Michael Gross
Michael Gross, who began his career contributing to Circus, Rock and other music publications, is the author of the new Rogues' Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum, of 740 Park, and of the New York Times bestseller Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women. His blog, gripebox, is at mgross.com. He is also a Contributing Editor at Travel & Leisure and has written for The New York Times, New York, GQ, Esquire, and Vanity Fair and many other publications.
56 articles
List of articles in the library
Interview by Michael Gross, Zoo World, 8 January 1973
LONDON – The red bus was drifting past Marble Arch, turning towards Knightsbridge. I was leafing through the notes I'd taken that afternoon, and came ...
Mott The Hoople, New York Dolls: New York Dolls/Mott The Hoople: Felt Forum, NYC
Live Review by Michael Gross, New Musical Express, 25 August 1973
THE EVENING SIMPLY reeked of promise. Mott the Hoople, the Anglo glamour band of the moment, billed with New York's very own Dolls. ...
New York Dolls: The Guys In The Dolls
Report by Michael Gross, New Musical Express, 25 August 1973
THE BACK room of Max's Kansas City is generally bathed in a pink glow of lighting effects. Depending on how much liquor you've consumed, it ...
Mott The Hoople, New York Dolls: Mott The Hoople/New York Dolls: Felt Forum, NYC
Live Review by Michael Gross, Interview, September 1973
THE EVENING simply reeked of promise. Mott the Hoople, the Anglo glamour band of the moment, billed with New York's very own Dolls. ...
Mick Ronson, Roxy Music: Mick Ronson: Slaughter On 10th Avenue; Roxy Music: Stranded
Review by Michael Gross, Circus, December 1973
AND WHEN THE kids had killed the man they had to break up the band... almost. Now that the glitter thunder is over, perhaps it'll ...
Review by Michael Gross, Crawdaddy!, January 1974
LOU REED IS the grand ghoul of them all. He happens to scare people. He stands in the same relation to Bowie and Iggy and ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, March 1974
HIGH ON THE HOG – BLACK OAK ARKANSAS CELEBRATES SUCCESS. ...
Johnny Winter: Saints and Sinners: Johnny Winter's Celebration of Freedom
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, March 1974
IN A HUGE Connecticut mansion, the kind reserved for bank presidents -and rock stars, a tall, thin, albino blues player kneeled before a massive fireplace, ...
Report by Michael Gross, Zoo World, 14 March 1974
HIPPY DIED in 1967. Time Magazine was the accused murderer, but the case was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. Since then, all ...
Carly Simon, James Taylor: Carly Simon Serves Up Hotcakes
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, May 1974
Carly's new LP offers an intimate peek into the home of one of America's most sought-after and most reclusive couples. ...
Doobie Brothers: How Stampede Drove Their Fans Into Bars
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, May 1974
LATE ONE summer night in 1974, a clean-cut bar band plugged in on the stage of a waterfront singles menagerie in southern Connecticut. ...
Mott The Hoople: A Frantic Mott Struggles To Stay On Top
Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, June 1974
Along with their mushrooming fame came high expectations from a hungry public, and suddenly they were competing against themselves as they face the task of ...
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, June 1974
THE AMBASSADOR THEATRE in Saint Louis has held its place in history since the 1920's as a grand old movie palace built in Hollywood's early ...
David Bowie's Diamond Dogs — Is His Bite As Good As His Bark?
Special Feature by Michael Gross, Circus, July 1974
Bowie was unbeatable, unstoppable, and untopable — until he released two dismal albums that proved all that glitters is not necessarily gold. ...
Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer: Edgar Winter Unleashes A Superstar Rock Band With Shock Treatment
Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, July 1974
When the Edgar Winter group exploded onto the record charts last year, few people expected the band to emerge as a whole triumvirate of rock ...
Review by Michael Gross, Crawdaddy!, July 1974
And when the kids had killed the man they had to break up the band... almost. Now that the glitter thunder is over, perhaps it'll ...
Todd Rundgren, Utopia: Todd Rundgren: Thank God for Todd
Live Review by Michael Gross, New Musical Express, 6 July 1974
Todd Rundgren: Central Park, NYC ...
Mott the Hoople's Rock And Roll Queen — Skeletons From Mott's Closet
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, August 1974
"I'm not keen on this album coming out," Ian Hunter confided about the old Mott tapes labeled Rock and Roll Queen. "They were done a ...
Suzi Quatro: The Teen Queen Of Europe Comes Home
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, August 1974
IN 1971 SHE'D been nowhere – a local bandleader in Detroit who was more a spectacle than a musician. Then she left America. When Suzi ...
Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Stone Finds Domestic Bliss with Small Talk
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, September 1974
Two years ago, Sly Stone's future looked bleak. Now, after an acclaimed album, a woman, and a son have come his way, Sly's entire life ...
America: Can An English Holiday Revive America?
Review and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, October 1974
LONDON'S SPEAKEASY club shares a bond with New York's Max's Kansas City in that they are both music business hangouts. But where the sickly red ...
Marc Bolan, T. Rex: Marc Bolan: T Rex Flashes Light of Love on America
Profile by Michael Gross, Circus, October 1974
EARLY IN 1972, Marc Bolan and T. Rex were the biggest, bestest and baddest rock band in England. Every one of their singles shot instantly ...
The Beach Boys: Helping People Find That Perfect Wave
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Zoo World, 24 October 1974
MIKE LOVE, a Beach Boy, sits under a tent backstage at Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey. The tent breeds flies like Northern Jersey breeds bad ...
Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits
Review by Michael Gross, Crawdaddy!, November 1974
THEY'VE CALLED the perpetration of Alice Cooper on the pop public one of the greatest PR coups of all time. They've called Alice a charlatan, ...
The Faces, Ronnie Wood: Ron Wood Romps To A Royal Solo Debut
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, November 1974
IN A SMALL, homemade studio in the depths of Ron Wood's British home, an array of the most famous faces in rock gathered one night ...
Foghat's Rock And Roll Outlaws' Highjacks The Big Time
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, December 1974
For years they've ridden through the badlands of a press blackout, but with an endurance as tough as their extended jams, the British road crew ...
Alice Cooper: Through the Looking Glass
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Club, 1975
THE LOBBY OF the Boston Sheraton Hotel looks, smells and feels like Grand Central Station. In the midst of it stands a tall, skinny man ...
Interview by Michael Gross, Gallery, 1975
WITH ALL THE noise, convulsions, legal maneuverings, and groundbreaking advances made by feminists in the last few years, women remain the underdog minority in the ...
Chicago: Is The Most Popular Band In America Handcuffed By Its Fans?
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, January 1975
IN THE FALL of 1974, a small number of groups had multiple album entries lodged firmly in the Top 200 chart of Billboard Magazine, the ...
George Harrison, Tom Scott: George Harrison: How Dark Horse Whipped Up A Winning Tour
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, March 1975
AS GEORGE HARRISON'S tour began to cross America late in 1974, reports filtered back to New York City that all was not right. Though the ...
Kiki Dee: More Than Opening For Elton
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Crawdaddy!, March 1975
NEW YORK – The first time Kiki Dee came to New York City, she was showcased by her newest record company, Rocket Records, at the ...
Ringo Starr: Ringo Waltzes Through Goodnight Vienna
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, March 1975
His first solo album jolted those who had forgotten the placid Beatle with its astounding success, but Ringo's veteran producer likes his new platter even ...
Doobie Brothers: How Stampede Drove Their Fans Into Bars
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, May 1975
LATE ONE summer night in 1974, a clean-cut bar band plugged in on the stage of a waterfront singles menagerie in southern Connecticut. ...
Jimi Hendrix Makes A Crash Landing From The Phantom Zone
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, May 1975
LATE AT NIGHT, the cluster of rock neophytes bunched around the portals of Steve Paul's famous club, The Scene, would scatter like mice as Jimi ...
David Bowie: Young Americans (RCA APL 1-0998)
Review by Michael Gross, Crawdaddy!, June 1975
FROM ITS Hunky Dory-esque cover picture to the blue-eyed Philly soul music it contains, David Bowie's Young Americans LP is the strongest set of studio ...
Rick Derringer: Giddy With Spring Fever
Review and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, June 1975
RICK DERRINGER's Manhattan home reflects nothing that might he called "rock star chic". Though his stereo set-up is large and an acoustic guitar may occasionally ...
10cc: Mondo Perverts Flail Out With The Original Sound Track
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, July 1975
When they raided my club that nightThey ruined my act with the leather umbrellaThe Chief de Police got a frightHe was up in my boudoir ...
Black Oak Arkansas Kick Up Their Heels In Europe
Review and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, July 1975
SITTING IN a Holiday Inn, not in in Evansville or Bakersfield, but just a few minutes walk from Hyde Park in London, Jim Dandy Mangrum ...
Nils Lofgren: America's Best Native Guitarist?
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus, July 1975
STANDING OVER A pool table in A&M Records' New York offices, lining up a shot and then pausing to draw on a cigarette, Nils Lofgren ...
Sadistic Mika Band: Let Pink Floyd Fans Beware
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, July 1975
EARLY IN THE SUMMER of 1974, Mika Katoh, a small, beautiful, Japanese woman, walked out of her room in London's Portobello Hotel, and crossed the ...
The Beach Boys, Chicago: Spirit Of America: A Beach Boys Retrospective
Retrospective by Michael Gross, Circus, August 1975
Never have two monster groups been so united as the Beach Boys/Chicago tandem which is touring America like blood brothers. ...
Bob Dylan: Dylan's The Basement Tapes – The Best Of The Bootlegs Goes Establishment
Overview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, October 1975
BOB DYLAN'S ART is his body of work. There are close to twenty legitimate Bob Dylan albums. There is a book, Tarantula, and another of ...
Rush: Breaking Into America… Canada's Answer To The New York Dolls?
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Circus Raves, November 1975
DETROIT'S MICHIGAN PALACE was full to the brim. Though the rock 'n' roll style of the early '70s has faded into a rebirth of hippiedom ...
Joni Mitchell: Hostess Twinkies for Your Dreams
Live Review by Michael Gross, Swank, 1976
Joni Mitchell: Nassau Coliseum ...
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Rock, 1976
THE POOL AREA of The Doral Hotel on Miami Beach was virtually empty. A few children splashed in the water, a small group of double-knit ...
Patti Smith: Misplaced Joan Of Arc
Interview by Michael Gross, Blast, August 1976
THERE'S A SCRAWNY scarecrow of a girl standing on the stage. Her hair is ragged. Her tits swing slowly to a 4/4 beat under a ...
Report by Michael Gross, Blast, August 1976
SEVENTH AVENUE looked like a refugee camp for the great unwashed. No matter where you turned, all you could see was people. ...
George Harrison: The Zoned-Out Beatle Turns 33 1/3
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Swank, 1977
IN NOVEMBER 1974, George Harrison's tour of America ended with a party at the chic New York disco/restaurant, Hippopotamus. It was a sweaty, crowded affair ...
Kiss: Where No Band Has Tread Before
Profile by Michael Gross, Marvel Comics, 1977
THE BEST WAY to understand KISS is to look at the faces in the concert-going crowd, tens of thousands of faces attached to the fans ...
Robert Palmer Is Blue-Eyed Soul
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Playgirl, 1977
"CLEAN IS BACK IN," Kaye Ballard intoned, and her predominantly blue-haired audience at The Mike Douglas Show taping nodded in silent agreement as they gazed ...
The Beach Boys Are Back in Town
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Swank, 1977
BRIAN WILSON SAT behind a grand piano, nervously eyeing the camera pointed at his face. "When I was a little boy," he said, "my mother ...
Allman Brothers Band: The Death Of The Allman Brothers Band
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Swank, 1977
LOOK INTO THE EYES of the citizens of Macon, Georgia, and the creeping fear shines through like a beacon. Eyes widen, then scrunch down to ...
Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Swank, September 1977
Why four American rockers are the hottest thing since the Enola Gay ...
Interview by Michael Gross, SoHo Weekly News, 13 April 1978
IN 1975 THEY lived on Chrystie St., a block filled with some of the city's more economical courtesans, in a cold water loft, and they ...
Profile and Interview by Michael Gross, Chic, July 1979
DURING THE YEAR prior to his first solo concert tour in 1975, Brian Eno's image alone sustained public interest in his career. ...
Janet Jackson: True You: A Journey To Finding And Loving Yourself
Book Review by Michael Gross, The Washington Post, 25 March 2011
JANET JACKSON'S True You boasts alluring packaging: It's printed on the kind of ultra-white paper you rarely see in books anymore, chock-full of photos and ...
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