An Extraordinary Life, An Extraordinary Memoir

Michael Alago has led an extraordinary life and his new memoir, out now, is equally captivating. "I Am Michael Alago: Breathing Music, Signing Metallica, Beating Death," is a must-read for music lovers of all genres, those interested in the inside workings of the music industry, fans of photography and anyone interested in a wholly engaging story.

Alago's book, though, is much more than the tale of an A&R executive signing the biggest heavy metal band in the world to a major label. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of a man who beat full-blown AIDs and gained sobriety after decades of drinking and drugging. The stories are by turns fun, outrageous, disarming, chilling and always poignant. Poetry and journal entries augment the tales.

"I Am Michael Alago" also has the power to inspire the reader. Metallica fans that read the book may end up seeking out the photographers that changed Alago's life and the other groups from a variety of genres that the man has worked with, including R&B/jazz/blues legend Nina Simone (Alago's time with Simone is a personal favorite part of the book).

We all have too much time on our hands right now, and for all the wrong, horrible reasons. But reading can offer an escape and a means of solace. "I Am Michael Alago" is highly and absolutely recommended. Published by Backbeat Books, "I Am Michael Alago" is available physically and digitally at Amazon, barnesandnoble.com and digitally at Apple Books.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Algo.

What prompted you to tell your story? Was writing a memoir something that had been in the back of your mind for a while?

I'm a great lover of books. My entire apartment is filled with books, though I didn't set out to write out a book. There is a documentary called "Who the F*** Is That Guy" about me on Netflix and we've gotten an extraordinary response. It also just started on Amazon Prime. That's a blessing. The folks with Backbeat Books reached out to my agent about writing a book and I said, "of course." I have so many more stories and I thought this book could be almost a companion piece to the documentary. But I have a bit of a scatterbrain and didn't know if I had the discipline so I reached out to my friend Laura Davis-Chanin, who had just written her own book, and she assisted me on pulling this book together.

You draw on your journals from growing up. Were you always drawn to writing?

A lot of information from the journals, from when I was 15, 16-years-old, what I noticed is that a lot of what I wrote in the journals was lists. There are entries like going to CBGB for the entire weekend to see The Damned and The Dead Boys. Those lists sparked a lot of memories.

Were there any parts of your life chronicled in the book that were especially hard to share?

Certain things I didn't know if I was going to write about at all, some sexual abuse in the family. But it feels cathartic writing about it and for other people who've experienced abuse within the family, I thought maybe my experience could be helpful to someone who has fear about letting that out.

You've breathed music for pretty much your entire life, and later photography.

I often say I came out of the womb loving music. Growing up in Brooklyn I used to listen to 77 WABC AM radio. Back in the 70s and early 80s radio was not heavily formatted and there was a wide variety of artists and it was great hearing everything from David Bowie to Aretha Franklin. Also at that same time period there were several music shows on television. American Bandstand, Soul Train, the Midnight Special, and again those shows showcased a wide variety of artists at a very early age. I was also influenced by the Village Voice. It showcased music, art, theater, porn and politics. I didn't care about the politics part but that opened my eyes to everything else, including homoerotic art and new types of music.

Heavy metal fans owe you a debt of gratitude for signing Metallica to a major label. In the book you write about being overwhelmed when you first played their debut record, "Kill "Em All?" What's the "it" factor you hear in an artist in any genre that makes you think they'd be a worthy signing?

I was very specific as an A&R executive. I was a sponge listening to boxes of cassettes of unsigned artists. I learned very quickly and at an early age, I kind of innately knew if an artist was great or not after I heard them. But you always have to see them live as well. I saw Metallica two or three times and they were young, wildly charismatic and knew how to wow an audience. Their lead singer James Hetfield has it all: charm, charisma, he knows how to whip an audience into a frenzy. Their songs appealed to people. I thought, 'these guys are the real thing, they're going to be huge and I have to have them in my life.' It's almost the same thing for any genre. You have to be able to tell a good story and you hope that the songs will have universal appeal. Over the years I've heard a lot of good music, but you can't sign good music. I had to really narrow it down to who is doing great music.

You took a risk in signing the late Nina Simone when she had not put out a record in years. You encountered a lot of resistance but kept pushing the issue until finally you were given the green light.

For me, when someone has that greatness I don't believe you lose that. You may lose your path for a bit of time but you don't lose that greatness. She could take a song like George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" or Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and make them her own. She's someone who knew how to get to the matter of a song. I had so much love and respect for her as a woman and an artist.

How hard was it for you to leave the music business?

It wasn't hard for me at all. I started in 1980 working at the Ritz, from 1980 to 2005 that's 25 years right there. I saw there was a shift, that people were not buying records like they used to and downloading and file sharing and basically stealing. I was kind of getting sick again from HIV and I didn’t want this stress anymore. I did a good job and worked with terrific people. I felt very satisfied. And then sometime after that I thought, 'I'm going to take pictures.' I've always loved the stories that a photograph tells. So I thought I'm going to start taking pictures of men who are scarred and tattooed because that appeals to me and I've since put out three books (Rough Gods, Brutal Truth and Beautiful Imperfections with German-based publisher Bruno Gmünder).

You've overcome personal struggles with addiction and that's well documented in the book. What do you think of those days when you look back?

I was clean for eight years at first. Then one day a friend offered me a beer and I said yes and that led to the worst drinking and drugging of my life. I found myself in jail, crack dens, in St. Vincent's hospital numerous times. Finally I felt like I was a walking zombie and I thought I had to get clean again. On Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007, I came to on my sofa and took a shower and I knew there was a 12-step meeting near where I lived. I went. I sat and I listened and I had fear and shame. Someone said, 'if you’re serious come back.' I did. I wanted to be a person who shows up and to be a responsible person that people can rely on. This October I'm coming up on 13 years and I go to 9 a.m. meetings five days a week and it's all a blessing. I'm grateful that I found a place where I could get clean and sober.

What do you hope people come away with after reading your book?

I find that when you tell the truth people respond to the truth and my book is all about the truth. It's a lifestyle book. It doesn’t focus on one thing. I didn't want to just make a music book. It did have to be about my 25 years in music but it had to also be about addiction and recovery and having HIV and full blown aids and in my present life being a clean and sober man who shows up and helps other people. If you want to read about someone who's wildly creative, loves music and art, and has wild and crazy and no so crazy and heartfelt stories, I think I wrote a book that helps you out.