We've got a few signed copies of "Don't Call It Hair Metal: Art In The Excess of '80s Rock by our good friend Sean Kelly. His book is a love letter to the hard-rocking, but often snubbed, music of the era of excess: the 1980s.
There may be no more joyous iteration in all of music than 1980s hard rock. It was an era where the musical and cultural ideals of rebellion and freedom of the great rock ’n’ roll of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s were taken to dizzying heights of neon excess. Attention to songcraft, showmanship, and musical virtuosity (especially in the realm of the electric guitar) were at an all-time high, and radio and MTV were delivering the goods en masse to the corn-fed children of America and beyond.
Time hasn’t always been kind to artists of that gold and platinum era, but Don’t Call It Hair Metal analyzes the sonic evolution, musical diversity, and artistic intention of ’80s commercial hard rock through interviews with members of such hard rock luminaries as Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Poison, Whitesnake, Ratt, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, Guns N’ Roses, Dokken, Mr. Big, and others.
About Sean Kelly
Sean Kelly has performed with Nelly Furtado, Lee Aaron, Coney Hatch, Helix, Gilby Clarke, Trapper, Rough Trade, and Crash Kelly. In 2015, he performed in Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider’s Rock & Roll Christmas Tale. Kelly is a music teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
BONUS: Our own Twelfth Fret luthier Jay Hlady is mentioned and quoted!
DETAILS:
- Publisher: ECW Press (May 16 2023)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 312 pages
- ISBN-10: 1770416439
- ISBN-13: 978-1770416437
- Item weight: 463 g
- Dimensions: 15.24 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: #58,918 in Books
- #30 in Heavy Metal Music (Books)
- #95 in Music History & Criticism (Books)
- #176 in Rock Music (Books)
