during the 1980s barrett collaborated with hilary heywood in writing the book ""shakin' stevens and the sunsets"" published by star books and w.h. allen (london). . barrett originally wanted to call the book "rocky road blues – the story of a rock 'n' roll band". however the book was subsequently renamed and heavily promoted as a pop biography, becoming a short-lived best seller. barrett's book was more a humorous 'warts and all' tale of many behind-the-spotlights events during the band's history and quite different to the several other official biographies.