Tales from the Gutter by Mike Corcione has been in my TBR pile for a while, and I finally had a chance to read and review it. This is the perfect book for you if you want a peek behind the decadent rock-n-roll curtain of the eighties hair metal scene in New York City.
Title: Tales from the Gutter
Series: N/A
Author: Mike Corcione
Genre: Non-Fiction, Hair Metal, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Length: 246 pages
Release Date: May 15, 2023
Blurb: Mike Corcione is a rabid music fan who lived his dream of making it in the music industry through a whirlwind rock and roll career beginning in the late 1970s through the 1980s.
Starting his professional life in music as a nightclub DJ in 1978 working for wiseguys in clubs on Long Island, Tales From the Gutter follows Mike as he ascends the ladder of working in music at thrash metal record labels and import record distributors, leading an underground cult-favorite New York City sleaze metal band, Sweet Pain, tour managing for the platinum selling heavy metal band, L.A. Guns, promoting rock and roll nightclubs, and DJing at Peter Gatien’s infamous Club Kid hangout, the Limelight, in an era of legally drinking at 18, no-photo driver’s licenses, and the pre-crack and pre-AIDS New York City.
Raised in an environment of old world Italian values with the infamous Lucchese wiseguys featured in Martin Scorcese’s Goodfellas, it was ultimately music that gave Mike his purpose. This is a story of passion, hard work, and making your dreams come true, with lots of rock and roll debauchery on the side. Follow Mike and his friends on their drugfueled wild adventures with Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Danger Danger, Iron Maiden, L.A. Guns, and more, while gaining fascinating insight into a bygone era when the music industry was at the height of it’s powers.
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First, this is a rock ‘n’ roll tale, so don’t expect the book to delve too deep into the author’s personal life. Instead, he shares his time during the hair metal 80s, and how he belonged to the decadent scene. He also shares stories about Motley Crue, GNR, L.A. Guns, Twisted Sister, and many more.
The author has a chatty personality, and his voice is as if he were standing in front of a crowd of former hair-banging revellers, recounting his time during the 1980s. I rather enjoyed his prose, which made for easy reading. He does jump back and forth between time periods, which can get a bit confusing, but it doesn’t spoil the reading.
I also liked how he is a New Yorker and focused on New York with a few trips to Hollywood. The stories he shares are his own with the other bands he met either on a personal basis or business-related.
He worked as a nightclub DJ, a tour manager, a record industry exec., and many more jobs. He even had his own band at one point.
One thing I liked is even when he tattled, he did so with respect. He wasn’t slagging anyone or sharing things he shouldn’t have. He simply told his experiences when meeting or managing people.
There are even small excerpts from people who are close friends such as Bruno Ravel from Danger, Danger.
Overall, it’s a fun read. I enjoyed learning about the scenes I only heard about, such as the infamous L’Amour. I know many would prefer to have been a part of the Whisky in L.A., but I always wanted to have been a participant at L’Amour in Brooklyn.
If you were a part of the hair metal 80s, or want to know more about it, then this book is for you. As I said, it’s not an autobiography about the author’s life. It’s a take on his life in rock ‘n’ roll and how he participated in the wild decade. He ends when grunge surfaces and he must move on and grow up.
It’s a fun read. Do yourself a favour and get a copy.
Maggie Blackbird 