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John Mendelssohn

John Mendelssohn

Universally acknowledged as the most consistently revelatory writer about music in the English language, John Mendels(s)ohn repatriated late in 2002 to the UK after countless decades in his semi-native California, where he was once regarded as rather a catch, to the tune of Ray (My Favorite Martian) Walston’s daughter calling him the male Joey Heatheron. ‘Twas he who introduced his friend David Bowie to the music of Iggy Pop - you can look it up! His 1995 authorized autobiography, I, Caramba, was described in Rolling Stone as evoking "Portnoy’s Complaint as rewritten by Pete Townshend," and the accompanying greatest-demos CD as sounding as Todd Rundgren might have with severely inadequate equipment.

Having also prospered along the way as a Web and graphic designer, our multitalented hero is now writing songs for and producing such artists as The Most Beautiful Girl in Britain and living large off the royalties for the 2002 memoir he ghostwrote for his dominatrix wife. He composed and recorded an inexpressibly marvellous solo album, Sex With Twinge, in 2002. Order a copy today! He acts, directs, and playwrites, and is the founder of the Clear and Present Rangers, soon to be seen at Major Fringe Venues in London. His agent is trying to sell My Yobbo, a sitcom pilot, and the film rights to the Mistress Chloe memoir.

His teenaged daughter, whom he adores in spite of everything, hasn’t spoken to him in 15 months as of this writing. There’s talk of his writing songs with his pal and neighbour Rick Parfitt. Talk’s cheap. He’s at least as funny as the late Lester Bangs, but lacked the sense to die young. He’s mortified with embarrassment by nearly all of his early rock criticism. If your cheque won’t bounce, he’d like to do much better work for you!

John Mendelssohn's unmissable Mendel Illness blog

Mendo on the RBP podcast

210 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

The Alan Bown Set, The Chambers Brothers: Rock Records! Alan Bown and Chambers Brothers

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 27 November 1968

ENGLAND, NEEDLESS to say, has given us some incredible rock groups: The Beatles and Stones, The Who and The Kinks and The Yardbirds, Cream, Traffic, ...

The Move, English Rock Group, Plays At Whisky

Live Review by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 1969

THE FACT THAT England’s The Move, completing an abbreviated booking Sunday night at the Whisky, is unknown to all but the most devoted of anglophile ...

Alice Cooper, Wild Man Fischer, The Mothers Of Invention: The Mothers of Invention, Alice Cooper, Wild Man Fischer: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 15 January 1969

Frank Zappa and other frightening occurrences ...

Gandalf, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison: Albums from Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison and more

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 26 February 1969

BROTHERHOOD, AN RCA group composed of three former Paul Revere underlings and a gutless organist named Ron Collins, have taken a timid, tiny step past ...

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 15 March 1969

THE POPULAR FORMULA in England in this, the aftermath era of such successful British bluesmen as Cream and John Mayall, seems to be: add to ...

Cream, The Kinks: The Kinks: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (Reprise); Cream: Goodbye Cream (Atco)

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 9 April 1969

YEARS AGO, during what someone told me was the height of it all, Ray Davies was best known for the dozens of songs he wrote ...

Aum, Chicago, Kaleidoscope, Procol Harum, Santana, Spirit: Spirit, Kaleidoscope, Chicago Transit Authority: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA; Procol Harum, Santana, Blue Morning, Aum: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 17 April 1969

Spirit, Procol Play Concerts ...

Deep Purple, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Sanpaku: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 April 1969

Rock Shows Held at Pasadena Rose Palace ...

Spirit, West, The Youngbloods: Spirit, the Youngbloods, West, Blue Morning: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 29 April 1969

SPIRIT, THE Youngbloods, West and Blue Morning appeared in rock concerts at the Pasadena Rose Palace Friday and Saturday nights. ...

The Nice: Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate)

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 30 April 1969

ANYONE WHO can explain how The Nice have managed to remain obscure for so long gets my nomination for The Paul Williams Rock Intellectualization Award ...

Brian Auger, Elvin Bishop, Julie Driscoll, Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin, Brian Auger's Trinity, Elvin Bishop: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1969

Rock Show Staged at Pasadena Rose Palace ...

John Braden, Fats Domino, Flying Burrito Brothers, MC5, Moby Grape, Paul Winter Consort, Neil Young: Albums from the MC5, Neil Young, Flying Burrito Brothers et al

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 7 May 1969

"I guess you could say our thing is a condemnation of everything that is false and deceitful in our society." — John Sinclair, of the ...

Mary Hopkin, Paul McCartney: Mary Hopkin: Postcard

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 17 May 1969

POSTCARD IS AS much Paul McCartney's as it is Mary Hopkin's, which is to say that it is one of those albums on which the ...

The Byrds, Albert King: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 1969

Byrds in Spotlight at Pasadena Rose Palace ...

Lee Michaels, Big Mama Thornton: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 1969

Rock Show Given at Pasadena Rose Palace ...

Procol Harum: A Salty Dog

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 31 May 1969

A Salty Dog is a confusing album. At its best it represents the group's greatest success to date with the brand of rock for which ...

Love: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 1969

Love Group Plays at Pasadena Rose Palace ...

Joe Cocker, The Sons of Champlin: Joe Cocker, Grease Band: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1969

JOE COCKER and the Grease Band proved the most exciting British rock band to visit America since the Who in their weekend performance at the ...

The Nice: Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 14 June 1969

WHAT MAY HAVE turned potential Nice freaks off last year was the group's decision to precede their ritual cataclysm 'Rondo' with a set that consisted ...

Joe Cocker, Lonnie Mack, Sweetwater, Big Mama Thornton: Joe Cocker, Big Mama Thornton, Lonnie Mack, Sweetwater: Magic Circus, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 1969

Soul Music Presented at the Magic Circus ...

Pentangle: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 1969

THE PENTANGLE, a five-sided English folk-based group comprising two of the folk genre's most enthusiastically acclaimed guitarists, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, plus singer Jacqui ...

Joe Cocker: A New Blues Boy Blows In From Britain

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 3 August 1969

JOE COCKER, the most recently emerged and most wildly received British soul artist since Stevie Winwood (of the Spencer Davis Group and later Traffic and ...

Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie & Friends, Free: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 19 August 1969

BLIND FAITH'S Los Angeles debut Friday night at the Forum turned out to be as much a Hollywoodish spectacle as it was a performance by ...

Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 23 August 1969

Joe Cocker and the Grease Band were ending a performance they gave recently at the Whiskey in Los Angeles. As they went into their explosive ...

Keef Hartley, Savoy Brown: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 4 September 1969

TWO ENGLISH BANDS FEATURED AT WHISKY ...

Fairport Convention: What We Did On Our Holidays

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 6 September 1969

THE FIRST thing I did on receiving this album in the mail was stick it in my cardboard album box – with a good mind ...

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 9 September 1969

Smokey Robinson Crew Performs in Inglewood ...

The Grass Roots, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night: Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Grass Roots: Forum, Inglewood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 16 September 1969

Dog Night Joins Roots, Steppenwolf at Forum ...

Donovan: Poet-Minstrel Donovan Plays At Hollywood Bowl

Live Review by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 30 September 1969

EVERY YEAR at this time Donovan Leitch seats himself beatifically on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl, plays the gentle poet/minstrel from another time and ...

Gypsy, The Move: The Move, Gypsy: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 11 October 1969

The Move, English Rock Group, Plays at Whisky ...

The Zombies: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 16 October 1969

Zombies Debut Here but With Some Changes ...

The Move, Thunderclap Newman: The Move: 'Curly' (A&M); Thunderclap Newman: 'Something in the Air' (Track)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 October 1969

MY FELLOW devotees of what is frequently referred to as rock and roll's English sound should, on finishing this sentence, rush out willy-nilly in excited ...

The Hollies: Words and Music by Bob Dylan (Epic)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 1 November 1969

THE HOLLIES, an institution in British rock since the very early Beatle days, have always been among the most conservative of English groups. They were, ...

Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane: Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna: The Forum, Inglewood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 4 November 1969

GLORIOUSLY RESPLENDENT in crushed velvet and faded Levis and backed by what was possibly the Glenn McKay troupe's most breathtaking light-show since Monterey, Jefferson Airplane, ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: What That Is! (Phillips)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

THE KEY TO this album is its honesty. Producer Milan Melvin has been faithful to Screamin' Jay and his music right down to the picture ...

Terry Reid: Terry Reid (Epic)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

BOUND AS he is to producer Mickie Most, who's good when he's interested and unthinkably horrid when he's not, as is obviously the case here, ...

The Beatles: Abbey Road (Apple)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

SIMPLY, SIDE TWO does more for me than the whole of Sgt. Pepper, and I'll trade you The Beatles and Magical Mystery Tour and a ...

The Zombies: Early Days (London)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

I PERSONALLY used to spend a lot of time in school carving "What's become of the Zombies" on desks. Which is to say that I ...

Gypsy, The Kinks: The Kinks, Gypsy: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 22 November 1969

England's Kinks Return After 5-Year Absence ...

The Byrds: Thelma's, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 25 November 1969

Byrds of a Different Feather Open at Club ...

Gypsy, King Crimson: King Crimson, Gypsy: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 5 December 1969

King Crimson Opens Its Rock 'n' Roll Stand ...

Spooky Tooth, The Stooges: Albums from Spooky Tooth and the Stooges

Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 7 December 1969

Spooky Tooth: Spooky Two (A&M SP 4194) This is quite representative of the latest albums by unfamiliar British rock groups (in which category Free, ...

Eric Burdon, War: Eric Burdon & War, Elyse Weinberg: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 11 December 1969

Eric Burdon Back on Scene With War Band ...

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 13 December 1969

Hey, man, I take it all back! This is one fucking heavyweight of an album! OK – I'll concede that until you've listened to the ...

Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie: Humble Pie, Grand Funk Railroad: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1969

England's Humble Pie Here on First U.S. Tour ...

The Kinks: Kinks

Report by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Free Press, 19 December 1969

LIFE WITH the stars, installment one; in which are discussed in seemingly random order that sometimes sorry, sometimes joyous live adventures of the, long-lost-and-presumed-forever-missing-from-America Kinks, ...

Allman Brothers Band, Ten Wheel Drive: Allman Bros., Ten Wheel Drive at the Whisky

Profile by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 January 1970

THE ALLMAN Bros. Band and Ten Wheel Drive, who will be co-featured at the Whisky A Go Go through Sunday, are respectable entries in their ...

Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys, Smokestack Lightnin': Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 31 January 1970

Lightnin', Cat Mother Share Musical Billing ...

Savoy Brown: 'Train to Nowhere' (Parrot 45-40039); 'I'm Tired' (Parrot 45-40042)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 21 February 1970

SAY WHAT you will about Savoy Brown, they've bestowed upon us two monstrously good singles in the last six months. ...

Elvin Bishop, Santana: Santana, Elvin Bishop: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 3 March 1970

Santana Plays Two Rock 'n' Roll Shows ...

The Who: Who interview... Got Love, Zoot Suits, Tarzan... If You Want It

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 6 March 1970

GRANTED, OF course, that you're conceivably up to here with P. Townshend interviews (that gentleman having made himself available for comment to seemingly everyone with ...

Kaleidoscope: Incredible! Kaleidoscope (Epic BN 26467)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 22 March 1970

KALEIDOSCOPE, APPARENTLY disillusioned (an justifiably so) after a three-year career as one of the world's most interesting yet chronically most-ignored rock groups, has here given ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 2 April 1970

Neil Young Appears Singly ...

Fairport Convention: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 1970

English Folk Material by Fairport Convention ...

The Move: Shazam

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 14 May 1970

...

Ballin' Jack, The Guess Who: Guess Who, Ballin' Jack: Convention Center, Anaheim

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 1970

CANADA'S GUESS Who radiated indifference at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday night. ...

The Stooges: The Ig Unbound: Some of the Real Truth About Iggy Stooge

Profile and Interview by John Mendelssohn, Entertainment World, 29 May 1970

FOR THIS ridiculously typical young swinger doing the whole, you know, number right there in the center of the Whisky dance-floor the last 45 minutes ...

Fairport Convention: Unhalfbricking/Liege and Lief

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 11 June 1970

UNHALFBRICKING AND Liege and Lief are the two last albums by the Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny. ...

The Beatles: Let It Be (Apple)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 11 June 1970

TO THOSE WHO found their work since the White Album as emotionally vapid as it was technically breathtaking, the news that the Beatles were about ...

Terry Reid: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 1970

Songwriter Reid Does His Bit as a Performer ...

Grand Funk Railroad, Pacific Gas & Electric, Ten Years After: Grand Funk Railroad, Ten Years After, Pacific Gas & Electric: Forum, Inglewood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 1970

Grand Funk, Other Rock Groups on Stage ...

The Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 August 1970

WITH HIS latest assortment of the Mothers of Invention, which was on display Friday evening at the Santa Monica Civic, Frank Zappa, America's most beloved ...

Led Zeppelin: Forum, Inglewood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 7 September 1970

Led Zeppelin Plays for Forum Audience ...

Bonzo Dog Band: The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band

Retrospective by John Mendelsohn, Fusion, 2 October 1970

IT GIVES ME limitless pleasure to inform you that, unless you're a member of a decidedly tiny minority of rock and roll women and men, ...

Mungo Jerry: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 23 October 1970

Mungo Jerry Performing in Hollywood ...

Elton John: Elton John

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 12 November 1970

GIVEN THAT HIS voice combines the nasal sonority of James Taylor with the rasp of Van Morrison with the slurry intonation of M. Jagger with ...

The Moody Blues: Moody Blues: A Question Of Balance

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 12 November 1970

RECENTLY SOMETHING of unexaggerable beauty came into my life, something that was to enthrall me musically and elevate me spiritually, to pour oil on the ...

Derek & the Dominos, Toe Fat: Santa Monica Civic and Pasadena Civic, CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 November 1970

Derek and Dominos in Two Concerts ...

The James Gang, Steve Miller: The Steve Miller Band, James Gang: Civic Auditorium, Pasadena and Santa Monica, CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 1 December 1970

James Gang Backs Up the Steve Miller Band ...

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band: Bitter End West, West Hollywood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 5 December 1970

CAPTAIN BEEFHEARTS MAGIC BAND PERFORMS ...

The Kinks: Lola Vs. Powerman And The Moneygoround (Part One)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 7 January 1971

SO, APPARENTLY having forgotten the Byrds' words of caution, you wanna be a rock and roll star, eh? Before you trade in your stereo components ...

John Mendelsohn, Rock Critic

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, February 1971

(This article was a response to an article in Jazz & Pop highly critical of rock criticism in general, and John Mendelsohn in particlular, by rock writer ...

David Bowie: The Man Who Sold The World

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 February 1971

"Some say the view is crazy/But you may adopt another point of view. So if it's much too hazy/You can leave my friend and me ...

We Are Normal and We Want Our Freedom

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1971

HOW UNSPEAKABLY fantastic it was to see the TAMI Show, again, the other evening, for the first time since its original release in 1965! ...

King Crimson, McDonald and Giles: Mcdonald & Giles (Cotillion)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 March 1971

IGNORING THE TINY VOICE from within that insisted that, having cared for King Crimson not one iota, I would probably not find the work of ...

The Faces: Faces: Long Player (Warner Bros.)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 March 1971

BEING ONE OF the few English bands left willing (nay, all too happy) to flaunt their Englishness, and moreover ranking no lower than third on ...

David Bowie: Pantomime Rock?

Report and Interview by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 1 April 1971

LOS ANGELES: In his floral-patterned velvet midi-gown and cosmetically enhanced eyes, in his fine chest-length blonde hair and mod nutty engineer’s cap that he bought ...

Dreams, J. Geils Band: J. Geils Band, Dreams: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 2 April 1971

J. GEILS BAND PLAYS WHISKY ENGAGEMENT ...

Alice Cooper: Love It To Death

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1971

IT CAME ON the radio in the late afternoon and from the first note it was right: Alice Cooper bringing it all back home again. ...

Matthews' Southern Comfort: Matthews Southern Comfort: Later That Same Year

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1971

AS HAS been suggested before in these pages, if mellow tuneful close-harmony country-tinged polite-rock of the sort that is considered indispensable by those who own ...

Crazy Horse: Crazy Horse

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 29 April 1971

FROM THE VERY start, friends, I've always wished I could enjoy Creedence Clearwater as much as I admire them for their unremitting tunefulness and refreshing ...

Christopher Milk: John Mendelsohn: Superstardom is my Destiny

Memoir by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1971

EVEN AT 15, when I abandoned my childhood dreams of one day becoming the slugging second-baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, I knew somehow that ...

Black Oak Arkansas: Black Oak Arkansas (Atco)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1971

IT IS SAID that before they became a rock and roll band Black Oak Arkansas were a teenage gang the mere mention of whose name ...

Juke Boy Bonner, Freddie King: Freddie King, Juke Boy Bonner: The Ash Grove, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 1971

Freddie King Performs on Ash Grove Stage ...

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks: Where’s The Money

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 3 July 1971

DAN HICKS is a person of no mean strangeness, a genuine original, and one of the greatest superheroes in all of 20th century popular music. ...

Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells A Story

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 8 July 1971

HE HAS IT IN him, has Rod Stewart, to save a lot of souls, to rescue those of us who are too old for Grand ...

Grin, Jackie Lomax: Jackie Lomax, Grin: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 1971

Jackie Lomax and Band Playing at the Whisky ...

Alice Cooper: Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 1971

Alice Cooper Tops Show at Long Beach ...

Emerson Lake & Palmer, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter: Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 1971

ELP Group Presents a Mixed Bag at the Bowl ...

The James Gang: Thirds

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 22 July 1971

By no exertion of the imagination are James Gang the greatest rock and roll band ever to walk the face of the earth or anything ...

Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills 2

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 19 August 1971

WHAT WE HAVE HERE, friends, is a fifth-rate album by a solid second-rate artist who so many lower-middlebrows insist on believing is actually first-rate, even ...

The Who: Who's Next (Decca DL 79182)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 2 September 1971

WHO'S NEXT, regardless of what you may have been led to believe to the contrary, is neither the soundtrack to the realization of Pete Townshend's ...

Black Sabbath, Stoneground, Sweathog: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 27 September 1971

CONSIDERING THAT Black Sabbath's popularity seems to be increasing almost logarithmically, as was suggested by its filling to capacity the enormous Long Beach Arena Saturday ...

The Move: Looking On/Message From the Country

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 14 October 1971

WHEN LAST we glimpsed The Move in these pages they had recently completed what was without the slightest glimmer of doubt the finest English rock ...

Pink Floyd: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 19 October 1971

Pink Floyd Performs at Santa Monica Civic ...

Jeff Beck, Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, Wet Willie: Jeff Beck, Flash Cadillac, Wet Willie: Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 1 November 1971

New Jeff Beck Group in Long Beach Concert ...

Black Oak Arkansas: Turkey Talking to Arkansas

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 25 November 1971

LOS ANGELES – On stage, almost scary, are Black Oak Arkansas. ...

The Move: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know!

Profile by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, December 1971

What Is The Move? The Move are one of the four or five most magnificent rock and roll bands in England, and therefore in the ...

The Truth About Truth of Truths

Report by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 23 December 1971

A FEW WEEKS ago, because Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times was unavailable, yours truly was invited to be the token rock critic on a local ...

David Bowie: Hunky Dory

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 6 January 1972

DAVID BOWIE, the swinging/mod Garbo, male femme fatale, confidante to and darling of the avant-garde on both sides of the Atlantic, and shameless outrage, is ...

Wings: Wild Life

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 20 January 1972

LIKE PAUL MCCARTNEY'S first two post-Beatles albums, Wild Life is largely high on sentiment but rather flaccid musically and impotent lyrically, trivial and unaffecting. ...

Labelle: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 21 January 1972

THE IDEA of wedding an English or other foreign fan's perspective on the idiom with a fading American rhythm-and-blues group looks fine on paper, and ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: Himself

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

DON'T BE MISLED: however extraordinary Gilbert O'Sullivan may look in his imbecile haircut, knickers, and other things Thirties Irish schoolboy, he sounds sufficiently like your ...

Sonny & Cher: Live

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

I'M SURE I'LL never understand why it's become so fashionable to belittle Sonny & Cher, to blame everything from the dissolution of the Beatles to ...

Uriah Heep, Manna: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 4 February 1972

Uriah Heep Epitomizes Power Rock at Whisky ...

Jo Jo Gunne: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 12 February 1972

SEEING HOW it packed the Whisky to overflowing in its opening Thursday, only a fool could doubt that Jo Jo Gunne will soon he enjoying ...

Black Sabbath, Yes: The Forum, Inglewood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 17 March 1972

Black Sabbath and Yes in Concert at Forum ...

Black Oak Arkansas, Christopher Milk, Jo Jo Gunne: John Mendelsohn's Hollywood: Tales of Black Oak and Milk

Column by John Mendelssohn, Disc and Music Echo, 18 March 1972

PLEASE ALLOW me to introduce myself: ...

Fairport Convention, King Crimson: King Crimson, Fairport Convention: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 21 March 1972

KING CRIMSON, which performed locally for the first time in two years Sunday afternoon at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, is the very embodiment of ...

Neil Young: Harvest

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 30 March 1972

At the end of this, five'll getcha ten, most of you are going to be exclaiming lividly, "O what vile geeks are rock critics! How ...

Free, West, Bruce & Laing: West, Bruce & Laing, Free: Palladium, Hollywood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 10 April 1972

West, Bruce & Laing Work Out on Late '60s ...

America: America

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 27 April 1972

WHAT HAVE WE HERE, O my sisters and brothers, but an album that serves as living proof that if you release 88 albums every month, ...

Little Feat, Osibisa: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1972

FEW INDEED are the groups whose emergence has been heralded by more glowing reviews than Little Feat. It's my guess, though, that few indeed who ...

Jeff Beck: Jeff Beck Group

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 8 June 1972

Should you ever find yourself in the mood to be bored comatose, simply hop on the next jet to Hollywood, where this writer will gladly ...

Grand Funk Railroad: Mark, Don & Mel

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 22 June 1972

VIRTUALLY EVERY practicing rock critic worth his sneer, of course, has sought to explicate Grand Funk's ascent to commercial ultra-gargantuanity over countless identically horrible Cream ...

The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones: Long Beach Arena, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelsohn, Disc, 24 June 1972

VIRTUALLY nowhere during the past week could a Hollywood hipster fail to encounter signs proclaiming the purchasability (mostly at prices reminiscent of a prince's ransom) ...

Alice Cooper: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 1972

Alice Cooper Mounts Camel, Gallows at Bowl ...

Van Dyke Parks: Discover America

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 3 August 1972

VAN DYKE PARKS' first album, Song Cycle, released in 1968, was a dizzyingly eclexoteric work that had the critics alternately gushing, "The emergence of a ...

Alice Cooper, Kim Fowley, Jethro Tull: The Government and Alice Cooper’s Panties

Report by John Mendelsohn, Disc, Summer 1972

WOTTA week it’s been here in Hollywood, guys and gals, what with each and every day virtually splitting its trousers with grand and glamorous events, ...

Hello People: The Handsome Devils

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, February 1975

I'M FAR FROM entirely convinced that I would trade everything I own to be in Hello People's shoes, or greasepaint, for it seems the sorry ...

Joe Walsh: So What

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

WHAT A DISTRESSINGLY large percentage of the perfect strangers with whom I happen to chat while waiting in line for ball games, premieres of motion ...

John Denver: An Evening With John Denver (RCA)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

WITH THIS, the live album for which millions of Denver fans have been clamoring for a veritable eternity, John's election to the Playboy Jazz & ...

Queen: Sheer Heart Attack

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

HAVING BEEN duly, uh, blown away by the opening tracks on their previous two albums, I prepared to savor the first cut on Queen's Sheer ...

Rodney Bingenheimer: The Patron Saint of Teenage

Profile and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

FORGET THE hillside enclaves of those who either can not yet or no longer afford Beverly Hills, and what's left of the San Fernando Valley ...

Rush: Fly By Night

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

A WRITER SHOULD never admit as much, but I'm still not entirely confident that mere words can communicate the full extent to which I abhor ...

Thin Lizzy: Nightlife (Vertigo)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, March 1975

WHEN, IN AN ill-disguised attempt to salvage what little was left of both his physical and psychic well-being after decades of arduous touring, lead guitarist ...

Carl Douglas: Kung Fu Fighting (20th Century T-464)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 27 March 1975

I WAS GAILY dancing the kung fu (even though I don't, as the song informs us one is supposed to, possess the grace of a ...

David Bowie: Young Americans (RCA)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, April 1975

IN VIEW OF the fact that, in his first major American interview, Bowie assured us, "If I'm mediocre I'll get out of the business: there's ...

Brian Eno: Eno: Another Green World

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, April 1975

UP UNTIL THE moment the temporary editor of this august journal telephoned to apprise me that he'd just been in a terrible automobile accident in ...

Suzi Quatro: Your Mama Won't Like Me

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, April 1975

THERE'S NOTHING like a new Suzi Quatro album to knock one's hormonal balance all out of whack. Were there but the most nebulous suggestion of ...

Supertramp: Crime of the Century (A&M SP 3647)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 10 April 1975

VIRTUALLY EVERY track on this album seems to last twice as long as the actual music warrants, a vastly disproportionate amount of needle time seems ...

Cher: Stars

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, May 1975

ALLOW ME TO ventilate my prejudices up-front, just so you'll be hip as to where I'm coming from. I appreciate that being invited out for ...

Chicago: Chicago VIII

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, May 1975

IF YOU'RE A regular reader of the Phonograph Record review section (and in this day and age who isn't?), you're probably beside yourself trying to ...

Mac Davis: All the Love in the World

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1975

HEREWITH, THE Legend of the Songpainter. ...

Steely Dan: Katy Lied

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1975

STEELY DAN sound like a million dollars not only next to at least 26 of their coresidents of the Boss 30 when they're in it, ...

Manhattan Transfer: Manhattan Transfer

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 5 June 1975

ONLY THE MOST incorrigible boogie casualty could find the Manhattan Transfer less than quite uncommonly delightful onstage. ...

Chicago: Chicago VIII

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 19 June 1975

WHILE IT'S DIFFICULT to picture anyone failing to be amused by the intentional ludicrousness of, say, dedicating an album to the revolution or making the ...

Kraftwerk: Autobahn

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 19 June 1975

NOT TO TAKE anything away from Ralf, Florian, Klaus or even Wolfgang – who are probably real nice geezers once you get to know them ...

Blood Sweat & Tears Featuring David Clayton-Thomas: New City

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 17 July 1975

IN NEW CITY BS&TFDC-T have made an album that fans of everything from soul to easy listening to jazz to difficult listening to rock will ...

The Troggs: The Troggs

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 9 October 1975

NOT SINCE MARC Bolan noshed himself into semiretirement have our pre-nursery-school age friends been given product on which they could so effortlessly get off as ...

Brian Eno: Eno: Another Green World (Island)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Phonograph Record, November 1975

UP UNTIL THE moment the temporary editor of this august journal telephoned to apprise me that he'd just been in a terrible automobile accident in ...

Elvis Presley: Andy Kaufman Does De Elvis

Report by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 12 January 1978

OH, GOD, where did they find this poor soul, and what desperate circumstances could have resulted in his presence on stage before us? ...

The Beatles: Mistakes And All: Recreating The Fab Four in Beatlemania

Report and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 9 April 1978

IF THE FOUR young musicians who portray the Beatles in Beatlemania deliver anything less than the "incredible simulation" a sign in the Shubert Theater ticket ...

Bonnie Raitt: Freebo's Travels With Bonnie

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 20 April 1978

LOS ANGELES – AT AN age when most rock musicians are superstars in decline, prosperous session players, or in their fifth or so year of ...

Foreigner’s Road Map: Destination Top Ten

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 4 May 1978

IN THE SPRING of 1976, Mick Jones found himself. With a dwindling bank account and dim prospects, even after twelve years of playing guitar and ...

The Beatles: Beatlemania’s Boys in the Band

Report and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 May 1978

JOE PECORINO, A small, affable young man who earns his living by pretending to be John Lennon in the successful stage production, Beatlemania, denies that ...

Aging Musicians’ Dilemma: Is There Rock After 30?

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 25 March 1979

AT THE APOGEE of Beatlemania, Paul McCartney was asked at a press conference how long the Beatles would last: "Dunno," he replied, "but I can’t ...

Ultravox: The Low-Budget Way To See The U.S.A.

Report and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 14 June 1979

AS RECENTLY AS January, Britain’s Ultravox — purveyors of highly stylized, often outré music alternately reminiscent of Pink Floyd, Brian Eno and Roxy Music — ...

The Who: What's What With The Who Movie

Film/DVD/TV Review by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 1979

THE KIDS Are Alright movie – opening Thursday at the Cinerama Dome – begins with the Who performing their ode to teen inarticulateness, 'My Generation', ...

Rock Dreams Come True For Rodney

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 9 December 1979

"IN GOING FROM a kid standing in utter terror outside Connie Stevens' house to a Monkee's double to the king of the local nightclubs, he's ...

The Cramps: The Lord Giveth While The Cramps Taketh Away

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1980

JUST UP FROM the shore of every port city in the English-speaking world, there is a movie house that shows horror films around the clock. ...

Yes: The Band That Punks Say Is A "No"

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 28 September 1980

Question: Do you imagine it impossible to sum up in a single word all that rock's third generation, that is, the punks and their new ...

Herman's Hermits, Peter Noone, The Tremblers: The Hermit Trembles: Peter Noone Looks Back

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, December 1980

ON A WARM, smoggy Saturday morning on the verge of September, this journal's man on the West Coast called on Peter Noone, who, from farther ...

Electric Light Orchestra: The Electric Light Orchestra Tunes Up - Bev Bevan’s Early History Of ELO

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, 1981

After a two year absence, the Electric Light Orchestra have returned with Time, one of their best albums in years, now resting comfortably atop the ...

XTC: The Ecstatic Aesthetics Of XTC

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, July 1981

EVERYBODY DOESN'T like something, but nobody doesn't like XTC. Nobody, that is, except the countless hundreds of thousands who find the British beat foursome's relentless ...

The Psychedelic Furs: Psychedelic Furs: Feels Like The Furs Time

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, January 1982

IN 1977, DURING the so-called Summer of hate, yet another refugee from a London art college got fed up with silk-screening "advertising crap" and resolved ...

The Stray Cats

Profile and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, January 1982

LOS ANGELES – The 50's are back, thanks to a rockabilly threesome from Queens, New York, who lived through barely six months of that decade ...

The Byrds, The Rolling Stones: Rock Fashion: Lace Fop to Costume Ball Chic

Guide by John Mendelssohn, Musician, August 1982

An informal survey of the great movements in rock fashion, those cyclical variations on the theme of outraging mom and dad. ...

Fleetwood Mac: Gypsies, Tramps or Thieves?

Profile and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, February 1983

ONE DAY SOON, there will be no more stuffed animals in the world. No stuffed koalas or pandas or ocelots or giraffes will remain for ...

Missing Persons: I Find Missing Persons

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1983

THE GERM OF THE union that would one day become countless hundreds of thousands of fans' favorite new New Wavoid attraction of 1983 wriggled into ...

Malcolm Mclaren Eats Egg Salad

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, June 1983

Other Pagan Rituals to Follow? ...

A Flock of Seagulls, Aerosmith, Culture Club, Mötley Crüe: Eleganza: Dress for Excess

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, July 1983

Eleganza returns! This one-time fave fab fashion column, as you may know, oozed away slowly in the past few years for "reasons" we don't need ...

Roxy Music: Universal Amphitheatre Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Record, July 1983

Just Another Loud Rock Band ...

Joan Jett, The Thompson Twins: Eleganza: Sneer & Sneer Again

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1983

IF I NEVER glimpse another Rock 'n' Roll Bad Boy sneering at me on my television screen, trying to impress me with how unashamedly wicked ...

The Kinks: Kinks: A Sad Kommentary

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1983

ASSUMING THAT A healthy percentage of it carried falsified ID, the average age of the audience at this year's Los Angeles Kinks concert might have ...

The Thompson Twins At The Seashore

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1983

NO OTHER BAND in the British syncopop sweepstakes boasts greater bounce to the ounce. Indeed, to get some idea of what the Thompson Twins are ...

Adam & The Ants, Cliff Richard, Josie Cotton, Prince: Eleganza: The Best-Dressed List

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, September 1983

THERE ARE absolutes in fashion. For instance, flare-legged trousers are absolutely more flattering to the vast majority of people than straight-legged trousers, since they make ...

A Flock Of Seagulls: Hair Apparent

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, October 1983

SINCE MOVING into it in the autumn of 1982, A Flock Of Seagulls lead singer Mike Score has scarcely seen his new flat in Liverpool ...

Berlin, Missing Persons, Mötley Crüe: Eleganza: Got Pizzazz (If You Want It)

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, October 1983

IN THE MONTHS since its resuscitation, several hundred readers have written this column to ask what they should do with their hair. Would that Eleganza ...

The Gun Club: Eleganza: Daughters Of Darkness

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, November 1983

NATURE ABHORS a vacuum, but Eleganza adores someone who dares to dress with panache, elan, and all the other French nouns that mean pizzazz. You might not ...

Motorhead: The Motorhead Mode

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, December 1983

HE'S BEEN USING speed for years, and he plays in a heavy metal band with the most obnoxious album cover art ever. So one doesn't ...

The Clash, Van Halen: US Festival ’83: No More In ‘84

Report by John Mendelsohn, Record, Summer 1983

AFTER PUNK, audiences weren’t supposed to pay large amounts of money anymore for the privilege of watching superstars from the length of a football field ...

A Flock of Seagulls, Daryl Hall, Rod Stewart: Eleganza: Hairy Monsters (In Need Of Sleep)

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, January 1984

A COUPLE OF issues back, Eleganza admitted that it was at a loss for what to tell you to do with your hair. Wear it ...

Soft Cell: No Ordinary Whipper Snappers

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1984

YOU REPORT TO the Ramada Inn in Beverly Hills at the agreed-upon hour of a drizzly afternoon between Halloween and Thanksgiving to ask Soft Cell ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Sex Person Without A Cause

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, May 1984

ADAM ANT materialized in the lobby of a West Hollywood hotel that employs a lot of very stupid Englishwomen and offered me his hand. ...

Angelyne: Eleganza: Introducing Angelyne

Profile and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, May 1984

HOLLYWOOD teems with lusters after fame, rock stars of tomorrow, would-be symbols of sex. But none of them has managed to make herself more conspicuous ...

Spinal Tap: Heavy Metal Blunder: This Is Spinal Tap

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, May 1984

THE MISSUS USED to be married to a little asshole who produced comedy specials for cable television. The principals of This Is Spinal Tap – ...

The Clash: The Mouth That Roared: The Return of The Clash

Report and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Record, June 1984

Joe Strummer announces the Clash’s comeback in no uncertain terms. ...

The Alarm: Tracking The New Inspirationals: The Alarm

Report and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Record, June 1984

THEIR MOVEMENT MAY be said to have been born on the smoggy Labor Day afternoon in 1983 when U2’s Bono climbed to the top of ...

The Go-Go's: Rapping To The Go-Go's

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1984

ON THE OCCASION of the release of their latest album, America's only rock 'n' roll magazine that bills itself as such asked for the two ...

Bitch: Eleganza: Mom of a Bitch

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, November 1984

"I'M REALLY not into playing particular roles just because you're a certain age or have a certain position in life," says Lois Weiss, an early ...

The Ten Worst New Acts Of The ‘80s

Guide by John Mendelsohn, Creem, 1985

Note: This Mendo masterpiece was written under the fetching pseudonym of Anastasia Finn. ...

David Bowie, Twisted Sister: Eleganza: David Bowie & Dee Snider: The Bizarre Passions They Can't Control!

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1985

A LOT OF you younger readers who think that Boy George didn't invent rock 'n' roll androgyny believe that Prince did, or Michael Jackson, or ...

Pat Benatar: Tropico Dancer

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1985

ASKED WHAT the most important thing in her life is in the autumn of her fifth year of stardom, Pat(ricia Andrzejwski) Benatar (Geraldo) rapturously replies, ...

John Lennon: A Strangely defanged portrait of John Lennon

Book Review by John Mendelsohn, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 June 1985

ACCORDING TO LABOR Department projections, John Lennon biographers will outnumber Elvis Presley impersonators by mid-October. ...

Sting: Black Like Me: Sting Brings On The Night

Film/DVD/TV Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, 1986

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, in his infamous Outspoken Period, Elvis Costello allowed as how Sting ought to be cuffed mercilessly about the ears until he quit ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Year Of The Boss

Essay by John Mendelsohn, Creem, 1986

LET’S ADMIT IT to one another – there are several things we don’t like so much about Bruce Springsteen. We’re not crazy, for instance, about ...

Marshall Crenshaw: Downtown

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, February 1986

CRENSHAW SINGS like a less nasal John Lennon (whom he portrayed in Beatlemania) with the rough edges smoothed off, becomingly betrays the influence of all ...

Bob Dylan: Biograph

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1986

HEARING ABOUT how Stevie I Wonder had to coach him on how to sing like himself on ‘We Are the World’ or watching him and ...

Rock Magazines: Why They're So Good

Overview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, July 1986

YOU KNOW WHAT'S interesting about the rock print medium nearly two-thirds of the way through the '80s? That so much of it is aimed at ...

Poison, Ratt, The Who: Eleganza: Our Wacky, Wacky World

Column by John Mendelssohn, Creem, September 1986

IN THE EARLY '70s, we Americans called it glitter and the English glam, but by any other name it would still be mass transvestitism. It's ...

Cyndi Lauper: True Colors

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, January 1987

SHE'S FEATURED her mom in most of her videos, and had her along to all the big gala awards shows too, so you get the ...

Bruce Springsteen: The E Street Band Live/1975-85

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, March 1987

ON THE SUNNY, balmy Monday this was released the local deejays said, absenteeism in San Francisco broke all records, as tens of thousands of otherwise ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark: The Pacific Age

Review by John Mendelsohn, Creem, April 1987

NOT ALL THAT is wrong with modern pop is wrong with OMD. They don't try desperately to look like badasses of the most fearsome sort ...

What's The Matter With Kids Today?

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Creem, October 1987

THERE ARE lots of wide open spaces around where I live. In the late spring, I can gaze out from the window of my study ...

Narada Michael Walden: Riding On The Freeway Of Love With Narada Michael Walden

Interview by John Mendelsohn, San Francisco, June 1988

Grammies, Platinum Albums and Adulating Superstars Won’t Deter Him From Being A Regular Artist Kind Of Guy...Maybe ...

The Neville Brothers: Neville Brothers: Brother's Keeper

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 6 September 1990

SHOUDN’T IT BE A CLINCH TO PRODUCE a consistently breathtaking Neville Brothers album? Wouldn’t one have only to hand Aaron Neville a collection of worthy ...

Warrant: Cherry Pie

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 18 October 1990

IN VIEW OF MÖTLEY CRÜE’S AND OZZY Osbourne’s ongoing mega-stardom, it’s hard to imagine that success in heavy metal is the result of anything other ...

AC/DC: The Razors Edge

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1990

SINCE THE HEYDAY of Little Richard, one of the things that teenagers have liked most about rock & roll is that it can provoke parents ...

N.W.A: Poison The Hood: Niggaz with Attitude

Retrospective by John Mendelssohn, unpublished, for Playboy, 1991

ON A SPRING EVENING in 1991, the late Eazy-E accepted the invitation of Dr. Dre, his fellow member of the notorious "gangsta" rap group NWA, ...

The Beatles, The Byrds, Cream, The Rolling Stones: What's In A Name?

Essay by John Mendelssohn, Musician, April 1992

Band names have mirrored the aspirations and excesses of the times. A definitive field guide to the epic trends and gonzo greats of rock nomenclature. ...

Jellyfish: Just For The Jell Of It

Profile and Interview by John Mendelsohn, Creem, July 1993

QUEEN LIVES! And so do the Beach Boys and Beatles of the Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper era as well. Or at least, you recall them all ...

Bryan Ferry: Mamouna (Virgin)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Musician, March 1995

LISTENING TO this predominantly gloomy album, it's easy to forget that, at his best – in 'Over You', say, or 'More Than This', Bryan Ferry ...

David Bowie: How I alienated David Bowie!

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, May 2002

IN THE AUTUMN of 2000, I had gone from being a very well paid Web designer to being an out-of-work former Web designer. ...

Wishbone Ash: A Tribute to Heroes! Ashbone U Wish do Wishbone Ash

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Rock's Backpages, 10 May 2002

I WILL NOT feign objectivity. When Wishbone Ash dissolved in 1977 because of the usual "creative differences" (Nigel and Steve wanted to be creative, while ...

Like Rock Never Happened: Pop Idols for Tibet... or Greenpeace... or whatever

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, 14 June 2002

WELL, I HOPE everybody's satisfied. Back in the early '80s (you can look it up!), I was railing in Creem about the institutionalisation of surliness ...

John Lennon: How I Almost Met the Late John Lennon

Memoir by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, 28 June 2002

LEGEND AND VH1 have it that when Elton John made his Los Angeles debut at the Troubadour in August 1970, he blew everyone away, and ...

Sid Vicious: John Mendelsohn catches up with the late Sid Vicious

Interview by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, March 2003

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS after the fact, it appears less and less likely that Elvis's death was a hoax. Not so that of punk rock icon Sid ...

Victoria Beckham: Keepin’ It Real

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rock's Backpages, August 2003

YOU COULD HARDLY blame the ridicule-mongers for nearly swooning with delight a couple of months ago when Victoria Beckham revealed that she would soon begin ...

Devo: We're The Pits, or Punk Comes to LA

Retrospective by John Mendelsohn, MOJO, Spring 2005

THREE YEARS AFTER my group Christopher Milk -- signed to Warner Bros. and produced, rather poorly, by a famous English producer -- agreed that we'd ...

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