Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion

by Tom Beaujour

LONN FRIEND What kept a lot of the bands alive during the ’90s was to simply get out there and play. Play smaller venues, play different cities that they may have missed the first time or their second or third time around. Go overseas, where the fans have longer memories.

DANA STRUM Anyone that was willing to give it a go, keep trying, had any integrity, and was reasonably good at what they did would’ve found a way.

SCOTTI HILL It’s two lives. It’s really crazy, man. You’re out there doing a rock ’n’ roll thing on the weekend and playing for lots of people and big crowds. And then, you know, Monday morning, boom! I’m in daddy mode, walking my son to school.

ALEX GROSSI All the bands from the ’80s are out touring now because the people who grew up on this music now have jobs and make real money and in some cases are the CEOs of big companies.

GUNNAR NELSON I’m actually bringing more money home to my family now, not being on MTV, not being in a number one band, not being on Geffen.

SCOTTI HILL There are kids who’ve heard so much about it that they’re just like, “Man, I wish I was a teenager in 1985. I wish I could’ve experienced that.”

LONN FRIEND This “rock ’n’ roll is coming back” bullshit that I’ve been hearing forever … rock ’n’ roll will never come back ’cause it’s never gone away. Rock ’n’ roll goes through peaks and valleys of genre, affectation, and popularity …

LONN FRIEND The debauchery, the decadence, that came from the ’60s. It’s just that the ’80s bands crystallized it. And they crystallized it with hair and volume and questionable behavior and substance abuse and alcohol.