[1] His writing has also appeared in The New York Times,[2] Chicago Sun-Times,[3] The Washington Post,[4] and the magazines Billboard,[5] TV Guide, People and Los Angeles, among others.
[1] Rense's activities in the music industry have included writing the liner notes for albums by Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart and the Persuasions.
His father was a sports journalist with the Los Angeles newspaper the Daily News before going on to a successful career in public relations, notably with the Douglas Aircraft Company and the Summa Corporation.
[8] Rense attended Venice High School, where one of his classmates was Scott Wannberg,[10] later a leading figure in the Los Angeles poetry and literary establishment.
[9] He recalls that one of his early assignments, for LA Weekly, was to attend a chaotic press conference held by former Beatle George Harrison in February 1979.
[17] Among his contributions to Billboard magazine, he wrote an article in September 1986 on the rise of corporate sponsors such as Westwood One and their effect on the music industry.
[22] AllMusic critic Steve Cooper wrote of these unlikely a cappella interpretations of works by Zappa and the Grateful Dead: "Thirty-five years into their career and the Persuasions are on a major roll.
Reviewing the book for CounterPunch, investigative reporter David Lindorff wrote that Rense "has a knack for spotting the bizarre little quirks that made daily journalism what it was during its heyday".