[1] Initially a music critic, Betrock founded the influential New York Rocker magazine in 1976 and the publishing house Shake Books in 1979.
[1] During this period Betrock also wrote for a number of music magazines, such as Phonograph Record, ZigZag and Hit Parader,[8] as well as local newspaper SoHo Weekly News.
[11] In February 1976,[3] Betrock launched the influential New York Rocker magazine, chronicling the rising punk rock scene and other musical trends in the late 1970s.
[2] A conceptualist, Betrock created board game centerfolds ("How to Become a New York Rock Star") and imaginary 45 rpm picture sleeves for "singles we’d like to see."
The magazine also collaborated with fashion designer Anna Sui, photographers Steven Meisel and Roberta Bayley, and artist Duncan Hannah, among many others.
[13][1][7] His 1982 book, Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound, which spawned a documentary film in 1983,[7][14] was lauded by the critic Robert Palmer in The New York Times as "everything a rock 'n' roll genre study should be.
Later non-Shake Betrock productions included Richard Hell and the Voidoids’ Destiny Street (1982) and the Smithereens’ Beauty and Sadness EP (1983).
Lenny Kaye, longtime guitarist with Patti Smith, told MTV: "A good man, and a record/pop culture collector of the highest order.