Max Décharné

Max Décharné is a rock'n'roll musician, author and journalist. He was the drummer for Gallon Drunk. He founded and led The Flaming Stars.

Music and writing

Décharné started writing short stories in 1989 but in 1986, inspired by the postpunk DIY ethic, Max founded the Malice Aforethought Press with Frank Key.^[1] Over the next few years they published a large number of short-run pamphlets. Titles by Max included "The Importance of Being Harnessed" and "The Night They Invented Shampoo". Most of these texts were later collected in paperback. Max also appeared as a guest on Frank Key's weekly Resonance FM Radio show Hooting Yard on the Air in which the former publishing partners discussed their love of unusual literature.^[2]

He joined Gallon Drunk in 1991, touring with Morrissey and even gaining critical acclaim. However, the band didn't make any money, even though the tour was successful. After leaving Gallon Drunk, he formed The Flaming Stars, a band indebted to 1960's garage rock, Nick Cave and his love of film noir and exploitation B-movies. As well as a vocalist, Décharné played drums in Gallon Drunk, as well as currently playing piano and organ in The Flaming Stars. He is also a member of The Earls of Suave.

His writing career has encompassed short stories, journalism, songwriting, books on hipster slang and cinema. The latter two were an opportunity for Décharné to watch his favourite films and indulge his passion for pulp fiction novels from the 1950s and 1960s. He has written for magazines such Mojo and Bizarre, even writing on his North American tour with Gallon Drunk in the former. His favourite bands include The Velvet Underground and The Only Ones. He was the last man to interview John Peel before he died (Peel and Décharné were mutual admirers). He has also acted in the film Pervirella, playing the role of the Curator.^[3]

Décharne now lives in London, previously in Berlin.

Bibliography

• Stab Your Employer, (with Frank Key) - limited edition journal of 50 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, Autumn 1986
• Smooching with Istvan, (with Frank Key) - limited edition journal of 100 copies, with hand-painted covers, Malice Aforethought Press, Spring 1987 (ISBN 1 871197 10 4)
• The Importance of Being Harnessed, limited edition pamphlet of 25 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, February 1987 (ISBN 1 871197 20 1)
• Beat Your Relatives To A Bloody Pulp, limited edition pamphlet (some on tea-stained paper), Malice Aforethought Press, 1988 (ISBN 1 871197 59 7)
• The Night They Invented Shampoo, limited edition pamphlet of 35 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, 1988 (re-issued in July 1990) (ISBN 1 871197 77 5)
• Hello Jung Lovers, Wherever You Are, limited edition pamphlet of 27 copies (hand-singed by the author), Malice Aforethought Press, 3rd April 1989 (ISBN 1 871197 55 4)
• Beat Your Relatives To A Bloody Pulp & Other Stories, Malice Aforethought Press, 1989 (ISBN 1 871197 93 7)
• The Sheep of Things to Come, limited edition pamphlet of 47 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, 3rd February 1990 (ISBN 1 871197 33 3)
• Epigrams for the Use of the Deaf and the Stupid, limited edition pamphlet of 50 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, 3rd August 1990 (ISBN 1 871197 03 1)
• UFO's - Who Gives a Flying One?, limited edition pamphlet of 50 copies (credited to Arthur Martha Ballast, QC), Malice Aforethought Press, 3rd August 1990 (ISBN 1 871197 01 5)
• Slogans for the Unhinged, limited edition pamphlet of 50 copies, Malice Aforethought Press, 29th September 1990 (ISBN 1 871197 97 X)
• The Little Sheep of Horrors, pamphlet, Malice Aforethought Press, 30th September 1990 (ISBN 1 871197 49 X)
• The Petrified Florist, pamphlet, Malice Aforethought Press, 14th February 1991 (ISBN 1 871197 76 7)
• The Prisoner Of Brenda & Other Stories, Malice Aforethought Press, 1991 (ISBN 1 871197 92 9)
• The occasional magazine Massacre, compiled by Roberta McKeown, contained several stories by Max - namely I Was a Teenage Warehouse (Massacre 1, 1990), The Black Shape of the Family (Massacre 2, 1991) and Dining Out in Paris and London (Massacre 3, 1992)
• I Was A Teenage Warehouse & Other Stories, Thirst Editions, 1997 (ISBN 0 9531238 0 4)
• Straight From the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang, No Exit Press, 2000 (2nd edition in 2004, 3rd edition in 2009) (ISBN 978-1-84243-288-4)
• Hardboiled Hollywood – The Origins of the Great Crime Films, No Exit Press, 2003 (ISBN 1 84243 070 X)
• King's Road: The Rise And Fall of the Hippest Street in the World, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005 (ISBN 0 297 84769 4)
• Rocket In My Pocket: The Hipster's Guide to Rockabilly Music, Serpent's Tail, 2010 (ISBN 978 1 84668 721 1) NB Ace Records (United Kingdom) issued a compilation CD with sleeve notes by Max to tie in with this book
• Capital Crimes: Seven Centuries of London Life and Murder, Random House Books, 2012 (Arrow Books 2013) (ISBN 978 0 099539 025)
• Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of English Slang, Serpent's Tail, 2016 (ISBN 978 1 84668 561 3)

Discography

References

External links

• Max Decharne's Myspace Page
• An interview with Max Decharne about his friendship with Spider Stacey.
• Interview With Max Decharne about his book, Straight From The Fridge Dad
• Author page, UK publisher (No Exit Press)