A lifelong New Yorker, Ira Robbins studied to be an electrical engineer but became a music journalist instead. He co-founded Trouser Press magazine in 1974 and ran it until the end, in 1984. He was subsequently an editor at Video magazine, the pop music critic for New York Newsday and editorial director in syndicated radio. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books and contributed to many more. He now runs Trouser Press Books.