Pretty Pictures: Late 80′s Metal Scene

Left, the book cover for Arcadia, and right, the book poster. Hairspray was an essential beauty product to achieve those hairdos…

My friend Mandana Towhidy has just written an awesome novel about being a teenager and hanging out in the Hollywood metal scene in the late 80′s and early 90′s. These girls had a lot more fun than I remember having during highschool, drunken rock parties in the middle of the day, getting stoned in the parking lot, and fooling around with cute rocker boys. I’m totally recommending Arcadia (from maybeparade) as a summer book, it is fun, light, and an easy read (full disclosure: I haven’t read the whole thing, but I am three quarters of the way through and I highly doubt the ending will be totally shite.) Plus, there’s an accompanying “soundtrack” you can get online so you can read while listening to the awesome tunes of those glam metal years (or make it a soundtrack to your next party.)

Guns’n'Roses: I know Axl Rose is a total douche these days, but he was SUCH a babe back in the day.

Anyway, to get you in the mood, I asked Mandana to assemble some images from the era. And yeah, this really makes me wish I was a teen in the late 80′s, growing up in LA. Being a teen growing up during the grunge era in Vancouver just doesn’t have the same…glamour. Know what I mean?

Best. Hair. Ever.

A Ratt poster: don’t ever let anyone tell you not to date a guy with longer hair and more eye makeup than you. It’s totally ok.

I think if I’d gone to high school in LA in the late 80′s, I would have been doing this in the parking lot at lunch.

Van Halen: It’s also ok to date a guy who wear jeans a size smaller than you.

Buy Arcadia here if you are in Canada, or here if you are in the US. The book’s website is moreisallyouneed.com and there’s a tumblr site, too.