PATGILBERT WRITER
About
Nearly 30 years as a journalist, author, broadcaster and one-time MOJO editor have taken Pat on an oft surreal journey, spiriting him from Paul McCartney's secret hideaway in Long Island to Island label boss Chris Blackwell's retreat at Golden Eye in Jamaica; from a spot on Sex Pistol Steve Jones' LA radio show and a visit to Dubai with Paul Weller, to an animal rights protest with Chrissie Hynde in Central Park and a visit to Pentonville Prison in the company of Billy Bragg.
He's been guided around Soho's pubs by Suggs, given physio by The Who's Roger Daltrey, been on tour with Oasis and read poetry by John Cooper-Clarke. Johnny Marr confided in him the secret of playing The Headmaster Ritual. The Clash's Joe Strummer once gave him a lift home, while Mick Jones joined Pat's group Night Of Treason on-stage to perform I Fought The Law.
He's shaken Smokey Robinson's hand, and written the standard biography of The Clash, "Passion Is A Fashion", as well as box set books for The Clash, The Jam and the Sex Pistols.
Pat was born in Portsmouth in 1965.
In 2006, he produced the BBC World Service documentary Armies For Hire (presented by Peter Snow), about modern-day mercenaries, and in 2012 was nominated for a Sony Award for his BBC Radio 2 documentary Before I Get Old: The Story Of Pete Townshend.
Pat has also written about military matters for the MOD, been on the set of Emmerdale and interviewed retired '70s Flying Squad officers for his book on The Sweeney. He appears as Man In Diner in St. Etienne’s film What Are You Doing Today, Mervyn Day?, an elegiac look at Stratford's fascinating
industrial history before the area was bulldozed to create the Olympic Park.
In 2020 he released the critically acclaimed 'The Tragedy Of Dirk Munro' LP, which received 4-star reviews in Record Collector, Vive Le Rock, MOJO and Shindig! magazines and radio play on Gary Crowley's BBC London Radio show, Soho Radio and numerous internet radio stations.
He's also the weekly guest vinyl expert on Simon Mayo's Greatest Hits Radio show.
