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I Shoot Rock Stars

The Wild Adventures of a Music Video Director, an instant Sunday Times bestseller

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I Shoot Rock Stars

By: Tim Pope
Narrated by: Tim Pope
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'A true original, a genuine maverick'
ROBERT SMITH (The Cure)

'An ode to creativity and thinking outside the box, as well as to rock and roll in its purest form: messy, unpredictable and wholly irresistible'
TELEGRAPH

'An intriguing insight into an industry during a time of big ideas and even bigger budgets, perfectly capturing the riotous energy of a uniquely creative moment in music history'
ROLLING STONE

'A dirty little page-turner from England's greatest music video director'
MATT JOHNSON (The The)

'Tim is a strange person'
IGGY POP

'The absolute dog's bollocks in the world of pop video. He is the OG, the Don, he literally wrote the book'
NORMAN COOK (aka Fatboy Slim)


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The wildly entertaining memoir of the legendary video director, whose work is synonymous with the glory years of MTV - and his long-standing relationships with such icons as David Bowie, Neil Young, Iggy Pop and The Cure

The 1980s saw the birth of a new medium that took the world by storm: the pop video. And Tim Pope, a music fanboy-turned-video director, was at the forefront of this wild ride.

Shooting his first performance footage at a concert after smuggling a camera inside his trousers, Tim got his break directing the video for Soft Cell's follow-up to 'Tainted Love'. Work snowballed, and he was soon jetting back and forth across the Atlantic to feed the newly launched engine of MTV, making videos for The Cure, Queen, Talk Talk, Wham!, Hall & Oates, Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Bangles, among others.

From dressing Freddie Mercury as a giant Mediterranean prawn to being called a 'funny little arsehole' by David Bowie; hanging out with Neil Young on his family ranch or locking The Cure in a wardrobe and launching it off a cliff, Tim had a front-row seat on the excesses, egos and larger-than-life characters of the era. Capturing the improvisational mood of a time when directors worked guerrilla-style, money flowed freely and no idea was too wacky to pursue, I Shoot Rock Stars provides a fly-on-the-wall glimpse of an extraordinary cast of personalities, capturing the fizzing energy of this unique creative moment. More than anything, it's the hilarious and frequently moving story of a music-mad kid who ended up working with his heroes, and who here chronicles his - and his industry's - creative triumphs and follies in riotous style.

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**I SHOOT ROCK STARS entered the Sunday Times hardback bestseller chart at no. 5 on 23 August 2026**©2026 Tim Pope (P)2026 Headline Publishing Group Limited Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity Funny Witty
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Critic reviews

THE BOOK IS A HUGELY ENTERTAINING READ. VERY EXCELLENT!
A dirty little page-turner from England's greatest music video director. Like the man himself, it made me laugh and weep - all at the same time
For 'Sex Dwarf', Tim threw a bucket of maggots over us as I ran around in a leather jockstrap. There was a moment when we all thought, perhaps this time we've gone too far. It's all in here
Tim crashed the stage, camera on a fishing rod, chasing the shot he was seeing . . . and the next thing I knew, he was pressing it into my forehead . . . The book brought that moment vividly back
Tim Pope is, to my mind, the absolute dog's bollocks in the world of pop video. He is the OG, the Don, he literally wrote the book
Tim is a strange person
Like the man himself, I Shoot Rock Stars is a brilliant, madcap adventure featuring a cast list of who's who in music of the past forty years
Tim Pope is completely unique in the landscape of film directors. His broad scope embraces music videos, feature films, television programmes and commercials. His remarkable talent never fails to dazzle. Many years ago he endeared himself to me because he was completely delighted and amused when a senior TV exec told him what we had made was "formless rubbish". If this book is half as good as that then it promises to be fantastic
Tim seemed to enjoy torturing the people he worked with; in my case he painted me from head to toe in gold
An ode to creativity and thinking outside the box, as well as torockand roll in its purest form: messy, unpredictable and wholly irresistible.
An intriguing insight into an industry during a time of big ideas and even bigger budgets, perfectly capturing the riotous energy of a uniquely creative moment in music history.
Riotous . . . Pope writes about his adventures like he talks, in mild disbelief.
All stars
Most relevant
A unique voice in every way. Excellent throughout and hugely enjoyable. A life well lived.

Wonderful stories, brilliantly told.

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No mum's blouses were worn by Tim Pope in the course of his adventures. Packed with amusing anectodes to keep the cogs turning. A highly enjoyable listen.

Psychedelic Shirts

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Thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Tim’s life and work, he was fortunate enough to work with some incredible artists, many of whom are heroes of my own which only added to the fascination, one of the best autobiographies I’ve listened to in a long time.

An absolutely fascinating story

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Great audiobook funny, informative and a joy for fans of the bands and groups mentioned

Funny and informative

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Author sadly a bit full of himself. Sadly disappointing and dull, Not very entertaining and repeated phrases.

Sadly Dull and tiresome

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