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==Early life==
==Early life==
Bloom was born to a [[American Jewish|Jewish]] family in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref name=PsychToday>[http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/201208/the-god-problem-interview-howard-bloom Psychology Today: "The God Problem: An Interview with Howard Bloom - How does the universe account for its own creation?] August 28, 2012</ref> He began his interest in science as early as ten years old, becoming fascinated in [[cosmology]] and [[microbiology]].<ref name=cspan1>{{cite video|people= Howard Bloom, Foreman, Richard|date= Mar 21, 2010|title= The Genius of the Beast|url= http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=597872427|format= Interview|medium= SWF/FLV/Flash|language= English| publisher=C-SPAN| location= New York, New York, United States|accessdate= August 28, 2011|time= 13:38|id=292561-1|quote=SO I GOT INVOLVED IN COSMOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY AT THE AGE OF 10.|ref= cspan}}</ref> By sixteen, Bloom was working as an assistant researching the immune system, at the world's largest cancer research center, the [[Roswell Park Cancer Institute|Roswell Park Memorial Research Cancer Institute]].<ref name=Bio>{{cite web|title=Biography of Howard Bloom|url=http://howardbloom.net/bloombio.htm|work=howardbloom.net|accessdate=28 August 2011}}</ref> Bloom graduated from [[New York University]] and at the age of twenty-five, veered from his scientific studies to work as an editor for a [[rock and roll|rock]] magazine. Bloom would go on to found the largest P.R. firm in the music industry.<ref name=Bio />
Bloom was born to a [[American Jewish|Jewish]] family in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref name=PsychToday>[http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/201208/the-god-problem-interview-howard-bloom Psychology Today: "The God Problem: An Interview with Howard Bloom - How does the universe account for its own creation?] August 28, 2012</ref> He began his interest in science as early as ten years old, becoming fascinated in [[cosmology]] and [[microbiology]].<ref name=cspan1>{{cite video|people= Howard Bloom, Foreman, Richard|date= Mar 21, 2010|title= The Genius of the Beast|url= http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=597872427|format= Interview|medium= SWF/FLV/Flash|language= English| publisher=C-SPAN| location= New York, New York, United States|accessdate= August 28, 2011|time= 13:38|id=292561-1|quote=SO I GOT INVOLVED IN COSMOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY AT THE AGE OF 10.|ref= cspan}}</ref> By sixteen, Bloom was working as an assistant researching the immune system at the [[Roswell Park Cancer Institute|Roswell Park Memorial Research Cancer Institute]].<ref name=Bio>{{cite web|title=Biography of Howard Bloom|url=http://howardbloom.net/bloombio.htm|work=howardbloom.net|accessdate=28 August 2011}}</ref> Bloom graduated from [[New York University]] and at the age of twenty-five, veered from his scientific studies to work as an editor for a [[rock and roll|rock]] magazine. Bloom would go on to found one of the largest public relations firms in the music industry.<ref name=Bio />


==Career==
==Career==
===Public relations===
===Public relations===
Howard Bloom in 1974 was made head of public relations of [[ABC Records]].<ref>(August 24, 1974) "Major shuffle sees ABC consolidation". ''Billboard''. p. 3</ref> He also was briefly head of [[Gulf+Western]]'s music publicity department. In 1976, he founded The Howard Bloom Organization and "transformed and launched" in the late 1970s and 1980s many major artists.<ref name="Smith"/> In 1980 he suggested to [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] and his management that he "aggressively pursue the rock and new wave audience&nbsp;... Consequently, Prince's management put together a string of dates designed with racially mixed audiences in mind".<ref name="Nilsen">Nilsen, Per (2003) Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade. SAF Publishing</ref> He tutored the band [[Styx (band)|Styx]] in how to appeal to "more staid magazines" such as the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' and so make them mainstream.<ref name=" Serling ">Whitaker, Serling. (2007) ''Styx: The Grand Delusion: The Unauthorized True Story of Styx''. Booksurge</ref> He was hired by [[Columbia Records]] to make [[Billy Joel]] "more media friendly".<ref name="Smith">Smith, Bill (2007). ''I Go To Extremes: The Billy Joel Story''. Robson Books.</ref>
In 1974 Bloom was made head of public relations of [[ABC Records]].<ref>(August 24, 1974) "Major shuffle sees ABC consolidation". ''Billboard''. p. 3</ref> He also was briefly head of [[Gulf+Western]]'s music publicity department. In 1976, he founded The Howard Bloom Organization.<ref name="Smith"/> In 1980 Bloom suggested to [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] and his management that he "aggressively pursue the rock and new wave audience&nbsp;... Consequently, Prince's management put together a series of performances designed with racially mixed audiences in mind".<ref name="Nilsen">Nilsen, Per (2003) Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade. SAF Publishing</ref> He tutored the band [[Styx (band)|Styx]] in how to appeal to "more staid magazines" such as the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' and so make them mainstream.<ref name=" Serling ">Whitaker, Serling. (2007) ''Styx: The Grand Delusion: The Unauthorized True Story of Styx''. Booksurge</ref> He was hired by [[Columbia Records]] to make [[Billy Joel]] "more media friendly".<ref name="Smith">Smith, Bill (2007). ''I Go To Extremes: The Billy Joel Story''. Robson Books.</ref>


He was also the publicist for [[Michael Jackson]],<ref name="Hicklin">Aaron Hicklin (February 18, 2001). "Starbucking the trend;manhattan transfer". ''[[The Sunday Herald]]''.</ref><ref name="Sommerville">Anna Sommerville (January 17, 2000). "The truth is out there and it is much stranger than fiction" ''[[The Scotsman]]''.</ref> [[Cyndi Lauper]],<ref name="Sommerville"/> [[Talking Heads]],<ref name="Sommerville"/> [[Lionel Richie]],<ref>Green, Paul (February 22, 1986). "Cutbacks at Kragen & Co. Billboard", 98 [8] pp. 1, 77</ref><ref>(February 24, 1986) "Richie gets new manager; Ends Gragen association". ''[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]''.</ref> [[ZZ Top]],<ref name=" Hicklinfeb4">Aaron Hicklin (February 4, 2001). "Wise guy;manhattan transfer" ''[[The Sunday Herald]]''.</ref> [[Bette Midler]], [[AC/DC]], [[Simon & Garfunkel]],<ref name="Lisman"/> [[John Mellencamp]],<ref>Goldberg, Danny (2009). ''Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business''. [[Penguin Books]]</ref><ref>Jim Pettigrew (1989). ''The Billboard Guide To Music Publicity''. Billboard Books.</ref> [[Earth, Wind & Fire]],<ref>Snider, Eric (January 13, 1988). "Concert rehearsal is slow business: It's hurry up and wait on the Earth, Wind Fire set". ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''.</ref> and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]].<ref name=" Hicklinfeb4"/> He handled [[Bob Marley]] including his [[Uprising Tour]].<ref>White Timothy (2000) Catch a fire: The life of Bob Marley. [[Omnibus Press]]</ref><ref>Kozak Roman, (December 12, 1980) Bob Marley keeps on promoting Jamaican reggae around the globe. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''</ref>
Bloom was also a publicist for [[Michael Jackson]],<ref name="Hicklin">Aaron Hicklin (February 18, 2001). "Starbucking the trend;manhattan transfer". ''[[The Sunday Herald]]''.</ref><ref name="Sommerville">Anna Sommerville (January 17, 2000). "The truth is out there and it is much stranger than fiction" ''[[The Scotsman]]''.</ref> [[Cyndi Lauper]],<ref name="Sommerville"/> [[Talking Heads]],<ref name="Sommerville"/> [[Lionel Richie]],<ref>Green, Paul (February 22, 1986). "Cutbacks at Kragen & Co. Billboard", 98 [8] pp. 1, 77</ref><ref>(February 24, 1986) "Richie gets new manager; Ends Gragen association". ''[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]''.</ref> [[ZZ Top]],<ref name=" Hicklinfeb4">Aaron Hicklin (February 4, 2001). "Wise guy;manhattan transfer" ''[[The Sunday Herald]]''.</ref> [[Bette Midler]], [[AC/DC]], [[Simon & Garfunkel]],<ref name="Lisman"/> [[John Mellencamp]],<ref>Goldberg, Danny (2009). ''Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business''. [[Penguin Books]]</ref><ref>Jim Pettigrew (1989). ''The Billboard Guide To Music Publicity''. Billboard Books.</ref> [[Earth, Wind & Fire]],<ref>Snider, Eric (January 13, 1988). "Concert rehearsal is slow business: It's hurry up and wait on the Earth, Wind Fire set". ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''.</ref> and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]].<ref name=" Hicklinfeb4"/> He handled [[Bob Marley]] including his [[Uprising Tour]].<ref>White Timothy (2000) Catch a fire: The life of Bob Marley. [[Omnibus Press]]</ref><ref>Kozak Roman, (December 12, 1980) Bob Marley keeps on promoting Jamaican reggae around the globe. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''</ref>


Howard Bloom has been described in a biography of Billy Joel as "the public relations spinmeister to have on your payroll in the seventies and eighties if you were a musician and your image needed to be authenticated to the masses. With his company, the Howard Bloom Organization, which he founded in the seventies, he had successfully transformed and launched the careers of many rock stars, including John Mellencamp, Kiss, [[Hall and Oates]], AC/DC, [[Run DMC]]".<ref name="Smith"/> He has also been described as "one of the most successful publicists of his generation, a star maker whose client list was a Who's Who of rock and roll&nbsp;... [whose]&nbsp;... interest in rock and roll had more to do with the study of mass psychology in action than furthering the aggrandizement of spoiled rock stars. He approached PR as an applied science".<ref name=" Serling "/>
Bloom has been described in a biography of Billy Joel as "the public relations spinmeister to have on your payroll in the seventies and eighties if you were a musician and your image needed to be authenticated to the masses". With his company he had successfully transformed and launched the careers of many rock stars, including [[John Mellencamp]], [[KISS]], [[Hall and Oates]], [[AC/DC]], and [[Run DMC]]".<ref name="Smith"/> He has also been described as "one of the most successful publicists of his generation, a star maker whose client list was a Who's Who of rock and roll&nbsp;... [whose]&nbsp;... interest in rock and roll had more to do with the study of mass psychology in action than furthering the aggrandizement of spoiled rock stars. He approached PR as an applied science".<ref name=" Serling "/>


In 1979, ''[[New York Magazine]]'' put him in the "Hot 100 plus" as one of its "Big Dealmakers" and observed "His brain is a vinyl storage system: the most thorough and efficient".<ref>"Hot 100 Plus" ''[[New York Magazine]]'' vol 12 issue 13. March 26, 1979.</ref> According to Derek Sutton, manager of the Styx, he was "probably the greatest press agent that rock and roll has ever known."<ref name=" Serling "/> In 1986, the Howard Bloom Organization was reported to be "one of the most successful independent public relations firms in the music business. Last year his acts grossed $333 million."<ref>''Personal Computing''. Vol 10. (1986). p. 58</ref>
In 1979, ''[[New York Magazine]]'' put him in the "Hot 100 plus" as one of its "Big Dealmakers" and observed, "His brain is a vinyl storage system: the most thorough and efficient".<ref>"Hot 100 Plus" ''[[New York Magazine]]'' vol 12 issue 13. March 26, 1979.</ref> According to Derek Sutton, manager of the Styx, he was "probably the greatest press agent that rock and roll has ever known."<ref name=" Serling "/> In 1986, the Howard Bloom Organization was reported to be "one of the most successful independent public relations firms in the music business. Last year his acts grossed $333 million."<ref>''Personal Computing''. Vol 10. (1986). p. 58</ref>


===Books===
===Books===
Howard Bloom has written four books: ''The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates'', ''The Genius of the Beast'', ''Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century'', and ''[[The Lucifer Principle]]''. His books generalize and extend his ideas about what makes [[rock and roll]] artists successful to [[human nature]]. According to him: "Everything from the wolf-pack behavior of music business executives to the lemming-like conduct of hypocritical journalist helped shape my insights" and that "[t]he real magic of rock happens at a concert, where if the performers are successful, individuals&nbsp;... merge in a pulse of common emotion ...&nbsp;This consolidation mirrors the force that create much of both human good and evil".<ref name="Adcroft">Adcroft, Patrice (February 1995) [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oJSpnH7TRHsC&lpg=PA86&dq=%22howard%20bloom%22%20%22Michael%20Jackson%22&pg=PA87#v=onepage&q=%22howard%20bloom%22%20&f=false Giving Beelzebub equal time: Howard Bloom's journey to the heart of darkness in the Lucifer Principle.] ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' vol 10 (11) p. 86.</ref> He founded the International Paleopsychology Project, an Internet group "to study the development of the universe from its conception to the present". Individuals crediting him with inspiration include the scientist [[Peter Corning]]<ref>[[Peter Corning|Corning, P. A]]. (2006) Holistic Darwinism: synergy, cybernetics, and the bioeconomics of evolution. University of Chicago Press</ref> and [[science fiction]] writer [[Greg Bear]].<ref>[[Greg Bear|Bear, G.]] (2004) ''Darwin's Children''. Del Rey Books.</ref>
Bloom has written four books: ''The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates'', ''The Genius of the Beast'', ''Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century'', and ''[[The Lucifer Principle]]''. His books generalize and extend his ideas about what makes [[rock and roll]] artists successful to [[human nature]]. According to him: "Everything from the wolf-pack behavior of music business executives to the lemming-like conduct of hypocritical journalist helped shape my insights" and that "[t]he real magic of rock happens at a concert, where if the performers are successful, individuals&nbsp;... merge in a pulse of common emotion ...&nbsp;This consolidation mirrors the force that create much of both human good and evil".<ref name="Adcroft">Adcroft, Patrice (February 1995) [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oJSpnH7TRHsC&lpg=PA86&dq=%22howard%20bloom%22%20%22Michael%20Jackson%22&pg=PA87#v=onepage&q=%22howard%20bloom%22%20&f=false Giving Beelzebub equal time: Howard Bloom's journey to the heart of darkness in the Lucifer Principle.] ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' vol 10 (11) p. 86.</ref> He founded the International Paleopsychology Project, an Internet group "to study the development of the universe from its conception to the present". Individuals crediting him with inspiration include the scientist [[Peter Corning]]<ref>[[Peter Corning|Corning, P. A]]. (2006) Holistic Darwinism: synergy, cybernetics, and the bioeconomics of evolution. University of Chicago Press</ref> and [[science fiction]] writer [[Greg Bear]].<ref>[[Greg Bear|Bear, G.]] (2004) ''Darwin's Children''. Del Rey Books.</ref>


His fourth book, ''The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates'', was issued August 24, 2012.<ref>{{cite book |title=The God problem: how a godless cosmos creates |last=Bloom |first=Howard K. |year=2012 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, N.Y. |isbn=9781616145514 |oclc=764387290}}
His fourth book, ''The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates'', was issued August 24, 2012.<ref>{{cite book |title=The God problem: how a godless cosmos creates |last=Bloom |first=Howard K. |year=2012 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, N.Y. |isbn=9781616145514 |oclc=764387290}}
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===Activism===
===Activism===
Together with [[Bob Guccione, Jr.]], [[Ted Nugent]], [[John Waite]] and [[Sheena Easton]], Howard Bloom in 1986 formed Music in Action to protest against the censorship against rock music being sought and advocated by [[Fundamentalist Christianity|religious fundamentalist]]s such as [[Jimmy Swaggart]].<ref>(August 28, 1986) [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]]</ref><ref>Duncan, Amy. (January 10, 1989) "Can music corrupt?" ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' p. 10</ref>
In 1986 together with [[Bob Guccione, Jr.]], [[Ted Nugent]], [[John Waite]] and [[Sheena Easton]], Bloom formed ''Music in Action'' to protest against the censorship against rock music being sought and advocated by [[Fundamentalist Christianity|religious fundamentalist]]s such as [[Jimmy Swaggart]].<ref>(August 28, 1986) [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]]</ref><ref>Duncan, Amy. (January 10, 1989) "Can music corrupt?" ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' p. 10</ref>


===Views on Islam===
====Views on Islam====
An article by Howard Bloom in ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'' magazine, "The importance of hugging", suggested that "Islamic cultures treat their children harshly, they despise open displays of affection&nbsp;... the result is violent adults", and as a consequence, "An entire people may have turned barbaric for the simple lack of a hug."<ref>Bloom Howard (February 1989). "The importance of hugging". ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'', 11, 2, pp 30-31</ref> This claim led the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] to organize a sit-in at ''Omni'''s New York head office.<ref>Willford, Catherine M. (April 1989). [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0489/8904025a.htm "Focus on Arabs and Islam"]. [[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]. p. 25a.</ref> His article has been described as "not unlike some forms of religious anti-Semitism",<ref>McCarus, Ernest Nasseph (1994). ''The Development of Arab-American Identity''. [[University of Michigan Press]]. p. 128</ref> and together with similar comments in his book, ''The Lucifer Principle'', "an example of Orientalist (and racist) literature".<ref>Louise Cainkar (2009). ''Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11''. [[Russell Sage Foundation]].</ref> Bloom has written that "Arab pressure groups asked ever so politely&nbsp;... that nothing that I write be published again. They offered to boycott my publisher's products&nbsp;— all of them&nbsp;— worldwide. And they backed their warning with a call for my punishment in seventeen Islamic countries."<ref name=censorship>{{cite web | last =Bloom | first =Howard | title = Islamic Censorship — How Allah Has Nipped Your Right to Know | publisher =The Birdman.org | url =http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Others-Doc-Race&Groups-General/+Doc-Race&Groups-General-PC&Suppression&Censorship/IslamicInfluence&CensorshipInTheWest.htm | format =Web article originated April 2003 edition of Abuse Your Illusions | accessdate =2008-01-01 }}</ref>
An article by Bloom published in ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'' magazine, "The importance of hugging", suggested that "Islamic cultures treat their children harshly, they despise open displays of affection&nbsp;... the result is violent adults", and as a consequence, "An entire people may have turned barbaric for the simple lack of a hug."<ref>Bloom Howard (February 1989). "The importance of hugging". ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'', 11, 2, pp 30-31</ref> This claim led the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] to organize a sit-in at ''Omni'''s New York head office.<ref>Willford, Catherine M. (April 1989). [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0489/8904025a.htm "Focus on Arabs and Islam"]. [[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]. p. 25a.</ref> His article has been described as "not unlike some forms of religious anti-Semitism",<ref>McCarus, Ernest Nasseph (1994). ''The Development of Arab-American Identity''. [[University of Michigan Press]]. p. 128</ref> and together with similar comments in his book, ''The Lucifer Principle'', "an example of Orientalist (and racist) literature".<ref>Louise Cainkar (2009). ''Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11''. [[Russell Sage Foundation]].</ref> Bloom has written that "Arab pressure groups asked ever so politely&nbsp;... that nothing that I write be published again. They offered to boycott my publisher's products&nbsp;— all of them&nbsp;— worldwide. And they backed their warning with a call for my punishment in seventeen Islamic countries."<ref name=censorship>{{cite web | last =Bloom | first =Howard | title = Islamic Censorship — How Allah Has Nipped Your Right to Know | publisher =The Birdman.org | url =http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Others-Doc-Race&Groups-General/+Doc-Race&Groups-General-PC&Suppression&Censorship/IslamicInfluence&CensorshipInTheWest.htm | format =Web article originated April 2003 edition of Abuse Your Illusions | accessdate =2008-01-01 }}</ref>

⚫
===Presence on YouTube===
⚫
Bloom is a personal friend of [[YouTube]] personality, TheAmazingAtheist, as he is featured on TheAmazingAtheist channel.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy7dgk8CbUE72dRTJuLGRCQOQyM_Zf4e_] TheAmazingAtheist Howard Bloom playlist </ref> He has a YouTube channel called "Howard Bloom"<ref> [https://www.youtube.com/user/howbloom/about] Bloom's YouTube channel</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Howard Bloom developed [[chronic fatigue syndrome]] in 1988, which left him housebound. The 2007 book ''[[For Dummies|Chronic Fatigue Syndrome For Dummies]]'' includes him as one of the ten most famous people with CFS.<ref name=" Lisman"/> In 2001, the New York [[Clerk (municipal official)|City Clerk]]'s Office refused to issue him a [[marriage license]] in his home, though marriage licenses can be arranged for those unable to attend its office, for those confined to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.<ref name="Montero">Montero, Douglas (June 4, 2001). "Red tape gums up trip down aisle". ''[[New York Post]]''.</ref> After publicity, a personal visit was made by the city clerk to his house to issue a marriage license, but ''[[The New York Times]]'' observed that city's regulations in regard to obtaining them at the city clerk's office were likely to be in breach of the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]].<ref>Purnick, Joyce (June 11, 2001). "To Say 'I Do' In New York, Be Healthy". ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>
Bloom developed [[chronic fatigue syndrome]] in 1988 which left him housebound. The 2007 book ''[[For Dummies|Chronic Fatigue Syndrome For Dummies]]'' includes him as one of the ten most famous people with CFS.<ref name=" Lisman"/> In 2001, the New York [[Clerk (municipal official)|City Clerk]]'s Office refused to issue him a [[marriage license]] in his home, though marriage licenses can be arranged for those unable to attend its office, for those confined to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.<ref name="Montero">Montero, Douglas (June 4, 2001). "Red tape gums up trip down aisle". ''[[New York Post]]''.</ref> After publicity, a personal visit was made by the city clerk to his house to issue a marriage license, but ''[[The New York Times]]'' observed that city's regulations in regard to obtaining them at the city clerk's office were likely to be in breach of the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]].<ref>Purnick, Joyce (June 11, 2001). "To Say 'I Do' In New York, Be Healthy". ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>


He considers himself a non-militant yet "stone-cold atheist"<ref name=PsychToday /> and lives in [[Brooklyn, New York]].<ref name="Montero"/>
He considers himself a non-militant yet "stone-cold atheist"<ref name=PsychToday /> and lives in [[Brooklyn, New York]].<ref name="Montero"/>


⚫
==Presence on YouTube==
⚫
Howard Bloom is a personal friend of [[YouTube]] personality, TheAmazingAtheist, as he is featured on TheAmazingAtheist channel. <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy7dgk8CbUE72dRTJuLGRCQOQyM_Zf4e_] TheAmazingAtheist Howard Bloom playlist </ref> He has a YouTube channel himself called "Howard Bloom" <ref> [https://www.youtube.com/user/howbloom/about] Bloom's YouTube channel</ref>



==Publications==
==Publications==
Line 89: Line 87:
*Swindle, David (October 23, 2010). [http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/10/23/the-most-exciting-conservative-thinker-youve-never-heard-of/ "The Most Exciting Conservative Thinker You’ve Never Heard Of"]. NewsRealBlog.
*Swindle, David (October 23, 2010). [http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/10/23/the-most-exciting-conservative-thinker-youve-never-heard-of/ "The Most Exciting Conservative Thinker You’ve Never Heard Of"]. NewsRealBlog.
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJyafSBCb0 "Howard Bloom's The God Problem-The Big Bagel"].
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJyafSBCb0 "Howard Bloom's The God Problem-The Big Bagel"].

* [https://www.youtube.com/user/howbloom/about| YouTube channel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/howbloom/about| YouTube channel]


Revision as of 22:40, 9 January 2014

Not to be confused with Howard Blum or Harold Bloom.
Howard Bloom
BornHoward Bloom
(1943-06-25) June 25, 1943 (age 81)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
OccupationScientific thinker, Author
NationalityAmerican
SubjectSociology
Website
http://howardbloom.net/

Howard Bloom (born June 25, 1943) is an American author and scientific thinker. He was a publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for singers and bands such as Prince,[1] Billy Joel,[2] and Styx.[3][4] In 1988 he became disabled with chronic fatigue syndrome.[5] Since then, he has published three books on human evolution and group behavior, The Genius of the Beast, The Global Brain, and The Lucifer Principle.

Early life

Bloom was born to a Jewish family in Buffalo, New York.[6] He began his interest in science as early as ten years old, becoming fascinated in cosmology and microbiology.[7] By sixteen, Bloom was working as an assistant researching the immune system at the Roswell Park Memorial Research Cancer Institute.[8] Bloom graduated from New York University and at the age of twenty-five, veered from his scientific studies to work as an editor for a rock magazine. Bloom would go on to found one of the largest public relations firms in the music industry.[8]

Career

Public relations

In 1974 Bloom was made head of public relations of ABC Records.[9] He also was briefly head of Gulf+Western's music publicity department. In 1976, he founded The Howard Bloom Organization.[2] In 1980 Bloom suggested to Prince and his management that he "aggressively pursue the rock and new wave audience ... Consequently, Prince's management put together a series of performances designed with racially mixed audiences in mind".[1] He tutored the band Styx in how to appeal to "more staid magazines" such as the Wall Street Journal and People and so make them mainstream.[3] He was hired by Columbia Records to make Billy Joel "more media friendly".[2]

Bloom was also a publicist for Michael Jackson,[10][11] Cyndi Lauper,[11] Talking Heads,[11] Lionel Richie,[12][13] ZZ Top,[14] Bette Midler, AC/DC, Simon & Garfunkel,[5] John Mellencamp,[15][16] Earth, Wind & Fire,[17] and Kiss.[14] He handled Bob Marley including his Uprising Tour.[18][19]

Bloom has been described in a biography of Billy Joel as "the public relations spinmeister to have on your payroll in the seventies and eighties if you were a musician and your image needed to be authenticated to the masses". With his company he had successfully transformed and launched the careers of many rock stars, including John Mellencamp, KISS, Hall and Oates, AC/DC, and Run DMC".[2] He has also been described as "one of the most successful publicists of his generation, a star maker whose client list was a Who's Who of rock and roll ... [whose] ... interest in rock and roll had more to do with the study of mass psychology in action than furthering the aggrandizement of spoiled rock stars. He approached PR as an applied science".[3]

In 1979, New York Magazine put him in the "Hot 100 plus" as one of its "Big Dealmakers" and observed, "His brain is a vinyl storage system: the most thorough and efficient".[20] According to Derek Sutton, manager of the Styx, he was "probably the greatest press agent that rock and roll has ever known."[3] In 1986, the Howard Bloom Organization was reported to be "one of the most successful independent public relations firms in the music business. Last year his acts grossed $333 million."[21]

Books

Bloom has written four books: The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates, The Genius of the Beast, Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century, and The Lucifer Principle. His books generalize and extend his ideas about what makes rock and roll artists successful to human nature. According to him: "Everything from the wolf-pack behavior of music business executives to the lemming-like conduct of hypocritical journalist helped shape my insights" and that "[t]he real magic of rock happens at a concert, where if the performers are successful, individuals ... merge in a pulse of common emotion ... This consolidation mirrors the force that create much of both human good and evil".[22] He founded the International Paleopsychology Project, an Internet group "to study the development of the universe from its conception to the present". Individuals crediting him with inspiration include the scientist Peter Corning[23] and science fiction writer Greg Bear.[24]

His fourth book, The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates, was issued August 24, 2012.[25]

Activism

In 1986 together with Bob Guccione, Jr., Ted Nugent, John Waite and Sheena Easton, Bloom formed Music in Action to protest against the censorship against rock music being sought and advocated by religious fundamentalists such as Jimmy Swaggart.[26][27]

Views on Islam

An article by Bloom published in Omni magazine, "The importance of hugging", suggested that "Islamic cultures treat their children harshly, they despise open displays of affection ... the result is violent adults", and as a consequence, "An entire people may have turned barbaric for the simple lack of a hug."[28] This claim led the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to organize a sit-in at Omni's New York head office.[29] His article has been described as "not unlike some forms of religious anti-Semitism",[30] and together with similar comments in his book, The Lucifer Principle, "an example of Orientalist (and racist) literature".[31] Bloom has written that "Arab pressure groups asked ever so politely ... that nothing that I write be published again. They offered to boycott my publisher's products — all of them — worldwide. And they backed their warning with a call for my punishment in seventeen Islamic countries."[32]

Presence on YouTube

Bloom is a personal friend of YouTube personality, TheAmazingAtheist, as he is featured on TheAmazingAtheist channel.[33] He has a YouTube channel called "Howard Bloom"[34]

Personal life

Bloom developed chronic fatigue syndrome in 1988 which left him housebound. The 2007 book Chronic Fatigue Syndrome For Dummies includes him as one of the ten most famous people with CFS.[5] In 2001, the New York City Clerk's Office refused to issue him a marriage license in his home, though marriage licenses can be arranged for those unable to attend its office, for those confined to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.[35] After publicity, a personal visit was made by the city clerk to his house to issue a marriage license, but The New York Times observed that city's regulations in regard to obtaining them at the city clerk's office were likely to be in breach of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.[36]

He considers himself a non-militant yet "stone-cold atheist"[6] and lives in Brooklyn, New York.[35]

Publications

Books

  • Bloom, Howard K. (2012). The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781616145514. OCLC 764387290.
  • Bloom, Howard K (2010). The Genius of the Beast : A Radical Re-vision of Capitalism. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-754-6. OCLC 318873448.
  • Bloom, Howard K (2000). The Global Brain : The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century. New York, NY: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-29584-6. OCLC 43207426.
  • Bloom, Howard K (1995). The Lucifer Principle : A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0-87113-532-2. OCLC 30436518.

Articles

References

  1. ^ a b Nilsen, Per (2003) Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade. SAF Publishing
  2. ^ a b c d Smith, Bill (2007). I Go To Extremes: The Billy Joel Story. Robson Books.
  3. ^ a b c d Whitaker, Serling. (2007) Styx: The Grand Delusion: The Unauthorized True Story of Styx. Booksurge
  4. ^ End of the World is Less than 2 Billion Years Away Predicts Howard Bloom December 18, 2012
  5. ^ a b c Susan R. Lisman, Karla Dougherty (2007) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for Dummies, Wiley
  6. ^ a b Psychology Today: "The God Problem: An Interview with Howard Bloom - How does the universe account for its own creation? August 28, 2012
  7. ^ Howard Bloom, Foreman, Richard (Mar 21, 2010). The Genius of the Beast (Interview) (SWF/FLV/Flash). New York, New York, United States: C-SPAN. Event occurs at 13:38. 292561-1. Retrieved August 28, 2011. SO I GOT INVOLVED IN COSMOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY AT THE AGE OF 10.
  8. ^ a b "Biography of Howard Bloom". howardbloom.net. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  9. ^ (August 24, 1974) "Major shuffle sees ABC consolidation". Billboard. p. 3
  10. ^ Aaron Hicklin (February 18, 2001). "Starbucking the trend;manhattan transfer". The Sunday Herald.
  11. ^ a b c Anna Sommerville (January 17, 2000). "The truth is out there and it is much stranger than fiction" The Scotsman.
  12. ^ Green, Paul (February 22, 1986). "Cutbacks at Kragen & Co. Billboard", 98 [8] pp. 1, 77
  13. ^ (February 24, 1986) "Richie gets new manager; Ends Gragen association". Jet.
  14. ^ a b Aaron Hicklin (February 4, 2001). "Wise guy;manhattan transfer" The Sunday Herald.
  15. ^ Goldberg, Danny (2009). Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business. Penguin Books
  16. ^ Jim Pettigrew (1989). The Billboard Guide To Music Publicity. Billboard Books.
  17. ^ Snider, Eric (January 13, 1988). "Concert rehearsal is slow business: It's hurry up and wait on the Earth, Wind Fire set". St. Petersburg Times.
  18. ^ White Timothy (2000) Catch a fire: The life of Bob Marley. Omnibus Press
  19. ^ Kozak Roman, (December 12, 1980) Bob Marley keeps on promoting Jamaican reggae around the globe. Billboard
  20. ^ "Hot 100 Plus" New York Magazine vol 12 issue 13. March 26, 1979.
  21. ^ Personal Computing. Vol 10. (1986). p. 58
  22. ^ Adcroft, Patrice (February 1995) Giving Beelzebub equal time: Howard Bloom's journey to the heart of darkness in the Lucifer Principle. Spin vol 10 (11) p. 86.
  23. ^ Corning, P. A. (2006) Holistic Darwinism: synergy, cybernetics, and the bioeconomics of evolution. University of Chicago Press
  24. ^ Bear, G. (2004) Darwin's Children. Del Rey Books.
  25. ^ Bloom, Howard K. (2012). The God problem: how a godless cosmos creates. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781616145514. OCLC 764387290.
  26. ^ (August 28, 1986) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
  27. ^ Duncan, Amy. (January 10, 1989) "Can music corrupt?" Christian Science Monitor p. 10
  28. ^ Bloom Howard (February 1989). "The importance of hugging". Omni, 11, 2, pp 30-31
  29. ^ Willford, Catherine M. (April 1989). "Focus on Arabs and Islam". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. p. 25a.
  30. ^ McCarus, Ernest Nasseph (1994). The Development of Arab-American Identity. University of Michigan Press. p. 128
  31. ^ Louise Cainkar (2009). Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11. Russell Sage Foundation.
  32. ^ Bloom, Howard. "Islamic Censorship — How Allah Has Nipped Your Right to Know" (Web article originated April 2003 edition of Abuse Your Illusions). The Birdman.org. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  33. ^ [1] TheAmazingAtheist Howard Bloom playlist
  34. ^ [2] Bloom's YouTube channel
  35. ^ a b Montero, Douglas (June 4, 2001). "Red tape gums up trip down aisle". New York Post.
  36. ^ Purnick, Joyce (June 11, 2001). "To Say 'I Do' In New York, Be Healthy". The New York Times.
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