This is not a list – this is a manifesto, and this book is for … the Freaks.

Musician and author Luke Haines embarks on an odyssey through the ages, exploring how the ‘freaks’ infiltrated modern culture – and almost won the rock ‘n’ roll wars – only to lose to the rise of Cool Britannia and TV ‘talent’ shows that turned the strange and the outsiders into fodder for laughter.

In this ultimate celebration of freakdom, Haines tells the story of pivotal freaks – including Johnnie Ray, Gene Vincent, Hank Marvin, Syd Barrett, the Incredible String Band and Big Youth – through the prism of rock ‘n’ roll and explains how freaks infiltrated wider culture through history in the form of the Cathars, the Ranters, Hells Angels and the Yippies.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Freaks Out! is a righteous alternate history of rock ‘n’ roll.