No Big Deal is Dean Brownrout’s tragicomic recollection of his 25 years in the music industry, as LPs were morphing into CDs, and the internet loomed. Starting out as an enterprising teenager in Buffalo, NY in the late 1970s, Brownrout rode the music business on punk, new wave, and metal, until finding himself and founding the independent record label, Big Deal.
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I found "No Big Deal" addicting. As Dean documents his rise through the music business, he provides a rare look behind the curtain. What’s revealed is not always pretty; you're there for the ups and downs, the triumphs and heartbreaks. The story is strewn with colorful characters—it’s a fascinating and insightful ride from the indie ’80s to the bloated ’90s, and the eventual crumbling of the record business, as the digital age creeps in.
Michael Shelley, WFMU DJ and former Big Deal recording artist
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A great read! I found the book interesting—and full of Dean’s sly wit. While Dean and I traveled separate paths until meeting in the ’90s, I can relate to a lot of it. "No Big Deal" touches on familiar themes; the New York stuff is particularly evocative. The book made me smile, and also brought back the rollercoaster of emotions from the end of my own music business career. It’s both an honest, unvarnished portrayal of the independent record business at the end of the 20th century, and a well-told personal tale that manages to steer away from showbiz cliches and tropes.
John Lay, former co-manager Squeeze, Jools Holland, former manager, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, The Greenberry Woods
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Who remembers, who forgets, who writes it down, and in which way? Reading Dean's memoir offers a glimpse, a reflection, a brains' eye view, a perspective, a well-written and engaging story in the line leading to where we find ourselves now. It’s a pandemic-fueled inner vision of someone who was there back then, who contributed and was in the mix of the NY and global music scene, who had taste and know-how. It's a Big Deal, for sure.
Robert Singerman, former manager, The Fleshtones, The Smithereens, Gipsy Kings, former agent, R.E.M., Violent Femmes
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An entertainingly fond memoir, Dean’s story doubles as a cautionary tale about the “business” side of the music business. It made me nostalgic for the pre-internet record industry: CDs, brick-and-mortar record stores, and BMX Bandits’ first US tour.
Francis Macdonald, drummer, BMX Bandits, Teenage Fanclub
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Brownrout reflects on his former career with subtle pathos, a deeply moving sense of nostalgia, and a razor sharp, deadpan wit.
Jeff Miers, Buffalo Spree, former music critic Buffalo News
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The book is a thoroughly enjoyable, great read, impossible to put down. It's quite witty, and funny, too. Zipping through the book, you'll be too busy gulping down the juicy anecdotes to stop and take stock of the author's natural storytelling gifts.
Alan Lord, author of High Friends in Low Places
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The author's discussion of the heavy metal music scene is among the highlights of this exceedingly intelligent book, written by a thoughtful "student of music business history."
Kirkus Reviews
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I’ve known Dean Brownrout, the art dealer, for over 15 years. Until now, he’s been so tight-lipped about his experiences in the music business you’d think he was in witness protection. I had no idea. None. "No Big Deal" is a fascinating, laugh-out-loud funny, nostalgic, and sometimes tragic account of unbridled ambition (not only his!) and an industry in flux.
Janz Castelo de Armas, founder and artistic director Buffalo Chamber Players and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra violist
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Brownrout lays it all out, often with self-deprecating humor but never shying away from ugly details ... when he's talking about bands or records or the music he loved, it's a hard book to put down.
Jim Testa, Jersey Beat
NO BIG DEAL
CHASING THE INDIE MUSIC DREAM IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE RECORD BUSINESS
BY DEAN BROWNROUT
Foreword by ira robbins
(Guernica EDITiONS, FALL 2024)
Leaving Buffalo, NY in 1983 for New York City, 21-year-old Dean Brownrout was determined to continue the music-business career he had begun as an enterprising teenage concert promoter. Over the next two decades, he progressed from road manager and agent to forming (and losing) his own record labels.
Charting his adventures, No Big Deal is told in an unfiltered and demystifying style reminiscent of Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. Its bird’s-eye view into this transformational era includes a glimpse of America’s technological influence and culture. And, of course, no show business memoir is complete without appearances by the Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Metallica, models, actors, and countless other fringe characters and luminaries.
No Big Deal is a humorous and nostalgic journey through this seminal time in the music industry.
About DEAN
Dean Brownrout is a former music business entrepreneur who had an uncanny habit of finding himself at the forefront of cultural shifts—from the emergence of new wave and thrash metal to the dawn of the commercial internet. He is currently an art dealer working with galleries and museums around the world.
Photo by Lianna Hogan