"High Buildings, Low Morals: Another Sideways Look At Twentieth-Century London" by Rob Baker (Amberley)

ISBN: 9781445666259

To quote Noël Coward, from the back cover of Rob Baker's book "I don't know what London's coming to - the higher the buildings, the lower the morals."  "High Buildings, Low Morals" is for me a classic book.   I first discovered Baker's obsession on 20th Century London through his blog "Another Nickel in the Machine."  Eventually using his blog as the source, he made two books. "Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics" and this one "High Buildings, Low Morals."  Both are excellent as well as his blog, and in my studies, the two best books on contemporary (20th century) London culture.  Baker is amazing that his identity disappears and what comes up is the subject matter of his interest: the linage between London theater, social life, film and stage stars, and gangsters.   These two books remind me of Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon," but the big difference is that Baker is a through historian in his approach to match the dots in that urban landscape.  He has the genius to match individuals with a narrative that is much bigger than the figures because it's a web that holds the city together. 

Here we get narratives about Noël Coward, Lord Boothby & Ronnie Kray, Tallulah Bankhead, Graham Greene, and obscure and entirely forgotten British stars like Billie Carleton, the Duchess of Argyll (an old porn scandal) and even Mussolini, among many others.  Also reading this book, I get the full physical picture of London bombed during World War II, as well as the psychology of that cities population.  It's an epic presentation and Baker has the genius to edit it in (or out) various stories that tell even a bigger picture.  Historian on a brilliant level, I can't recommend his books too much.  For anyone who is, of course, interested in London, but also how an urban city lives and moves - it's a fascinating series of tales, that is almost unbelievable, but yet, true. 

"Jumpin' Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock n' Roll Underworld" by Keiron Pim

ISBN: 978-0-224-09812-0 Jonathan Cape Vintage

"Jumpin' Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock n' Roll Underworld" by Keiron Pim (Jonathan Cape Vintage, ISBN: 978-0-224-09812-0)

For me, what is there not to love about this book?  In 300 or so pages, I get a bit of Jewish London history of the East End, The Krays, The Rolling Stones, and a tale of an obsessive record / music collector who was also a criminal, Francis Bacon  & Lucian Freud, London Soho night life, as well as one of the leading influences of the great film "Performance."    Not only that, he was hired as an advisor for the film, and hinted that perhaps (or perhaps not) wrote some of the scenes for the film.   David Litvinoff is a figure who very much lived in the shadows of other people.  Yet, his presence, was greatly noted in the world of the Krays as well as to the world of Eric Clapton, Stones, and the swinging London 60s.   Litvinoff, was an invented character (of sorts) who was the bridge between the criminal life of London and the world of rock n' roll with a side trip to the cinema.  The author, Keiron Pim, did a fantastic job in putting together this biography that couldn't have been that easy.  

The Sunday Series: Sunday November 1, 2015

The Sunday Series

Sunday November 1, 2015

Sunday.  Dumb-day.  No-day.   All-day just thinking how boring Sunday is.  The relaxation of a whole population is perhaps the most negative aspect on what many consider to be the first day of the week.  To greet the new week in such a fashion, is like running full-force against a brick wall.   The only saving grace for me, is that the Downtown Library is open from 1 PM to 5 PM. At least in those four hours, there is a sense of bliss compared to the agony of the other 20 hours that exist on a Sunday.  I’m always shocked when I see the importance of “nothing” on our culture.   The blankness of the day, and I guess the fact that we don’t even get mail delivered on Sunday is a blessing to some.  A day without getting a bill.  Then again, I do see postal trucks around town delivering more likely Amazon “Advantage” purchases.   To be a consumer on a day off is like the work itself.

So boring, even dogs take a day off, and force their owners to walk them around the house.   I wonder if it’s the dog or the owner that makes the decisions in the household.  I suspect that a dog has a seductive power over the human, and therefore a master/slave relationship is at work.  From my window I see a pretty girl walking by with her dog, and I think “lucky pup.” As for me, I’m drinking the last bottle of Trader Joe’s “Charles Shaw” in the house, and wondering what happened to my finances.  Where did my world go.  “Do you remember Walter?” I don’t think he does, or his senile brain is thinking of memories that are made-up, and sadly, I’m not part of the big picture in his life. 

It is a day after Halloween.  I dressed up in a costume on one will ever figure out who it is.  Me.  The truth is, I have always worn a halloween costume, but no one has paid that much attention to it.  When I close my eyes, I have always taken on the role as the murderer.   It is the only profession where I felt suitable to be in.   In my private notebook, I have kept a list of people who I wanted to do away with.    In alphabetical order by last name.  Men and women, but oddly enough, more men are listed in my list of people of the soon-to-be-past.   I don’t know why I’m so gender-orientated.  I have heard from others, that they think of me as a homosexual.   I do admire Ronnie Kray, but who wouldn’t, with his good taste in glass eye-wear.  

As I sit here, getting slowly more drunk, I think of the opportunities I turned down, either due to fear of change, or the fear of not getting back from where I came from.  My whole world is really here, sitting by the round dining table, marking time, by doing nothing except drinking, if the worst, at the very least, the cheapest wine on the market.   One man’s high is another man’s hell.   I want to wish you a very happy Sunday, for those who take the day as a reflection or mediation.   As for me, I like to be medicated before I even put my foot down on the cold bedroom floor before leaving the bed.  

- Tosh Berman

The Krays: Ronnie Kray Interview In Broadmoor 1989 Part One