In July 1973, a gang led by Zeppelin stole $203,000 from a security deposit at the Drake Hotel in New York City. Danny Goldberg, former press agent for Led Zeppelin, makes little mention of Rapture in his book Bumping into Geniuses: My Life in the Rock and Roll Business. Jason Buhrmester draws attention to this “greatest robbery” in history, as the premise of his novel Black Dogs: Perhaps the True Story of Rock’s Greatest Heist
Read Danny Goldberg’s book to get a solid guide to the rocks before proceeding to Black Dogs. Goldberg’s autobiography, Bumping into Genius is a must read for led fans. Zeppelin, KISS, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Nirvana, Warren Zevon and classic rock overall. The title comes from Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, whose advice on getting into the rock business was to “watch the walk until you hit a genius, and when you hold on and don’t let go” (Goldberg. 4).
Danny Goldberg tells his story with great humility. While providing an inside look at the real world of the music business, he tells the story of the artists he worked with: Jimmy Page< /a>, Stevie Nicks, Kurt Cobain , Warren Zevon and more. In each book, the three parts of the story cover his personal life and career-choices with stories about his talents. He agreed.
In Part I of Woodstock Nation’s Brief State of Grace, 1969-1976 he tells how he “warped his way into the throats of a New York critic” (13), where he met Patti Smith when she was still unknown. Goldberg explains in clear terms. the influx of underground radio stations breaking out in bands like Led Zeppelin who are not loved by rock critics still stuck to the 60’s. Although Zeppelin already had four hugely successful instruments, Danny’s band hired Solters, Sabinson and Roskin through solid PR to improve their image in the press (58-59).
In Part II Corporate Rock, 1976-1989 Goldberg is described as leaving Zeppelin to start his own PR firm. One of his big clients during this time was KISS. Danny had learned from Peter Zeppelin’s manager Presta that the real “rock star was in business” (129). He finally put this knowledge to use when he and Paul Fishkin signed Stevie Nicks to their new label Modern Records for her first album .
Goldberg continues his fascinating career chronicles in Part 3 of The Rock Middle Ages, 1989-2004. Part 3 involves his involvement with the No Nukes project which introduced him to Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. After selling half of the modern records, Danny’s company Golden Mountain Entertainment managed Bonnie.
In telling the story, Goldberg analyzes Raitt’s vague success with his album Nick of Time. He describes Nick of Time as a classic example of “patient passive resistance from radio promotion to people who have the work of verbally rendering an artistic image, but who have no appetite for recording work” (170). Still, Raitt won four Grammys for the album, even though none of the songs on it were radio hits (172).
Goldberg is full of insightful analysis of the music business, but the most moving sections in the book are chapters 8 and 11. Chapter Eleven is mostly about terminal illness making Warren Zevon’s last album The Wind. Chapter Nine reveals the professional and personal relationship with Nirvana, especially Kurt Cobain. Danny writes of Cobain with vulnerability, “I was his manager where I did an honest job, and his friend where I failed” (175).
Where Bumping on Geniuses is a non-fictional look at the rock music industry, Black Dogs is fictional stories whose characters are huge rock fans. 19-year-old Patrick Sullivan olive gathers a group of small time bandits to pull off an impossible score by robbing. Led Zeppelin. Frenchy’s character exclaims, “It’s crazy. Zeppelin are the biggest band on the planet right now. The biggest! How am I gonna pull this off” (47)?
Apparently someone, maybe Patrick and his friends, robbed Led Zeppelin. Danny Goldberg gives a brief account of the way Bumping into Geniuses:
The Madison Square Garden shows, which featured the movie The Song Remains the Same, were the last shows of the 1973 tour. I was standing at the stadium when I noticed Peter talking in an agitated tone to Ahmet. I soon found out what the matter was. Peter had more than two hundred thousand dollars in cash, but he put it in a safe deposit box. the Drake Hotel, the box was broken into and all the money stolen. (78).
Classic rock music provides a constant background to the plot of Black Dogs. In one scene Emily roots through Patrick’s Black Sabbath collection and then asks: “Are you some kind of Satanist” (22)? Finally, she chooses the radio song instead “Goodbye Yellow Bricks Road”. Another scene destroys Patrick’s friends Alex and Gallus close to Keith with the story that the Door in Soul Train Soul Train played. -44).
The Black Dog is a fun book. The tendency to argue about the population or the malice of the most favored bonds is particularly snarky. See Robert Lanham’s article “Leader Zeppelin vs. Black Sabbath” to get into the main points of this debate. Finally, Lanham sided with Patrick Sullivan. Says Lanham, “Zeppelin’s band is partying, but your dreams will have a Sabbath” (120).
If you don’t agree, don’t sweat it. In both Black Dogs and Bumping into Geniuses Led Zeppelin got a good amount of PR. Above all, Jason Buhrmester’s novel and Danny Goldberg’s memoir are worthwhile not only for aging Boomers but also for teenagers who love the power of old bands in music.
Buhrmester, Jason. Black Dogs: Possibly the True Story of Rock’s Greatest Robbery New York: Three Rivers Press, 2009.
Lanham, Robert. “We Got Zeppelin vs. Black Sabbath” in Roto and Cage Roll Match: Music’s Greatest Matches, Liked. Edited by Sean Manning. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008, 112-122.
Goldberg, Danny. Bumping into Geniuses: My Life in the Rock and Roll Business. London: Gotham Books, 2008.
