I just finished reading this very entertaining book by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock.  Being a fan of some (but certainly not all) of the Sunset Strip metal bands of the 1980’s, I was excited to finally find a book about the overall scene.  When I bought the book, I did not realize it was written in an oral history-type format.  Initially, I was not excited about that, but because the book still manages to follow a chronological order and all of the anecdotes are cohesive in explaining what went on with various bands, it turned out to be a perfect way to tell the story.  Many times, the individuals interviewed remembered things differently, and it was good to get more than one perspective.  The book basically starts with Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, and Ratt--- the earliest bands to break out.  Then you get L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, Poison, Guns n Roses, Jetboy, etc.  You also get some East Coast guys that somehow got signed without moving to Hollywood and living in squalor—that would be Kix, Cinderella and Skid Row.  There are many more bands covered, I’m only trying to give you an idea of what to expect from the book.  If you like the music from that time period and that scene, I think you will like the book. 

It’s hard to do a comprehensive review of a book that is essentially a collection of quotes and stories from all kinds of different people; including producers, managers, club owners and of course band members.  But again, the way the book flows is really excellent in my opinion.  If you like learning tidbits and obscure facts about the bands and the scene, I am certain you will learn quite a few along the way.  Here’s a few examples to give you an idea:

·         Warrant actually named their band after Warren DeMartini, the guitarist from Ratt.  That’s weird.

·         The first Faster Pussycat video for “Don’t Change That Song” was filmed by Russ Meyer, who made the movie Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill.  He knew nothing about the music or making music videos, but they wanted him to do it since they named their band from that film.  I went back and watched that video on Youtube after reading this.  It’s not very good.

·         Tracii Guns, guitarist for L.A. Guns, was originally in Guns n Roses.  He formed the band with Axl Rose and they started briefly as Guns & Rose, named after themselves.  They added the ‘s’ onto Rose because it sounded better.

·         Cinderella was signed on the condition that they fire two of their four members who just weren’t all that good.  Those two members formed Britny Fox and did okay, although that band does sound an awful lot like they are trying to be Cinderella.

·         C.C. Deville auditioned and was chosen to play guitar for Poison.  Slash (of Guns n Roses) also auditioned but did not get the gig.  Can anyone imagine Slash being in Poison?

·         Taime Downe from Faster Pussycat bought a night club with Riki Rachtman (who went on to host MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball) and they called the club the Cathouse.  While I was well aware of that, I did not know that one of my favorite Faster Pussycat songs, “Cathouse,” was changed to that name right before they recorded their first record.  The song was called “Whorehouse” before that.

·         Many of the bands give a great deal of credit to Quiet Riot for paving the way and breaking through with their hits “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)” and the cover of Slade’s “Cum On Feel the Noise.”  I never thought of Quiet Riot as pioneers.  If I’m being honest, I don’t even really like them.

I could go on for pages and pages.  I find this stuff to be fascinating.  If you do too, then you’ll want to read this book.  The book finishes up with a chapter that addresses the fact that many of the bands are still out there playing, and enjoying a bit of a resurgence.  There are some pretty humorous quotes in that section of the book.  Tracii Guns quips that when L.A. Guns play now, the crowds are good and the room usually looks pretty full, but then again maybe that’s because everyone has gotten fatter.  The guitar player from Skid Row notes that perhaps their hit song “Youth Gone Wild” should just be shortened to “Youth Gone” now that they are in their fifties.  One thing I want to note is that one of my favorite bands, Enuff Z’Nuff, doesn’t get too much ink in this book, but I did learn that they once were the opening act on a tour with the band Nelson.  That made me feel physically ill: Nelson was so awful.  Lastly, I thought I might read something here about my favorite hard-rocking bands, The Hangmen and Rhino Bucket.  Neither band was ever mentioned, which I think is probably a good thing.

I guess to put it in a nutshell, the book gives a history of how the scene developed, how many of the bands came to exist after tons of personnel changes, and what it was really like in some of the clubs and on the arena tours.  There are some stories of debauchery as you would expect, but unlike some of the autobiographies I have read, there is not an inordinate amount of bragging about drinking, drugs and sexual exploits.  This book gave me a little more appreciation for how dedicated a lot of these people were in trying to succeed.  My copy is a nice hard-cover book.  At 535 pages, it is thorough but easy to get through and not nearly as long as that number of pages would lead you to believe.  I had “nothin’ but a good time” reading this one.