Caught in the Carousel

Alex Green, Editor, Caught in the Carousel

Alex Green made his first foray into the music industry when at 15, along with David Fieni, he began co-hosting “The Dave and Alex Show” on KVHS, one of the largest high school radio stations in the country. On the strength of the duo’s finely tuned teenage cynicism and recurring characters and segments like The Ravioli Brothers and “Meat of the Week,” the show garnered some of the highest ratings in the station’s history. Opening every show with the Velvet Underground’s “We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together,” “The Dave and Alex Show” became a beloved prime time staple and the two attracted such a groundswell of local attention, they were convinced they would appear on Letterman and be regarded as “America’s Favorite Teens.”

A year his senior, Fieni ended up in college at Berkeley while Alex stayed on and re-named the show “Bedtime With Alex.” After graduating himself, Alex went on to KSMC where he continued to host the program and also served as the station’s Music Director. After graduating from college with an English degree Alex began writing live reviews for the Contra Costa Times. “My first assignment was Eddie Money,” he recalls, “and then Kris Kross. One of those shows brought tears to my eyes, but I’ll never tell you which one.” He later became the Music Editor of SOMA Magazine in San Francisco where he stayed until going back to graduate school at St. Mary’s College of California, where he received his M.F.A. in Poetry. His poems have since appeared in Barrow Street, The Canary, The Mid-American Review, RHINO and The Berkeley Poetry Review.

As a music critic, Alex has interviewed everyone from David Bowie to R.E.M. and his reviews and interviews have appeared in CMJ New Music Monthly, Discoveries, Magnet, Trouser Press and Amplifier. When it comes to music, Alex says, “I am in possession of arcane, albeit encyclopedic facts that would probably alarm you--I can name every b-side by The Jam and I know the name of the original drummer of the Boomtown Rats.”

His book on The Stone Roses for Continuum Publishing’s 33 1/3 series on seminal albums was published in 2006. Currently he teaches English Composition and Music Journalism at St. Mary’s College of California.

A former Division 1 tennis player, although Alex shares the same birthday as Bjorn Borg, he is quick to point out he has five less Wimbledon titles.