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Gary Kenton

Gary Kenton

Gary Kenton is the author of Transmission and Transgression: The History of Rock 'n' Roll on Television (Peter Lang, 2020). From 1969 to 1993, He enjoyed a successful career in communications, journalism, and public relations. His first job while still in college was as an editor at Fusion Magazine, one of America's first rock 'n' roll magazines. After a short stint at Creem, he did public relations in the music business for a variety of clients including Island Records, CBS Records, Warner Brothers Records, Gramavision Records, and others.

From 1993 to the present, Gary has been an educator, teaching at every level from Head Start to College. He earned his master's degree in Communication from Fordham University in 2009. He currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Communication at N.C. A&T State University, the largest public historically African American college in the U.S. Over this time, he has also been a community activist, focusing on issues related to racial and economic justice, immigration reform, and the environment. Gary has run for public office four times and was elected three times.

In addition to his book, Gary has contributed chapters to three books: "Come See About Me: Why the Baby Boomers liked Stax but Loved Motown" in Baby Boomers and Popular Culture (Praeger, 2015), "Insolent Networks: The Auto-Mated Social Life" in Confronting Technopoly (Intellect, 2017), and "The Dis-Education of Rock 'n' Roll" in Teachers, Teaching, and Media (Brill, 2019). His writing has also appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, Musician, The Chicago Sun-Times, Rolling Stone, Utne Reader, The Village Voice, TV Quarterly, Country Music, People, TV Guide, and many others.

19 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Butterfield Blues Band: Keep On Moving (Elektra EKS 74053)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, 28 November 1969

PAUL BUTTERFIELD seems to have fallen out of public grace recently. Back in the days of East-West, he gained recognition for being a true blues ...

Clifton Chenier's Cajun comes with French dressing

Report and Interview by Gary Kenton, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1977

The king of Zydeco accordion ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic SD 8229)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, 8 August 1969

IT'S ABOUT time. The supergroup has finally come to pass. Oh, the idea has been around; many fine jams have come off as the result ...

Dire Straits: The Non-Trendiness of Dire Straits: A Music Biz Yarn

Profile and Interview by Gary Kenton, Creem, June 1979

Starring Mark Knopfler: America's Newest Guitar Hero (from England, natch) ...

Electric Light Orchestra: Face the Music (United Artists)

Review by Gary Kenton, Circus, 23 March 1976

HATS OFF to Jeff Lynne! For all the success that he has achieved as the prime mover of the past three Electric Light Orchestra albums ...

Joe Ely: Joe Ely (MCA)

Review by Gary Kenton, Circus, 12 May 1977

HAVING BEEN brought up on rock & roll, it took me a while to discover that country music had its good points. (At the very ...

Kim Fowley: I'm Bad (Capitol 11075)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, October 1972

PERSONALITY AND spunk. Isn't that what rock & roll has been missing lately? Well, here's Kim Fowley with a new album and he's got plenty ...

Mumps, New York Dolls, The Ramones, Talking Heads: The Ramones: Punk City Night

Interview by Gary Kenton, Circus, 17 March 1977

The Ramones Leave Home While Talking Heads and Mumps Play the Bowery ...

Elliott Murphy: Aquashow (Polydor PD-5061)

Review by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, 3 January 1974

DON'T YOU just hate to pick up a music magazine (or megapaper, as the case may be) and see a review in which some snot-nosed ...

Doc Pomus: "Doc" Pomus: Songwriter Superhero

Retrospective and Interview by Gary Kenton, Musician, June 1982

The writer of such greats as 'Save The Last Dance For Me', 'Teenager In Love', 'Hushabye' and 'Suspicion' talks about his life as a Brill ...

Mick Ronson: Slaughter On 10th Avenue (RCA APL 1-0353)

Review by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, April 1974

ANOTHER MAINMAN artiste bites the dust. Not to pass the buck — Ronson has to be entirely responsible for the failure of this album, insofar ...

Savoy Brown: A Step Further (Parrot PAS 71029)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, 28 November 1969

IT'S PRETTY frustrating to be a victimized musician these days. It has always been, of course, but now, with all these quasi-blues heavies making it ...

Patti Smith: Horses (Arista AL 4060)

Review by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, December 1975

WALKING THE NEW JERSEY-MERSEY BEAT WITH PATTI SMITH & THE KAYE STREET BAND ...

Patti Smith: Art for Art's Sake

Profile by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, December 1975

I WAS ON the telephone to one of New York's successful management firms last week and, like all successful New York firms, they put me ...

The Staple Singers: The Staple Swingers (Stax 2034)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, 14 May 1971

IT'S ALL A bad idea except for the music. It's The Staple Singers — you know them — they couldn't make lousy music if they ...

Tanya Tucker: Jail Bait on Parade

Report by Gary Kenton, Creem, January 1974

I AM NOT in the habit of chasing after 14 year old girls. Recently, though, I not only met a cute one, but crossed several ...

Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter: Muddy Waters: Hard Again (Blue Sky)

Review by Gary Kenton, Circus, 28 April 1977

IT IS NEVER an easy task to record a legend. What, after all, could Muddy Waters — at the age of 60 — do on ...

List of genre pieces

Come See about Me: Why the Baby Boomers Liked Stax but Loved Motown

Essay by Gary Kenton, 'Baby Boomers and Popular Culture' (Praeger Books), 2015

ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST and anthropologist Steven Feld studied how meanings are reconstituted when music moves from indigenous communities to a global market. He argues that you cannot ...

The Dis-Education of Rock 'n' Roll

Essay by Gary Kenton, 'Teachers, Teaching, and Media' (Brill), 2019

This essay first appeared in Teachers, Teaching, and Media, Mary M. Dalton and Laura R. Linder, editors. ...

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