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 clichés and tropes.
-- John Lay, former co-manager Squeeze, Jools Holland, former manager, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, The Greenberry Woods

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

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.
-- Francis Macdonald, drummer, BMX Bandits, Teenage Fanclub

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

It's a big deal, for sure.
-- Robert Singerman, former manager, The Fleshtones, The Smithereens, Gipsy Kings, former agent, R.E.M., Violent Femmes

From 1980 to around 2000, Dean Brownrout had an uncanny habit of finding himself at the forefront of cultural shifts—from the emergence of new wave and thrash metal music to the dawn of the commercial internet. No Big Deal is a very humorous and nostalgic journey through a seminal time in the music industry, told in a style reminiscent of Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. Its unfiltered view into this transforming era includes a glimpse at America’s technological influence and culture. And, of course, no show business memoir is complete without appearances by The Rolling Stones, Grace Jones, Bob Dylan, the Beastie Boys, models, actors, and countless other fringe characters and luminaries.

Dean Brownrout was born in the early ’60s and raised in the Buffalo, NY area. By the time he was a teenager, with the entrepreneurial bent instilled in him by family, he was promoting rock concerts and managing local bands. It was the era of the burgeoning “new wave” music movement.

At 21, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in the music business. As a talent agent, he booked a pre-major-label Metallica into New York’s Roseland Ballroom for a seminal 1984 show; it led to their signing to Elektra Records.

His experience with the punk, hardcore, and metal genres motivated him to found Mercenary Records in the late 1980s. He signed the now multi-platinum Goo Goo Dolls to their first recording agreement, and released their debut album. In 1993, after a stint managing the US operation of German-based heavy metal label, Noise Records, Brownrout cofounded Big Deal, an independent record company, running it out of his Greenwich Village living room. The label, which specialized in power pop, was much more to his personal musical taste. In 1996, he sold Big Deal to an early internet startup. Brownrout continued to run Big Deal as it expanded; it eventually had a dozen employees and released hundreds of recordings worldwide. The combined business was purchased by cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. and then AT&T; he left the company in 1999.

In 2002, Brownrout moved back to Buffalo. He became an art dealer specializing in historically important art of the area. He represents the photographic estate of avant-garde film pioneer Hollis Frampton, and works with galleries and museums around the world. He lives with his wife in Buffalo’s Elmwood Village.