Toronto-based guitarist Sean Kelly, who works with Canadian rock legends Lee Aaron and Coney Hatch as well as having his own band, Crash Kelly, has checked in with the following update:
"Hello my friends! I've just finished recording three classic '80s hard rock anthems for a Crash Kelly companion album to my book Don't Call It Hair Metal. The last one is being mixed now, and they all sound slammin' thanks to maestro Frank Gryner! I am going to be packaging these songs with some other rarities, covers, Japanese bonus tracks, and unreleased songs from over the years that fit with the overall theme of the book. My question for you is... how many of you would be interested in a vinyl 7 inch single? And how many would be interested in a CD? Ideally, I'd love to make a bundle of both. Whichever format we go with, you will be able to get the music at the Sean Kelly store at rockpapermerch.com... stay tuned!"
On May 16, 2023, ECW Press released Don't Call It Hair Metal : Art In The Excess Of '80s Rock, written by guitarist Sean Kelly. Orders can be placed now at this location.
Kelly checked in with the following update prior to the release:
"The eagle has landed! Feeling very emotional to finally be holding a printed copy of my new book, and absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Thank you to the amazing team at ECW Press, and especially to my editor and brother @yr_humble_now_holmes for guiding me through the process with his expert eye and rock n roll heart! Don’t Call It Hair Metal: Art In The Excess of ‘80s Rock is available on May 16, 2023! Available at fine book stores and online everywhere, signed copies available through my merch store here."
A love letter to the hard-rocking, but often snubbed, music of the era of excess: the 1980s.
There may be no more joyous iteration in all of music than 1980s hard rock. It was an era where the musical and cultural ideals of rebellion and freedom of the great rock ’n’ roll of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s were taken to dizzying heights of neon excess. Attention to songcraft, showmanship, and musical virtuosity (especially in the realm of the electric guitar) were at an all-time high, and radio and MTV were delivering the goods en masse to the corn-fed children of America and beyond.
Time hasn’t always been kind to artists of that gold and platinum era, but Don’t Call It Hair Metal analyzes the sonic evolution, musical diversity, and artistic intention of ’80s commercial hard rock through interviews with members of such hard rock luminaries as Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Poison, Whitesnake, Ratt, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, Guns N’ Roses, Dokken, Mr. Big, and others.
