Pubs and crisps belong together, and Damaged Goods Books have built two new titles around exactly that pairing. Following previous books on Johnny Moped, New Order, and two volumes of Paul Talling’s acclaimed Lost Music Venues series, the publishing side hustle of Damaged Goods Records expands with a crisp odyssey and a tour of London’s vanished drinking dens.
First up is ‘Up The Packet – One Man’s Crisp Odyssey,’ out now and compiled by former NME journalist, Fierce Panda Records head honcho, and dedicated crisp packet collector Simon Williams. The book details one man’s journey through rock and roll and eating crisps. Since 1977, Williams has amassed more than 8,000 crisp packets, all empty, all living in shoeboxes, and all different. Apart from the swapsies.
The book takes readers on a crunchy cultural journey through the entire history of the potato crisp, from the Tayto potato to the Spudos spud, from the wartime birth of Golden Wonder to the 1990s reign of Walkers. It’s packed with packet factettes and wild snacking theories, plus a full-colour pull-out photo spread cheekily titled “Don’t Look Bag In Anger.” True to a title that riffs on the Libertines’ debut album, it threads in a heap of music references, tracing the road from Smiths Salt’n’Shake to Splodgenessabounds. It’s a paradise for crisp lovers, collectors, nostalgia geeks, and fans of retro graphic design.
Next comes Derelict London Presents ‘London’s Dead Pubs,’ published June 25. Following ‘London’s Lost Music Venues’ Vol 1 and 2, author Paul Talling turns his attention to the capital’s lost drinking dens. Readers can learn about The Ruskin Arms in Manor Park where the Small Faces rehearsed, The Star in Croydon where Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, Cream, and Fleetwood Mac all played, and Putney’s White Lion, which hosted punk and new wave acts including X-Ray Spex, Tubeway Army, Crass, Monochrome Set, and The UK Subs.
Beyond the music anecdotes, Talling broadens the book into an alternative, sticky-carpeted history of London viewed from the bar. Since 2004, one in five pubs across Greater London have closed, and the book pays tribute to many of the great drinking places lost while celebrating a few that have come back from the dead. Best known for the Derelict London website and over 20 years of guided walks across the city, Talling packs in over 200 original photos of pubs in every state of dereliction. ‘London’s Dead Pubs’ is available to pre-order now.