Overall I enjoyed reading this book. I was familiar with many of the bands and SST records but I was not familiar with the behind the scenes problems. It is very well written and researched. Unfortunately the story is not a happy one. The last chapter is particularly poignant. Enjoy

Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records
Jim Ruland
Hachette Books 432 pages

In 1978, Hermosa Beach, California-based guitarist Greg Ginn founded SST Records as a means to an end. Black Flag, his sartorially nondescript hardcore band, needed to put out a record in order to be able to book shows within the peacocked local punk scene. Mainstream clubs, exclusive to Top 40 cover bands, weren’t an option – and he couldn’t count on other labels to prioritize the release of the Nervous Breakdown EP, the soundtrack to a subcultural riot.

It was the inauspicious beginning to an incredible journey, and Corporate Rock Sucks – the tale of a scrappy, anti-corporate upstart that inspired hundreds to embrace a no-frills, D.I.Y. music ethos ultimately becomes a stalled corporate behemoth – is all too fittingly titled. Author Jim Ruland, co-writer of books about Bad Religion and Keith Morris, here pieces together a definitive history of this diverse, dysfunctional label that’s a strong companion piece to Henry Rollins’ brutal Get In The Van: On the Road With Black Flag and Joe Carducci’s heartbreaking Enter Naomi: SST, L.A., and All That.

Progress was slow at first. The operation’s big ears and ambitions collided with the realities of personnel doubling as Black Flag members and tour support, police harassment prompting constant relocation, media bullshit, lawsuits. Pioneering LPs - from psychedelic shaman The Meat Puppets, whiplash, inventive Minutemen, prog-punk outfit Saccharine Trust, and more - piled up as SST staff projects took precedence, until a rag-tag gang of squatters and malcontents coalesced into a professional mail order enterprise with major distribution.

Ruland interweaves the label’s travails and those of its swelling roster; as we learn about the Ginn family - Greg’s teenage ham radio obsession, Raymond “Pettibon” Ginn’s twisted cartooning, their educator/novelist dad - and Black Flag’s ever-fluctuating line-ups, become acquainted with the Stains, examine the catalog of Minneapolis’ Hüsker Dü’s at a granular level, and understand the internal contradictions that made D.C.’s Bad Brains such a singular force of nature. Tensions simmered and flared. The splitting of offices minted competing factions, and jealousies formed over who was selling most and whose records were fast-tracked. Among the notes on acts like Sonic Youth and Screaming Trees a history like this has to play, space is made to get to know SST’s prime personalities and uncompromising latecomers like Oxbow and Negativland.

Most of all, Corporate Rock Sucks is a portrait of Greg Ginn, a control freak who casually fired Black Flag members through proxies once he’d tired of them and poached talent from other bands, yet allowed SST’s quality control to plummet, cranking the release schedule into overdrive as SST artists (some of whom would depart for major labels) wondered where their royalty checks were. Increasingly stoned, he retreated into scads of musical projects as his co-founders - Carducci, Steve “Mugger” Corbin, and Gary “Chuck Dukowski” McDaniel - took buyouts and split.

Ginn’s musical curiosity isn’t matched by a sense of loyalty, and eight years have passed since SST - which remains in operation - last released a record. “A campaign to remaster the albums that made SST great is long overdue. However, there is a great gulf between what SST’s fans want and what the label will allow,” Ruland writes in an epilogue. “The most honest, least corporate rock thing to do would be to release the records back to the musicians and let them decide how to make [the music] available to the public. Artists consulted for this book reported reaching out to Ginn directly about reacquiring the rights to their music only to receive the ‘Hollywood no’; not a yes, not a no, just silence.”

Raymond Cummings

Corporate Rock Sucks. That phrase, that slogan, it’s as well-known and recognizable as the Sub Pop logo, is synonymous with SST, though is perhaps better known than the name SST all on its lonesome. And the rise and fall?

Well.

Jim Ruland has written what will surely be acknowledged as one of the most essential historical texts regarding American music. It’s engaging, informative, insightful, and just an all-around engrossing cruise through a time in music when tastes were shifting and music as a form of communication and communal activity was forever changing the landscape and busting the gates in such a way they could never be mended.

For those who very, very, very clearly remember SST Records from its heyday, those who were actively immersed in it, those who grew up with it and had their minds blown and expanded by new sounds and discoveries, and for those who are curious, those who may’ve missed out on that the first or second time around, those who’ve heard the name SST dropped in conversation at a gig or a party and need to know what exactly SST is, this book delivers again and again. And again and again and again.

Not only was SST the “incubator of hardcore” and a stance against art controlled by boards and committees and trustees and things like such, art controlled by corporations with other interests (often more important to the corporations than the book publishing and record companies under their umbrella(s)), SST was also at the forefront of something that was particularly strong in the 80s and early 90s: mail orders. Direct mail orders. I remember dividing up my paychecks between numerous labels (SST, Sub Pop, Creation, Twin/Tone, AmRep, In The Red, Sympathy for the Record Industry, Matador, K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Minty Fresh, and on and on and on). Direct sales to fans, especially those who didn’t live by or have access to a record shop, they were of utmost importance to bands building an audience, and of utmost importance to music fans everywhere. Those who were once denied access or were completely unaware, due to said lack of access, suddenly had the gate crashed in on them, and the possibilities were endless.

With that, SST really solidified the notion of a label as a full-on entity that could be trusted, relied on, looked to for guidance. And other labels, like those mentioned above, carried that on. No longer were fans simply following bands, they were following labels. If you had a never-ending curiosity and thirst for music but didn’t really know where to begin, if you liked a band or two that happened to be on a certain label (such as SST or Sub Pop or Twin/Tone), it wasn’t a bad bet to grab something from the label you were unfamiliar with. Chances are you’d be discovering a new favorite band. And if you weren’t, you just moved on over to the next release in the catalog.

Reading this book, I couldn’t believe how much I had forgotten of that time, those bands, all that. More so, I couldn’t believe how much I never even knew about it all.

If you like any bands that were ever on SST, buy this book. If you want to start a band or are in one already, buy this book. If you want to start a record label (or, again, already have), but this book. If you just straight-up simply love music, buy this book.

The origin story of Black Flag and SST records is well researched and thoughtfully written with anecdotal shout outs to infamous moments in punk rock lore. Ruland's passion for the material shines through as the historical account beginning with Greg Ginn's background story sets the stage for a detailed tale of the rise of one punk rock's most infamous bands and label. Highly recommended for fans of SST records, Black Flag or anyone looking to learn a little more about the history of the South Bay punk scene of the late 70s and early 80s.

First off -- if anyone at the publisher is reading this, PLEASE make this available for Kindle. The NetGalley app is laughably awful and I almost gave up several times as I was reading the book.

That said, I'm glad I didn't. This book is incredibly well researched and goes into tons of detail on the history of pioneering punk label SST. The main players are all richly drawn, although it does require careful concentration and a flow chart to keep track of all the band members rotating in and out of Black Flag and all the other bands coming and going from the label. A casual music fan might find this overwhelming but SST fans will dig the thoroughness.

The last chapter is pretty bleak -- Greg Ginn has seemingly retired to Texas with his massive feral cat army and isn't doing much to promote the label's history. Hopefully this gets a whole new generation of fans interested.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hachette for an advanced copy of this book on rock music history.
Back in the days before compact discs and Napster independent record labels and independent music stores were the bastions of cool. So much great music on vinyl, cassettes, eps zines and odd comics that would show up and disappear so fast. One of the labels that always seemed to have if not the best music, but the most interesting and usually the loudest was SST Records. The artwork, the music, the attitude so apparant on every release, just super fresh super real sounds. Jim Ruland in his book Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records tells the history of this label that changed so many things in music, but has really become one of music's great "And yet" stories. The "And yet" really is the heart of this tome.

SST Records is the brainchild of guitarist Greg Ginn, known more for being a founding member of the band Black Flag and later Gone. Having difficulty in getting a record deal for his band, Ginn adapted his own mail order ham radio business to distribute info, eps, art and and zines to fans. Touring endlessly the band built up a steady fanbase that included venues, music buyers, store owners, and authorities who didn't like the punk music scene. Other bands soon joined the label, releasing some of their best works, and getting them major label attention such as the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden and others. The label was one of the most respected labels during the 80's until the industry, and musical tastes outside and inside the label and things just started to slide.

The book is well researched and full of information and interview, some never seen before. And lots of music, some great music, some ehh music, but the love the author has for this genre, and label shows clear. Not that he has a problem pointing out the mistakes and frankly arrogance and stubbornness of creators, label owners and musicians. This is very much a warts and all telling, and gives the reader a lot to think about, in what went right, and what went wrong. My only gripe is that there are alot of names to keep track of, and some players disappear for long stretches or are gone from the book entirely. However, that is minor in something that is so comprehensive.

A intriguing read about a label that was so cool, that went downhill so fast. The "And yet" and "If only" moments are many, but that seems to be a theme to books like these. Definitely recommended for music fans and historians, if only for the complete discography of releases. Also recommended for people wanting to make their own way in the arts, if you have a dream go for it, Greg Ginn did, an well read the book and learn what you can.

The SST Records story is fascinating and important to know in order to fully understand the independent music scene of the '80s. Ruland does a great job depicting it's a rise and fall. "Corporate Rock Sucks" is a fine addition to a music fan's bookshelf, right next to Michael Azerrad's "This Band Could Be Your Life".

3.5 stars
This book provides a very comprehensive history of SST Records, an indie label that put out records by lots of bands I’d heard of but never heard ( like Black Flag, Husker Du, and Bad Brains),, bands I have both heard of and heard, like Sonic Youth, and bands that I have just never heard of. Ruland does a great job of covering lots of music over about a 40-year time span, and I discovered many records and bands that I need to learn more about. My only complaint is there was so much information I sometimes lost track of who everyone was. Still, it was a great intro to and history of a very influential indie label.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette for the ARC.

Corporate Rock Sucks is a very engaging and comprehensive story of the founding and legacy of SST records, home to a slew of legendary artists and albums that are still influencing people to this day. I still listen to and love a lot of the bands highlighted in this book, Black Flag, the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Husker Du to name a few. It was really interesting to learn of the label’s founding in the 1970’s as well as Black Flag’s inception and the various changes as far as band members and style it underwent. Greg Ginn, one of the founders brothers of Black Flag and SST, educated as an economist, helped to run the label, sign artists and toured relentlessly with Black Flag and later his own Grateful Dead inspired band, Gone. His background, work ethic and uncompromising attitude really propelled SST forward throughout the years. Author Jim Ruland writes engagingly, each of the many personalities of the bands comes through and we get the story in a clear timeline through the 1970’s to present. There was a lot in here that I didn’t know. Anyone interested in the LA punk/hardcore/alternative scene would definitely appreciate this book. As a music fan, I loved it.