Alan Betrock

10cc: 10cc

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, January 1974

I DON'T CARE if your heart rests with country twang, surf harmonies, acid riffs, folk strums, commercial muzak, or Anglophile accents. There's one thing that ...

10cc: Sheet Music

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, July 1974

ONE PROBLEM with 10cc's first album was that it hit you hard on first listening, but often failed to hold up to repeated playings. Perhaps ...

10cc: The Worst Band In The World?

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, January 1975

WHILE MANY of the veterans on the 1960s musical scene are still around, few are creating much in the way of new musical excitement. There ...

Kevin Ayers: Bananamour

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, November 1973

KEVIN AYERS has never been known for his musical steadiness. This is Kevin's fourth solo album (second U.S. release), and it continues to present him ...

Blondie: Parallel Lines (Chrysalis)

Review by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, September 1978

BLONDIE IS NOT a fun group and the age of innocence is over. True or False? I'm reviewing Side Two first because no side was ...

Marc Bolan, T. Rex: Marc Bolan: Past, Present, and Future

Interview by Alan Betrock, Rock Scene, March 1975

IT'S A WEEKDAY night in New Jersey and there's another school day to face tomorrow. Yet the Joint in the Woods is packed to the ...

Boyfriends, The: The Boyfriends: CBGB's, New York NY

Live Review by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, November 1977

THE BOYFRIENDS got it. Only they don't know it. ...

Eric Carmen: Rock's Rejuvenated Raspberry

Interview by Alan Betrock, Hit Parader, June 1976

WHEN ERIC CARMEN, Wally Bryson, Jim Bonfanti, and Dave Smalley formed the Raspberries back in 1971, their goal was to stand for something especially fresh ...

Ray Davies

Guide by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, January 1975

KINK RAY DAVIES is a well respected man when it comes to composing, and dozens of his compositions are justly regarded as classics. There really ...

Dictators, The: The Dictators: Go Girl Crazy

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, April 1975

LIVING IN NEW YORK has never been easy for the older generation, but it's even tougher for their offspring. ...

Electric Light Orchestra, Move, The, Roy Wood, Wizzard: Displaying His Favors Once More: Roy Wood's Mustard

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, December 1975

WHEN OLIVER Ulyses Adrian ('Roy') Wood joined the ranks of Birmingham's professional musicians back in 1964, few observers could have guessed that he would evolve ...

Matthew Fisher: I'll Be There

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, August 1974

ON I'LL BE THERE, Matthew Fisher proves not only to be a gifted songwriter and vocalist, but a dazzling producer as well. ...

Fleshtones, The: The Fleshtones: Max's Kansas City, New York NY

Live Review by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, November 1977

THE FLESHTONES at The Village Gate were fun (not funny), like somewhat talented High Schoolers of the past apeing the newest sounds of the Shadows, ...

Richard Hell: Hold Off

Essay by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, July 1977

2:39 Richard Hell and the Voidoids glide into take one of 'The Plan', a quirky composition, supported by subtle mood changes. At 2:43 it's finished. ...

Hudson Brothers, The: Hudson Brothers: Hollywood Situation (Casablanca)

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, November 1974

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN a sucker for groups with brothers in them. I don't know why but all those brother groups seem to have a certain ...

Jonathan King...

Profile and Interview by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, July 1973

...with Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Simon Turner, 10cc, Ricky Wilde and the UK Gang ...

Kiss: Hotter Than Hell

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, February 1975

OUT OF THE ASHES of the New York rock scene came Kiss. They have clearly been elevated (symbolically echoing the ascent their drummer makes during ...

Elliott Murphy, New York Dolls: New York Dolls/Eliott Murphy: The Academy of Music, New York

Live Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, April 1974

VALENTINE GLITTER: DOLLS & ELLIOTT MURPHY, THE SWEETHEARTS OF NEW YAWK CITY ...

Nerves, The: The Nerves

Interview by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, March 1977

NORMALCY FADES into obscurity as insurgents seek deliverance. Abruptly the backbeat returns. Then it all seems so clear. The Nerves are at one with the ...

New York Dolls: Little Hippodrome, NYC

Live Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, April 1975

AFTER EXAGGERATED reports heralding their impending demise, the New York Dolls returned in early March to the Hippodrome in mid-Manhattan. They were supposedly to sport ...

New York Dolls: The Legendary Mercer Concerts

Live Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, October 1973

THE HEADLINER was Satan the Eternal-Fire-Eater, and the place was the Mercer Arts Center. The room was the Kitchen —approximately 13' x 60' in size. ...

Pink Floyd: More Gritty, Less Giddy

Report and Interview by Alan Betrock, Circus, October 1975

IT HAS BEEN over two-and-a-half years since the release of Pink Floyd's last album, Dark Side Of The Moon, and yet the hit LP is ...

Pretty Things, The: Pretty Things: Silk Torpedo

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, January 1975

THE PRETTY THINGS are back, and this time, with a new label and expected tour, can realistically be expected to enter the American top-40 album ...

Suzi Quatro: Suzi Quatro

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, March 1974

IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE — little known American rockers going over to England to be "discovered", and returning to their homeland as superstars. The most obvious ...

Ramones, The: Know Your New York Bands: The Ramones

Interview by Alan Betrock, Soho Weekly News, May 1975

1-2-3-4! The Ramones stride on stage, plug in their guitars, and take off. The next 45 minutes are a total energy blast. ...

Raspberries, The: The Raspberries: At Carnegie Hall, September 26, 1973

Live Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, November 1973

FOR THE RASPBERRIES, this night was something special. They had been waiting almost a decade to play in New York, and this was their debut ...

Todd Rundgren: Todd: Rundgren Reviews Himself

Interview by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, March 1974

TODD WAS RECORDED mostly during July; actually July and August, 1973, and it was my usual hodgepodge approach to performance in the album. ...

Sparks: Propaganda

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, December 1974

SPARKS IS ONE of those aggregations that people seem either to be attracted to or repulsed by. For the first few months of their 'comeback', ...

Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes at the Continental Baths

Live Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, May 1974

EVER SINCE Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes folded up shop in the late sixties, the music world has been awaiting their return. But despite one ...

Ringo Starr: Ringo

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, 1973

IT's DEFINITELY worth having, that's for sure, but the main problem with Ringo is that it's uneven. The Beatles rarely, if ever, made an uneven ...

Sutherland Brothers and Quiver: Sutherland Bros & Quiver: They're Not An American Band

Interview by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, November 1973

THERE ARE numerous British groups who admire US units like the Byrds and the Band, but few, if any, have risen above the level of ...

Sweet: The Sweet: The Sweet

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, September 1973

IT'S BEEN A LONG time coming, but I think the pop revival is finally upon us. This "pop revival" has been somewhat hyped in the ...

Television (1974-1978)

Obituary by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, September 1978

SO TELEVISION has broken up and most people want to know why. ...

Steve Wright: Hard Road

Review by Alan Betrock, Phonograph Record, March 1975

SOME OF MY friends keep telling me that it's never coming back, but I'm an incurable optimist and despite the dismal last few years of ...