DeRogatis, Jim 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born 1964, in Jersey City, NJ; married Carmél Carrillo; children: daughter. Hobbies and other interests: History, military modeling, and figure painting.

ADDRESSES:

Home—3501 N. Southport, No. 161, Chicago, IL 60657.E-mail—jimdero@jimdero.com.

CAREER:

Writer, critic, and musician. Request magazine, Minneapolis, MN, former assistant editor; Rolling Stone, New York, NY, deputy music editor, 1995-96; Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, IL, pop music critic; Chicago Public Radio, Chicago, cohost of Sound Opinionsweekly talk show.

Member of VORTIS rock band and drummer on albums, including Take the System Down, Thick Records, 2002; God Won't Bless America Again, 2003; and Warzone.

MEMBER:

Military Miniature Society of Illinois.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Kaleidoscope Eyes: Psychedelic Rock from the '60s to the '90s, Carol (Secaucus, NJ), 1996, revised and expanded edition published as Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock, Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI), 2003.

Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Milk It! Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the '90s, Da Capo Press (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

(Editor, with wife, Carmél Carrillo-DeRogatis) Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics,Barricade Books (Fort Lee, NJ), 2004.

Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Also contributor to periodicals, includingSpin, Guitar World, Modern Drummer, Penthouse, and GQ.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Best Thirty Minutes of My Life, a memoir.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jim DeRogatis has developed multiple connections to the music world. He has worked as a drummer for several rock bands (including his current band, VORTIS), written music criticism for various publications such asSpin and GQ, and penned several books on musical topics. DeRogatis's first book, Kaleidoscope Eyes: Psychedelic Rock from the '60s to the '90s, was published in 1996. The book focuses on the evolution of psychedelic rock, beginning with the discovery of the drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in 1938. The author details the drug's influence on culture and music from the height of its popularity in the 1960s up to its resurgence in the mid-1990s. "In an engaging style, [DeRogatis] gives the history of each band and explains where its music fits into the psychedelic genre," noted Trudi Miller Rosenblum in Billboard.Rosenblum also called the book "ambitious and fascinating."

A revised and expanded version of Kaleidoscope Eyes was released in 2003 and titled Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. In the book, DeRogatis continues his discussion of psychedelic rock's place in modern music. Eric Hahn, writing in the Library Journal, pointed out that Turn On Your Mind "aims to show that psychedelic rock didn't just spring up and then [wilt] with the flower children."

DeRogatis published Let Tt Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic in 2000. The book is a biography of the controversial music critic Lester Bangs, who died of a drug overdose in 1982. Bangs was notorious for the brutally honest music reviews that he wrote for Creem, Rolling Stone, and theVillage Voice. DeRogatis first became interested in Bangs when he interviewed the critic for a high school journalism project. While compiling his biography, he utilized interviews with Bangs's friends, family, and colleagues to complete the story of his life. Many reviewers praised the book. Dwight Garner, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called it "readable and well-researched," adding that "DeRogatis brings home the goods." Additionally, a Publishers Weekly reviewer pointed out that the author "achieves the assured, rhythmic voice of a composite confidante," creating a "complete and loving portrait" of Bangs.

In 2006 DeRogatis published Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips. In the book, DeRogatis gives a history of the Flaming Lips rock band from their 1983 formation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to the release of their 2006 platinum album, At War with the Mystics. DeRogatis details the band's growth over the past two decades, their struggles with changing members, and the influences of classic, punk, and indie rock styles on their music. Reviewers offered mixed reactions to Staring at Sound. Library Journal critic Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., called the book "a glimpse of a band whose history is a blip on the radar of rock ‘n’ roll," while simultaneously noting that DeRogatis is a "seasoned rock writer." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also noted the author's experience, stating that "DeRogatis handles the story soberly yet intimately."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Billboard, October 19, 1996, Trudi Miller Rosenblum, review ofKaleidoscope Eyes: Psychedelic Rock from the '60s to the '90s, p. 63.

Booklist, June 1, 2004, Mike Tribby, review of Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics, p. 1684.

Library Journal, October 15, 2003, Lloyd Jansen, review of Milk It! Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the '90s, p. 70; February 15, 2004, Eric Hahn, review of Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock, p. 128; March 1, 2006, Henry L. Carrigan, Jr., review of Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips, p. 88.

New York Times Book Review, April 23, 2000, Dwight Garner, review of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic, p. 8.

Publishers Weekly, February 7, 2000, review of Let It Blurt, p. 73; January 30, 2006, review of Staring at Sound, p. 58.

ONLINE

Jim DeRogatis Home Page,http://www.jimdero.com (June 14, 2006).