Michael Erlewine


John Michael Erlewine is an American musician, astrologer, TV host, photographer, publisher, and Internet entrepreneur who founded the music online database site AllMusic in 1991.

Biography

Early life

Erlewine was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he has had several careers. As a musician, he was active in the Michigan folk music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1961, he hitchhiked with Bob Dylan, and traveled to Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York; Venice, a Los Angeles neighborhood; and San Francisco.

Music career

Erlewine, along with his younger brother Dan began a blues band called the Prime Movers, which regularly played in Chicago; other members included "Blue" Gene Tyranny. When the drummer left, the band replaced him with Iggy Pop, then 18 years old. The Prime Movers gave him the nickname "Iggy" as he had played in the band The Iguanas. According to biographer Jim Ambrose, the two years Osterberg which was in the band made him aware of "art, politics, and experimentation."

Astrology

In 1977, Erlewine founded Matrix Software. He was the first person to program astrology on microcomputers and make astrological programs available to the astrological community. He has published more than forty books on astrology and related topics.

Honours

Michael Erlewine and his band, the Prime Movers, were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2015.

Family

Erlewine and his wife have four children including musician May Erlewine. He is the uncle of music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

All Music Guide

In the 1990s, Erlewine founded the All Music Guide, the All Movie Guide, and the All Game Guide. The first site in particular has become an important popular music reference which licenses its content to numerous other websites. Erlewine regained control of Matrix Software in November 2008 and is the director of the company.

Publications

  • Erlewine, Michael, 1980, "Astrological programming manual", American Federation of Astrologers, Tempe, Arizona
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1992, "All-Music Guide", editor
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1999, "All-Music Guide to the Blues", editor
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1999, "All-Music Guide to Rock", editor
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1997, "All-Music Guide to Country", editor
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1996, "All-Music Guide to Jazz", editor
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "The Sun Is Shining", paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "Astrophysical Directions", paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "Interface: Planetary Nodes”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1981, “Local Space: Relocation Astrology”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, “Tibetan Earth Lords: Tibetan Astrology and Geomancy”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2007, “Astrology's Mirror: Full-Phase Aspects”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1998, “Our Pilgrimage to Tibet”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 1980, “Burn Rate: Retrogrades in Astrology”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2005, “Mother Moon: Astrology of 'The Lights'”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2007, “Interpret Astrology: The 360 3-Way Combinations”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2007, “Interpret Astrology: The House Combinations”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2007, “Interpret Astrology: The Planetary Combinations”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “Astrology of the Heart: Astro-Shamanism”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “The Astrology of Space”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “StarTypes: Life-Path Partners”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “How to Learn Astrology”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “The Art of Feng Shui”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2008, “Tibetan Astrology”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2010, “Experiences with Mahamudra”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2010, “Nature in the Backyard”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael, 2010, “Dharma Poems”, paperback
  • Erlewine, Michael and Stanley Livingston, 2010, “Blues in Black & White: The Landmark Ann Arbor Blues Festivals”, paperback