Michael Jackson visited Record World when Mike Sigman (left) was editor.
BOOKS
History of the Music Biz
by Kathryn Nicolai ’20
In recent years, Mike Sigman ’71 has interviewed dozens of music-business icons, including Tony Bennett and Quincy Jones. The result is the two-volume History of the Music Biz — The Mike Sigman Interviews.
WHY HE PUBLISHED THE BOOKS
Sigman wanted to preserve history and “have these people tell their stories while they can.” Volume One features interviews with presidents and founders of major record labels, such as Motown’s Berry Gordy. Volume Two includes interviews with an array of industry legends — from Jimmy Bowen, the producer of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” to Mike Stoller, half of the hits-making songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller, to music journalists, including Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner.
FOUNDATIONS OF A MUSIC JOURNALIST
Sigman’s father, Carl, was a well-known lyricist and composer. During his time at Bucknell, Mike Sigman majored in philosophy but took an influential introductory music course. He says Bucknell served as a “foundational experience” for his career in music journalism, which included a stint as editor-in-chief of Record World. He reviewed concerts and connected with others interested in music. In Volume One, Sigman interviews fellow Bucknellian Bruce Lundvall ’57, the late president and CEO of the Blue Note Label Group.
HIS BIGGEST THRILL
Answering the phone to hear the distinctive voice of Tony Bennett, who recorded many songs written by Sigman’s father, such as “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story” and “Crazy She Calls Me.” Another impactful interview was with trumpeter Herb Alpert, who surprised Sigman by claiming to be a “card-carrying introvert.”
SIGMAN’S NEXT GIG
Volume Three, due out this year, will feature interviews with record executives Seymour Stein and Art Rupe, as well as Rick Hall, the “Father of Muscle Shoals Music” and owner and proprietor of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. Also included will be the husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, writers of the classics “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Uptown” and “Walking in the Rain.”
History of The Music Biz: The Mike Sigman Interviews, Part I and Part II. Michael Sigman ’71 (Hits Magazine, 2016 and 2017)
FACULTY BOOKS
Chris Ellis ’01 (political science)
Putting Inequality in Context: Class, Public Opinion, and Representation in the United States (University of Michigan Press, 2017) This book inspects current issues of political inequality — an outcome of income inequality. Ellis argues that citizens and legislators alike form views on class politics based on lived experience within particular communities.
Putting Inequality in Context: Class, Public Opinion, and Representation in the United States (University of Michigan Press, 2017) This book inspects current issues of political inequality — an outcome of income inequality. Ellis argues that citizens and legislators alike form views on class politics based on lived experience within particular communities.
Claire Elizabeth Campbell (history)
Nature, Place, and Story: Rethinking Historical Sites in Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017) Campbell rewrites the public history of Canada’s five most celebrated historic sites as environmental history, showing the transformation of nature throughout the development of a nation.