The ultimate showbiz insider's expose, Howling at the Moon is the wildly entertaining and brilliantly narrated autobiography of Walter Yetnikoff, head of CBS Records during its heyday in the 1980s, and then the most powerful man in the music industry. Yetnikoff knew most of the stars and embraced all the excesses of this era: he was mentor to Streisand, father confessor to Michael Jackson, shared a mistress with Marvin Gaye and came to blows with Mick Jagger. He feuded with David Geffen and outmanoeuvred Rupert Murdoch. He was also addicted to cocaine and alcohol - until his doctor gave him just 3 months to live. Yetnikoff came from a working-class Jewish family from Brooklyn; he graduated from law school in the 1950s and proceeded to climb the corporate ladder to the very top. His high-flying ended in breakdown, but throughout his rise and fall, Yetnikoff remained a man of huge charisma and disarming charm. Howling at the Moon is written with David Ritz, the only 4-time winner of the Ralph J Gleason Music Book award, who has collaborated on the autobiographies of such stars as Ray Charles, BB King, Aretha Franklin and Etta James.
Walter Yetnikoff is a 1953 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brooklyn College and received his law degree in 1956 from Columbia University. He joined CBS Records in 1962 and quickly rose through the ranks. In 1975, Yetnikoff was made President of CBS Records Group, spearheading the operation for 15 years and creating the most profitable and prestigious stable of artists in music history. Yetnikoff is generally credited with developing and nurturing the careers of superstars such as Michael Jackson, George Michael, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Living Colour and Public Enemy. He is currently involved in many projects including contemporary performance poetry, the production of soundtrack CDs and counseling new artists. He recently joined the New York board of the Caron Foundation, an addiction treatment facility.
David Ritz is the only four-time winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award. He is the author of the bestselling biography Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye and he has collaborated with many famous performing artists on their autobiographies, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and the Neville Brothers. He won a Grammy in 1992 for Best Album Notes and wrote the lyrics to Marvin Gaye's classic song, "Sexual Healing." He lives in Los Angeles..
CO-AUTHOR: David Ritz co-wrote Tavis Smiley's previous bestseller,
Death of a King, and has collaborated with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, B.B. King, and more.
