Chris Lewis

Jed Pitman

'Crazy' Chris Lewis played in 32 Test Matches and 53 One-Day Internationals for England. At one point he was regarded as one of the best all-round cricketers the country has ever produced. However, feeling at odds with the middle-class nature of the sport, he regularly courted controversy off the field. The tabloids happily lapped up Lewis' transgressions, such as missing a Test with sunstroke, arriving late to a match due to oversleeping, as well as naming England players involved in a match-fixing scandal, something which led to his early retirement at the age of just 30. From there he became a loner, before he was arrested in 2008 for importing cocaine from the Caribbean and sentenced to 13 years in prison. In Crazy, Lewis recounts his remarkable, redemptive story, firstly as a child arriving in England from Guyana with his parents, through to his burgeoning cricketing career, international recognition, his arrest and subsequent trial, his time in prison, and how he finally put his life back together.

My Road to Redemption

Crazy

The Invisible Man tells the remarkable story of how Rod Temperton worked his way up from a Grimsby fish factory to become one of the most successful songwriters of all time. Born in Cleethorpes in 1949, Temperton embarked on a career in music with the funk band Heatwave, for whom he wrote the international hits 'Boogie Nights' and 'Always and Forever', before his songwriting talent caught the attention of Michael Jackson's legendary producer, Quincy Jones. For Jackson's Off the Wall album, Temperton penned both the hit 'Rock with You' and the album's title track. Three years later, continuing his relationship with the pair, Temperton started work on what would become the bestselling album of all time - Michael Jackson's Thriller - writing three songs, including the now legendary title track. And yet despite collaborating with some of music's biggest stars, including Donna Summer and Michael McDonald, Temperton was famously reclusive and seldom gave interviews, one of the exceptions being for author Jed Pitman's Sony Award-winning radio documentary on Temperton allowed him unprecedented access to the great man.

The Story of Rod Temperton, the 'Thriller' Songwriter

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man tells the remarkable story of how Rod Temperton worked his way up from a Grimsby fish factory to become one of the most successful songwriters of all time. Born in Cleethorpes in 1949, Temperton embarked on a career in music with the funk band Heatwave, for whom he wrote the international hits ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘Always and Forever’, before his songwriting talent caught the attention of Michael Jackson’s legendary producer, Quincy Jones. For Jackson’s Off the Wall album, Temperton penned both the hit ‘Rock with You’ and the album’s title track. Three years later, continuing his relationship with the pair, Temperton started work on what would become the bestselling album of all time – Michael Jackson’s Thriller – writing three songs, including the now legendary title track. And yet despite collaborating with some of music’s biggest stars, including Donna Summer and Michael McDonald, Temperton was famously reclusive and seldom gave interviews, one of the exceptions being for author Jed Pitman’s Sony Award-winning radio documentary on Temperton allowed him unprecedented access to the great man.

Jed Pitman

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