Try free for 30 days
-
Corporate Rock Sucks
- The Rise and Fall of SST Records
- Narrated by: Jim Ruland
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Punk Paradox
- A Memoir
- By: Greg Graffin
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Greg Graffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greg Graffin is the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bad Religion, recently described as “America's most significant punk band.” Since its inception in Los Angeles in 1980, Bad Religion has produced 18 studio albums, become a long-running global touring powerhouse, and has established a durable legacy as one of the most influential punk rock bands of all time. Punk Paradox is Graffin's life narrative before and during L.A. punk's early years, detailing his observations on the genre's explosive growth and his band's steady rise in importance.
-
-
Awesome
- By Darren on 01-07-2023
-
Mud Ride
- A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion
- By: Steve Turner
- Narrated by: Lloyd Floyd, Steve Turner
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late '80s and early '90s, Steve Turner and his friends—Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits—started forming bands in each other’s basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney.
-
-
Read This Book
- By Serena on 03-07-2023
-
Sellout
- The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007)
- By: Dan Ozzi
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last “gold rush” of the music industry, where some groups “sold out” and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry’s evolution, and a punk rock lover’s guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era.
-
-
Epic history of music we love
- By Anonymous User on 13-12-2023
-
Do What You Want
- The Story of Bad Religion
- By: Bad Religion, Jim Ruland
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do What You Want's principal storytellers are the four voices that define Bad Religion: Greg Graffin, a Wisconsin kid who sang in the choir and became an LA punk rock icon while he was still a teenager; Brett Gurewitz, a high school dropout who founded the independent punk label Epitaph Records and went on to become a record mogul; Jay Bentley, a surfer and skater who gained recognition as much for his bass skills as for his antics on and off the stage.
-
-
Refreshing
- By Corey Hanson on 07-05-2021
-
Under the Big Black Sun
- A Personal History of L.A. Punk
- By: John Doe, Tom Desavia
- Narrated by: Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, full cast
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it's never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977 to 1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene.
-
Some New Kind of Kick
- A Memoir
- By: Kid Congo Powers, Chris Campion - contributor
- Narrated by: Kid Congo Powers, Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kid Congo Powers has been described as a “legendary guitarist and paragon of cool” with “the greatest resume ever of anyone in rock music." That unique imprint on rock history stems from being a member of not one but three beloved, groundbreaking, and influential groups—Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Cramps, and last but not least, The Gun Club, the wildly inventive punk-blues band he co-founded. Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming-of-age tale.
-
-
A story of its time. When music captivated
- By James Chaplin on 02-10-2023
-
Punk Paradox
- A Memoir
- By: Greg Graffin
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Greg Graffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greg Graffin is the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bad Religion, recently described as “America's most significant punk band.” Since its inception in Los Angeles in 1980, Bad Religion has produced 18 studio albums, become a long-running global touring powerhouse, and has established a durable legacy as one of the most influential punk rock bands of all time. Punk Paradox is Graffin's life narrative before and during L.A. punk's early years, detailing his observations on the genre's explosive growth and his band's steady rise in importance.
-
-
Awesome
- By Darren on 01-07-2023
-
Mud Ride
- A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion
- By: Steve Turner
- Narrated by: Lloyd Floyd, Steve Turner
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late '80s and early '90s, Steve Turner and his friends—Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits—started forming bands in each other’s basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney.
-
-
Read This Book
- By Serena on 03-07-2023
-
Sellout
- The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007)
- By: Dan Ozzi
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last “gold rush” of the music industry, where some groups “sold out” and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry’s evolution, and a punk rock lover’s guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era.
-
-
Epic history of music we love
- By Anonymous User on 13-12-2023
-
Do What You Want
- The Story of Bad Religion
- By: Bad Religion, Jim Ruland
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do What You Want's principal storytellers are the four voices that define Bad Religion: Greg Graffin, a Wisconsin kid who sang in the choir and became an LA punk rock icon while he was still a teenager; Brett Gurewitz, a high school dropout who founded the independent punk label Epitaph Records and went on to become a record mogul; Jay Bentley, a surfer and skater who gained recognition as much for his bass skills as for his antics on and off the stage.
-
-
Refreshing
- By Corey Hanson on 07-05-2021
-
Under the Big Black Sun
- A Personal History of L.A. Punk
- By: John Doe, Tom Desavia
- Narrated by: Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, full cast
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it's never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977 to 1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene.
-
Some New Kind of Kick
- A Memoir
- By: Kid Congo Powers, Chris Campion - contributor
- Narrated by: Kid Congo Powers, Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kid Congo Powers has been described as a “legendary guitarist and paragon of cool” with “the greatest resume ever of anyone in rock music." That unique imprint on rock history stems from being a member of not one but three beloved, groundbreaking, and influential groups—Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Cramps, and last but not least, The Gun Club, the wildly inventive punk-blues band he co-founded. Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming-of-age tale.
-
-
A story of its time. When music captivated
- By James Chaplin on 02-10-2023
-
Nöthin' but a Good Time
- The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion
- By: Tom Beaujour, Richard Bienstock
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Gary Furlong, Richard Bienstock, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the do-or-die early days of self-financed recordings and D.I.Y. concert productions that were as flashy as they were foolhardy, to the multi-platinum, MTV-powered glory years of stadium-shaking anthems and chart-topping power ballads, to the ultimate crash when grunge bands like Nirvana forever altered the entire climate of the business, Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nothin' But a Good Time captures the energy and excess of the hair metal years in the words of the musicians and industry insiders who lived it.
-
-
loved it
- By Anonymous User on 19-08-2022
-
See a Little Light
- The Trail of Rage and Melody
- By: Bob Mould
- Narrated by: Bob Mould
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Mould stormed into America's punk rock scene in 1979, when clubs across the country were filling with kids dressed in black leather and torn denim, packing in to see bands like the Ramones, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys. Hardcore punk was a riot of jackhammer rhythms, blistering tempos, and bottomless aggression. And at its center, a new band out of Minnesota called Hüsker Dü was bashing out songs and touring the country on no money, driven by the inspiration of guitarist and vocalist Bob Mould. Their music roused a generation.
-
Love & Pain
- The epic times and crooked lines of life inside and outside Silverchair
- By: Ben Gillies, Chris Joannou
- Narrated by: Ben Gillies, Chris Joannou
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the powerful, untold story of two of the three members of Silverchair, Australia's most awarded musical act. From their beginnings in Ben Gillies' garage, this trio of high school kids from Newcastle, New South Wales, became famous with their smash-hit single 'Tomorrow', setting them on a path to domination of the Australian charts, worldwide touring and fame. So much has been written about Silverchair over the years but very little has been said by the band's members.
-
-
Loved it
- By Anonymous User on 01-10-2023
-
Authentic
- A Memoir by the Founder of Vans
- By: Paul Van Doren
- Narrated by: Tony Alva
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paul Van Doren is the founder of Vans - the shoe company beloved by skateboarders, creatives, and fans everywhere for its laid-back, colorful SoCal vibe, and famous for its people-oriented company culture. How did Van Doren establish a family shoe business that evolved into a globally recognized brand with annual revenue of more than four billion dollars? A blue-collar kid with no higher education and zero retail experience, Van Doren leveraged a knack for numbers, a genius for efficiency, and the know-how to make a great canvas tennis shoe into an all-American success story.
-
-
great story about a cultural brand
- By waqas t. on 28-06-2021
-
Smash!
- Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, and the '90s Punk Explosion
- By: Ian Winwood
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With astounding access to all the key players of the time, including members of Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, Rancid, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and many others, renowned music writer Ian Winwood at last gives this significant, substantive, and compelling story its due. Punk rock bands were never truly successful or indeed truly famous, and that was that - until it wasn't. Smash! is the story of how the underdogs finally won and forever altered the landscape of mainstream music.
-
-
Narrator made me want to give ip
- By Anonymous User on 13-06-2023
-
It's So Easy
- And Other Lies
- By: Duff McKagan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, at the age of 20, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle - partly to pursue music, but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then-decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In LA only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as "Slash." Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N' Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.
-
-
couldn't stop listening
- By Aaron Lethbridge on 29-12-2020
Publisher's Summary
A no-holds-barred narrative history of the iconic label that brought the world Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, and more, by the co-author of Do What You Want and My Damage.
Greg Ginn started SST Records in the sleepy beach town of Hermosa Beach, CA, to supply ham radio enthusiasts with tuners and transmitters. But when Ginn wanted to launch his band, Black Flag, no one was willing to take them on. Determined to bring his music to the masses, Ginn turned SST into a record label. On the back of Black Flag’s relentless touring, guerilla marketing, and refusal to back down, SST became the sound of the underground.
In Corporate Rock Sucks, music journalist Jim Ruland relays the unvarnished story of SST Records, from its remarkable rise in notoriety to its infamous downfall. With records by Black Flag, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, and scores of obscure yet influential bands, SST was the most popular indie label by the mid-80s - until a tsunami of legal jeopardy, financial peril, and dysfunctional management brought the empire tumbling down. Throughout this investigative deep-dive, Ruland leads listeners through SST’s tumultuous history and epic catalog.
Featuring never-before-seen interviews with the label's former employees, as well as musicians, managers, producers, photographers, video directors, and label heads, Corporate Rock Sucks presents a definitive narrative history of the ’80s punk and alternative rock scenes, and shows how the music industry was changed forever.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
“SST Records became a radiant supernova of creativity and possibility. A true and livable alternative to lame shit. And then, somehow, it fell apart when it was poised to create another universe. It became radioactive, a black hole. This book is that ‘somehow’—part archeology, part autopsy.”
—Todd Taylor, Razorcake
“‘Get in the van,’ to borrow a phrase from another Black Flag book you may have heard of, has become something of a cliche, but it's no less true for punk bands in 2022 than it was in 1981. No matter how talented you are or how good your songs, you still, at long last, have to put in the work. The same applies to writers. For Corporate Rock Sucks, it's clear Jim has logged thousands and thousands of miles, talking to seemingly everyone who ever even heard of SST, digging up old record reviews and interviews and photos and zines no one has probably looked at for decades. It all adds up to an informative and fun read on a highly influential, and highly dysfunctional, record label.”
—Luke O'Neil, author of Welcome to Hell World: Dispatches from the American Dystopia
“With Corporate Rock Sucks, Jim Ruland asserts his power as a leading chronicler of Southern California punk rock. His exhaustive research and incisive commentary form a detailed and dynamic work worthy of the gargantuan legacy of SST—one of America’s foremost independent record labels that gave rise to Black Flag, the Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and many others. An essential read for those curious about the label’s serpentine path and pre-broadband DIY music culture.”
—Erin Osmon, author of Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost and John Prine