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
16 articles
List of articles in the library
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Report by Fred Goodman, Musician, February 1991
Did all that wheeling and dealing in the '80s doom the music industry? ...
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. ...
Interview by Fred Goodman, Musician, June 1993
Hands-off from Muscle Shoals to Stax to New York City ...
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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