Philip Dodd (born 24 November 1957) is a British author, editor, and publisher best known for his work on books with high-profile musicians, TV stars and media personalities. He has collaborated with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, actor

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William ...

and celebrity entrepreneur

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

. Philip Glenister once said of Dodd: "Phil makes writing seem effortless. But only because you don’t see the craft and the graft that has to go into it". Dodd is also an author in his own right, having written several non-fiction books under his byline, such as ''The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium''. A long-term jazz aficionado, he plays piano with the Philip Dodd Quartet, which performs regularly at London's

606 Club The 606 Club (also known as "The Six") is a jazz club in Chelsea, London. The club is in a basement venue at 90 Lots Road in London SW10 (opposite Lots Road Power Station) and is currently licensed for 175 people. It offers jazz, Latin, soul, R& ...

History

Philip Dodd was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, Suffolk, on 24 November 1957, to Arthur and Esther Dodd, both teachers and dedicated crossword solvers. He attended the Royal Grammar School,

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

before going on to read Modern Languages at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

. While at Jesus, Dodd founded ''Vague'' magazine, based on Andy Warhol's ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

'' magazine, ''Deluxe'' and ''

Ritz Newspaper ''Ritz Newspaper'', colloquially ''Ritz Magazine'', sometimes simply ''Ritz'', was a British magazine focusing on gossip, celebrity and fashion.Puttin' on the Ritz again, Andrew Lycett, Media & Marketing, ''The Times'', London, 31 May 1989 It was ...

''. The magazine won a Guardian Student Media Award in 1980. Vague alumni include Mandy Pooler, later Media Director of O&M Media and CEO of Mindshare, Paul Keers, launch editor of the British '' GQ'' magazine, the journalists Jane Shilling and Megan Tresidder, as well as the boss of private equity firm

Terra Firma Capital Partners Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. (TFCP) is a UK-based private equity firm. Financier Guy Hands founded the firm in 2002 through the spin-off of Nomura Principal Finance Group. The firm, which traces its roots to the formation of its predecess ...

Guy Hands Guy Hands (born 27 August 1959) is an English financier and investor. He is most notable as the founder and chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Europe. Hands also served as chairman of the UK musi ...

and CEO/Chief Ombudsman for Legal Complaints, Adam Sampson.

Publishing career

Dodd worked as an editor and publisher for the Longman Group, Octopus and

Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

from 1981 to 1997. He was Chair of the Society of Young Publishers (SYP) in 1984, and a founder member of the

Groucho Club The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including thr ...

. He was also an Editorial Fellow at the Jerusalem International Book Fair in 1985. From 1997, Dodd worked as a publishing consultant with music and entertainment clients from his time at Virgin. He then developed, edited and co-wrote autobiographies with the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

(''According to the Rolling Stones'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003),

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

(''Inside Out'', W&N, 2004) and

(''Chapter and Verse'', W&N, 2007) and books with

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

and ''Mamma Mia!'',

(''Things Ain't What They Used To Be'', Little Brown, 2008),

of TV's Dragons' Den (''Get The Job You Really Want'', Penguin Portfolio, 2011) and the Rolling Stones manager

Prince Rupert Loewenstein Rupert, Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Count of Loewenstein-ScharffeneckMartin, Douglas (22 May 2014). ''The New York Times. ''Retrieved 27 May 2014Archived here (24 August 1933 – 20 May 2014) was a Spanish-born Bavarian aristoc ...

(''A Prince Among Stones'', Bloomsbury, 2013). Dodd's writing has been compared to that of

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

and

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

, for its wry perceptiveness.

Author

As an author, Dodd wrote ''The Reverend Guppy’s Aquarium'' (Random House Books UK, Penguin USA, 2007),in which he explored the lives of people whose names give the English language some of its most colourful words, including

Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the fl ...

, inventor of the saxophone; Roy Jacuzzi, inventor of the Jacuzzi Whirplool Bath, and

Mercédès Jellinek Mercédès Adrienne Ramona Manuela Jellinek (16 September 1889 – 23 February 1929) was the daughter of Austrian automobile entrepreneur Emil Jellinek and his first wife Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert. She was born in Vienna. She is best known ...

, the daughter of

Emil Jellinek Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...

– the Austrian businessman who founded the Mercedes car company. He also wrote ''The Book of Rock'' (Pavilion, 2001) and with travel writer Ben Donald, ''The Book of Cities'' (Pavilion, 2004) and ''The Book of Islands'' (Palazzo, 2008). Dodd has written articles for ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

the Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the '' Daily Mail'', was first pu ...

'', as well as smaller publications. As a copywriter, he wrote the sleeve notes for the soundtrack album of the 2018 movie ''

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'' is a 2018 British-American jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel to the 2008 film '' Mamma Mia!'', ...

''.

Music

Dodd plays piano with PDQ, the Philip Dodd Quartet – first formed at Oxford and then re-formed in 2006. The quartet, which also includes Paul Mason (tenor and soprano saxophones, and flute) Graham Brough (double bass) and Will Awdry (drums), has appeared annually at the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

since 2010, and was the opening act for the Englischer Bahnhof jazz club in

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of ...

, Germany in October 2016. They have also performed for fundraising events for Spotlight on Africa and the SVP's Sudan Baby Feeding Programme. Dodd credits tenor saxophonist

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

for first firing his interest in jazz. He also played keyboards alongside

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

the Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

at London's Hard Rock Café in 1990. In August 2019, Dodd was commissioned to write '''Arise, A Rose, Arisen, a chamber/choral piece for

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

, performed as part of the Cathedral's 'Rose King of Rochester' Festival.

Personal Background

Philip Dodd is married to Joanna Dodd, founder of PR firm Rochester PR Group. He lives in Rochester, Kent with his wife and two daughters.

Works

Editor

*1998, 2005 and 2010 ''Into the Red'', by

and Mark Hales *2003 ''According to the Rolling Stones'', by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

. Also Edited by Dora Loewenstein. Consulting Editor

*2004 ''Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'',by

*2006 ''Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You?'', by

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

, Judy Craymer *2007 ''Genesis: Chapter and Verse'', by Tony Banks,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

*2008 ''Things Ain't What They Used To Be'', by

*2013 ''A Prince Among Stones: That Business With the Rolling Stones and Other Adventures,'' by

Consultant

*2011 ''Get The Job You Really Want'', by

James Caan (entrepreneur) James Caan (born Nazim Khan; 28 December 1960) is a British-Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality. He was an investor on the BBC television programme ''Dragons' Den'', in which he was one of the Dragons from 2007 to 2010. More rece ...

*2014 ''Forget Strategy, Get Results,'' by Michael Tobin *2018 ''Live, Love, Work, Prosper,'' by Michael Tobin

Author

*2000 ''Collins Gem: Musical Instruments'', by Philip Dodd and Ian Powling *2001 ''The Book of Rock'', by Philip Dodd *2004 ''The Book of Cities'', by Philip Dodd and Ben Donald *2007 ''The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium'', by Philip Dodd *2008 ''The Book of Islands'', by Philip Dodd and Ben Donald *2009 ''Michael Jackson: A Life in the Spotlight'' by Philip Dodd *2010 ''The Last Matchmaker'', by Willie Daly, with Philip Dodd *2017 ''The Spirit of Rochester: Dame Sybil & the Thorndikes'', by Philip Dodd *2020 ''If The War Comes'', by Ann Mari Wallenberg, with Philip Dodd

Publications

*http://issuu.com/sue-davis/docs/wow_medway_march_2011?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Philip 1957 births Living people Writers from Ipswich Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe