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Fred Goodman

Fred Goodman

Fred Goodman (portrait by Lousnak Abdalian) has been covering the music and entertainment industry since the year 5 B.C.D. (Before the Compact Disc). His books include The Mansion on the Hill, a New York Times notable book and winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Award for the Best Music Book, as well as several biographies, including the infamous music manger Allen Klein and the global music diva Lhasa de Sela.

Goodman’s book on Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s purchase of the Warner Music Group during the age of Napster, Fortune's Fool, was listed by the Financial Times for its Business Book of the Year. His most recent book, published in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies, is Rock On Film: The Movies that Rocked the Big Screen (Running Press/Hachette, 2022). A former editor for Rolling Stone, Billboard and Cash Box, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, New York, GQ, American History, Time, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. He lives in New York and sorely misses John Swenson and Jeffrey Ressner.

Fred Goodman on the RBP podcast

18 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Run-DMC: Run DMC: King Of Rock (Profile)

Review by Fred Goodman, Musician, April 1985

A REPORTER once jokingly asked Muhammad Ali if his retirement would spell the end of boxing. Instead of turning the question into grist for his ...

Miles Davis: You're Under Arrest (Columbia)

Review by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1985

MILES DAVIS' brilliance is so often attributed to his musical innovations and refusal to coast on past accomplishments that it's easy to overlook his talent ...

Dizzy Gillespie

Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, October 1985

A BEBOP REVOLUTIONARY KEEPS ON GROWING AND BLOWING ...

Trouble Funk: Saturday Night Live! From Washington, D.C. (Island)

Review by Fred Goodman, Musician, February 1986

STARS OF the D.C. Go-Go scene, Trouble Funk represent a throw-back to an earthier, less predictable disco groove. Saturday Night purports to present the groove ...

Cherrelle, The SOS Band: Cherrelle: High Priority; S.O.S Band: Sands Of Time (Tabu/CBS)

Review by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1986

WHAT HAS Prince wrought? Legend has it that songwriting and production duo Terry Lewis and James "Jam" Harris III, a. k. a., Jimmy Jam, were ...

John Abercrombie: The Unguitarist: John Abercrombie

Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, September 1986

IN SEARCH OF A BROADER PALETTE, A JAZZMAN TURNS TO SYNTHESIS ...

Wilson Phillips: The Beat Goes On

Report and Interview by Fred Goodman, US, 17 September 1990

Wilson Phillips proudly wear their famous families' pop-music genes ...

The Crash of '91

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, February 1991

Did all that wheeling and dealing in the '80s doom the music industry? ...

Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mötley Crüe, The Rolling Stones: Big Deals: How Money Fever is Changing the Music Business

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, January 1992

"IN MARCH of 1985 the band was broke. People were selling their houses. The IRS was calling every day." ...

Richard Branson: The Virgin King

Special Feature by Fred Goodman, Vanity Fair, May 1992

With the unprecedented $1 billion sale of Virgin Records, British mogul Richard Branson said good-bye to the last major independent label in the world and ...

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels: Mitch Ryder in the Middle of Nowhere

Report and Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1992

FOR MOST MUSICIANS, TOURING IS A THOUSAND MILES AWAY FROM LIMOS AND STADIUMS. ...

Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Jerry Wexler: Jerry Wexler: Production without style — on purpose

Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1993

Hands-off from Muscle Shoals to Stax to New York City ...

The 10 Most Indefensible Recording Contract Provisions

Overview by Fred Goodman, Musician, July 1993

A man labors and fumes for a whole year to write a symphony in G minor. He puts enormous diligence into it, and much talent, ...

MTV v the Majors

Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1994

FOUR BIG RECORD COMPANIES WANT A VIDEO CHANNEL OF THEIR OWN ...

The Rolling Stones: Time is On Their Side

Retrospective by Fred Goodman, TV Guide, 18 January 2003

After four decades, THE ROLLING STONES are still rockin' – now with a live HBO concert. Here, a jumpin' flashback to the band's most memorable ...

Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Doors, Bob Dylan: Jac Holzman: Indie-Label Folkie to Rock Patriarch

Retrospective and Interview by Fred Goodman, The New York Times, 4 March 2011

JAC HOLZMAN, the 79-year-old founder and former chairman of Elektra Records, might be expected to rest on his laurels. Yet Mr. Holzman, who will be ...

Lhasa de Sela : The Romantic, Uncompromising, Audacious Life of Lhasa de Sela

Retrospective by Fred Goodman, Literary Hub, 20 December 2019

On the Tragically Short Career of a Spellbinding Musician ...

From A Hard Day's Night to This Is Spinal Tap: The Big Tent of Rock and Roll on Film

Essay by Fred Goodman, Literary Hub, 28 July 2022

Fred Goodman on the Evolution of the Rock and Roll Movie ...

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