BOOK LAUNCH + ILLUSTRATED TALK Doors 7pm FREE

Max Décharné presents his new book Vulgar Tongues, celebrating the launch with an illustrated talk on the surprising and enlightening alternative history of English slang. The talk will be followed by drinks, a book signing and Max-curated set that will showcase some of the most imaginative uses of English slang ever committed to record.

Over several centuries and across international borders, Vulgar Tongues is the story of how the English language of Shakespeare’s day fragmented and twisted into all kinds of shapes, as people like pickpockets, beggars, sailors, musicians, gangsters, whores, politicians, gypsies, soldiers, gays and lesbians, policemen, rappers, cockneys, biker gangs and circus folk seized the King’s or Queen’s English by the throat and took it to places it would probably regret in the morning.

Max Décharné is an author, songwriter and musician. He has recorded numerous albums and singles, and eight John Peel Sessions as the singer with The Flaming Stars. A regular contributor to Mojo magazine since 1998, his books include Hardboiled Hollywood, King’s Road, the jive-talk dictionary Straight From The Fridge, Dad, and A Rocket in my Pocket, a history of rockabilly music (Serpent’s Tail 2010).

His new book Vulgar Tongues – An Alternative History of English Slang will be published by Serpent’s Tail in November 2016.