Nöthin' but a Good Time cover art

Nöthin' but a Good Time

The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion

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Nöthin' but a Good Time

By: Tom Beaujour, Richard Bienstock
Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Gary Furlong, Richard Bienstock, Tom Beaujour
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About this listen

This program includes introductions read by the authors.

"A backstage pass to the wildest and loudest party in rock history - you'll feel like you were right there with us!" (Bret Michaels of Poison)

Nöthin' But a Good Time is the definitive, no-holds-barred oral history of 1980s hard rock and hair metal, told by the musicians and industry insiders who lived it.

Hard rock in the 1980s was a hedonistic and often intensely creative wellspring of escapism that perfectly encapsulated - and maybe even helped to define - a spectacularly over-the-top decade. Indeed, fist-pumping hits like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls”, and Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” are as inextricably linked to the era as Reaganomics, Pac-Man, and E.T.

From the do-or-die early days of self-financed recordings and D.I.Y. concert productions that were as flashy as they were foolhardy, to the multi-Platinum, MTV-powered glory years of stadium-shaking anthems and chart-topping power ballads, to the ultimate crash when grunge bands like Nirvana forever altered the entire climate of the business, Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nöthin' But a Good Time captures the energy and excess of the hair metal years in the words of the musicians, managers, producers, engineers, label executives, publicists, stylists, costume designers, photographers, journalists, magazine publishers, video directors, club bookers, roadies, groupies, and hangers-on who lived it.

Featuring an impassioned foreword by Slipknot and Stone Sour vocalist and avowed glam metal fanatic Corey Taylor, and drawn from over 200 new interviews with members of Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Winger, Warrant, Cinderella, Quiet Riot, and others, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford, and many more, this is the ultimate, uncensored, and often unhinged chronicle of a time where excess and success walked hand in hand, told by the men and women who created a sound and style that came to define a musical era - one in which the bands and their fans went looking for nothin’ but a good time...and found it.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

"Nöthin’ But a Good Time is an unflinching, all-excess look at an era that many snooty critics have written off as stupid, and its pages present a strong case for how people have underestimated the music and the dedication of the musicians who lived it." (Kory Grow, Rolling Stone)

©2021 Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity

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Critic reviews

"From the streets to the Strip, the studio to the stage, this is an epic tale told by the people that lived it. It's a backstage pass to the wildest and loudest party in rock history - you'll feel like you were right there with us!" (Bret Michaels)

All stars
Most relevant
very interesting, pretty well told. if you loved a bit of hair metal in the eighties this is a must, really.

rocking!

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If you love 1980s music, then will love this book. It makes me as a 40-year old 80s music fan feel jealous that I was just too young to experience these great bands in their prime.

Great read for any fan of 80s rock

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Loved it all. Took me back to those great days of excess all areas. Great bands, great music, great stories and great times.

The deep dig into all aspects of that time.

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Without reading the description properly I was expecting a more author-narrated history of hair metal. Instead this is pretty much 100% told through the voices of the people who went out and did it - the musicians, record executives and managers. It's all first-hand accounts - which has its strengths and weaknesses. You're not going to get a lot of big picture summary here. It's macroscopic detail taken straight from the coalface, complete with all the prejudices and personal slants that entails. At its best this brings the stories alive and you get to relive those glory day of the Strip vicariously. At its worse it descends into petty bias and anecdote, not without a good deal of repetition. But on balance it's a great ride and champions an amazing vibrant era in music that too often gets dismissed. Strap in and rock out!

Great book, but note it's an ORAL history...

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Really recommend listening to this book. Practically all the big bands from the classic period of glam metal & 80s rock are in here with great anecdotes. Brilliantly read too & great performances. It’s a classic!

Brilliant story telling the history of 80s rock

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