― Noël Coward, Collected Sketches and Lyrics

High Buildings, Low Morals published by Amberley 2017

It’s been two years since my last book, for which I apologise, but High Buildings, Low Morals has at last been published and I’m very proud of it. The title comes from a Noel Coward quote and ‘the Master’ pops up now and again in the twelve chapters that make up the new book. High Buildings can be seen as volume two of Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics and again several of the stories have come from this Nickel in the Machine website although completely re-written and with even more interesting detours, tangents and digressions. There are again plenty of brand new pictures and photographs to accompany the text.

Here are the chapters in the book:

1. The Headless Polaroids, Mrs Sweeny, Mussolini and P. G. Wodehouse

Margaret Whigham aged 18

2. Scott’s Restaurant, the Balcombe Street Gang and the Second Blitz of London

Ross (right) and Norris McWhirter on the Record Breakers BBC show. The photograph was taken four days before the IRA assassinated Ross on 27 November 1975 on the doorstep of his home and in front of his wife.

3. The Trial of Schoolkids OZ, the Downfall of the ‘Dirty Squad’

Walker’s Court in Soho, March 15th 1966.

4. Captain Sears, the Nazi Wreath at the Cenotaph and the Hitler Paint-throwing Incident at Madame Tussaud’s

Harry Price in 1932

5. The Charming Lord Boothby, His Friend Ronnie Kray and the Humble Woolton Pie

Lord Boothby and Ronnie Kray with friends and associates at the Society Restaurant

6. The Prince of Wales Theatre and the De-Mob Suit – Starring Sid Field and Featuring Dickie Henderson, Kay Kendall, Terry-Thomas and the Ross Sisters

Dixie Ross one of the Ross Sisters and who would marry Dickie Henderson

7. A Hungry Graham Greene on the Night of ‘The Wednesday’, and the Death of Al Bowlly

Al Bowlly

8. When Tallulah Bankhead Met Gerald du Maurier, and the Eton Schoolboys Scandal

January 1931, American actress Miss Tallulah Bankhead pictured waving as she leaves Waterloo Station on a train, en route for the USA

9. The House of ‘Cyn’, Jimmy Graves and the Rise and Fall of the Luncheon Voucher

Girls Playing Cards, Bellocq

10. Cocaine, the ‘Yellow Peril’ and the Death of Billie Carleton

Billie Carleton

11. Judy Garland, Johnnie Ray and the Talk of the Town at the Hippodrome

Mickey Deans, Judy Garland and best man Johnnie Ray, 1969.

12. An Absolute Sirocco, Old Boy! Quo Vadis, Evelyn Laye, and the Story of Soho Girl Jessie Matthews

Griffith Jones and Jessie Matthews in First A Girl

If you would like a signed copy of the book leave a comment or contact me by email, Facebook or twitter and I’ll get back to you with details. I can usually get a book to you within 24 hours.

The beautiful photograph on the cover by the way is by Carl Mydans and features a foggy Piccadilly in 1952. Here is the actual picture.

Piccadilly in the infamous pea-souper smog of 1952, photo by Carl Mydans

Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics published on November 15 2015.

It’s been a long time coming, for which I apologise, but the book of this website is published on the 15th November. Years ago I started this site, initially as a music blog, and I chose a line from one of my favourite songs ‘One for my Baby’ by Frank Sinatra. When the opportunity arose to put the website into book form it was obvious that the title doesn’t really make sense for a book about London. I found an Oscar Wilde quote from An Ideal Husband.

Mabel Chiltern says to Lord Faversham after he has complained about the decline of society:

Oh, I love London society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics.

Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics contains twenty-four stories that have mostly come from Another Nickel in the Machine but there are a few that come from Flashbak.com for whom I also contribute. The stories have all been completely re-written (usually with even more tangents and digressions!) and have also now been properly attributed. I’ve also made sure that the book is still extensively illustrated with about 150 pictures and photos.

If you would like a signed copy of the book leave a comment or email me rob at nickelinthemachine.com or on twitter and I’ll get back to you with details.

The cover by the way is from the 100 Club on Oxford Street in 1949. They happy people are dancing to Humphrey Lyttelton and the photographer was Charles Hewitt. Here’s the actual picture:

12th November 1949: Jazz fans dance the night away to the wild sounds of Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, playing at a meeting of the London Jazz Club in the basement of No 100 Oxford Street. Original Publication: Picture Post – 4919 – A New Jazz Age – pub. 1949 (Photo by Charles Hewitt/Picture Post/Getty Images)