Loder, Kurt
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Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
at '' Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that '' Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in '' Reason'', ''
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'', ''
Details Detail(s) or The Detail(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Details'' (film), a 2003 Swedish film * ''The Details'' (film), a 2011 American film * ''The Detail'', a Canadian television series * "The Detail" (''The Wire''), a television epis ...
'', ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
'', and '' Time''. He has also made cameos on several films and television series. He is best known for his role at ''
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
'' since the 1980s and for appearing in other MTV-related television specials.Running Away With the Circus
By Steven Ward
rockcriticsarchives.com
Retrieved December 13, 2008.
He has hosted the SiriusXM radio show ''True Stories'' since 2016.


Early life

Loder was born in Ocean City, New Jersey."Kurt Loder Biography (1945–)"
Film Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
He graduated from Ocean City High School in 1963. He spent two years in college "and just hated it." He was drafted into the United States Army and joined its journalism school.
"Kurt Loder – On Himself"
. Media Learner Service.
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.
"Kurt Loder – On MTV"
. Media Learner Service. Annenberg Media.

. Media Learner Service. Annenberg Media.

. Media Learner Service. Annenberg Media. Retrieved December 13, 2008.


Career

Loder stated that he "just fell into" his field, elaborating that his "entire journalism background is four weeks... That's it. Nothing else. You can learn journalism in four weeks. It's not an overcomplicated thing. It's very simple." Loder lived in Europe for the next several years, doing what he later called "scandal sheet" " yellow journalism." He returned home to New Jersey at the end of 1972 and worked with a local newspaper and then an Ocean City-based magazine run by the sister of the city's famous writer Gay Talese. He left in the summer of 1976 to work with a free
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
rock weekly called ''Good Times''. He received about $200 a week. After meeting a fellow "music geek," David Fricke, "the two of us began driving into Manhattan virtually every night to wallow in the flourishing punk rock scene at CBGB's, Max's, etc. This was, fortunately, cool with the wives. I mean, we'd still be sitting upright at four in the morning through fist fights, mass nod-outs, and sets by bands with names like Blinding Headache, played to audiences of three people, of which we'd be two-thirds. I don't think I can quite convey how great days those were". They both joined '' Circus'' in 1978 and moved to Manhattan. Loder went on to become one of its official editors. The staff had a fun, relaxed atmosphere and considered the magazine to be second or third tier. Loder later said that "Whatever was said to be 'happening' in commercial pop music was... on the cover of Circus. Disco? Run with it. Shirtless teen popsters? Put 'em on the cover... a, shall we say, ardent enthusiasm for pix of nubile youths. Metal, of course, was really the mag's meat." He also remarked that "it was a foregone conclusion that writing of any technical ambition, about new acts of any real excitement or interest, would make it in the mag only by the sheerest accident." Loder briefly experimented with inhalant-based
drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
at ''Circus''; he stopped after experiencing a "gushing" nosebleed without any feeling left in his face. Loder started a nine-year run at ''Rolling Stone'' in May 1979. RockCritics.com has called him "one of ''Rolling Stones most talented and prolific feature writers." While at ''Rolling Stone'', Loder co-authored singer
Tina Turner's Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
1986 autobiography ''
I, Tina ''I, Tina: My Life Story'' is a 1986 autobiography by Tina Turner, co-written by MTV news correspondent and music critic Kurt Loder. The book was reissued by Dey Street Books in 2010. Content The book details Tina Turner's story from her child ...
''. He then contributed to the screenplay adaptation for the film '' What's Love Got to Do with It''. Loder joined MTV in 1987 as the host of their flagship music news program, ''The Week in Rock''. It was later expanded and renamed to ''
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
'' in which he was an anchor and correspondent. Loder was one of the first to break the news of
Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
's death; he interrupted regular programming to inform viewers that Cobain was found dead. Loder authored a 1990 collection of his ''Rolling Stone'' work called ''Bat Chain Puller''. Loder has guest-starred as himself on '' Kenan & Kel'', The "
That '90s Show ''That '90s Show'' is an upcoming American television period teen sitcom set during the summer of 1995, featuring characters and locales which debuted in its predecessor, ''That '70s Show.'' It is set to premiere on Netflix on January 19, 2023 ...
" episode of '' The Simpsons'', '' Girlfriends'', '' Duckman'', '' Saturday Night Live'', and '' Portlandia''. He has appeared in several films. He was also parodied in the ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'' episode " Timmy 2000". Kurt Loder is well known for his battle with palsy. In 2011,
St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
published Loder's ''The Good, the Bad and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews'', which collected his film reviews from MTV.com and Reason.com. In 2016, Loder began hosting the music-based radio talk show ''True Stories'' on SiriusXM.


Personal views


Politics

Loder identifies himself as a
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
and summarizes his position as " free love and free markets". He called former New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
"a scary guy" and called it "amazing that people don't rise up with pitchforks." Loder opposed President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
in the 1992 election and he believes that ''MTV News'' played a small role in Bush's loss. Loder believes that his views came from his childhood experiences, saying:'You Can't Turn Back the Ocean'
By Nick Gillespie. '' Reason''. February 2008.
I grew up on the Jersey Shore, on a little barrier island. The Atlantic Ocean was on one side, the bay was on the other. Everyone there hunted and fished and clammed and got crabs out of the bay. And one day my brother told me someone had come down from the Bureau of Petty Harassment or something and they measured the temperature of the water and had decided it was a little too warm and a certain type of bacteria might incubate in it and there was a chance that might harm the clams. And so, from now on, no one was supposed to take clams out of the bay anymore. Which everyone ignored. And no one died. That was before the government got tenacious about this stuff. So I thought that was pretty stupid right there.
In a 1989 live show, Loder saw Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach wearing a T-shirt reading the anti-gay slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead." Loder reacted with an article in which he stated, "In the land of homophobia, if Axl Rose owns the restaurant and Public Enemy are the diners, we have a new busboy." Bach considered Loder's words "complete bullshit," saying that he had only used the shirt to dry himself off and strongly opposes the message on it, and later issued several public apologies. "SEBASTIAN BACH Says He Lied When He Said He'd Stopped Drinking"
. BlabberMouth.Net. October 21, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
Loder was highly critical of
Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
's documentary '' Sicko'', saying it was "heavily doctored."Loder, Kurt (June 29, 2007 )
"'Sicko': Heavily Doctored"
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
.
He argued, "When governments attempt to regulate the balance between a limited supply of health care and an unlimited demand for it they're inevitably forced to ration treatment."


Media

Loder defines news as "anything that's interesting." He is critical of the idea of new journalism and argues that it has been used as a rhetorical shield for lazy journalism. He believes that new technology has fragmented American culture to the extent that no cinematic or musical success can unify it, as with past rock bands such as The Beatles. He also strongly supports copyright laws. He generally considers himself to be supportive of new media despite his role at MTV, once joking, "MTV is part of
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, which controls
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, and so on and so forth. It's the evil empire." Loder's philosophy on the people he reports on is that:
You shouldn't make friends. It's not a good thing to be friends with people you're covering. There's just no point in doing it. It's tempting, but they're not going to consider you their friend anyway. They just know that you're somebody that can do something for them. So you shouldn't really flatter yourself that they want to be your buddy. They don't... They want you for some reason or other, and you just have to fend that off all the time. And you can't really cover people critically that you're friends with. How would that work? That would be bad. So you always have to keep that in mind.


References


External links

*
Loder's MTV Biography
* *
Kurt Loder – ''Swindle Magazine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loder, Kurt 1945 births American film critics American libertarians American music journalists American television reporters and correspondents American male non-fiction writers Living people United States Army soldiers People from Ocean City, New Jersey Rolling Stone people MTV people