Thanks to Jason Newsted and Keith Nelson of Buckcherry who were my guests last night on the satellite show. Great talking with them both and both have new music coming early next year. Jason actually had me world premiere a new song called “Soldierhead” available for pre order on Itunes. Thanks to all for listening. Next two Monday’s recorded shows due to holidays, next live SiriusXM show 1/7/13.

News coming soon on a cool special edition show for the first time ever this Friday night on Q104 show. Keep en eye open for details.

Tim Louie

The Aquarian

 

He’s managed bands, he’s been a record exec, a radio personality, a TV personality and now he can add author to his ever-growing resume. Eddie Trunk, the host of Eddie Trunk Rocks, Eddie Trunk Live, and VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, has released his very first book, Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. This ultimate coffee table hard rock and heavy metal bible includes a plethora of photos by photographer and longtime friend Ron Akiyama facts on 35-plus essential hard rock bands, along with anecdotes about them, Eddie’s personal playlist for each band and he’s even added a piece of his show to the book by adding some trivia from his “Stump the Trunk” segment.

 

Eddie gave me a call recently to discuss his latest venture.

 

Tell me about Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

 

Well, doing a book has always been something that I kind of wanted to do. I had always envisioned doing an autobiography, which I still hope to do at some point, but this opportunity came to me with a publisher who doesn’t do autobiographies. They’re known for doing more photo-driven stuff, high-quality printing, coffee table books and things like that, so when they talked to me initially about doing this, it was going to be much more photo-driven, not that it isn’t already. The book is about 50 percent photos as is, but it was going to be more 80 percent photos and 20 percent thoughts and texts from me underneath these pictures. But what happened was, I hooked the publisher up with an old friend of mine, Ron Akiyama, who did about 99 percent of the photos in the book, and the absolutely hit it off.

 

Ron and I had been friends for over 30 years, and we attended many of these shows together and he was always photographing them, it made for a perfect marriage for him to basically do the pictures in the book and they just connected so perfectly into the stories because in many cases some of the stories that I’m talking about, he has the exact show or shot right there next to it. So it worked out really well.

 

A lot of Ron’s work has never been published before, so the pictures are unique in that people have never seen them before. The one real thing that changed in the evolution of the book, though, is that once the publisher [Abrams Books] started to see some of my thoughts and stories underneath these pictures about these bands, they immediately started wanting more stories. Then all of a sudden, I found myself kind of writing a book that was very different than what I envisioned. But I went with it, because at the end of the day, I thought that it was going to make for a much better product. It was tough to narrow down the bands that I was going to put in it, but I think that I hit what was important to me and think what was important to the scene at the time. Every band has at least one personal story from me and an interaction, an overview and playlists, so people have really liked the balance. It’s something certainly to read, but also something to really look at.

 

Well, that’s what I found special about this book; your own personal stories and pictures with these really big bands. I especially loved the old pictures of a young Eddie Trunk!

 

Oh, yeah! It’s always so depressing for me to look at old pictures. It bums me out! Even family pictures, it bums me out because you just realize how much time has passed, and you’re like ‘What the hell just happened?’ There you are like 20 to 25 years ago, and then you’re like ‘Wait a minute, that felt like yesterday!’ So, I actually get bummed out looking at old pictures. It’s funny, when people hear that this is my book, and they hear about a lot of photos, the initial thought is that there will be a lot of pictures with me with rock stars, and that’s clearly not the case. These are unbelievable live shots, and yeah, there’s a bunch of candids spread out throughout the book. There are also a lot of buttons and ticket stubs. That’s all personal stuff from my collection, but I wanted the photos to be really incredible shots of the artists.

 

There are some really cool candids in there, though. There’s a shot of me signing Ace Frehley when I was at Megaforce Records in my 20s. It’s things like that that people generally have never seen before. Those are fun, but they’re a small part of the book also. The other thing was the cover. I didn’t want it to be one artist and I didn’t want it to be me on the cover. I kind of wanted it to be something that summed up that era, and Ron had a great shot of the crowd at an Anthrax show at L’Amours in Brooklyn, NY, in 1987. A show where I actually introduced the band and as I walked off the stage, Ron ran on and took a shot of the audience reaction as Anthrax was ready to come on. So, I think that picture really sums up what the world was like back then. You just look at those faces in the crowd and it could be anyone from 1987, and what’s ironic is that I heard from a few people who have seen the cover of the book and saw their picture in there. Talk about looking back.

 

Greg Prato

Ugo.com

 

He’s been an avid fan and supporter of heavy metal for decades, and is consistently on the radio (the nationally syndicated radio show Eddie Trunk Rocks and Eddie Trunk Live on Sirius) and TV (That Metal Show). He is Eddie Trunk, who can now add “author” to his resume, as his first-ever book, Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, will be released on April 1st, via Abrams Image.

 

UGO: What will fans learn from reading Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal?

 

EDDIE TRUNK: There are some stories I never talked about with me and the artists in the book. Bon Jovi offering me a job, the night Axl Rose came to my radio studio, tons of personal stuff plus my thoughts on the bands and why I love them. It’s really a hybrid of many things, opinions, why I love the bands, a personal experience with almost all of them, my playlists of favorite songs and much more. Its 50% stories and text, 50% incredible photos – most of which were never published. The photos tie in with the stories because the photographer (Ron Akiyama) is an old friend who was actually at the shows with me I’m talking about. People are loving that aspect early on. Some funny candid shots to, like me signing Ace Frehley when I worked at Megaforce in 1986.

 

UGO: I heard that there is a moving chapter about Ronnie James Dio in the book.

 

EDDIE TRUNK: Many have pointed that one out. That chapter had to be rewritten because Ronnie passed away after the original one was done, so it was very fresh when I had to redo it. It talks about my experience hosting his memorial and I dedicated the book to him and Eric Carr, a dear friend who I still miss even though he has been gone 20 years. Two great rockers that were great people.

 

UGO: What can fans expect from the upcoming season of That Metal Show?

 

EDDIE TRUNK: For the first time ever some repeat guests from early on. This is Season 7, there are now almost 80 shows, and it was time to welcome back some of the early believers who took a shot on the show. So a balance of first timers and return guests who much has changed for. Any talk show has return guests so it was time, plus Kirk Hammett from Metallica, David Coverdale, Sebastian Bach, all among the first timers. And most important we retain the same 1-hour format introduced last season with 2 guests and all the features everyone wants in.

 

UGO: Why do you think Ozzy nor Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley have not appeared on That Metal Show?

 

EDDIE TRUNK: You would need to ask them. We honestly do not know and when there is no communication back you can only speculate. They have all been asked. In the case of Ozzy it’s really Sharon, I’m sure he doesn’t even know! In the case of Gene and or Paul, again, ask them. We are huge fans of the band, I have supported them on many fronts for decades like nobody else. And yes, I have made it known I am not a fan of what they do now, but why not sit down and defend it? Why wipe away 99% support for decades because of one thing?! I’m a fan, being critical of what you like and don’t like with your favorite bands is part of that. Tons of bands I have had my shots at over the years, but they all sit down and talk about it and many cases agree in retrospect! I can’t worry about what people think I said or if you’re hypersensitive. We cannot compromise what we do. It’s what makes the show work. Being truthful as fans and being able to express an opinion is what we do and many of our guests do. We love all these guys even if we don’t like something they did at one point, up to them to come around. The door is always open to them, come mix it up, have some fun, hell, fire back at me! God knows I have a thick skin after all these years. It’s their fans to who are being cheated. They want to see these guys on a show where the hosts actually know the music and didn’t just read a one sheet before they walked out. It’s the show their real audience is watching at the end of the day. Hope they step up and do it but we have plenty that want to if they don’t. I grew up a huge fan of Howard Stern, he KILLS people, and guess what? They still come and talk to him.

 

UGO: Out of all the interviews you’ve conducted over the years, which was the best…and which was the weirdest?

 

EDDIE TRUNK: Anytime you get guys that have fun and are well spoken and mix it up, it’s great. Doing this almost 30 years I now know many of these guys, so there is a comfort level. The people who are always great are Rob Halford (he did my book’s foreword), the late Dio, Sammy Hagar, Bobby Blitz, Slash, even guys like Chris Jericho, he is a close friend but we have a blast on the air. Dee Snider also speaks his mind. As far as weird, I guess the only one I can think of is the late Peter Steele. Obviously, he had issues in his life sadly. He came on my radio show and didn’t want to talk about Type O, kept apologizing, and then kind of broke down on the air, back around 2002.

 

UGO: Please rank in order of “funniness” – Jim Florentine, Don Jamieson, and Carrot Top.

 

EDDIE TRUNK: Not touching that one, but Top can kick their asses that’s for sure. See the shape that guys in? Crazy.

 

Bob Ruggiero

Blog.HoustonPress.com

 

If hard rock and heavy-metal journalism have their own Eddie Murrow, it’s Eddie Trunk. Via his web site, as a co-host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, and his programs on both terrestrial and satellite radio, Trunk brings a professional’s objectivity and a fan’s passion together in one persona.

 

In this book, Trunk picks 35 “essential” bands of the genre, from AC/DC, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth to Poison, Rush, Slayer, and Van Halen. Each group gets a chapter that runs down their history, discography, obscure trivia, and Trunk’s own suggested “playlist.”

 

But what makes the book a joy to read are Trunk’s own anecdotes and stories of his interactions with musicians over the years – including some of whom became personal friends, like Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford – as well as his brutally-honest opinions about some of their career moves and music.

 

Trunk may be the biggest KISS fan on the planet, but he still takes Gene and Paul to task for putting Ace and Peter’s makeup on two different players. He also spotlights overlooked music from many groups. Overall, it’s enough to satisfy both the neophyte and the hardcore of any act.

 

The book also looks great with high-quality, slick paper, mostly unseen concert shots spanning years, and band memorabilia.

 

If there is a quibble, it’s that the chapters aren’t long enough, and Trunk does repeat a few of the same stories. (Yes, we know he’s friends with baseball’s Mike Piazza…) Minor issues to be sure. Hard rock and heavy metal music have no better champion and critic than Eddie Trunk, and this book reflects that in abundance.

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