Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon wrote about pop for the Sydney Morning Herald and the New York Daily (and Sunday) News. Her legendary Rock & Pop Encyclopaedia was published in 1969. Roxon died in her adopted New York City in August 1973, following an asthma attack.
WABC radio documentary about Lillian
76 articles
List of articles in the library
Sybil — and a discotheque named Arthur — set the trends
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 May 1965
Sybil Burton, ex-wife of actor Richard Burton, has suddenly become the leader of New York's glittering social set. Fashion and entertainment trend-setter and close friend ...
Bob Dylan: Poet or pop? — a new role for a folk-hero
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 9 January 1966
BOB DYLAN, folk-singer, folk-composer and folk-millionaire, has upset a lot of people in his time — TV networks, civil liberties committees, parents, teachers, recording technicians ...
James Brown: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 27 March 1966
He's the singer who puts Elvis to shame ...
Ethel Merman: The role she made her own — Annie gets her gun again... 20 years after
Interview by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 5 June 1966
THERE REALLY is no business like show business. Ask Ethel Merman, who this week, at the age of 57, got to play the part of ...
Chet Atkins, John D. Loudermilk: Nashville: The Town With The "Fresh Sound"
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 June 1966
It started with Grand Ole Opry ...
The Beatles, The Byrds, The Velvet Underground: Psychedelics: That's The New Fad
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 17 July 1966
The Pop movement has become old-hat now. In its place a brand new gimmick has started to sweep American discotheques. ...
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 31 July 1966
Once again rebellious young rock 'n' rollers have turned exclusive Newport into a riot city of jazz and festival From LILLIAN ROXON, who visited Newport, U.S., ...
Now it's all above ground — the Underground
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 12 February 1967
It's the new 'in' thing ...
Hippies take over from the Beatniks
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 4 March 1967
A new youth grouping, the Hippies, has sprung up in San Francisco and promises to spread over America and to Europe. Hippies are still way-out, ...
Now it's the big "Be-In": they all go to the park
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 30 April 1967
New Yorkers go gay in the 800 acres they have found right in the heart of town ...
The Beatles, The Byrds: Allen Ginsberg: Poet Who Swam in the Ganges — And Started Something
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 10 September 1967
NEWS THAT the Beatles were flying to India for two months in October, that they were giving up drugs and taking up Indian mysticism may ...
Bobbie Gentry: 'Billie Joe' girl moves to modelling
Profile and Interview by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 15 October 1967
SHE'S beautiful. She's talented. She has a song at the top of the hit parade and this week she will make even more news by ...
Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding (Columbia)
Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 14 January 1968
Bob Dylan makes a comeback ...
James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin: Soul: it's what Negroes have and white men are learning
Overview by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 30 June 1968
THE WORD is "soul" and if white Americans haven't been quite sure what it meant before, they are this week. ...
Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Lovin' Spoonful: Popocracy — The New Revolution
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 3 November 1968
The casual, oddly dressed stars of American pop music are making so much money they don't know how rich they are ...
MC5: The MC5: Rock frenzy points a way
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 4 January 1969
THOSE OF us who have watched rock with interest, believing it to be as good a barometer of the changing times as art or the ...
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 17 July 1969
BLACK POWER, WHITE POWER, STUDENT POWER, KID POWER, MATRON POWER, MOON POWER ...
Charles Manson, John Phillips: You just don't know Hollywood
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 1 November 1969
More things there than murder are bizarre, reports Lillian Roxon ...
The Beatles, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane: Agnew urges curbs on "brainwashing" lyrics
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 September 1970
NEW YORK, Tuesday. — The Vice-President, Mr Spiro Agnew, last night accused some songwriters and motion picture makers of "brainwashing" young Americans with lyrics and ...
The "famous" children are going to pot...
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 4 October 1970
More and more big names are cropping up in the round-up of dangerous narcotics-takers ...
Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin: Death joins the electric band
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 10 October 1970
JIMI HENDRIX died last week. Janis Joplin died this week. The needle is picking off the electric generation one by one with the precision of ...
Janis Joplin: Girl of the Electric Generation
Obituary by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 11 October 1970
To be all woman, yet equal with men; to be free and yet a slave to real love; to nose-thumb convention, yet get back to ...
The Stalk-Forrest Group: Stalk Is Big Time
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 25 October 1970
A NEW Group has hit the American rock scene — Stalk-Forrest. It is said to sound like a cross between The Doors and The Jefferson ...
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 1 November 1970
AMERICA'S NEWEST Rock idol is probably only about 5ft tall. His stage "costume" is a pair of badly ripped blue jeans — and elbow length ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: The band that means business
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 23 January 1971
Lillian Roxon flew from New York across America to attend a party for an $82 million rock and roll group — a party which, she ...
Bob Neuwirth: Gaslight, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 7 March 1971
ANOTHER STAR IS BORN ...
Peter, Paul & Mary, Mary Travers: Mary (of Peter, Paul and Mary) is doing a McCartney
Interview by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 3 April 1971
LILLIAN ROXON INTERVIEWS A SINGER WHO HELPED TO MOULD POPULAR MUSIC ...
Bob Dylan: They Won't Invite Bob
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 18 April 1971
BOB DYLAN is having a birthday party the day he turns 30 — May 23 — and everyone's invited except him. ...
Alice Cooper: Town Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 May 1971
WITCH-CRAFT? ...
The Stooges: Electric Circus, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 6 June 1971
IGGY IS THE ACT ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono: The Top of Pop: John & Yoko
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 20 June 1971
JOHN AND Yoko Lennon have come to town. ...
Helen Reddy: Helen now a star in demand
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 27 June 1971
THEY invited 20 people for a quiet little get together back at their Hilltop home after her show closed — and 280 turned up. ...
Grand Funk Railroad, John Sebastian: Is this the end of the festival?
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 17 July 1971
LAST WEEK was not a very nice week for rock music. ...
Three Dog Night: Flower Flight to Dallas
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 13 August 1971
YOU'VE HEARD about "Ship of Fools". Now let me tell you about the "Flower Flight" — a far-too-early plane that flew to Dallas recently for ...
Comment by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 24 October 1971
THE PROBLEM with Jesus Christ Superstar as a rock spectacle is not that it goes too far, but that it doesn't go far enough. ...
The Cockettes: Vulgarity or Vanguard?
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 14 November 1971
A SHOW came to New York this week that many people found tedious, offensive and unspeakably vulgar. I want to remind all those people who ...
The Osmonds: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 5 December 1971
Don't Knock Cradle Rock ...
John Lennon, Yoko Ono, John Sinclair: John and Yoko "go protest"
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 December 1971
NO SOONER did Bob Dylan astonish everyone by going back to "protest" and coming out with a song protesting the death of convict George Jackson ...
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 December 1971
HE'S HERE, the greatest thing since the Beatles but Americans don't realise it yet. His name is Marc Bolan and he's the most important part ...
David Bowie: Clothes Make the Bowie
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 20 February 1972
WHEN I WAS in England recently, a lot of excitement seemed to be about David Bowie, a singer-songwriter, who, in the past, has managed to ...
Dionne Warwicke: elegance, simplicity and Maplewood, N.J.
Profile and Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 20 February 1972
THE COFFEE table is marble and kidney shaped with little gilt legs. The bar is a wooden cylinder with a vase of pink feather flowers ...
T. Rex: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 5 March 1972
A DREAM PRINCE HAD A SLOW AWAKENING ...
David Cassidy: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 March 1972
David Cassidy was a roaring success ...
David Cassidy: The Real David Cassidy
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 19 March 1972
A FEW WORDS in defense of Mr. David Cassidy. What is this nonsense about "writhing sensuality" and "apple pie and sex"? ...
Emerson Lake & Palmer: The Top of Pop: A Rock Fan Writes
Column by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 23 April 1972
THAT FINE dividing line between fan and groupie is often razor thin and rather shaky. I used to admire groupies because they at least broke ...
Manassas: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 14 May 1972
Stills sours the critics ...
David Bowie: The Elvis Of the Seventies
Comment by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 18 June 1972
IT WAS just after the Elvis concert and David Bowie and I were sitting in his suite at the Park Lane Hotel (that's where record ...
Labelle: Nona Hendryx of Liberated Labelle
Profile and Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 2 July 1972
SOUL! NONA Hendryx of Labelle, a group of three young black women that has been together more than 10 years, gets this sweet look on ...
The Jackson 5: Jackson 5: Black and Talented
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 9 July 1972
I THOUGHT I was going; to die. There was just me, them — and him. Not a soul over 16 in sight, just me entirely ...
Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger: A Basically Serious Boy
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 23 July 1972
LONDON — HE may be his satanic majesty to Life magazine and Time and all the rest of the gang, but over here in London, ...
New York Dolls, The Osmonds: The Top of Pop: The Dolls Will Be Heard From
Column by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 3 September 1972
THREE HEROES. You pay your money and you take your choice. Which one is yours? ...
Birtha, "Mama" Cass Elliot, Labelle: Birtha and Mama Cass: The Right On Sound Called Liberated Rock
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 17 September 1972
I WAS interested to read in one of those glossy magazines that the coming trend in music for the fall is "rock 'n' rouge," because ...
David Bowie, The Rowan Brothers, Slade, T. Rex: Like Wow, What A Week That Was!
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 24 September 1972
DIARY OF A ROCK WRITER, instalment two, or why-does-it-all-have-to-happen-in-one-week? ...
David Bowie: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Daily News, 30 September 1972
David Bowie Can Do It All ...
Leon Russell, Loudon Wainwright III: The Perils of a Rock and Roll Reporter
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 1 October 1972
WITH INFINITE sadness and deep sorrow, I would like to announce I won't be covering any more events at the Nassau Coliseum, unless I am ...
John Denver: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Daily News, 2 October 1972
Denver a Sweetie Pie ...
David Bowie & the Spiders From Mars: Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 8 October 1972
A Rock Happening: David's Debut ...
Bette Midler: A new Piaf — the divine Miss M
Profile by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 19 October 1972
SHE HAS never appeared outside New York. Her album is still unreleased. Her appearances on national television have sent viewers into shock. And yet Bette ...
James Taylor, West, Bruce & Laing: James Taylor: Radio City Music Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 12 November 1972
Radio City Rocks and Rolls ...
The GTOs, Helen Reddy: A Requiem For Miss Christine
Comment by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 26 November 1972
THE DEATH OF Christine Frka has depressed me deeply. Miss Christine (she never used that troublesome last name) had her shining face on this page ...
Black Sabbath: Festival Hall, Brisbane, Queensland
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 4 February 1973
The Spooky Black Sabbath in Brisbane ...
The Rolling Stones: Rolling Stones Gather No Groupies
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 25 February 1973
GERI MILLER, where are you? They had a party for the Rolling Stones here in Sydney, Australia, this week, and it might as well havebeen ...
The Rolling Stones: A Case of the Mick Jaggers
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 11 March 1973
IT WAS one of the funniest cartoons I have ever seen. A mother is standing there, looking rather alarmed, holding on to her son whose ...
Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger Lets His Hair Down
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 18 March 1973
THOSE OF you who have been irritably wondering what in the name of heaven I was doing in Australia with Mick Jagger when I should ...
Focus: Philharmonic Hall, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 1 April 1973
The Focus is on a Group Called Focus ...
Rod McKuen, Helen Reddy, Slade: A Rock Critic's Rough and Reddy Life
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 29 April 1973
THE LIFE of a rock and roll writer, as I have said all too often before, is not all sunshine and roses. The Friday night ...
Led Zeppelin: The High-Flying Led Zeppelin Tour
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 13 May 1973
THE WAY I've been hearing it, it's already the biggest tour in rock and roll history — 33 concerts in 30 cities, a gross that ...
The Faces: Yes, All You Rock Fans, Your Idols Love Letters
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 20 May 1973
IF YOU'VE ever wanted to write to Rod Stewart or any one of the Faces, now's your chance. I don't want to sound like the ...
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 10 June 1973
Paul Simon & Alice Cooper, So Differently the Same ...
The Jackson 5, Jermaine Jackson: Let's Hear a Scream For the Jackson Five
Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 17 June 1973
"Hey, Jackson Five fan! Look at all this outasight J-5 groovy good stuff you can order! Hurry! Send away today! Fast delivery! Money-back guarantee" ...
Chicago: The Weary Life Of a Wandering Minstrel
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 24 June 1973
Chicago, a group that packed Madison Square Garden, may not look it, but they're a tired bunch of performers. ...
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 8 July 1973
I DON'T CARE how many superannuated Peter Noone groupies rushed the stage, Richard Nader's '60s nostalgia night was still a bomb, with a total lack ...
Al Green: The Soft-Sell World of Al Green
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 15 July 1973
IT IS THE HOTTEST, most enervating Sunday in all creation. I am in Manhattan, and it is like a steambath. He is in far off ...
Commander Cody: The Early Sound Of "Now" Music
Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 29 July 1973
HIS FIRST BAND was called the Fantastic Surfing Beavers and, according to Commander Cody, it was the worst band that ever existed. I was sorry ...
Report by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 5 August 1973
SO THEY'RE saying rock and roll is dead? Not this week, they aren't! What a week! While every newspaper, radio and TV station was telling ...
New York Dolls, Todd Rundgren, T. Rex: Marc Bolan: The Man, The Myth and the Music
Report and Interview by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 12 August 1973
HE SITS there with his head covered in corkscrew curls, his temples and eyelids gently rouged, his lower lashline ever so slightly outlined in pencil, ...
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