REVISED VERSION OF “JERSEY METAL: A HISTORY OF THE GARDEN STATE’S HEAVY METAL SCENE VOLUME ONE (1969-1986), WITH MORE INTERVIEWS, PHOTOS AND LAYOUT, AVAILABLE NOW

Hot off their well-received book- Jersey Metal: A History of the Garden State’s Heavy Metal Scene Volume One (1969-1986) – Frank White and Alan Tecchio are unleashing a revised volume. Released on March 1st, the updated version features new band interviews, and more photos, ads, and event flyers. 

The revised layout gives the readers an enhanced story flow. The book’s initial Dec. 2022 release sold solidly throughout that month and all of 2023. There are only a few of the original version books available. As a result of the significant changes made for the revised version of Jersey Metal, the first version is now essentially a limited edition.

Jersey Metal is Frank and Alan’s engaging tribute to and celebration of New Jersey’s live and offstage metal scene’s bands, fans and culture. The book includes dozens of interviews with the musicians who once graced classic, many now-defunct stages, interviews with fans who attended shows on a religious basis, and with industry professionals whose insight and stories help to provide a full understanding of the era. 

Jersey Metal includes an abundance of White’s outstanding, front-of-the stage and off-stage photography. White started photographing shows at age 12 in 1975. He daringly lied to his parents about his whereabouts and with his mom’s 35MM camera, caught a bus in a snowstorm to shoot Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden. 

Over the ensuing years, Frank’s work has appeared in countless, prominent magazines including Rolling Stone, Creem, Hit Parader, Circus, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Revolver, Decibel, Premiere Guitar, Metal Edge and RIP. He is a contributing photographer to the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame annual induction ceremony event.

Tecchio is a renowned vocal veteran of the Jersey metal scene. He has sung for stalwarts Hades, Non-Fiction, All Time Low and Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins, as well as Texas progressive metal wizards Watchtower. 

Alan began writing weekly columns in a local magazine in the early 1990’s while also honing his chops as a graphic designer. His eventual skill set turned out to be a perfect match to Frank’s photos, stories and overall concept for Jersey Metal, and the duo formed WT Publishing. 

The book takes readers on a guided tour of Jersey clubs, theaters and larger venues that played host to then-nascent bands like Metallica, Slayer, The Plasmatics, Twisted Sister and many more. These New Jersey iconic venues, many of which no longer exist, range from The China Club in northern New Jersey to The Union Jack in the State’s central environs to The Galaxy at the southern end of the Garden state. 

Jersey Metal presents events chronologically, so readers see the rise to fame of Jersey natives like Jon Bon Jovi, Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Deep Purple), Overkill, Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake) and Hades.

There is a plethora of old-school band flyers and contributions from additional photographers. Through interviews with bands and fans, and Frank and Alan’s personal observations, the authors organize and structure the flow of the book in an enjoyablydigestible way.

“It is a metal blessing in disguise that our revised book has made this time period of our lives even bigger and better than before,” White said. 

Tecchio adds, “I think that this new, revised volume is more inclusive than the first one because we had room to add additional content having dropped the text size and removed some ads. Overall, I feel the book has more to offer and flows way better now.”

White and Tecchio are currently working hard on Volume Two of Jersey Metal, which should be completed in late summer/early fall of 2025. The second volume will cover the years 1987-2004. The eventual third and final volume will feature the NJ metal scene from 2005-2021. 

Jersey Metal can be found at jerseymetalbook.com and in select record stores in the Tri-State Area. 

Frank and Alan will be signing copies of Jersey Metal April 26th-28th at The Chiller Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo in Parsippany.