just how much was involved in being a touring act. It’s not just the never ending travelling to and fro but lugging equipment from home to venue and back again each time as well. Highly recommended if you’re interested in the less famous side of the music business, or just like a good entertaining read.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book, it was like having a night out without leaving my sofa. Tales of gigs gone right and gone wrong are very entertaining indeed. I enjoyed the punchline of a Waitrose bag, a Hendrix based heckle, having to look up what tellurium is and the sublime poetry of the last paragraph of page 194.

[Grace J Reviewerlady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light-hearted, funny, enlightening - and honest!

Having enjoyed Dear Mr Pop Star by this author, I was delighted to read this one, and it did not disappoint. Most of us have enjoyed, at some point in our life, going out for a drink and listening to 'live' music but rarely give a passing thought to the musician. This is an insight into that and it's written with wit and humour.

Any self employed person needs to keep their wits about them, watching the money come and go and doing so much more than just turning up at the gig to entertain folk and this novel is entertaining from beginning to end. Well written, and such an easy read, I giggled and laughed all the way through, so much so that I woke my husband from his slumbers. One of the rare books that you hope isn't going to finish quite as soon as it does.

A sparkling read, easily worth all five glowing stars and my highest recommendation.

[Claude Vecht-Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Dave Dawson has an engaging writing style and you feel that you are watching him on stage, engaging with his audience. His memoir is beautifully written, witty and moving. I thoroughly recommend it.