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Andy Schwartz

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.

Andy on the RBP podcast

47 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Eddie & The Hot Rods, Mink DeVille: Mink DeVille: Loeb Student Center, NYC/Eddie & the Hot Rods: Capitol, New Jersey

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1977

DOES ANYBODY out there remember John Hammond? He was born the son of a Very Big Man in the record business but it has never ...

The Idols, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: 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 ...

Patti Smith Group: Central Park, New York NY

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1978

SHE MAY be a fool, but she's our fool. ("You mean your fool," said one friend.) ...

The Flamin' Groovies: 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 ...

The Fleshtones: The "American Sound" of the Fleshtones

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, November 1978

WHAT'S SO cool about the Fleshtones? Nothing. That's what's so cool about the Fleshtones. They could be anybody. They are anybody: the boys next door or the ...

Blondie, Moon Martin: My Father's Place, New York NY

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, January 1979

STANDING MAYBE 5'7" high, blond hair surrounding a Paul Kantner-shaped face framed by a pair of oversized red-plastic-framed glasses, John "Moon" Martin is about the ...

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels: Mitch Ryder: Mitch's Back!

Profile by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, January 1979

...and Andy Takes a Ride ...

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... ...

Wreckless Eric

Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1979

ANY OVERVIEW OF THE current Stiff Records roster must sometimes feel like a long look into a funhouse mirror. There's Lene Lovitch, the ersatz Eurovision ...

The B-52s: Update: The B-52s

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 ...

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 ...

Iron City Houserockers: Parkway Tavern, Pittsburgh

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, July 1979

HUH? ...

The Cars: Benevolent Brain Behind the Cars

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, The Cramps, Tav Falco's Panther Burns: The Cramps' Big Break

Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1979

"Give Me Memphis, Tennessee..." ...

The Dead Boys, Stiv Bators: 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 ...

The Clash, Sam & Dave, The Undertones: 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 ...

Richard Lloyd: Alchemy (Elektra)

Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, December 1979

SO YOU thought Television was one of the great American bands, and you sighed when they split up last year. But you were pleasantly surprised ...

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 ...

The Specials: 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 ...

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. ...

The Dils Disband

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. ...

The Specials: Scam & Scandal In The Family

Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, May 1980

IN THE LAST issue of NY Rocker (#27/March '80), we printed an "Emergency Editorial" decrying the $10.00 price of tickets to the Specials' show presented on March ...

The Pretenders: 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 ...

X in New York

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 ...

Patti Smith

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, ...

James Chance & the Contortions: Sons and Daughters of No New York — James Chance & the Contortions: Live Aux Bains Douches (Invisible Records)

Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1980

LAST MAY, James Chance left New York for Paris, France — and he hasn't returned yet. The feisty funk merchant was accompanied by guitarist Patrick ...

Bush Tetras: Sons and Daughters of No New York: Bush Tetras

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1980

PAT PLACE: Guitar. Age 26. Born and raised in Chicago. Arrived in New York in 1975. "I was a visual art student... I came here ...

8-Eyed Spy, James Chance & the Contortions, The Raybeats: Eight Eyed Spy: George Scott (1953-1980)

Obituary by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 8 October 1980

ON AUGUST 6, N.Y. Rocker received the following press release from Bob Singerman, the booking agent and acting manager of Eight Eyed Spy: ...

8-Eyed Spy: Sons and Daughters of No New York: Eight Eyed Spy

Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 8 October 1980

THE DEATH of George Scott seems almost certain to precipitate the breakup of Eight Eyed Spy. Scott wasn't just a highly individual, perhaps irreplaceable instrumentalist; ...

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 ...

The Slits: Irving Plaza, New York NY

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, February 1981

AM I THE only man in the house tonight with the sudden and irrepressible urge to take Ari Up over my knee and give her ...

The Feelies: Irving Plaza, New York NY

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, March 1981

THE FEELIES are in trouble. The Feelies are troubled. They have gained an audience (this show was as well-attended as any Irving plaza gig by ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Junie Morrison: The Junie Vibe

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, July 1981

WALTER "JUNIE" Morrison sinks wearily into an armchair in his hotel suite. Not until 3 o'clock this morning did he leave the stage of the ...

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. ...

Marshall Crenshaw: Someday... Someway... You'll... meet... Marshall Crenshaw

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1981

EVERY NOW and then, some group, performer or recording of special merit floats up from the steady stream of unremarkable independent or "underground" music which ...

Sonic Youth: The State of New York

Overview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, November 1981

TO ANYONE who's been reading this magazine even semi-regularly for the past year, it should be obvious that there's something very wrong with the current ...

Delta 5, Orange Juice, Pigbag, The Raincoats, Scritti Politti, David Thomas, Robert Wyatt: Adam Kidron: The Man Behind the Mix

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, December 1981

Making Tracks with Adam Kidron, London's 21-Year-Old Production Prodigy ...

R.E.M.

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, January 1982

IT'S HAPPENED again. ...

Dr. John (1994)

Interview by Andy Schwartz, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 April 1994

The erstwhile Night Tripper on writing his autobiography Under a Hoodoo Moon; on the New Orleans music business — the rip-offs, lousy studios, useless Musician's Union, Jim Garrison; on his new album Television; on drugs and recovery; on moving to New York City; on the modern recording scene (and being sampled by Beck); on his early involvement in N.Y. hip hop... and how he started out just playing for fun.

File format: mp3; file size: 72.1mb, interview length: 1h 15' 03" sound quality: ****

Remembering Alan Betrock

Obituary by Andy Schwartz, The Village Voice, 7 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 ...

Howard Tate: Rediscovered

Sleeve notes 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 ...

The Ronettes, Ronnie Spector: 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 ...

Swamp Dogg and the Revelations: City Winery, NYC

Live Review by Andy Schwartz, Rock's Backpages, 4 June 2010

IT WAS EARLY May, the gig was two weeks away, and things weren't looking good for the star of the show, Jerry Williams Jr. a/k/a ...

Harlem Knight: Bobby Robinson's Last Rites

Obituary by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 23 March 2011

BOBBY ROBINSON, who died January 7, 2011, was one of the unsung pioneers of the 20th century American record industry. ...

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