Jaan Uhelszki: Difference between revisions

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>{{cite web | url=http://www.venuszine.com/articles/music/features/268/rock_she_writes_part_two | first name=Venus2002>Robinson, Charlotte. |(August last10, = Robinson | title =2002) "Rock, She Writes (Part Two) – Jaan Uhelszki thrives as a Pioneer Rock & Roll Journalist | publisher =," ''Venus Zine'' | date =August 10, 2002| accessdate =2010-08-19}}.</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>{{citeWoods, webScott. |(August url=http10, 2002) [https://rockcriticsarchivesrockcritics.com/interviews2013/jaanuhelszki08/08/from-the-archives-jaan-uhelszki-2002/jaanuhelszki.html | first = Scott | last = Woods | title = "Jaan Uhelszki – Confessions of a Former Subscription Kid,"] | publisher = ''Rock Critics Archives''. |Retrieved dateon =August 1025, 2002| accessdate =2010-08-25}}.</ref>

UhelszkiAs gota herteen startstudying injournalism Detroitat asWayne aState University, Uhelszki sold T-shirts for the ''Creem'' subscription agentdepartment in 1970.<ref>[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wastoids-with-jaan-uhelszki-of-creem-magazine/id1574769275?i=1000571242907 SheWASTOIDS beganWith writingJaan whenUhelszki of ''Creem'' Magazine.] Retrieved September 27, 2022.</ref> editorEditor [[Dave Marsh]] assigned her to cover [[Smokey Robinson|Smokey Robinson’sRobinson's]] retirement from The Miracles press conference. She wrote the piece as an open letter to Robinson,<ref>{{cite webbegging |him url=http://rockcriticsarchivesnot to leave the music industry.com/interviews/jaanuhelszki/jaanuhelszkiletter.html |The resulting article, her first, =was Jaana |1972 last''Creem'' =cover story.<ref name=RockCriticsLetter2002>Uhelszki, |Jaan. titleApril, =1972. "Jaan Uhelszki – An Open Letter to Smokey Robinson," | publisher = rockcriticsRockcritics.com archives (original publisher: ''Creem'')</ref><ref | date name=AprilNYTimes2022>Rubin, 1972Mike. |August accessdate3, =2010-2020. [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08-25}}</ref>03/arts/music/creem-magazine-documentary.html begging"The himWild notStory toof leave''Creem'', theOnce music‘America’s industry.Only TheRock resulting’n’ articleRoll became aMagazine’,"] ''CreemThe New York Times''. coverNew storyYork, inNew 1972York.<ref>Woods -Retrieved RockSeptember Critics27, Archives2022.</ref>

She went on to writewrote 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>Woods -name=RockCritics2002 Rock Critics Archives</ref>

Uhelszki’sUhelszki'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'' - August, 1975.</ref>
Of proposing the story about performing with KISS, she has 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>{{citeMoser, webMargaret. |(September url=20, 2005) [http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/254/Lisa-Rhodes-Electric-Ladyland-page08.html |first"Electric =Ladyland: MargaretWomen |and lastRock =Culture Moser- | title = From an online discussioninterview with Lisa Rhodes, author of"] ''Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture'' | publisher = The Well - Inkwell: Authors and Artists'', p. 8. |Retrieved dateon =SeptemberDecember 2029, 2005 | accessdate =2008-12-29}}.</ref></blockquote>

The KISS experience, which started out as a joke, would go on to influence the rest of her writing career. Performing in full makeup and costume in front of 6,000 people, Uhelszki noted: <blockquote>''I think that experience has impacted everything I've written afterward because I know what it's like to live, if only for five minutes, on the other side. It was an amazing thing for me. I definitely have much more empathy and much more of an understanding of musicians and that thrill, and how hard it is to give up that surge of power you get every night. You understand what it was like to stand in front of people.''<ref>Leaf, David and& Sharp, Ken, ''KISS: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography'', Grand Central Publishing, November, 2003, p. 184, {{ISBN|0-446-53073-5}}</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’tdidn't expect to live to see thirty. He would die in a tragic plane crash a year and a half later.<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. (March, 1976) "Lynyrd Skynyrd: Fifths and Fists For The Common Man," ''Creem'' - March, 1976.</ref><ref>Robinson, Charlottename=Venus2002 - ''Venus Zine''</ref>

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’sPage's publicist serving as an “interpreter” asking Uhelszki’sUhelszki's questions while Page sat in the same room with them.<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. (July, 1977) "Led Zeppelin: One More For The Road," ''Creem'' - July, 1977</ref><ref>Woods -name=RockCritics2002 Rock Critics Archives</ref>

In 1976 she left ''Creem'' and moved to Los Angeles to work for ''[[Record World]]'' magazine.<ref>Woods - Rock Critics Archives</ref> She would go on to become founding news editor of online magazine [[Addicted to Noise]] before heading up Microsoft Music Central's news department.<ref name=RockCritics2002 />

Uhelszki has been a contributing editor for [[Rolling Stone (magazine)|''Rolling Stone'' Online]].<ref>Uhelszki, Jaan. [httphttps://www.rollingstone.com/contributor/jaan-uhelszki] ''Rolling Stone'' archive]. Retrieved on July 7, 2017.</ref> She was senior editor at [[Harp (magazine)|''Harp'']] from 2002 to 2008, and presently works as [[Relix|''Relix's'']] editor-at-large<ref>{{cite webmagazine | url=http://www.relix.com/about-us/ | title = About Us | publishermagazine = ''Relix'' | date =November 11, 2009| accessdate =2010-08-25}}</ref> besides being a regular contributor to UK music magazines [[Uncut (magazine)|''Uncut'']] and [[Classic Rock (magazine)|''Classic Rock'']].

Uhelszki’sUhelszki'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 writes liner notes for [[Legacy Recordings|Sony Legacy Recordings]], [[Rhino Entertainment|Rhino Records]], and [[Time-Life]].

She has written essays for [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] inductees [[The Pretenders]], [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]], [[Patti Smith]], and [[The Stooges]].

Uhelszki regularly appears as a music authority on [[VH1|VH1’sVH1's]] “Behind the Music” series, as well as on radio shows and at industry panels and workshops, where she works as a media trainer.

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’sWriter'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 is listed in Flavorwire's ''33 Women Music Critics You Need to Read'', 2011.<ref>{{cite webmagazine | url=http://flavorwire.com/180036/33-women-music-critics-you-need-to-read/11#post_body | first = Jason | last = Gross | title = 33 Women Music Critics You Need to Read | publishermagazine = Flavorwire | date =May 16, 2011 | accessdate =2011-05-16}}</ref>