Jamie Collinson’s study of those forced out of the bands they sometimes founded makes for a refreshingly insightful, entertaining and, at times, poignant read. Boldly subtitled ‘An Alternative History Of Popular Music’, Collinson’s book mixes research, interviews, personal interludes and a series of wonderful footnotes that join the dots between more than 30 subjects. At one point he writes a gonzo-style first-person short story charting Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten’s final days before and after being sacked by Neil Young.

Ousted Beatles drummer Pete Best, doomed Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, and dumped-on Velvet Underground auteur John Cale are all in the mix, as are ‘All The Musicians Kicked Out Of Fleetwood Mac’, but Collinson focuses on perhaps lesser-known stories that are by turns tragic, absurd and occasionally redemptive. While the book moves beyond boys with guitars and bad habits by way of original Supreme Florence Ballard, two former members of Destiny’s Child, and prodigal Sugababe Siobhán Donaghy, at the centre of this are what he calls its lodestones: Steven Adler, late of Guns N’ Roses, and an early Nirvana guitarist, Jason Everman. The latter’s story is particularly jaw dropping as he moves from awkward band outsider to become a crack soldier in America’s Special Forces.

As someone who has worked in the music business over several decades, Collinson uses an insider status to his advantage, as the book moves beyond pithy journalistic overview to something increasingly personal. This culminates in the two chapters on grime artist Wiley, who the author managed. In this way, Collinson’s book lives up to its subtitle in a series of pop and roll Greek tragedies writ large. 

Jamie Collinson: The Rejects is published by Constable on Thursday 22 February.