ROBERT CHRISTGAU IS 83 TODAY

Learning from the Dean of American Rock Critics

This was originally published here on April 18, 2022, in appreciation of my longtime former teacher and mentor’s 80th birthday. Happy 83rd, Bob.

My favorite sentence written by Robert Christgau is from his 2014 memoir, Going Into the City: Portrait of a Rock Critic as a Young Man.

In the chapter about rejoining the Village Voice in 1974 as editor of the music section, aka “Riffs,” Christgau devotes some paragraphs to putting together his dream team. "From the Creem side I enlisted Lester Bangs, R. Meltzer, and future Newsday rock critic Wayne Robins, from the Rolling Stone side Janet Maslin, Stephen Holden, and future New School dean Jim Miller." I reopen that page so often I don't need to bookmark it (page 293, Dey St. hard cover). The book just flaps open to that page.

When I first read it, I had no idea that Christgau had perceived me that way. It makes me feel like an unexpected NFL draft pick from a small college no one expected to be chosen in the first round. (I had actually bro…