Rating: 
Summary: Fast Times at Warner High
Review: Not only is this a wonderful and ambitious book by Cornyn & Scanlon, but it is also a great tool for young musicians because this book takes the mystery out of the record business. Cornyn has a wonderful appreciation for great stories, but he's also bright and is able to recount the stories behind the signings of artists and the whys in great detail. He also captures the energy and team effort of all of those Powers-That-Be (Were) at Warners because it was for the love of the music.
The turning point in the book is when after an exhaustive 8-10 hr meeting about sales units, how to change the corporate structure Cornyn got into this car to drive home and realized that during the whole 8 - 10 hr meeting, no one mentioned music. These guys were from the streets and got into the industry because of their passion for music.The pace of the book is terrific, starts at the biginning of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Studio, builds up to the peak, then the reader is slowly let down when Cornyn starts talking numbers instead of artists. It's a fun ride thru the "inside track"....enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Still hustling after all these years
Review: Stan Cornyn should know all about hustlers. He took the art to a new low, and this book barely scratches the surface. It was Stan Cornyn who, in early January 1976, frisbeed a copy of my single "Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent" across his office, and declared to Dr. Demento's manager, Larry Gordon, "You don't expect me to push this turkey, do you?" "This turkey," which Warner Bros had secured from me for the "Dr. Demento's Delights" LP in late 1975, had been a consistent #1 hit on Demento's syndicated radio show for a year. The song received over 50 percent of the "Delights" album's airplay, and was responsible for pulling the LP into Billboard's Top 200. I sold 5000 indie singles myself before signing the deal with Warner. But when it came to picking up my album option and promoting "Narco Agent" as a single, Cornyn finally came out his closet. He and his A&R accomplice Pete Johnson told Gordon, "We're not interested in him, we hate his song, we're embarrassed to have it on our label, and we never had any intention of picking up his album option. Tell him, don't even bother coming by." For the rest of the story, see www.eljefe.net/fnnafaq.html. Stan Cornyn's claim to fame is how many people he screwed. Now he admits it in print, and gets to bore us with the details. Been there, seen it the first time around. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Still hustling after all these years
Review: Stan Cornyn should know all about hustlers. He took the art to a new low, and this book barely scratches the surface. It was Stan Cornyn who, in early January 1976, frisbeed a copy of my single "Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent" across his office, and declared to Dr. Demento's manager, Larry Gordon, "You don't expect me to push this turkey, do you?" "This turkey," which Warner Bros had secured from me for the "Dr. Demento's Delights" LP in late 1975, had been a consistent #1 hit on Demento's syndicated radio show for a year. The song received over 50 percent of the "Delights" album's airplay, and was responsible for pulling the LP into Billboard's Top 200. I sold 5000 indie singles myself before signing the deal with Warner. But when it came to picking up my album option and promoting "Narco Agent" as a single, Cornyn finally came out his closet. He and his A&R accomplice Pete Johnson told Gordon, "We're not interested in him, we hate his song, we're embarrassed to have it on our label, and we never had any intention of picking up his album option. Tell him, don't even bother coming by." For the rest of the story, see www.eljefe.net/fnnafaq.html. Stan Cornyn's claim to fame is how many people he screwed. Now he admits it in print, and gets to bore us with the details. Been there, seen it the first time around. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: if you are fascinated by the business of music. . .
Review: then you will definitely find this worth your time. I've been in the record biz for the last ten years and got an awful lot out of reading this - it tells the business story in an entertaining manner - it's about the personalities behind the music, but not as much about the hype (as much as it's possible to take hype out of anything about the entertainment industry). now with the record biz in a rough spell is a particularly timely point to put your book out - the perspective of this book (which covers about 40 years quite well) is well needed. I especially liked the focus on the business end, all the numbers, the annual growth, etc. This is the rare (only?) record biz tale that really gets to the bottom of how records get out there and in the public's hands - the nuts and bolts like NARM conventions and less emphasis on A&R stories than in most books about the biz (yet it's still a great tale of personalities). It's up there with Hit Men, definitely.
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