Marianne Colloms

The book explores the history of Decca Studios, where thousands of records were made between 1937 and 1980. Klooks Kleek was run next door from 1961 to 1970 in the Railway Hotel by Dick Jordan and Geoff Williams, who share their memories here. With artists including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and The Moody Blues at Decca, and Ronnie Scott, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder at Klooks, this book records a unique musical heritage. This is the first history of Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek, the famous R&B club. Containing more than fifty photographs, many of which have never before appeared in print, it will delight music lovers everywhere.

Black Death! The horrors of the plague in Camden! My wife is under the floor! The true story of Camden murderer Doctor Crippen! The elephant stampede! Weird accidents and strange events galore! Camden has a dark side to rival that of any London borough. The haunt of highwaymen, its fields also witnessed numerous duels. Crime, poverty and depravity were rife in parts of Holborn until the late nineteenth century. The first murderer to be caught using the transatlantic cable lived in Camden, and the last woman to be hanged shot her lover outside a Hampstead pub. With grave-robbers and grisly graveyard exhumations, eccentric residents and rioting peasants, and featuring tons of weird true events, you’ll never see the borough in the same way again!

This series of archive images evocatively recreates the Camden and Kentish Towns of the past. The majority of the photographs, postcards and ephemera are from private collections, presented here for the first time in a single volume. Using images of people, streets and houses, shops and local businesses, Camden Town and Kentish Town shows the transformation of this area of north-west London from open fields into busy urban districts. Today’s multi-cultural neighbourhoods close to the centre of town were once the rural destination for London’s day trippers seeking the amusements provided by many of the pubs on the main roads. The area’s varied industries are documented, such as Brinsmead’s pianos and Rowney’s paints, as are the transport links that made such an impact on the landscape: the canal and the many railway lines that criss-crossed the area. For residents as well as visitors to the area, Camden Town and Kentish Town will provide a rare insight into its vibrant and evolving history.