Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg is a novelist, rock critic, blogger and animal rights activist with Direct Action Everywhere. He is the author of the rock 'n' roll, coming-of-age Freak Scene Dream trilogy, which includes the novels True Love Scars, The Flowers Lied and Untitled. He blogs at Days of the Crazy-Wild (www.daysofthecrazy-wild.com), a pop culture blog. He also writes a monthly column for the Australian version of Addicted To Noise (http://addictedtonoise.com.au/).
Goldberg is a pioneer in the online music space. In 1994 Goldberg founded the original ADDICTED TO NOISE (ATN), a highly influential music website. At ATN, Goldberg created the Addicted To Noise Music News of the World. This well-respected round-the-clock music news service, which provided info to music fans via radio, television, wireless and internet distribution, developed a global reach into over 40 million homes.
Goldberg was a senior vice-president and editor in chief at SonicNet from March 1997 through May 2000. Goldberg both initiated and oversaw the yearlong investigation that resulted in SonicNet's series "Playing With Fire: The Untold Story of Woodstock 99" which was awarded a Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Web reporting in 2001. Prior to starting ATN, Goldberg was an associate editor and senior writer at ROLLING STONE for 10 years. His writing has also appeared in WIRED, ESQUIRE, VIBE, DETAILS, DOWNBEAT, NME and numerous other publications.
212 articles
List of articles in the library
The Flamin' Groovies: Flamin' Groovies' Cyril Jordan Isn't Angry
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Trouser Press, July 1978
LIKE THE CITRÖEN, the Groovies have always been interesting, but never popular. Born amid the psychedelic rush of Haight Ashbury in 1965, the Groovies from ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, New York Rocker, November 1978
SAN FRANCISCO – The girl in the black leather jacket with the safety pin through the collar, the tight black jeans, silver pumps, crewcut, and ...
Patti Smith: The Boarding House, San Francisco
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, New Musical Express, 18 August 1979
THERE WAS more 'poetry' scrawled across the bathroom walls of the Boarding House than Patti Smith delivered during a two hour show there. Still, the ...
Asleep at the Wheel: The Wheel Gallops Through Western Swing
Interview by Michael Goldberg, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 January 1980
THERE IS a thin line that divides musicians who attempt to give new life to a dying musical form and those who traffic in nostalgia. ...
The Clash: London Calling (Epic Records)
Review by Michael Goldberg, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 January 1980
SINCE THIS English foursome first emerged in London in 1976, they have been at the very forefront of rock and roll. Their debut album, The ...
Muddy Waters: The Tide's Turning for Muddy Waters
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 January 1980
ON THEIR first visit to America, back in 1964, the Beatles were asked by reporters what they wanted to see most. "Muddy Waters," they replied ...
Santana: Carlos Santana’s Journey Toward Perfection
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 February 1980
"I’VE WANTED SOME Roy Rogers boots ever since I was a kid." Seated in his manager’s office, Devadip Carlos Santana pulls on a glistening red ...
Grateful Dead: Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 February 1980
The New Year's Dead ...
Styx: Cow Palace, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 6 March 1980
WHEN HOLLYWOOD wanted to inject some real contemporary action into Mannix or one of those made-for-TV movies back in the Sixties, they'd throw in a ...
James Brown: Prisoner Of Love Meets The Prisoners Of Hate
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, New Musical Express, 11 April 1981
"Those black kids ain't ever seen a black president – and they won't ever see one. This country is no better off than it was ...
Grateful Dead: Reckoning (Arista)
Review by Michael Goldberg, Musician, August 1981
GOOD NEWS... you don't have to be a diehard Deadhead to enjoy the latest live LP issued from the Dead's headquarters in mellow Marin County ...
Suicide: Punk Rockers Who Don't Self-Destruct
Interview by Michael Goldberg, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 November 1981
A group "dripping blood and spit" ...
Devo: Sixties Idealists or Nazis and Clowns?
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 December 1981
LOS ANGELES — "Someone wanted to know where your home is," the waitress said to Mark Mothersbaugh. "I don't have a home," Mothersbaugh replied softly, peering at ...
New Order: The Cinema, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Musician, February 1982
ON MAY 18, 1980 Ian Curtis, lead singer for a relatively obscure English rock band called Joy Division, hanged himself. This immediately made Joy Division, ...
The Knack: Sharona Gets A Round Trip Ticket: The Knack Attack Is (Almost) Back
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, February 1982
WHEN THE Rolling Stones are on the road, they listen to '50s rock 'n' roll and the blues. The Clash, predictably, listen to reggae. Rick ...
Van Morrison: Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Musician, February 1982
IF THIS was the National Enquirer, the headline on this piece, printed in tacky 48-point bold type, would read: VAN MORRISON FINDS GOD! POP STAR ...
Van Morrison breaks his silence (sort of)
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 February 1982
The mystery man says he's no longer interested in the 'rock & rocll circus' ...
Laurie Anderson: Market Street Cinema, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Musician, March 1982
LAURIE ANDERSON looked like some kind of punk mystic as she stood on the stage of the Market Street Cinema in San Francisco. Her brown ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Musician, April 1982
WITH THEIR hair greased back into pompadours, their shirtsleeves rolled up and cigarettes dangling from their lower lips, Phil Alvin and his younger brother Dave ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, May 1982
SPLAT! A plastic bag filled with red chili sauce arcs up and out of the crowd and catches Fleshtones' lead singer Peter Zaremba right on ...
Bobby Womack: The Poet (Beverly Glen Music) ***½
Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1982
ORIGINALLY A protégé of Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack is a gritty-voiced soul singer who has written a wealth of terrific songs, including 'It's All Over ...
Huey Lewis and the News: Huey Lewis Makes The News
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, June 1982
SO THIS IS MANN: there's not even a sign to mark the short, dead-end street where Huey Lewis lives. Things like street signs and pavement ...
Rick James: Sex, Street Smarts and Success
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 June 1982
SAUSALITO, CA — Rick James Lies sleeping on the plush burgundy velvet seat in the back of the long black limousine. It has been forty-eight ...
Loverboy: Rock's Five Nice Guys
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 August 1982
DENVER — NICE. That's the perfect word to describe Loverboy, a rock band so wholesome the Boy Scouts should consider offering it an honorary membership. ...
Richard and Linda Thompson: No Bright Ones Tonight: Richard Thompson Shoots Out The Lights
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, September 1982
THERE IS A story circulating about Richard Thompson. The way I heard it, the Eagles approached him, prior to hiring Joe Walsh: they wanted Thompson ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty: Will Creedence Clearwater ever be revived?
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 September 1982
JOHN FOGERTY, once the driving force behind Creedence Clearwater Revival, is a strange one, and his older brother, former Creedence rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, is ...
The Gap Band: Gap Band IV (Total Experience) ***
Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 September 1982
WITH ITS synthesized percussion explosions, syncopated handclaps and ominous melody, 'Early in the Morning', the Gap Band's recent hit single, is the sonic equivalent of ...
X: The Maturing of a Punk Band
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 September 1982
SAN FRANCISCO — a few minutes before doing a live interview at the University of San Francisco radio station, John Doe of X picked up a ...
Frank Zappa: Only In It For The Money
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, November 1982
FRANK & MOON ZAPPA GO AM ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Downbeat, December 1982
IT'S AN UGLY voice. Gruff, guttural, uncouth, barbaric at times. Joe Strummer can't sing, not like an Al Jarreau or a Joni Mitchell, anyway. Lyrics ...
Ric Ocasek: Worms On A String Revisted
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, March 1983
THE OFFICE IS dark and silent. Here, in one of the rooms where Elliot Roberts, creme de la creme of rock star managers, and his ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, The San Francisco Examiner, 8 March 1983
WHEN BLACK superstar Rick James, who has sold more than 10 million albums during the past four years, first heard about MTV, he was enthusiastic. ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Musician, May 1983
IT HAPPENS all the time. Some well-meaning rock fan comes up to guitarist Albert Lee and starts telling him he's a great player. "And man, ...
George Clinton: the return of Dr. Funkenstein
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 23 June 1983
HEADS TURN when George Clinton enters a room. Any room. At the moment, the people in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel are staring ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 July 1983
Rock & roll gets in bed with corporate America ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 October 1983
Sixteen years after the Summer of Love, the bands that made the Fillmore famous are as mainstream as Tony Bennett. Meanwhile, a new generation of ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Musician, 1 November 1983
THE FOUR women stood in the semi-dark recording studio. "Okay, let's go," said the producer. ...
Was (Not Was) Just Can't Play it Straight
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 December 1983
LOS ANGELES — They would meet on the highest bleacher seat at the high-school field. Shivering in the cold Michigan night, they would talk about ...
The Clash: A Fired-up Joe Strummer Brings his New Clash to America
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1984
Group gets back to its punk roots ...
The Gap Band: Sex, Drugs and the Devil: The Gap Band Fights for Success
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1984
HOLLYWOOD — The bodyguard was not smiling. "Could you wait out here until Mr. Simmons has completed his call?" he asked, gesturing to the hallway ...
Huey Lewis and the News: Huey Lewis: The Boy Next Door Becomes a Rock & Roll Star
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 15 March 1984
His new LP, Sports, spawns two hits ...
Rock & Roll Fanzines: A New Underground Press Flourishes
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 29 March 1984
Inside news for the hard core ...
DeBarge's Family Affair: Motown Spawns Another Jackson 5
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 26 April 1984
AT MOTOWN Records these days, they're talking about the "new Jacksons." That's the word on DeBarge, a group of siblings whose latest LP, In a ...
Michael Jackson, The Jacksons: Outside promoters lessen King's role in Jacksons' summer tour
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 May 1984
DUE TO growing dissatisfaction with Don King, Michael Jackson and his five brothers have brought in two music-business veterans to promote their upcoming tour. Frank ...
Marvin Gaye: Trouble Man: Marvin Gaye 1939-1984
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 May 1984
Long before the shooting, Marvin Gaye's life had become a nightmare of drugs, debts and family discord ...
Rockwell: Berry Gordy's son scores with a little help from Michael Jackson
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 May 1984
THE GIRL with the video camera is following Rockwell around Motown Records' Sunset Boulevard offices. Everywhere he goes, she follows, camera trained on the young ...
Spinal Tap: the Comics Behind the Funniest Rock Movie Ever
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 May 1984
Celebrating seventeen years of heavy metal's most painful career ...
Dennis Wilson: The Beach Boy Who Went Overboard
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 June 1984
He was the wild one. He could never get enough of anything: drugs, women or booze. But in the end, he had nothing. ...
The Jacksons' Summer Tour In Chaos As Businessmen Scramble For Power
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 June 1984
LITTLE MORE than a month and a half before the Jacksons were due to hit the stage, preparations for their summer tour were a shambles. ...
Bobby Womack: A New Hit Proves It's Not Over Yet For The Man Who Wrote 'It's All Over Now'
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 June 1984
LOS ANGELES — Bobby Womack is happy. The forty-year-old singer currently finds himself with a hit album (The Poet II) and single ('Love Has Finally ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, August 1984
SAN FRANCISCO — Rock-video fans who don't get their MTV — and that means seventy-five percent of the country's households — were at the losing ...
The Spinners: Ex-Spinner collapses onstage, dies
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 August 1984
PHILIPPE E. WYNNE, the former Spinner whose sweet, soulful tenor was heard on such million-selling hits as 'One of a Kind (Love Affair)', 'Could It ...
Morris Day, Prince, The Time: Purple Rain Star Morris Day Goes It Alone
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 September 1984
Real-life rivalry with Prince leads to split ...
The Bangles: a Female Fab Four?
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 September 1984
LOS ANGELES — Are the Bangles the new Go-Go's? One can't help but wonder. After all, like the Go-Go's, the Bangles are an all-female rock ...
Ray Parker Jr.: from sideman to lady's man
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 27 September 1984
'Ghostbusters' is his latest chartbuster ...
Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac: Lindsey Buckingham, Lonely Guy
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 25 October 1984
Handsome millionaire rock star, 34, seeks soul mate for long-term relationship. Must be willing to relocate to LA. No drugs. ...
The Special AKA, The Specials: Special AKA: New Band, Old Cause
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 November 1984
SAN FRANCISCO: Jerry Dammers, leader of the Special AKA, is a very idealistic man. He believes, for instance, that popular songs can change the way ...
New Edition Scores With Bubble-Gum Funk
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 January 1985
CHARLESTON — SINCE teenyboppers first screamed for Ricky Nelson and Frankie Avalon more than twenty-five years ago, pop music's teen idols have tended to be ...
Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire: Bailey's big break
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 31 January 1985
Earthy Wind and Fire singer scores a hit ...
John Fogerty: Fogerty Returns To The Stage
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 March 1985
Oldies highlight show for cable TV ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 March 1985
"CHECK YOUR ego at the door." That was the message producer Quincy Jones sent to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross ...
John Fogerty alters album: 'Zanz' becomes 'Vanz'
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 28 March 1985
Fantasy Records and Saul Zaentz still threaten to sue former Creedence leader ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 April 1985
East L.A.'s favorite sons can play everything from blues to Tex-Mex ...
Prince Unveils New Studio Album
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 April 1985
Around the World in a Day should be out in April ...
Madonna seduces Seattle: Madonna, Paramount Theatre, Seattle
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 23 May 1985
Her first show featured all the hits and more... ...
Amy Grant wants to put God on the charts
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 6 June 1985
AMY GRANT, the Christian singing star, is talking about the Prince concert she attended a few months ago. She didn't like it "When he started ...
Marvin Gaye: Furor over X-rated Marvin Gaye LP
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 20 June 1985
Co-producer says he changed lyrics to one song; associates blast quality of other tracks ...
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 July 1985
They don't sound like the Ramones, and they don't look like the Sex Pistols, but bands like Hüsker Dü, the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets ...
Bob Geldof: Live Aid take may hit $60 million
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 29 August 1985
As many as 2 billion people watched the event ...
The Seeds: Where Are They Now: Sky Saxon
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 September 1985
The leader of the Seeds was 'Pushin' Too Hard' in the Sixties; now he'd into 'flower heaven power'. ...
The Rolling Stone Interview: Bill Graham
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 19 December 1985
The P.T. Barnum of rock & roll celebrates his twentieth anniversary ...
Bob Dylan, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Back On The Road
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 16 January 1986
Tom Petty teams up with new pal Bob Dylan ...
Joan Baez, The Band, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul & Mary: Albert Grossman: 1926-1986
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 March 1986
Managed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and others ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus and Mary Chain: Have they got a prayer?
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 March 1986
THE GAUNT, black-leather-clad members of the Jesus and Mary Chain are perched about the dressing room of the I Beam in San Francisco like four ...
Stevie Wonder: The Timeless World of Wonder
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 April 1986
When you've sold 70 million records and persuaded Congress to make your hero's birthday a national holiday, you can afford to keep people waiting, and ...
Independent Promotion: The Inside Story
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 April 1986
IT WAS GOING to be easy money. The cash would be sent, each week, in an unmarked brown paper envelope to the home of the ...
Grand Juries Investigate Mob Ties to Record Biz
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1986
MCA linked to criminal activities ...
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 July 1986
Amnesty's rock & roll roadshow All-star lineup gives America the message ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George's Nightmare
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 28 August 1986
A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE FALLEN POP IDOL'S BOUT WITH HIS DRUG ADDICTION ...
Clarence Carter: Where Are They Now? Clarence Carter
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 September 1986
Hits: 'Slip Away', 'Too Weak to Fight', 'Patches' ...
The Righteous Brothers: Where Are They Now? The Righteous Brothers
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 September 1986
Hits: 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'', 'Ebb Tide', 'Unchained Melody', '(You're My) Soul and Inspiration', 'Rock and Roll Heaven' ...
John Fogerty: On The Road Again
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 October 1986
John Fogerty returns to the stage after a fourteen-year layoff ...
Seymour Stein: The Sultan Of Sire
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 October 1986
Seymour Stein may be the most eccentric record executive in America. But his taste, foresight and business smarts have taken his label to the top ...
Cameo's Black-Rock Breakthrough
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 15 January 1987
Veteran band goes Top Ten with 'Word Up' ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 26 March 1987
Kevin Hunter and his San Francisco-based band remain musical free spirits ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 23 April 1987
The Grammy Award-winning producers who made Janet Jackson a 'Nasty' superstar have been turning out lots of hits lately ...
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 May 1987
Chris Isaak has borrowed from the past to become a star of the future ...
Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen: John Hammond 1910-1987
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 27 August 1987
LEGENDARY RECORD producer and talent scout John Hammond — who played a key role in the careers of Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Aretha ...
Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George: Mr. Clean
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 October 1987
Boy George Straightens Up His Act ...
Bob Marley & the Wailers, Peter Tosh: Reggae great Peter Tosh murdered
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 22 October 1987
THE REGGAE star Peter Tosh, a founding member of the Wailers, was gunned down during an apparent robbery when three men invaded his home near ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 November 1987
TWENTY YEARS ago, you and the Band seemed to set yourselves apart from the whole psychedelic scene that was so popular at the time. ...
Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 November 1987
Motown's slogan was "The Sound of Young America" not "The Sound of Black America." ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 November 1987
TWENTY YEARS ago, when you were only seventeen, you had already had a Number One hit and were well on your way to becoming one ...
Special Feature by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 19 November 1987
Eleven, years ago, the enigmatic leader of the Band walked away from the rock world. Now, after some years of wild living, he's joined with ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 January 1988
ROLLING STONE has uncovered details of alleged cash payoffs — payola — to radio-station personnel by the operation of the California-based independent promotion man Joe Isgro. ...
Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe: Doc McGhee: Top rock manager pleads guilty to drug charges
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 March 1988
Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe boss tied to international smuggling ring ...
Payola: The Record-Label Connection
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 April 1988
How much do record-industry executives know? ...
MCA and the Mob: Risky Business
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 June 1988
How did a reputed mobster become a deal maker for MCA Records? ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 16 June 1988
Other Roads ends eight-year layoff ...
Experience Unlimited (EU): E.U.: America gets behind a new dance
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 June 1988
Spike Lee's film School Daze launches "da butt" ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 August 1988
The troubled pop genius who made the Beach Boys great has finally released his first solo album. Is Wilson really back? ...
Randy Newman: Still Grouchy After All These Years
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1988
Randy Newman has overcome Epstein-Barr and has made another brilliant album. But that doesn't mean he's happy. ...
Def Leppard: Rock's New Gift of Garb
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 3 November 1988
Once maligned, concert merchandising is now rock's hottest business ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 November 1988
Friends of the soul singer say drug has 'whipped him' ...
Scalped: Why you can't get good concert seats
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 November 1988
WHEN RHONDA Stofko and June Iacovello entered the New Rochelle Mall, in the suburbs of New York, at 7:30 one morning in August to purchase ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: CSNY release American Dream
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 December 1988
First studio album since Déjà Vu ...
Book Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 December 1988
DAVID CROSBY'S autobiography, Long Time Gone, provides a gripping, sometimes terrifying portrait of a rock stars personal and professional decline through drug addiction. As an ...
Judas Priest: Heavy metal on trial
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 December 1988
Judas Priest suicide suit takes 'subliminal message' tack ...
David Byrne: Byrne Compiles Brazil LP
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 January 1989
Album spotlights 'tropicalismo' ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty: Fogerty Wins Unusual Self-Plagiarism Suit
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 January 1989
Case is latest round in long fight with Fantasy Records ...
Jane's Addiction: Hardly a Plain Jane
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 February 1989
Viewing life with open eyes is the sensibility that fuels Los Angeles art rocker Perry Farrell and his group, Jane's Addiction ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1989
SOUL SINGER James Brown has received a second six-year prison sentence. The sentence will run concurrently with the six-year term Brown is already serving at ...
James Brown: Wrestling With The Devil
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1989
The struggle for the soul of the Godfather of Soul ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1989
A trailblazing black rock band scores ...
Brian Wilson: Landy Loses License
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 May 1989
Brian Wilson's therapist agrees to ethics-charge settlement ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 June 1989
Is the classic-rock format dictating which acts record companies sign? ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1989
Once postpunk's bad boys, the members of the Cult have found fame with Sonic Temple ...
Cleveland Affirms Rock Hall of Fame Deal
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 10 August 1989
City must raise funds by mid-November ...
Studio 54 Co-Owner Steve Rubell Dead at 45
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 September 1989
STEVE RUBELL, whose celebrity-studded New York discotheque Studio 54 was at the epicenter of the disco craze during the late Seventies, died July 25th in ...
Daniel Lanois: Chairman of the Boards
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 November 1989
Daniel Lanois, rock's premier producer, steps out with his own album ...
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 22 March 1990
The pioneering rocker takes his own life after waging a losing battle with chronic depression ...
Guns N' Roses, N.W.A: At a Loss for Words
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 31 May 1990
Record-industry acceptance of stickering is already having a chilling effect ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, New Musical Express, 18 August 1990
BERRY GORDY, the man who invented the "Sound of Young America", has seen the story of his monumentally influential Motown label told in a succession ...
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 23 August 1990
"My eyes were opened. There's a new world and a new society and a new spirit." ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Fogerty: Tom Fogerty Dies
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 November 1990
Co-founded Creedence Clearwater Revival ...
ZZ Top: Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 January 1991
WHO BUT ZZ Top would use laser lights to project a crude line drawing of a woman, naked save for cowboy hat and boots, onto ...
Paul Simon: Oakland Coliseum Arena, California
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 March 1991
THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE at the Oakland Coliseum was dancing to Paul Simon's Graceland hit 'You Can Call Me Al'. ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 April 1991
Hot Ticket Chris Isaak: The last time he played Los Angeles, he couldn't get a sound check. ...
Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson: The Jacksons Score Big
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 May 1991
Michael and Janet set new standards for artist deals ...
Janet Jackson, Sting, Suzanne Vega: Changing Times at A&M
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 16 May 1991
The classy, formerly independent label tries for a comeback ...
David Ruffin, The Temptations: Former Temptation David Ruffin Dies
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 11 July 1991
DAVID RUFFIN, a former lead singer for the Temptations, died of a drug overdose in the early-morning hours of June 1st at the Hospital of ...
Grateful Dead: Poster Artist Rick Griffin Dies
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 3 October 1991
RICK GRIFFIN, one of the creators of the psychedelic poster art that originated in San Francisco during the mid-Sixties, died on August 17th of severe ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 31 October 1991
NOW THAT the compact disc has supplanted the vinyl phonograph record, consumers can brace for another technology war. Next year, Philips Electronics N.V. and Sony ...
Bill Graham 1931-1991: Rock's Greatest Showman
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 December 1991
THE MUSICAL notes seemed to hang in the air of the synagogue, each one dripping with the sorrow and heartache felt by those who had ...
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 December 1991
ON SUNDAY, November 3rd, more than 300,000 people showed up at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park for the biggest rock concert ever held ...
Michael Jackson: The Making Of The King Of Pop
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 January 1992
THE SEVEN DWARFS are singing. Their voices are floating out of speakers hidden among the trees and lush flora surrounding Michael Jackson's mansion in Neverland ...
Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia Ill; Dead Cancel Tour
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 October 1992
THE GRATEFUL Dead have canceled a four-city fall tour of the East Coast and have put other plans on hold until Jerry Garcia recovers from ...
Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead: Garcia: Trucking Again
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 January 1993
The Grateful Dead bounce back with new releases and a tour in '93 ...
Meat Puppets, Negativland: SST Records: Lawyers, Punks and Money
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1993
SST Records' battle of writs and wills against former acts ...
Lollapalooza: Return of the All Day Sucker
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1993
Lollapalooza '93: The making of the summer's biggest rave ...
Michael Jackson: An Abuse of Trust: Michael Jackson Defends His Honor
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 October 1993
FOR MICHAEL Jackson, a man who has spent an enormous amount or time and millions of dollars helping underprivileged, sick and disabled children, it was ...
American Music Club: Q&A with American Music Club
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Addicted To Noise, November 1993
"EIGHT MONTHS AGO nobody would pee on us," says Mark Eitzel, singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist for San Francisco's American Music Club. "And now people ...
Tony! Toni! Tone!: Hitting the Wonder button with Soul's Hottest Retro Pioneers
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Musician, November 1993
"WE GOT one little trick we use when we're making records," says Tim Christian Riley. Tim and his cousins Dwayne and Raphael Wiggins comprise the ...
Pearl Jam: Warfield Theatre, San Francisco
Live Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1993
THERE WAS NOTHING pedestrian about the first show of the Pearl Jam tour. ...
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Vibe, April 1994
While Rick James was ruling the charts with hits like 'Super Freak' and 'Give It To Me Baby', he was descending into the drug addiction ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Details, July 1994
In the future, when you can dial up any album through your TV set, you won't need record stores — and musicians may not need record ...
American Music Club: Wishing the World Away
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Addicted To Noise, December 1994
THE FIRST TIME I met American Music Club singer, songwriter, and leader Mark Eitzel, he arrived at San Francisco's boho South-of-Market Soma Cafe on a ...
Weezer's Uncomfortable Success, part 2: The Rivers Cuomo Interview
Interview by Clare Kleinedler, Michael Goldberg, Addicted To Noise, December 1996
WEEZER FRONTMAN Rivers Cuomo doesn't give many interviews. Usually he lets guitarist Brian Bell, drummer Patrick Wilson or bassist Matt Sharp handle the press. The ...
Prince: An Audience With The Artist
Interview by Michael Goldberg, Addicted To Noise, August 1998
THE SECURITY GUARD in suit and tie who is watching the closed door to The Artist's upstairs dressing room on The Tonight Show set in ...
Radiohead: In The Forest As The Fire Burns
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 23 June 2001
Esoteric? Non-Commercial? Then how come it's #1? ...
Tricky: The Drama You’ve Been Craving
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 30 June 2001
Michael Goldberg blows back with Tricky... and discovers the new Sly. ...
A Champion Of Punk Rides Off Into The Sunset: Saluting Howie Klein
Profile by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 7 July 2001
HE WAS THE CHAMPION OF PUNK ROCK, BACK IN '76 when no one quite knew what to make of it. ...
Rufus Wainwright Makes One Like They Used To Make 'Em
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 14 July 2001
A young man following in the footsteps of Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks records a masterpiece ...
Buddy Guy Reinvents Hill-Country Blues
Report by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 21 July 2001
A trip to an Oxford, Miss., studio results in a stunning album by one of the last living bluesmen ...
The Dark Visions Of Raymond Pettibon
Profile by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 4 August 2001
Raymond Pettibon first got our attention with startling flyers for Black Flag shows. These days he's seen in the galleries and museums. ...
Gillian Welch: The Cost of Music
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 11 August 2001
"EVERYTHING IS free now," sings Gillian Welch. "That's what they say/Everything I ever done/ Gotta give it away." There is resignation in her voice. Though ...
Maria Muldaur's Perfect Moment
Retrospective by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 18 August 2001
Maria Muldaur's solo debut: among the best albums of any era Long, long ago, a collaboration of producers, musicians and a singer ...
The New Rolling Stone is... The New Yorker?!
Report by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 25 August 2001
Who would expect to find this year's best offline writing about music in The New Yorker? ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 1 September 2001
Ten years on, we search interviews and books for clues to the mystery of music that once shook the world. ...
Bob Dylan: Dylan Hits The Road In An Old Cadillac
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 8 September 2001
On his first album of new songs in four years, Dylan's still got plenty to say ...
Apocalypse Now: Reeling from the terrorist attack on America
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 15 September 2001
"THIS WICKED TONGUE says, 'God is a million miles away'," sings P.J. Harvey on her latest album. ...
Heavenly: Escaping Into Le Jardin de Heavenly
Retrospective by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 22 September 2001
Finding comfort in obscure pop sounds from the past ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 29 September 2001
A media blitz has created a backlash this exceptional New York combo might not survive ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 6 October 2001
Two decades on, 'The Unheard Music' is still the music you need to hear ...
Erase Errata, Le Tigre: Le Tigre, Erase Errata: The Noise Of Revolution
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 13 October 2001
New albums from two post-riot grrrl bands demand your attention ...
Charley Patton, Skip James: The Spooky Blues Of Skip James
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 20 October 2001
Mystical, otherworldly sounds from the '30s ...
Grateful Dead: The Golden Road
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 10 November 2001
Reconsidering the Grateful Dead ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 17 November 2001
Four decades on, rock criticism is still (though barely) alive ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 1 December 2001
Art and ads still go together like a fish and a bicycle. ...
The Strokes, The White Stripes: Revenge Of The Underground: The Strokes and the White Stripes
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 8 December 2001
Is a new day at hand for 'alternative' rockers? ...
Overview by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 22 December 2001
Thirty albums that challenged my perceptions, kept things fresh or, at the least, chilled me out. ...
Sleater Kinney: Sleater-Kinney Search For “Hope, Goodness And Faith”
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 2002
The punk trio answer their own questions on their new album, One Beat ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 5 January 2002
film soundtrack gets it right ...
The Ramones: Why The Ramones Really Belong In The Hall Of Fame
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 12 January 2002
One of the world's great bands gets its due ...
Sparklehorse: Saving Good Morning Spider From The Black Hole
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 19 January 2002
Taking another listen to a '90s masterpiece. ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 28 January 2002
Learning how not to hoard music. ...
John Hiatt, Starsailor: John Hiatt & Starsailor: Making Classic Rock Sound Good
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 16 February 2002
A couple of years ago the singer/songwriter/guitarist John Hiatt recorded Crossing Muddy Waters, an acoustic album for the revived Vanguard label. ...
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Boards Of Canada: Deciphering The Code
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 23 February 2002
Boards of Canada and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead offer a musical yin/yang that will blow your mind ...
Ranting About The Record Business
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, March 2002
It's no surprise major-label music sales are down – the music sucks!. ...
Sleater Kinney: What Makes Great Rock 'N' Roll Great?
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 9 March 2002
A question about Sleater-Kinney opens a Pandora's Box of confusion ...
Big Star: What Makes Great Rock 'N' Roll Great, Part Two
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 16 March 2002
Sometimes great rock 'n' roll is simply pure pleasure. Like sex, only without the complications ...
Is The Record Industry Killing Itself?
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 23 March 2002
Chasing the elusive million-seller could be the kiss of death for the corporate music business ...
N.E.R.D.: Inventing The New Funk
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 29 March 2002
Pair the Neptunes and Kelis and what you get is state-of-the-art groove music ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 12 April 2002
Why do writers pursue this often-thankless "profession"? ...
Hey, It's OK To Think About Rock Too!
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 19 April 2002
When journalists and academics met in Seattle for a pop music conference, they learned that you can think about the music and and feel it ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: In Defence of Big Brother!
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 17 May 2002
A recent documentary reminds us that Janis' bandmates mattered too ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 24 May 2002
Is Herman Melville's great-great-great-great-great-grandson a new kind of artist, or just a technician assembling easy-listening hits? ...
Bert Jansch Takes The High Road
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 31 May 2002
Discovering the idiosyncratic yet influential Scottish folk singer. ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 21 June 2002
From Trout Mask to Dub Housing: how did music that once seemed so harsh and incomprehensible come to sound so good? ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 21 June 2002
WHEN THE noble savage theory of punk rock was first laid out in the early-to-mid-'70s, I bought in. According to one version of the mantra, ...
Guided By Voices: GBV's Abstract Expressionism
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 5 July 2002
Putting the mystery back in rock ...
The Flatlanders Deliver A Classic
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 19 July 2002
Can a new country recording be "authentic"? ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, August 2002
He may be on the cover of Time again, but The Rising sure ain't Born to Run ...
Beck, Sue Garner: Low Down and Low Key: Taking the Road Less Travelled
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, September 2002
BECK SOUNDS like he's channelling the long-dead British folk-rock poet Nick Drake on his latest album, Sea Change (Geffen). For ‘Round the Bend’ the pace ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty Takes A Stand
Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, October 2002
FACED WITH the constant change and uncertainty that is life these days, it's a relief, on occasion, to be able to count on a band ...
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, October 2002
THE INK THAT says Wilco YHF Demos is slightly smeared on the home-printed white cover of the CD that arrived the other day. The 21 ...
Beth Gibbons, Portishead: Beth Gibbons: Out of Season
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, November 2002
Portishead's singer delivers a solo album of extraordinary beauty. ...
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, November 2002
A trip to Iceland unlocks the secrets of the ages to Michael Goldberg ...
Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, December 2002
At long last we get to hear the 24-track recordings from the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue. ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, March 2003
Michael Goldberg finds comfort in music as the war rages. ...
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever To Tell
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, April 2003
KAREN O OF the New York trash-rock trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs leaves lots of room in her lyrics. Those lyrics are like idea fragments jotted ...
Jefferson Airplane: The Rise & Crash Of Jefferson Airplane
Book Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, May 2003
PERHAPS THE MOST endearing thing about Jefferson Airplane that emerges from Jeff Tamarkin's in-depth biography of the group, Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of ...
The Minutemen: Minutemen Live On!
Memoir by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, June 2003
Bassist Mike Watt remembers his days in one of THE best rock bands – punk or otherwise – of the '80s. ...
Warren Zevon: Parting Shot: The L.A. Purveyor of rock noir Makes His Last Stand
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, September 2003
I FELT LIKE crying as I watched VH1's special on Warren Zevon. How sad. Zevon, as you likely know, died on Sunday, Sept. 8; he's ...
Death Cab For Cutie: 'Soul Meets Body' (Atlantic)
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 2005
IN 1987, WHEN R.E.M., one of the premier indie-rock bands of the '80s, scored a Top 10 hit with 'The One I Love', it gave ...
The Magnolia Electric Co.: Magnolia Electric Company: Trials And Errors (Secretly Canadian)
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, January 2005
I’VE NEVER been a big fan of live albums. Maybe it's because I'm usually just not that interested in live versions of a bunch of ...
Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, May 2005
I SEE kaleidoscopic images, swirls of psychedelic color, a sunny day in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, with hippies everywhere, long-haired teenagers and twentysomethings blowing ...
Bob Dylan: In The Dylan Zone: An excerpt from True Love Scars
Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'True Love Scars' (Neumu Press), July 2014
True Love Scars is a rock 'n' roll/ coming of age novel set in the late '60s and early '70s. If you liked On The ...
The Pad: An excerpt from Michael Goldberg's The Flowers Lied
Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'The Flowers Lied', March 2016
Michael Goldberg's rock 'n' roll coming-of-age novel, The Flowers Lied, has just been published. Richard Meltzer wrote that Goldberg's first novel, True Love Scars, was ...
Working at the Artists' Garage: Excerpts from Michael Goldberg's Untitled
Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, Neumu Press, March 2017
Michael Goldberg's rock 'n' roll coming-of-age novel, Untitled, has just been published. "Oral prose," writes Larry Beckett, the brilliant poet and songwriter who penned the ...
Bob Dylan: "A hundred-mile-an-hour clip": Bob Dylan and the Beats
Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'Kerouac on Record' (Bloomsbury), March 2018
Editor's note: The just-published Kerouac On Record includes many essays about the influence of Jack Kerouac on musicians, including the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Tom ...
The Avengers: Watching the Avengers Absolutely Crush the Pistols
Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'Wicked Game' (HoZac Books), June 2022
NOTE: What follows is an excerpt from Michael Goldberg's new book Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey (HoZac Books). Goldberg is ...
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