At Regis he wrote music criticism for the school newspaper, often covering concerts given at Steve Paul's The Scene; including performances by Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix.
[1] He dropped out of school and spent a year serving in the United States Army Reserve during the Vietnam War in 1971.
After this he returned to school, and completed his bachelor of music degree at Queens College, City University of New York in 1976.
In 1991 he began writing for Atlantic Monthly, and that same year joined the music faculty of the City College of New York.
Santoro contributed articles on rock music to the Encyclopædia Britannica and The Encyclopedia of New York City and was a member of the editorial board of New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.
by Miles Davis and Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos, as well as recordings by Larry Coryell, Country Joe McDonald, Mark Dresser, Vince Guaraldi, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Stanley Turrentine and Rod Stewart.