Denise Sullivan
| Denise Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Occupation |
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| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1991–present |
| Notable works | Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-hop |
| Spouse | Peter Case |
| Website | |
| denisesullivan |
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Denise Sullivan is an American music journalist and historian who is the author of music biographies as well as the critically acclaimed music-history book, Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-hop.
Sullivan first began writing music journalism for her high school newspaper in Cupertino, California while working as a record-store clerk. At the University of San Francisco, Sullivan became a founding staff member of radio station KUSF under the DJ name Marie London. By the early 80s, the station became one of the first in the nation to program punk rock and new wave music under its new 24-hour format. San Francisco had become home to an underground art-rock scene that morphed into punk and new wave within the span of five years, starting in the late 1970s.
Sullivan would graduate from USF with a degree in media studies, going on to work several jobs in the music industry, including club DJ, publicist for 415 Records, and record-store owner. As an alternative-music marketing manager for Warner Brothers Records, touring throughout the southeast states with Faith No More and Jesus and Mary Chain, among other bands, gave her an insider perspective to the music business. She went into music journalism full-time in 1991.
Sullivan wrote “The Show Goes On” live-music column for The Contra Costa Times from 1992 to 2006. During that time she was also writing music articles for The San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly, SF Bay Guardian, The Express, BAM and Raygun, among others. She was a writer for Rolling Stone’s online site, as well as the popular 90s rock webzine Addicted to Noise.
In 2007, Sullivan began “The Origin of Song” column for Crawdaddy! online, where she contributed reviews, profiles and interviews with classic rock and soul musicians. She profiled rock icons in her “What Makes a Legend” feature and focused on punk and new wave in a “Class of ’77 series.” Sullivan’s interview subjects during her Crawdaddy! tenure included Bettye LaVette, Yoko Ono, Van Dyke Parks, Richie Havens, Janis Ian, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Solomon Burke. Post-Crawdaddy! she has freelanced for music magazines Paste and Blurt, as well as for the activism website, Stir to Action.
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