The Dan Sicko Papers comprise over two decades of Sicko's writings and research materials pertaining to the history of Detroit techno music and its role in the electronic music industry. The collection is divided into four series: Writings, Research Materials, Periodicals, and Sound Recordings.
Daniel S. Sicko was a music journalist and scholar of techno music dedicated to legitimizing Detroit techno and establishing its place in music history. He earned a B.S. from the University of Detroit in 1990 and established a career in digital advertising, ultimately serving as a Creative Director of the Detroit office of the advertising firm Organic, Inc. Early in his career Sicko was a freelance writer for Rolling Stone, electronic and underground music periodicals such as Alternative Press and URB, and the digital technology magazine Wired. He also founded Reverb, one of the first periodicals exclusively devoted to digital music. Sicko is perhaps best known for his book Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (first published in 1999 and reissued in 2010), which is widely considered to be a groundbreaking text with regard to the history of Detroit techno music. Techno Rebels chronicles the genre's origins as an underground movement led by Detroit's African-American high school students. Sicko also gave lectures on the Detroit music scene and was a key figure in the establishment of the 313 Mailing List (a 1990s mailing list critical for enthusiasts of Detroit techno). Throughout his career Sicko engaged in extensive researches on the Detroit music industry and on electronic music in general, for which he conducted dozens of interviews with Detroit-based techno artists and producers. He died of ocular melanoma on August 28th, 2011 at the age of 42.
Source: Kirn, Peter. "Loss of a Techno Rebel: Why Dan Sicko will be Sorely Missed." createdigitalmusic.com, 29 August 2011.
