35 years ago today (August 2nd, 1986), Cinderella released their debut, Night Songs. During an interview with photographer Mark Weiss’ The Decade That Rocked, singer Tom Keifer recalls the photo shoot for the album cover (yup, that’s "WeissGuy" in the photo above!):

“This really cool photographer that we met called what's his name again? Mark Weiss. That's right, one of my very best buddies and he shot he shot the cover for Night Songs for us and it was a shot in the historic district of Philadelphia, which is where we were from and I believe that structure we were standing in was called Head House Square. But the most interesting thing that I remember about that shoot was the album was called night songs and Mark scheduled to shoot for daytime. And I kept saying to him that's not gonna look right . He said ‘I shoot day for night’ and I don't know what the fuck that meant? And I just trusted him because I kind of liked this guy right off the bat I thought he was a straight up cat and sure enough, when we got the pictures back it looked like it was night-time. So Mark Weiss is a fucking genius.” 

 

Growing up in Matawan, New Jersey, Mark Weiss filled his teenage nights sneaking into concerts to shoot the biggest acts of the ’70s. After being arrested for selling photographs outside a KISS concert in 1977, he walked into the offices of Circus with his portfolio and soon landed his first centerfold spread—a photo of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. Soon after, he became the publication’s staff photographer. Throughout the ’80s, his photos were seen by millions, appearing in countless magazines around the world and on the covers of the most iconic albums of the decade.

Dig into Mark’s archives and take a tour through never-before-seen photos of a teenage Jon Bon Jovi, and behind-the-scenes and unreleased images from the album shoot for Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and the band’s decade-ending historic performance at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Travel to Washington, DC, as Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider sits before Congress to combat censorship at the infamous PMRC hearings.

Captured from the unique vantage point of a photographer who lived and breathed the ’80s in all its grit and glory, The Decade That Rocked brings to life the no-holds-barred sounds and sights that changed the world of hard rock and metal forever.

Order your copy now via Amazon.com or TheDecadeThatRocked.com.