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Rating: 
Summary: Are we talking about the same book?
Review: "Exploding is populated by music stars like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Lil' Kim, Dr. Dre, the Grateful Dead, Queen, Madonna, Ice-T, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Alice Cooper, and dozens more".Yeah? Where? The artists are merely footnotes in this saga; weirdos to be tolerated (barely) and joked about. I spent a lot of money on this tome hoping to read about some of them. Instead I got 450 pages of business talk with about 4500 witticisms to amuse and confuse. At least I found out why their awesome back catalogue has shamefully been left to earn whatever dollars it can in crappy 80's CD output (in the main) while other labels remaster properly and expand on their reissues - Warners just don't give a damn. Won't be reading it again, I assure you.
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Summary: On living for the music, memories and more....
Review: "Exploding" not only gives a very thorough and complete historical structure of how Warner Bros. became a film and music leader, but gives outsiders the intense understanding of what the "insiders" were dealing with, when the company and the music industry went through the myriad changes of the 20th century.It's a time-line saga and sensory experience of all that the Warner Music business was and later became. The book gives readers both funny, poignant and enlightening glimpses into the key players and other personalities of the Warner Music Group, and describes how the rock industry's stars rose and fel. After working in the music industry for many years, I learned even more than I ever previously knew about how WB began and evolved. From mostly behind the scenes and through mainly a mere few "big-wigs" the cards were dealt or held for many future careers at the WB family of labels. Musicians, songwriters, radio and record neophytes could learn alot from reading this book. Industry veterans will enjoy the trips down memory lane, and ultimately, be carried along it's emotional currents. Coryn's writing is witty and he gets to his well-crafted points with style and substance. After dozens of years working deep in the creative trenches as the changes occured, he is well-suited to tell the tales, both bitter and sweet.
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Summary: "Exploding" Is Pure TNT of the Record Industry!
Review: At age 44, and with an album collection of over 400 LP's, I have been an avid music fan since age 10, as a wide-eyed, curious kid in 1968. I have always wondered just how the record industry worked, besides what I have learned over the years. Stan Cornyn's new novel "Exploding", is everything I could have asked for and then some! This book is very well written, concise, and stuffed full of details only an insider such as Stan Cornyn would know. This book had me turning pages late at night as I felt like a confidant to Cornyn, in that this book was written for me personally. I am a huge fan of 70's music, and what went on during this era at Warner / Reprise was simply unbeleivable, author Stan Cornyn will take you on a rollercoaster ride of this crazy time in the Record Industry, as well as American History, and how music is the bridge that connects it all. I highly recommend this book to all serious music fans. Now, whenever I play an album with the Warner Brothers label, I see much more than "just" a label, thanks to a brillantly written book by Stan Cornyn. Well done, this was money well spent for me, I learned a lot about music and record companies, as well as being entertained and amused with each page I read. Excellent work, Mr. Cornyn!
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Summary: A must-read for anyone interested in the industry of records
Review: Cornyn's role at Warner Brothers Records throughout its incredible rise and fall provided him a bird's-eye view of the construction, and eventually disassembly, of what was at its peak, the world's most artistically and commercially successful record company. As the company's creative director (he was the mind responsible for Warner's two-LP samplers in the 1970s, and the twisted copy with which they and other releases were advertised), Cornyn had a keen eye for the people and forces that shaped the label's growth, and its eventual fall. Together with co-writer Paul Scanlon, Cornyn is truly engaging as he discusses the label's early history as an offshoot of the movie studio, and the numerous tributaries (artists, producers, label heads, subsidiary and sister labels) that flowed into its eventual success. The arc traced by the record business from the late 50s (when studio head Jack Warner decided it was time for the studio to try the record business again) through the early part of this century is a fascinating path of continual reinvention. Cornyn's story takes in the rise and fall of 45s, LPs, independently programmed radio stations, syndicate-like consulting, not to mention numerous well-known artistic and corporate personalities. He even covers the beginnings of the industry's current battle with file downloading and swapping. The chapters discussing Warner's merger with Time-Life, and the resulting culture clashes and misplayed opportunities are fascinating. It's too bad that Cornyn retired before he could chronicle the subsequent Time-Warner merger with AOL. On the other hand, one might suspect that the personalities involved in the latter merger were nowhere near as colorful as the long-time record industry execs in the former. This book is a fine mix of personal memoir and chronicle, written in witty prose that is surprisingly lacking in jaundice. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the record industry, yesterday and today.
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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!
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