Shoutout to my WordPress friend deKe for convincing me to buy this book, thanks to his review!
The Decade That Rocked: The Photography of Mark “Weissguy” Weiss (2020) was written by Richard Bienstock. It includes a foreword by Rob Halford, an afterword by Eddie Trunk, and contributions from Daniel Siwek. This book takes readers on a journey back in time when Bon Jovi were at their commercial peak, glam metal was trending, drugs were everywhere, and everyone’s hair was freaking huge. The main focus of this book is to let the pictures do the talking and boy, are the pictures worth checking out!
The Decade That Rocked mainly focuses on the ‘80s, but it also dives into the ‘70s, explaining how Weiss started his photography career. Back in 1973, 13-year-old Weiss started a lawn-mowing business to make some cash. Then, on a fateful day, he made a deal with one of his neighbors. If Weiss mowed his neighbor’s lawn for the entire summer, he’d give Weiss a 35mm camera.
Shortly after receiving the camera, he asked one of his teachers to give him a crash course on developing film and printing photos. The school he attended had a darkroom, so he’d print and develop photos there, before eventually creating his own darkroom at home. Weiss started losing interest in photography when he began high school. But, that changed when he and his brother went to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, 1974. Inspired by a family friend, who was going to take photos of the band, Weiss decided to be a rock photographer.
From there, it was all trial and error. There’s a really great story about how Weiss got arrested for selling photos of Kiss outside the concert venue. Early in his photography journey, he took photos of Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Peter Frampton, The Rolling Stones, you name it! Eventually, Weiss put together an impressive portfolio and showed it to Circus magazine. They liked what they saw and remained in touch. His first photo in Circus magazine was of Bruce Springstreen, during the Darkness on the Edge of Town era.
Weiss worked his way up in the entertainment industry and quickly made a name for himself. People were hiring him on the spot to capture legendary moments in rock ‘n’ roll history. A few examples include the US Festival in 1983, the Live Aid concert in 1985, the Monsters of Rock tour in 1988, and the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. Weiss was also responsible for some pretty well-known album covers such as Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry (1984), Dokken’s Under Lock and Key (1985), and Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet (1986). He even played a part in getting Sebastian Bach to join Skid Row.
Weiss took photos of many big names in the rock scene. He had a particular style and came up with ideas that best suited the artists he worked with. Remember those photos of Ozzy Osbourne in a pink tutu and red boots? That was all Mark Weiss!
Because this book captures moments from the early ‘70s to the early ‘90s, readers get a glimpse of how things have changed throughout the years. When Led Zeppelin was still around, it was all about the simple black and white photos. By the mid ‘80s, however, almost everyone wore makeup, had teased hair, and very colorful clothes.
If this photo doesn’t capture what the ’80s were like, then I don’t know what will!
The Decade That Rocked not only captures ‘80s rock ‘n’ roll in a nutshell, but it also shows what can happen if you work hard to accomplish your dreams. When Weiss first started his photography journey, he had to hide his camera and sneak up front to get decent shots of the band. He had to earn credentials to be in the pit with the other established photographers.
As for the negatives, I don’t really have anything. I will say, though, this book is very short, which surprised me. It’s about 376 pages long, but most of them are filled with pictures. Because there aren’t many words to digest, I finished the book in two days. It all happened so quickly and I’m not sure whether I like that or hate that. However, The Decade That Rocked does accomplish its goal of letting the pictures do the talking, so I’ll give it a rating of 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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Take care and see ya real soon!
Lana
Lana Teramae | Me, Myself and Time 
Great writeup Lana. Awesome you got this book. I had a ton of pics taken by Weiss hanging on my bedroom wall. Now I have them all plus more in a book now. One stop shopping lol
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Thanks so much, Deke! That’s awesome you had so many of Mark’s photos hanging on your wall growing up. You lived through good times, my friend!
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It’s cool to see books from people who were behind the scenes. It’s a different perspective
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Yeah totally, especially since some people are very different off-camera. What you see in the spotlight is quite contrasting from what it’s like behind the scenes.
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