The Rise and Fall of 80s Glam Metal – The Wall Street Journal

The glam-metal music of the 1980s is known for its over the top style and sound: the teased hair, heavy makeup and spandex; prodigious pyrotechnics and bombastic power ballads; lightning-fast guitar solos.

But as journalists Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock recount in their new book Nthin But A Good Time, the genrewhich is alternatively called hard rock or hair metal, depending on whether youre a fanmade rock n roll bigger in the U.S. than ever before. The hedonism of bands like Mtley Cre and Poison made headlines, but its their single-mindedness, showmanship and melodies that ultimately yielded multi-platinum albums and sold-out arenas. Messrs. Beaujour and Bienstock conducted more than 200 new interviews with acts such as Ratt and Lita Ford and industry insiders like Spencer Proffer, who championed Quiet Riot, the first metal band to score a No. 1 album.

Nthin But A Good Time, out March 16, chronicles how 80s hard rock, initially shunned by record labels, triggered a music-industry gold rush. But despite a reputation as slick corporate rock, many early glam-metal bands plugged away for years without record deals, investing their own money and employing do-it-yourself strategies.

Mr. Beaujour, 49, and Mr. Bienstock, 45, are both long-time musicians and rock and guitar-magazine journalists. Their book is the latest in a string of rock oral histories, including Lizzy Goodmans popular 2017 history of 2000s rock, Meet Me in the Bathroom.

The authors recently talked to the Journal about the 80s hard-rock explosion and how the music industrys repetition of the same formula helped bring it all down. An edited transcript:

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The Rise and Fall of 80s Glam Metal - The Wall Street Journal