Michael Christopher is a journalist, music historian and DJ. He is the author of 2020’s Depeche Mode: All That’s Left to Know About the World’s Finest Synth-Pop Band, as part of the acclaimed FAQ series from Backbeat Books, and 2021’s Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock, for which he also narrated the audiobook. A senior writer for the online music magazine Vanyaland, where he was a founding member and later managing editor, Michael contributes regularly to Ultimate Classic Rock, Metal Edge and guests regularly on radio and podcasts as an expert on a variety of music-related topics. He also has a syndicated music and lifestyle column for a range of newspapers in the Philadelphia metro region and beyond under the MediaNews Group banner. Michael has appeared in two seasons of the acclaimed Story of the Songs TV series on Reelz in the United States, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and SBS in Australia. His work has appeared in the Boston Phoenix, LA Weekly, Loudwire, Boston Magazine, Rockpile, Ronda, ScreenCrush and Diffuser. Michael lives in Boston, building a respectable vinyl collection and working on his next book.
Michael can be found at thechroniclesofmc.com
Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock (Backbeat 2021)
Come the late '70s, the rock music landscape was littered with the bloated carcasses of bands who partied too hard, burned out, or became complacent in success. The door was open for something fresh, wild, and enrapturing. Enter Van Halen. Made up of two Dutch-born brothers, one on drums and the other whose guitar was an extension of his very being, a bass player with a golden throat, and a front man who made up for his lack of singing ability with attitude and gravity-defying acrobatics onstage, they were unlike anything ever seen before.
Alex and Edward Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and David Lee Roth put a cap on one decade and exploded into the next with a brand of music not quite punk, not quite metal, and not at all subtle. They went from headlining backyard keggers to top billing at the US Festival in front of three hundred thousand people within five years. Then, right when it looked like there wasn't an obstacle created to slow the Mighty Van Halen ascent, the group imploded from the inside out, only to rebound stronger than ever with ex-Montrose howler Sammy Hagar leading them to four consecutive number one albums.
Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock tells the story of how one of America's greatest bands weathered arguably the most dramatic soap opera in rock and roll history with songs that would weave themselves into the fabric of every musician who heard them, alongside an incendiary and unrivaled live show. Featuring exclusive interviews with insiders, fans, and artists who were there to witness the rise, the tumult, and the making of legends, it's a story that has to be read to be believed.
Depeche Mode FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Finest Synth-Pop Band
Backbeat, 2020
The preeminent synth-pop outfit for four decades, Depeche Mode have endured an ever-shifting musical landscape, rising above fads and battles with personal demons, somehow managing to retain a hold on the charts and the audience, the latter which continues to grow as new generations discover them and become “devotees.”
Depeche Mode FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Finest Synth-Pop Band shows how a group of schoolmates influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk, Joy Division, and mid-period David Bowie carved out their own musical niche until they became one of the most influential bands to come out of England. Depeche Mode were Europe’s best-kept secret in the early '80s with the albums Construction Time Again and the—perhaps—tongue-in-cheek-titled Music for the Masses. They became a worldwide phenomenon as the '90s dawned, with the landmark LP Violator, containing the smash hits "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy the Silence," and "Policy of Truth."
But success came at a price as depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and personnel departures threatened to derail the band. It wasn’t a question of whether the music of Depeche Mode would be able to withstand fickle industry changes, but rather if the members of the group themselves could make it out alive. Depeche Mode FAQ shows how they did, becoming legends in the process.