Mike Gormley
For 40+ years, Ottawa-born Mike Gormley has been journalist, record company executive, artist manager and marketing/PR expert. He has helped launch the careers of film composer Danny Elfman, massively successful pop band the Bangles as well as Rod Stewart, Rush, BTO, The Police and Supertramp.
At 18, Mike was already a weekly columnist and writer for the Ottawa Journal, covering major pop music stars of the day from his base in the San Francisco Bay area. He interviewed such as icons-to-be as the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, etc. After returning to Ottawa to write for Canada's Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Gormley was recruited as columnist and youth editor for the Detroit Free Press (then the fifth largest morning newspaper in North America).
Three years later, as Director of Publicity for Mercury Records, Mike engineered the introductory and continuing PR campaigns for Thin Lizzy, Rod Stewart, Rush, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the Runaways, the Ohio Players as well as many others. He was highly instrumental in signing the pioneering punk band the New York Dolls and the groundbreaking German Electronica artists, Kraftwerk.
Eventually Mike worked at A&M Records where he rose to the post of Vice President of Publicity and Assistant to the Chairman. In this position, he worked closely with the Police, Supertramp, Herb Alpert, Squeeze and others.
Mike left A&M to partner with Miles Copeland, then manager of the Police and founder of IRS Records (REM, The Go Go's, Fine Young Cannibals and others). They formed the management firm LAPD, (Los Angeles Personal Development). He convinced Danny Elfman, leader of the legendary band, Oingo Boingo to write the score for Tim Burton's first movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure spawning Elfman's mercurial climb to the top of the film composer world.
In the 1990s, Mike co-founded and ran Wildcat Records. In the year 2008, Mike established the UCLA Extension's continuing education programme, "The Insider's Guide to Music Management."
Mike is a past President of the Conference of Personal Managers and a past board member of L.A. WoMen In Music as well as being on the board of Music Manager's Forum U.S. He was on the Board and is past-Secretary of the Folk Alliance International and its Executive Committee. Mike is also on the Management/Legal Advisory Committee for SAG/AFTRA and a Director of Ombience, a center that provides aid to musicians. Mike is also on the Advisory Committee for Music From the Streets.
89 articles
List of articles in the library
Live Review by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 27 February 1965
Righteous Sound Shakes 'Frisco ...
The Beau Brummels: Calling from San Francisco: the Beau Brummels
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 25 June 1966
DID YOU ever have to make up your mind? ...
Bobby Freeman: Still In Swim Of Pop Things
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 2 July 1966
TWELVE YEARS in the business and he is only 25. ...
Bob Dylan, The Turtles: Bob Dylan Dropped In — Night Howard The Turtle Lost His Voice
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 9 July 1966
Mike Gormley Calling from San Francisco ...
The Association: Electric Switch Paid Off
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 20 August 1966
SAN FRANCISCO — Six folk-singers got together in February, 1965, worked and waited for a year, changed to electric instruments and then — 'Along Comes ...
The Righteous Brothers: Just Brothers in Soul
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 17 February 1967
IT'LL BE A wet, rainy day in San Francisco before The Righteous Brothers appear there! And it was — and they did. ...
Otis Redding: The Memphis Sound: Otis Leads the Way
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 5 May 1967
FOR A LONG time now, the public has been thrilled by the essence of Otis Redding. His original contribution has conquered the world of music ...
Tommy James & the Shondells: Tommy James Isn't Pro-Canada
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 7 July 1967
Says Audiences Here 'A Drag' ...
Janis Ian: Musical Psychologist: Janis The Voice Of Mini-Hippies
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 21 July 1967
HERE WE go again. Another great song-writer is upon us. ...
Neil Diamond: Writer First, Singer Second
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 25 August 1967
HE'S RATHER quiet. ...
The Bee Gees: Bee Gees Long Climb to the Summit
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 22 September 1967
Group From Down Under on Top ...
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: According to Paul, Butterfield Blues Is Really Music
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 8 December 1967
ASK HIM. Paul Butterfield will tell you he doesn't play blues. ...
The Box Tops: Big Time Unknowns: The Box Tops Mystery
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 2 February 1968
THE BEST way to establish an act in the musical big time is to have a No. I record. ...
The Four Tops: Four Tops Live Up To Their Name
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 22 March 1968
THEY HAD reached the top — all four of them. ...
Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gordy's Gladys Souled Out?
Report by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 26 April 1968
THEY RECORD for Soul Records in Detroit. And it's just possible the record label was named for the music the company's top group, Gladys Knight ...
Stevie Wonder: Grand Old Music Man — and Just 17
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 24 May 1968
STEVIE WONDER is 'Uptight'. ...
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey and His Associates Work Hit Parade Miracles
Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 31 May 1968
MOTOWN'S MOST VERSATILE ACT ...
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 16 August 1968
THINGS JUST WONT BE THE SAME ...
Vanilla Fudge: Taking Apart the 'Fudge': Can They Survive Now?
Profile by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 4 October 1968
THEIR PRESS release says, "The Vanilla Fudge is a group unlike any other." They proved this with their rendition of 'You Keep Me Hanging On'. ...
The Chambers Brothers: For Chambers Bros., Time Has Come in a Big Way
Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 1 November 1968
ELECTRIC, PSYCHEDELIC, smooth and professional, they don't depict poor Mississippi-born farmers. But that's where they started. The Chambers Brothers, Willie, George, Lester, Joe and non-brother ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett Says: the Gap About to Widen
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 22 November 1968
GARY PUCKETT and The Union Gap are not exactly the teeny-bopper group most people think they are. ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Thoughts of the Union Gap
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 13 December 1968
WILL THEIR FANS LEAVE THEM? ...
Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young: Neil Young: On His Own In His Own Special Way
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 28 February 1969
NEIL YOUNG is into doing things his own way. ...
Mack Rice Hopes For a Comeback
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 14 March 1969
"'MUSTANG SALLY' has definitely been good to me, but you can't live off one big record. You need a string of 'Sally's' to be able ...
The Association: Wayne State University, Detroit
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 24 March 1969
The Association Concert — A Display of Fine Talent ...
Janis Joplin — A Legend in Her Time
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 18 April 1969
A Girl of Down-to-Earth Conviction ...
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 12 May 1969
Joplin Revue: Music, Yes; Excitement, No ...
Joe Cocker: On Stage Joe's Strong Otherwise He's Groggy
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 16 May 1969
JOE COCKER isn't the best known name in the land. In fact when it was announced he was coming to town everybody asked, "Who's Joe ...
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 June 1969
NEIL YOUNG has allowed his full creative ability loose and hasn't ignored any type of music he's acquainted with in putting this album together. ...
Arif Mardin, The Mar-Keys: Arif Mardin: Glass Onion (Atlantic); The Mar-Keys: Damifiknow (Stax)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 4 July 1969
GLASS ONION — Arif Mardin. You may not be acquainted with Arif Mardin. For a quick run down, he's from Turkey, got deep into jazz ...
Johnny Winter: He Waited, Worked and Worried; Then Overnight, Winter Was Here
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 11 July 1969
HE'S A TALL, white Texan who not only plays the blues, he lives them. ...
Grand Funk Railroad Arrive in Detroit for First Visit
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 25 July 1969
THE STIGMA "local group" has been slapped on many bands and as a result several great groups have found themselves confined to their home territory. ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Savage Grace: Olympia Stadium, Detroit MI
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 29 July 1969
A RATHER eventful weekend just passed as Jeff Berk's group played their last performance together Saturday night at the Grande. It's reported Beck and the ...
Blind Faith: Rick Grech on Blind Faith: "We aren't Cream..."
Interview by Mike Gormley, Creem, August 1969
BLIND FAITH, already the talk of the music industry, can demand $20,000 plus a percentage of the gate for one performance, and they haven't even ...
Blind Faith, Delaney & Bonnie, the Frost, Taste: Olympia Stadium, Detroit
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 5 August 1969
In Detroit Debut at Olympia, Pop Pantheon's Blind Faith is 'Nothing Really Special' ...
Delaney & Bonnie: Delaney and Bonnie Sing a Simple Song
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 15 August 1969
THEY'RE POLITE but friendly, quiet but demonstrative, artistic but businesslike, talented — but talented. ...
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 29 August 1969
B.B. IS the Blues King At Meadow Brook ...
Little Richard: "He's Forgotten Me" — Little Richard Raps James Brown
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 2 September 1969
LITTLE RICHARD is coming to Detroit along with Jerry Lee Lewis. They'll be at Cobo Hall Sept. 6. ...
The Stooges: The Very New "Iggy" Approach To Rock Music
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 21 September 1969
"On Saturday, Iggy appeared onstage wearing only sneakers and dungarees cut down to shorts. Iggy, who was a high school valedictorian back home, seeks to ...
Johnny Winter: Living the Blues
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 26 September 1969
Johnny Winter Tries to Live Up to His Image ...
The Beatles: Abbey Road (Apple)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 30 September 1969
THE FIRST Beatle album since just before Christmas, 1968, is being played all over the place. The album, Abbey Road, evidently will precede another LP around ...
Kim Fowley, The Hollywood Argyles: Kim Fowley
Profile by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 14 October 1969
EVER HEAR OF a guy named Kim Fowley? Fowley was the MC at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was a good job for ...
The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Are We Burying McCartney Before He Is Dead?
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 17 October 1969
What's the Meaning of Beatle Death Symbolism? ...
The Beatles: Christmas Release for Get Back — Album Won't Set the World on Fire
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 17 October 1969
THE BEATLES' next album, Get Back, actually recorded before their recent album Abbey Road, probably won't set the scene on fire. It's better than Abbey ...
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 21 October 1969
THE UP, A group we'll all be hearing a lot about in the near future, will get in the recording studios Oct. 24, 25, 26 ...
Lonnie Mack: Mack the 'Memphis' Man Returns: 'I'm Glad I'm in the Band'
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 24 October 1969
THE SONG 'Memphis', made Johnny Rivers a big star. Remember? He recorded it live at the Whiskey A Go Go, making the club famous throughout ...
The Beatles, The Chambers Brothers: The Chambers Brothers: 'They Put Us Up for Sale; People Bought'
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 31 October 1969
THE CHAMBERS Brothers, who are Willie, George, Joe and Lester Chambers plus Brian Keenan, were dressed in the usual cool clothes they've been noted for ...
Dennis Coffey: Guitarist Dennis Coffey: "No Room for Temperament in Music"
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 7 November 1969
WHEN YOU talk to him he impresses you as a confident man. He knows what's going on but chooses to do things his way rather ...
The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (London)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 14 November 1969
Stones Make a Softer Sound With a Strong Hint of Dylan ...
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 26 November 1969
Rock's Rolling Stones Invade Olympia Stadium ...
The Band: "It's Great Growing Up": The Hard Hawks Became The Relaxed Band
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 28 November 1969
THE BAND. Free-flowing, graceful, country-spiced music from an ex-hard, hard rock band. ...
Brownsville Station: Station Offers a Rock 'n Roll Holiday
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 26 December 1969
AS WE SEE it now, about 12 years ago a lot of people had good foresight. They knew what was going to happen in the ...
New-Old Grande Something to See
Report and Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 26 December 1969
THE LATEST word, in the merry-go-round that ballroom promoters have been sending Detroit people on, is good, but still a little confusing. It's confusing In ...
Hamilton Bohannon: Bohannon: "The Band Doesn't Get the Proper Respect"
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 2 January 1970
MOST MOTOWN groups don't perform on stage while playing their own instruments. It would be rather difficult for The Temptations to go through their dance ...
Chairmen Of The Board, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John and Yoko Envisage Super Jam
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 2 January 1970
IT'S A WELL known fact that John and Yoko Lennon were in Toronto and Ottawa recently to talk about their Peace Festival to be held ...
Ronnie Hawkins: Ronnie Hawkins (Cotillion Records)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 16 January 1970
IT'S A CRAZY album. If anybody remembers the '50s, they are thinking of a man who came out with some of the best hard rock ...
The Band, Ronnie Hawkins: Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins Is Suddenly a Star
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 23 January 1970
SUDDENLY THE world is hearing about Ronnie Hawkins. And all because John Lennon made him an international figure by staying at Ronnie's Canadian home for ...
Buddy Holly, Tom Jones: 11 Years After, Buddy Holly Still Vital to Rock Music
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 3 February 1970
THE TRAGEDY OF all tragedies in the rock world took place 11 years ego, Feb. 3, 1959. A plane, carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper ...
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 8 February 1970
Yes, Holland-Dozier-Holland DID Split with the Giant; Yes, Eddie Holland DID form Invictus Records; Yes, Invictus IS Climbing the Charts ...
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 17 February 1970
Sly and Family Survive Rush Down the Garden Paths ...
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Stone: Stone Too Sick to Rock
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 24 February 1970
Refunds Available ...
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 8 March 1970
VAN MORRISON — MOONDANCE — WARNER BROS. A tremendous album. The production is tight, the songs are good and Morrison's voice, weird as it is, fits perfectly. ...
Chairmen of the Board: 'We Turned Each Other On to Our Talents'
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 13 March 1970
TIME CAN be dangerous and it can be helpful. The old think of the past and enter depression. The young think of the future and ...
Freda Payne: In Pursuit of Superstardom
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 5 April 1970
From the Art Institute to Joe Louis To Duke Ellington to the Carson Show ...
Grand Funk Railroad: The Bigtime Rock Band That's Ignored Back Home in Detroit
Report and Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 17 May 1970
THERE'S NOTHING small-time about Detroit in the music business. More and more, record company executives come here first to tap talent. They know it's here. ...
Jethro Tull: He's Embarrassed and Great
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 1970
ALL THE hoopla about Jethro Tull, including stories in Life, Time, Jazz & Pop and other influential magazines, is justified. Jethro Tull is the best ...
Beaver and Krause, Grateful Dead: Albums from Beaver and Krause, and the Grateful Dead
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 14 June 1970
IN A WILD SANCTUARY — Beaver and Krause — Warner Bros. ...
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 16 June 1970
2 Happenings Make Exciting Weekend ...
Mariposa Folk Festival To Be One of the Best
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 23 June 1970
TORONTO IS going to have a music festival. It will be properly run, have good talent and a place to operate. It's the same one ...
The Up: New Political Rock Group: The Up Begins Where the MC5 Left Off
Profile by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 3 July 1970
ABOVE AND beyond his highly publicized political life, John Sinclair had a great interest in the rock 'n roll world. His band, the MC5, attained ...
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 9 August 1970
PERFORMANCE IS the movie starring Mick Jagger. Don't get it mixed up with Ned Kelly, the other Jagger starrer. Performance unlike Ned Kelly is supposed ...
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 1 September 1970
Mayfield, Solo, Comes on Strong ...
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 4 September 1970
THE WATTS 103rd Street Rhythm Rand is probably best remembered for its million seller 'Loveland'. The group's had several records that have done just as ...
Elvis Presley: Olympia Stadium, Detroit MI
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 15 September 1970
CAPTURED 17,000 MINDS Legendary Elvis Frenzy Lives On ...
Bob Seger: The Bob Seger System: Mongrel (Capitol)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 29 September 1970
Underrated Bob Seger LP Deserves Attention ...
Janis Joplin: Joplin's Last Visit: She Told Them Who Was Boss
Memoir by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 October 1970
LUSTY HEROINE OF ROCK IS DEAD ...
Notes to the Institute, By Stanley Mouse
Profile by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 17 October 1970
STANLEY MOUSE, better known to poster art lovers as just plain Mouse, has a show of his works at the Detroit Institute of Art. In ...
The Jones Girls, Little Richard: Little Richard: Music Hall Theater, Detroit MI
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 9 November 1970
150 See Little Richard: Music Hall No 'Apollo' Yet ...
Emitt Rhodes: Emitt Rhodes (Dunhill)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 15 November 1970
EMITT RHODES' new LP is a one-man job that sounds like Paul McCartney's first solo effort. That crossed my mind to the point of mentioning ...
Little Richard: The Far-Out Little Richard
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 21 November 1970
'Bronze Liberace' Has Some Unusual Ideas About the State of Music — and the World ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Hot Group Gets the Cold Shoulder at Home
Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 24 November 1970
REST OF U.S. RIOTS OVER GRAND FUNK ...
Sly & the Family Stone: Cobo Hall, Detroit
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 24 November 1970
YOU HATE to admit that a man who put you off three times and thus openly displayed his lack of interest in you, turned out ...
George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 December 1970
Old Un-Fancy George Returns ...
Mike Curb Congregation, John Sebastian: Mike Curb: Record Boss Keeps Mum
Report and Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 December 1970
The 'Curb 18' Still Unidentified ...
Fleetwood Mac: Kiln House (Reprise)
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 13 December 1970
AN ECHO-chambered 'This Is The Rock' starts off Kiln House, Fleetwood Mac's latest album, setting the stage for one of the strangest albums this group ...
Creem Reflects Detroit Rock 'n' Roll And Tries to Direct 'the Monster'
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1970
ROCK 'N' ROLL has always had its own journalistic field. The teen magazines used to tell us about Paul Anka's nose job and Elvis Presley's ...
Elton John: Elton Sings 'Your Song' and Finds Himself New Star of the 70s
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1970
ELTON JOHN is a pianist, singer, songwriter and newfound hero of musicians and music lovers alike. Bob Dylan came to see him one night and ...
Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock: Follow Pianist Herbie Hancock On a Trip into the World of Jazz
Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1970
Meet Miles Davis, Ramsey Lewis And Oscar Peterson To Learn About the Kinds of Music That Are Sneaking into Rock ...
John Lennon: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1970
Tender and Bitter — Lennon Says It All ...
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