The Hitmen: The Shocking True Story of a Family of Killers for Hire

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The book has a large cast of colorful characters (too large, to be honest), and everyone from thuggish bodyguards to pampered label execs gets a vivid portrait. Subsequently, the names in this book have become part of music industry lore; it’s not so much about the Network or payola as much as it’s about the unbridled heyday of the music business. The end of the book highlights some court cases that were beginning to be filed against independent promoters for payola charges. Then they veered off into the Disco fad, and when that suddenly went bust, it was a real financial hit.

It's competently but not amazingly well written and seems to suffer from a focus bias based on the author's sources.By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Unsavory revealing of strongarm bullies controlling what got played on the radio (not inc college radio) through bribery paid to " promotion" men which explains why the same ten songs got played til they sounded like nauseating shit for a decade or two and thousands of great songs , which couldve been hits ,did not.

Fredric Dannen was a co-recipient of the Overseas Press Club’s 1986 Morton Frank Award for business reporting from abroad.Less than a decade after this book was published the industry would reach both its apex and downfall, surprisingly within a short one or two year window).

Personally I think the Mergers and Acquisitions craze did more to damage the American music recording industry than anything else. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. Dry as it can be, but full of all kinds of interesting information and insight into a portion of organized crime's association with the music industry.Dannen sets out to tell the story of how the industry began to turn against paying these promoters as those expenses ate up more and more of the revenue.