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Sebastian Ritscher
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THEY JUST SEEM A LITTLE WEIRD

Doug Brod

How KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll

Former Editor-in-Chief of SPIN magazine Doug Brod explores a crucial and often unexamined moment in hard-rock history, when the music became fun again and a concert became a show.
It was the age when heavy-footed, humorless dinosaurs roamed the hard-rock landscape. But that all changed when into these dazed and confused mid-'70s strut-ted four flamboyant bands that reveled in revved-up anthems and flaunted a novel theatricality. In They Just Seem a Little Weird, veteran entertainment journalist Doug Brod offers an eye- and ear-opening look at a crucial moment in music history, when rock became fun again and a gig became a show. This is the story of friends and frenemies who rose, fell, and soared once more, often sharing stages, studios, producers, engineers, managers, agents, roadies, and fans-and who are still collaborating more than forty years on.

In the tradition of David Browne's Fire and Rain and Sheila Weller's Girls Like Us, They Just Seem a Little Weird seamlessly interweaves the narratives of KISS, Cheap Trick, and Aerosmith with that of Starz, a criminally neglected band whose fate may have been sealed by a shocking act of violence. This is also the story of how these distinctly American groups-three of them now enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-laid the foundation for two seemingly opposed rock genres: the hair metal of Poison, Skid Row, and Mötley Crüe and the grunge of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and the Melvins. Deeply researched, and featuring more than 130 new interviews, this book is nothing less than a secret history of classic rock.

DOUG BROD is the former editor in chief of SPIN magazine and was a long-time editor at Entertainment Weekly. He has worked for Atlantic Records, taught at New York University, and was a segment producer of the comedy/music television series Oddville, MTV. Brod has also written for the New York Times, Billboard, Classic Rock, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Trouser Press Record Guide. A native New Yorker, he lives with his family in Toronto.
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Book

Published 2020-12-01 by Da Capo Press

Book

Published 2020-12-01 by Da Capo Press

Comments

They Just Seem a Little Weird is a wildly entertaining study of four Me Decade bands, showing how their influence would come to shape successive generations and genres of music. Doug Brod delivers the perfect balance of reportage, reminiscence, and rock-and-roll excess. Deeply researched, evocatively written, and utterly enjoyable-this is a surprisingly essential work of pop culture history.

Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon: The intertwined relationship between KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith & Starz. Author Doug Brod explains Read more...

Doug Brod surrenders to his passion for '70s pop rock in this thoroughly researched and meticulously wrought group portrait, and, much to his credit, he is happy to give himself away as a lifelong fan of music he defends as well worth the attention. This a rock book of the rarest kind: unaffected, unpretentious, and unafraid to be fun.

Excerpt - Check out the new book from former EW editor Doug Brod! Read more...

Excerpt: When Rivals KISS and Aerosmith Hat to Kiss and Make Up for a Coheadlining Tour: Book Excerpt From 'They Just Seem a Little Weird' Read more...

Doug Brod gives the '70s hard rock world of KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz the scholarly research, historical narrative, and--above all else--respect it deserves. You'll be constantly entertained and enlightened by his backstage stories and newly unearthed-and eye-opening-connections between all those bands. The book rock and rolls and parties all night, on every page.

"They Just Seem A Little Weird" offers an original, eye- and ear-opening look at a crucial moment in hard-rock history... Deeply researched, and featuring more than 130 new interviews, this book is nothing less than a secret history of classic rock. Read more...

Once upon a time, in the faraway galaxy known as the '70s, there were four tightly knit gangs of misfits and screwups-three mega-platinum Hall of Fame bands and one near miss. Doug Brod thoroughly and seamlessly chronicles their interlocking stories, and how their ups and downs, friendships and rivalries, lucky breaks and twists of fate rewrote the rules of rock and roll for America's denim-clad masses.

Doug Brod's detail-rich book exemplifies the same transfixing qualities of the bands he profiles: The over-the-top hysteria of KISS, the creative tension of Aerosmith, the charming accessibility of Cheap Trick, and the competency of Starz.

A fun, compassionate history of arena rock's finest hourand the less-fine hours that followed. Read more...