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Nöthin' but a Good Time cover art

Nöthin' but a Good Time

Written by: Tom Beaujour, Richard Bienstock
Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Gary Furlong, Richard Bienstock, Tom Beaujour
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Publisher's Summary

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

What the critics say

"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)

What listeners say about Nöthin' but a Good Time

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Good story, but kinda fragmented

If you are a fan of the 80s hair metal scene, you will love this book. My only criticism was them quoting the artists everytime. I know they have to do it for context... I also listened to this book on Audible so had I physically read the book, this may not have bothered me.

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brings back the fire

Look all I can say about this book is it brings back the fire it brings back the youth. It brings back what brought us all together in the '80s and early 90s. This music is real. it's here to stay and it's ours. I loved every minute of it.

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A fun ride despite some cringy narration

It's a really fun way to piece together the story of 80's Hard rock using quotes from those involved. There's a lot of deeper information amongst the more commonly known stories, and for the most part its sewn together in a way that pulls you along. It also includes a lot more obscure bands that didn't and don't get proper recognition.

The narration however pulled me out of it quite often as the various narrators try to act out the quotes in very inauthentic ways. Those that were immersed in the era, the music and the bands, will enjoy getting some extra details directly from those that lived them, but they might find themselves cringing at the narrators. To me, they come off sounding like they have no connection to the people or material they're reading.

Get past that and it's a lot of fun.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it.

loved to hear about the inside goings-on of an era of music I grew up on. 🤘🏼

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Home Sweet Home meets Alone Again

Great listen. The sort of thing I could relive again and again. Learned a few things and resurrected some great memories

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Tease that Hair and put your fist into the Air!!!

Really enjoyed this Book. Of course the audible would of been 5 1/2 Stars with the originals character's casted.
I personally couldn't put it down, there was so much more, I had never knew about of back then.

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Freaking Awesome

I loved this book. it is quite remarkable how deep it dives.
they put a lot of effort into this book there's no doubt. They interviewed everybody involved in that time/genre of music. I'm going to listen again very soon. I think I've got 60 ish titles in my library. This book sits on top of the pack!! so thankful this book was written. I'm a 48 year old music addict.

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one of the best (best of the top 10 rock docs)

one of the best... enjoyed this one. got comfortable and turned off the lughts, transported me to the 80s as I remembered it. something has to be said for mind time travel. 🤟😁👌

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