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{{Short description|American music journalist}}
'''Jaan Uhelszki''' ({{IPAc-en|'|dʒ|æ|n|_|j|u|ˈ|h|ɛ|l|s|k|i}} {{respell|JAN|_|you|HELL|ski}}) is an American music journalist and co-founder of the music magazine ''[[Creem]]''
== Early influences ==
Uhelszki grew up in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], listening to Motown and FM rock radio, and worked as a "Coke Girl" selling sodas at the [[Grande Ballroom]], which allowed her access to early shows featuring [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[The Stooges]], the [[MC5]], and [[Janis Joplin]].<ref name=Venus2002>Robinson, Charlotte. (August 10, 2002) "Rock, She Writes (Part Two) – Jaan Uhelszki thrives as a Pioneer Rock & Roll Journalist," ''Venus Zine''.</ref> She started reading ''[[The East Village Other]]'' and ''[[The Village Voice]]'' after a trip to [[New York City]] when she was fifteen. Articles by [[Nik Cohn]] and Michael Thomas inspired her to become a rock critic herself.<ref name=RockCritics2002>Woods, Scott. (August 10, 2002) [
== Writing career ==
As a teen studying journalism at Wayne State
She wrote movie columns and feature-length profiles, eventually becoming a senior editor while working alongside fellow writer [[Lester Bangs]]. ''Creem'' at the time employed what was considered a “dream team” of rock writers, including Uhelszki, Bangs, Marsh, Ben Edmonds, and Roberta Cruger. Uhelszki has described the insular experience of working on a monthly music magazine as “like living on Donkey Island from Pinocchio--only we looked entirely normal.”<ref name=RockCritics2002 />
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Uhelszki's feature article "I Dreamed I Was Onstage with KISS in My Maidenform Bra" documents the night she performed in full costume and makeup with the band [[Kiss (band)|KISS]]—the only rock journalist ever to do so.<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. (August, 1975) "I Dreamed I Was Onstage with KISS in My Maidenform Bra," ''Creem''.</ref>
Of proposing the story about performing with KISS, she pointed out: <blockquote>''A man couldn't have done that story. He wouldn't have got the access. Being an underestimated under-gender I got away with things my male counterparts couldn't.''<ref>Moser, Margaret. (September 20, 2005) [http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/254/Lisa-Rhodes-Electric-Ladyland-page08.html "Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture - interview with Lisa Rhodes,"] ''The Well - Inkwell: Authors and Artists'', p. 8. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.</ref></blockquote>
She traveled with [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] for a feature article about their second-to-last tour, and was captivated by the late [[Ronnie Van Zant|Ronnie Van Zant's]] spirit, although he told her that he didn't expect to live to see thirty. He would die in a plane crash a year and a half later.<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. (March, 1976) "Lynyrd Skynyrd: Fifths and Fists For The Common Man," ''Creem''.</ref><ref name=Venus2002 />
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She was able to get a hard-won interview with Jimmy Page, but only after touring with [[Led Zeppelin]] for a week and with Page's publicist serving as an “interpreter” asking Uhelszki's questions while Page sat in the same room with them.<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. (July, 1977) "Led Zeppelin: One More For The Road," ''Creem''</ref><ref name=RockCritics2002 />
In 1976 she left ''Creem'' and moved to Los Angeles to work for ''[[Record World]]'' magazine.
===Current work===
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Uhelszki's features have been published in ''[[New Musical Express]]'', ''The Village Voice'', [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'']], [[Mojo (magazine)|''Mojo'']], [[Alternative Press (music magazine)|''Alternative Press'']], ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'', and the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. She has interviewed and profiled, among others, [[Al Green]], [[Neil Young]], [[Iggy Pop]], [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], [[Thirty Seconds to Mars]], [[Morrissey]], and [[Green Day]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/writer.html?WriterID=uhelszki | title = Writers - Jaan Uhelszki | publisher = Rock's Back Pages | accessdate =2010-08-25}}</ref>
Uhelszki is consulting editor emeritus of ''Creem'', relaunched as an online and print publication in 2022.<ref>Appleford, Steve. September 27, 2022. [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-09-27/creem-is-risen-a-once-extinct-rock-magazine-is-on-a-quest-to-make-itself-vital-again "Creem has risen: A once-exitinct rock magazine is on a quest to make itself vital again,"] ''Los Angeles Times''. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved September 26, 2022.</ref>
== Media work ==
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Uhelszki appears in the 2012 documentary, ''[[Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me]]'', directed by Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori. In the film, she discusses the first and only Rock Writer's Convention that occurred in 1972 in Memphis, Tennessee, where Big Star performed for a gathering of top rock critics from throughout the U.S.<ref>Hoskyns, Barney (undated) Rockcritics.com (originally published in Rock's Backpages) [http://rockcriticsarchives.com/features/rockwrite/rockwrite.html "The Great Lig in the Sky - The Legendary, First-and-Last Rock Writer's Convention!"]</ref> Uhelszki calls the Big Star performance a "seminal experience."
Uhelszki co-wrote and co-produced the
== Personal life ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uhelszki, Jaan}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American editors]]
[[Category:American women editors]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:American women music critics]]
[[Category:American music journalists]]
[[Category:American women journalists]]
[[Category:American women writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Detroit]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
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