Michael Goldberg | |
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Born | Oakland, California, U.S. | July 3, 1953
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Tamalpais High School University of California, Santa Cruz |
Michael Goldberg (born July 3, 1953) is an American novelist, journalist, animal rights activist, and pioneering digital music entrepreneur. He is known for his work (1983-1993) at Rolling Stone , where he was first a senior writer and later West Coast editor, and for envisioning and co-founding the first web music magazine, Addicted to Noise , in 1994, for which Newsweek included him in its 1995 "Net 50" list of "the 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet". [1] Between 2014 and the fall of 2016 he published the Freak Scene Dream trilogy of 1970s coming-of-age novels (True Love Scars, [2] The Flowers Lied, [3] and Untitled [4] ), and worked actively in animal rights causes. His nonfiction book, Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey [5] (HoZac Books), was published in June of 2022.
Born in Oakland, California, Goldberg grew up across the San Francisco Bay in Marin County. He started writing short stories in elementary school, but seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show turned him into an obsessive rock 'n' roll fan—as he later recalled, "It was like being hit by lightning or something." [6] In 1967, while still in middle school, he launched a psychedelic poster business with a friend and photographed Jim Morrison [7] and Ray Manzarek [8] of the Doors and other artists at the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais. That same year he bought the first issue of Rolling Stone and decided to become a music journalist.
As a student at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, Goldberg pursued both journalism and entrepreneurial ventures, serving as the school newspaper's arts editor, writing a music column, organizing a light show troupe, and promoting dance concerts, convincing then-guitar god Mike Bloomfield to perform at a school dance. Inspired by Rolling Stone, he and a friend published a rock magazine, Hard Road, interviewing Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, who lived nearby; Goldberg photographed Garcia for the cover. [9] Some of these experiences were the foundation for events in his first novel, True Love Scars.
During his undergraduate years at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Goldberg wrote for the local underground paper, Sundaz!, interviewing The Realist magazine’s founder/editor, Paul Krassner, for a cover story. [10]
Working as a copy person at the San Francisco Chronicle after graduation, he broke into professional journalism with a feature story, co-written with his wife, Leslie Goldberg, on New Orleans band The Meters, published in Francis Ford Coppola’s magazine, City of San Francisco. He went on to contribute numerous articles to entertainment magazine Sunday Datebook on artists including Sly Stone, Stevie Nicks, the Clash, The B-52's, Muddy Waters, and Flipper; he photographed and interviewed legendary film director Nicholas Ray [11] for the San Francisco Bay Guardian .
From 1975 until the end of 1983, Goldberg developed his writing and reporting skills, getting published in magazines including Esquire, downbeat, Creem, Musician, New West, New Musical Express and more. [12] "For those nine years my focus was to become a staff writer at Rolling Stone—that was my goal," he said, [10] and during the last two of those years his freelance articles began to appear in the magazine. Hired at the end of 1983, he spent a decade at Rolling Stone as West Coast music editor and senior writer.
He wrote three Michael Jackson cover stories, [13] [14] [15] as well as numerous other cover stories including Live Aid, [16] Stevie Wonder, [17] Boy George, [18] and James Brown. [19] He also wrote investigative pieces on music and the mob, the death of Dennis Wilson, [20] the troubles of Brian Wilson [21] and profiles of many artists including Robbie Robertson, [22] Chris Isaak, [23] and the first in-depth interview with Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. [24]
During his time at Rolling Stone, Goldberg and writer Michael Snyder put together the Flamin' Groovies album Groovies' Greatest Grooves , for which they selected the tracks and wrote the liner notes. Goldberg also co-founded National Records, which released Rock Juice, [25] the Flamin' Groovies' first album of new material in 13 years, in 1992.
In late 1993, after leaving Rolling Stone, Goldberg came up with the idea of an online music magazine. After trying unsuccessfully to interest established media companies in his business plan, and with just $5,000 in the bank, he partnered with programmer Jon Luini to launch Addicted to Noise (ATN). ATN, which went live December 1, 1994, was the first online magazine to include audio samples alongside new album reviews. ATN's daily "Music News of the World" quickly became a source of music news used by MTV, numerous radio stations throughout the world, and many print publications including the NME and Melody Maker. [12]
In 1997, Addicted To Noise was acquired by Paradigm Music Entertainment (and merged with SonicNet, another music website), which in turn was acquired by TCI Music. In 1999, Viacom acquired TCI Music and folded it into MTV's online operation, MTVi. Goldberg became a senior vice president at SonicNet, also Editor in Chief of both SonicNet and Addicted to Noise.
Goldberg left MTVi in 2000. A year later he co-founded (with the artist/designer Emme Stone) the indie music and art website, Neumu. Newsweek called the site "an artsy oasis of music reviews, gallery exhibits and culture commentary." [26] Goldberg was also a consultant at ARTISTdirect, [27] MuchMusic and MOG. [28]
In 2008 Goldberg began writing what became the Freak Scene Dream Trilogy, a trio of novels set in the 1960s and early 1970s, viewed by narrator "Writerman" through the lenses of music, film, literature and visual art. Rolling Stone wrote of first installment True Love Scars (2014), [29] "If Lester Bangs had ever published a novel, it might have read something like this frothing debut." [30] Kerouac biographer Dennis McNally called Goldberg "Kerouac in the 21st century." [31] The book made four of that year's best-of lists. [32] [33] [34] [35] Second installment The Flowers Lied [36] was published in 2016; Untitled [37] appeared in 2017.
Reading excerpts from the novels, Goldberg collaborated with the Grammy Award-winning experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser for two live "Post-Beat Happening" performances: one [38] at Down Home Music [39] in El Cerrito, California, in 2014; one [40] at The Octopus Literary Salon [41] in Oakland in May 2016.
Goldberg’s essay “Bob Dylan’s Beat Visions (Sonic Poetry)” was included in a collection of essays, Kerouac On Record: A Literary Soundtrack, [42] published in 2018. Both London's Times Literary Supplement (TLS) and Mojo singled out the essay as a highlight of the book. TLS: "Among the most successful chapters is 'Bob Dylan's Beat Visions' by Michael Goldberg which details specific borrowings on mid-1960s albums such as Bringing It All Back Home." [43] Mojo: “Among the strongest in a strong lot are Michael Goldberg’s examination of Dylan’s lit roots and Kerouac’s own musicological piece — ‘The Beginning Of Bop’ – that attempts to capture jazz in words – and succeeds.” [42]
In May 2018, Goldberg collaborated with guitarist/singer Johnny Harper for a performance, "The Dylan-Kerouac Connection", [44] at The Art House Gallery and Cultural Center, in which Goldberg read from "Bob Dylan's Beat Visions (Sonic Poetry)" and Harper played the Dylan songs referenced in Goldberg's essay. In early July 2018, Goldberg read from his essay at an event celebrating the publication of "Kerouac On Record: A Literary Soundtrack” at the legendary literary center, Beyond Baroque, in Venice, CA. [45] Goldberg also read from the essay at the Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland in September 2018 [46] and at the Beat Museum in San Francisco in November 2018. [47]
His book Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey (HoZac Books) [5] was published in June 2022. Reviewing the book for Pop Matters, poet Marc Zegans wrote: "Goldberg’s meticulously researched biography delivers a deep-hearted and poignant account of the rare and extraordinary creative talent who—following his legendary entry into the music scene as bass player for San Francisco's primeval punk band, the Avengers—crafted the incomparable yearning two-note opening to Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game.'" In the June 2022 "Bentley's Bandstand" column at his "Americana Highways website, Bill Bentley wrote: "This is the rock & roll book to read this year. It is a thrilling, heart-breaking, mind-blowing, cautionary and in the end passionate tale of how a guitarist of infinite ability and absolutely addictive tendencies attains the highest success on the rock & roll merry-go-round, only to flame out in a desperate tale of heroin, homelessness and, in the end, suicidal escapades that killed him. …" Rolling Stone online published an excerpt from the book, "Jimmy Wilsey’s Guitar Helped Make Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game' a Smash. But Wilsey Was Never the Same After," in late May 2022.
In November 2022, Addicted To Noise: The Music Writings of Michael Goldberg (November 1, BackBeat Books), with a foreword by Greil Marcus, was published.
In 2009, Goldberg became a vegan and an animal rights activist. From 2015 until 2018 he was a lead researcher for the international animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere [48] [49] and wrote about animal rights issues for the online magazine, The Daily Pitchfork. [50] [51] [52] He participated in dozens of disruptions of Whole Foods stores and various restaurants, and was part of an action at Stanford Law School in February 2016 confronting Whole Foods co-CEO John Mackey. [53] He took a hiatus from DxE beginning in 2021.
Goldberg is married to journalist Leslie Goldberg, [54] who is also an artist with a master's degree in interdisciplinary art. Their son, Joe Goldberg, is general manager of Zeitgeist Artist Management [55] and works with Death Cab for Cutie, She and Him, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, the Postal Service and the New Pornographers. The couple have two grandchildren [56] and two dogs. [57]
"Love and Theft" is the thirty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 11, 2001, by Columbia Records. It featured backing by his touring band of the time, with keyboardist Augie Meyers added for the sessions. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. A limited edition release included two bonus tracks on a separate disc recorded in the early 1960s, and two years later, on September 16, 2003, this album was remixed into 5.1 surround sound and became one of 15 Dylan titles reissued and remastered for SACD playback.
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album Bringing It All Back Home (1965), using rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album in a further departure from his primarily acoustic folk sound, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural climate of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.
Christopher Joseph Isaak is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. Noted for his reverb-laden rockabilly revivalist style and wide vocal range, he is popularly known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game"; as well as international hits such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing", and "Somebody's Crying".
Silvertone is the debut album by American musician Chris Isaak, released in 1985. It was named after the band that Isaak co-founded and led, though only guitarist James Calvin Wilsey is credited on the album. The album sold poorly in the US but became a minor hit in Australia, peaking at #77 in June 1986.
Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records as LP record, reel-to-reel tape and audio cassette.
Michael Bernard Bloomfield was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
James Calvin Wilsey was an American musician. He played bass with San Francisco punk band the Avengers, but became better known as the lead guitarist for Chris Isaak's band Silvertone. He featured on Isaak's albums Silvertone,Chris Isaak,Heart Shaped World, and San Francisco Days, and is widely remembered for his distinctive guitar tone and technique, being dubbed the "King of Slow" by fans. After leaving Isaak's band, Wilsey pursued various solo projects while struggling with drug addiction and, toward the end of his life, periods of homelessness. He died from multiple organ failure related to hepatitis and drug use.
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It is the first track on the album Bringing It All Back Home, released some two weeks later. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. The song has subsequently been reissued on numerous compilations, the first being the 1967 singles compilation Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. One of Dylan's first electric recordings, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is also notable for its innovative music video, which first appeared in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary Dont Look Back. An acoustic version of the song, recorded the day before the single, was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991.
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.
The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–76 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who was a major recording artist and concert performer, to play in smaller auditoriums in less populated cities where he could be more intimate with his audiences.
"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Several critics have acclaimed "Visions of Johanna" as one of Dylan's highest achievements in writing, praising the allusiveness and subtlety of the language. Rolling Stone included "Visions of Johanna" on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, listed it as the greatest song lyric ever written.
San Francisco Days is the fourth album by Chris Isaak, released in 1993. The album's sound was more upbeat than that of its predecessor, the darker Heart Shaped World, and Isaak's breakthrough hit "Wicked Game". It did not perform as well as Heart Shaped World, but was certified gold by the RIAA while several of its tracks became longtime staples of Isaak's live set. Later in 1993, the song "Two Hearts" was featured in the film True Romance and on its soundtrack.
Man-Made is the eighth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 9 May 2005. It was released on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America.
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. Often considered to be one of the greatest songwriters, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. He rose to prominence in the 1960s, when songs such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. Initially modeling his style on Woody Guthrie's folk songs, Robert Johnson's blues and what he called the "architectural forms" of Hank Williams's country songs, Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry". His lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.
The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's ongoing touring schedule which began on June 7, 1988. Musicians have come and gone over the years. The tour amassed a huge fan base with some fans traveling from around the world to attend as many Dylan shows as possible.
Addicted to Noise (ATN) was an American online music magazine in the early days of the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 by ex-Rolling Stone associate editor and senior writer Michael Goldberg and online music pioneer Jon Luini, it published its first issue on December 1, 1994 and was the first online magazine to include audio samples alongside new album reviews. It published its final issue on July 3, 2000.
Chronicles: Volume One is a memoir written by American musician Bob Dylan. The book was published on October 5, 2004, by Simon & Schuster.
Queen Kwong is an American indie rock band founded in Los Angeles, California. The band was founded by multi-instrumentalist Carré Kwong Callaway, the band's sole singer and songwriter who was discovered at age 17 by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.
Neumu is a music website that features news, reviews, columns and downloads. The website was founded by Emme Stone and Michael Goldberg, who currently serves as the Editor in Chief. The site's album reviews are excerpted by Metacritic and used as part of that site's average album score from professional reviews.
"Jokerman" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the opening track of his 1983 album Infidels. Recorded on April 14, 1983, it was released as a single on June 1, 1984, featuring a live version of "Isis" from the film Renaldo and Clara as its B-side.