Andy Schwartz
Andy Schwartz was born in Manhattan (8/17/51)and raised in the New York suburbs. At age 14, in a high school gym, he attended his first "rock concert" starring doo-wop masters Eugene Pitt & the Jive Five and a local Stones clone band called the Jagged Edge. He began writing about pop music circa 1972 as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota. Shortly after returning to New York in 1977, Andy took over as publisher and editor of New York Rocker, the punk/new wave magazine founded by the late Alan Betrock (1950-2000). Under Schwartz's direction, NY Rocker published 44 issues through the end of 1982) and became the most widely-read and influential US publication of its kind. After several years as a freelance writer, publicist and artist manager, in 1989 Andy was named Director of Editorial Services for Epic Records (a division of Sony Music) and held this position until 2000. Andy also edited the program booklet of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and later served as a research consultant to the Rock Hall's Library & Archive project. A contributor to several books and national publications, Andy Schwartz is available for all manner of writing, editing, and research projects, not limited to popular music.
List of articles in the library by artist
Profile and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, April 1979
ARE THE B-52s now America's most popular unsigned "new wave" band? Not on the West Coast perhaps, where the group has yet to tour and ...
Stiv Bators, Dead Boys, The: The Resurrection of Stiv Bators
Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1979
STIV BATORS is just about the easiest interviewee I've ever met. Just push "Record" and he'll talk for hours about anything that might make good ...
Blondie: The Chick Side of Blondie
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, June 1981
...AND SO IT came to pass, in the first months of 1981, that the white rock and roll band called Blondie appeared in the Top ...
Captain Beefheart: If It Weren't For Bad Luck
Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, January 1981
NEW YORK – Did ever a man suffer such unrelenting abuse, incomprehension, and just plain bad luck at the hands of the American record industry ...
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, July 1979
AFTER THE FIRST 500,000 albums, you kind of stop rooting for a band. It's a familiar feeling of having discovered something ahead of the pack, ...
Alex Chilton, Cramps, The, Tav Falco's Panther Burns: The Cramps' Big Break
Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1979
"Give Me Memphis, Tennessee..." ...
Elvis Costello: Armed and Dangerous: The Rise of Elvis Costello
Profile by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1979
Oh, I just don't know where to begin... ...
Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, May 1980
THE DILS, ONE of California's premier new wave bands, have broken up for keeps after three years together. ...
Echo & The Bunnymen: Echo and the Bunnymen/Insect Surfers: The Blitz, West Hempstead, NY
Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, June 1981
THE TIME: DAWN, a few weeks after the police raid on and the closing of Danceteria. The Place: The entrance to the Queens Midtown Tunnel, ...
Flamin' Groovies, The: The Return of the Flamin' Groovies
Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1978
IT ALL BEGAN on a slow summer afternoon with a frantic phone call from Miriam Linna. The Flamin' Groovies (or someone speaking for them, perhaps ...
Gang War, Richard Lloyd: Heat, New York NY
Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1980
WITH HIS bluish pallor and chopped fringe of hair, Wayne Kramer looks like an ex-con. But in his best moments with Gang War, he plays ...
Idols, The, Heartbreakers, The, New York Dolls: The Jerry Nolan Story!!
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, July 1978
JERRY NOLAN is 32 years old. He has been in the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers. He has made three albums which did not ...
Pretenders, The: Think Fast! It's The Pretenders!
Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, June 1980
DUSK. THE rain falls in a thick gray curtain for as far ahead as we can see through the windshield of the battered compact, crawling ...
Prince: A Dirty Mind Comes Clean
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, June 1981
WHO IS THE REAL Prince, anyway? The flashy, high-energy black pop star with the Stratocaster wearing Iggy Pop's underwear? Or the pleasant, soft-spoken fellow who ...
Public Image Ltd: Lydon In New York: The Image Goes Public
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, May 1980
IT IS TWO O'CLOCK in the afternoon, and John Lydon has just popped his third or fourth Heineken of the day. ...
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1980
CAN A NEW York City-bred rock poetess find happiness in her new life as a Detroit housewife? If the poetess in question is Patti Smith, ...
Patti Smith: The Patti Smith Group
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, June 1979
A WAS LOST. He pulled the Toyota over to the curb, parked, and flicked on the overhead light to check his road map. Should he ...
Specials, The: Live In NYC: The Specials
Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, March 1980
IF THE REACTION of the New York rock press is any indication (and it usually isn't), the Specials are going to be Very Big In ...
Ronnie Spector, Ronettes, The: Ronnie Spector: The Last of the Rock Stars
Press Release by Andy Schwartz, press release for High Coin Records, 2006
ONLY A FEW ARTISTS in history have been capable of defining an entire era in pop music. Ronnie Spector is one of those artists: the ...
Sleevenotes by Andy Schwartz, Private Music/RCA, 2003
NOTE: I was surprised and very saddened to learn that the great soul singer Howard Tate had died 12.2.11 at age 72, reportedly from complications ...
James Blood Ulmer: Blood in the Grooves
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1981
1. A LOT OF different people are going to like Free-Lancing, the new album by James Blood Ulmer. ...
Undertones, The, Sam & Dave, Clash, The: The Clash/Undertones/Sam & Dave: The Palladium, NYC
Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, November 1979
THIS REVIEW is being turned in weeks late, and I know why. After all these years and all these bands, all the disappointing second albums ...
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1980
EN ROUTE to London, X stopped over in New York in June for a round of interviews and two live performances, at the '80s and ...
List of genre pieces
Obituary by Andy Schwartz, Village Voice, April 2001
Alan Betrock was the passionate fanatic who founded the groundbreaking New York Rocker. Andy Schwartz, who succeeded him as the magazine’s publisher and editor, here ...
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