Andrew Gold
Andrew Maurice Gold (born August 2, 1951 in Burbank , California , † June 3, 2011 in Encino , Los Angeles ) was an American singer , musician and songwriter . His work included the hit singles Lonely Boy (1977), Thank You for Being a Friend (1978) and Never Let Her Slip Away (1978). Gold played various instruments and was also an artist, producer , film composer , concert musician, actor and painter .
Life
Gold was born in Burbank and later worked in a family business. His mother was the singer Marni Nixon , a vocal double for actresses in films, most notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story , Deborah Kerr in The King and Me, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady . Gold's father was Ernest Gold , a composer from Austria . Ernest Gold received an Oscar for the film music for Exodus . Andrew Gold had two younger sisters. He started writing lyrics at the age of 13.
Career
1970-79
In the early 1970s, Gold worked as a musician, lyricist, and producer for many musicians. He was a member of the Los Angeles-based band Bryndle , which included Gold, Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman and Karla Bonoff . For Linda Ronstadt he played a major role as a multi-instrumentalist and arranger on her album Heart Like a Wheel , which was released in 1974. He also took on this role on her four next albums.
Among other things, he played the majority of the instruments in the first track on the album and the guitar in You're No Good , Ronstadt's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 , as well as when Will I Be Loved , (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave and in other successful pieces. Gold was a member of the band from 1973 to 1977, then sporadically in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gold started working as a solo artist in 1975. In the 1970s he released four studio albums and since then another twelve. His single Lonely Boy came 7th on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1977 and has been featured in many films, including Boogie Nights (1997) and Waterboy, starring Adam Sandler .
Although Lonely Boy was the major radio hit in the US, the single reached Thank You for Being a Friend (the 25th place in 1978 in the US reached) later great popularity as the theme song for the between 1985 and 1992 by NBC -produced sitcom The Golden Girls (The song was sung by Cynthia Fee for this series). Gold also became famous with his biggest hit in the UK, Never Let Her Slip Away . The song was listed in the top 5 twice, first sung by himself, played fourteen years later by the group Undercover . Freddie Mercury , a friend of Gold, supported him with some vocals as a background singer . Gold was pleased that Petula Clark recorded the song Lonely Boy in French ( Poor Lonesome Playboy ). It can be found on the album Paris / Orléans / Paris - The CBS Years, Vol. 1 on CD 2. He attended one of her performances and reminded her that she recorded the song. In 1976, Gold wrote the title track Endless Flight for the Leo Sayer album of the same name .
1975 was also the year of a successful collaboration with Art Garfunkel , when Gold played most of the instruments in Garfunkel's hit I Only Have Eyes for You (No. 1 in the UK charts ), as well as various other recordings on his album Breakaway . Gold also played guitar in two songs on the album Boats Against the Current by Eric Carmen , including on the song She Did It , which reached the US top ten in the same year place 23rd Over the following years Gold played and / or sang in recordings and / or live performances by Carly Simon , Jennifer Warnes , Stephen Bishop , Nicolette Larson , Maria Muldaur , Neil Diamond , Barbi Benton , Juice Newton , Leo Sayer , The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band , Karla Bonoff , Paul McCartney , Ringo Starr , John Lennon , Brian Wilson , Don Henley , Cher's hit album Heart of Stone, and wrote hits for Trisha Yearwood and Wynonna Judd , for which he hit the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number one single I. Saw the Light wrote with Lisa Angelle. He produced these for their album in 2000 and also wrote most of the songs. He toured with the group The Eagles , played on records and toured with Jackson Browne , producing, writing, playing instruments and singing in three songs of 10cc ; he played and sang on records and toured with James Taylor , produced singles for Vince Gill and wrote and produced for Celine Dion . He was also the second engineer on parts of Joni Mitchell's album Blue .
1980-2011
In the early 1980s, after 10CC completed Ten Out of 10 album in 1981 , founding members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman invited Gold to join the group as well. Although he was a fan of I'm Not in Love and The Things We Do for Love and wanted to enter, other projects stopped him. In late 1983, 10cc broke up and Gold and Gouldman formed Wax . The Wax group produced records for a total of five years and went on tour. She had worldwide success and various top ten hits , including Right Between the Eyes and Bridge to Your Heart , which is her biggest hit.
Interestingly enough, in 1986 in Spain , the duo topped the charts for six months. Due to an incomprehensible decision by the record company, no further singles were released there. The band broke up in 1989, but Gold and Gouldman continued to write lyrics together and record pieces when they could.
In the 1990s, Gold worked again with his bandmates Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Kenny Edwards. Together they formed the band Bryndle again and released their first album. In 1996, Gold left the band and released the album Halloween Howls , which Dr. Demento considers it one of the two best Halloween albums in history. In the same year he recorded the record Greetings from Planet Love on his own label, QBrain Records, under the pseudonym "The Fraternal Order of the All" . This album simulates a band from the 1960s playing songs in the style of the bands preferred by Gold; these included The Beatles , The Byrds and The Beach Boys . He then released an album of rare pieces by the group Wax called Bikini Wax . In the same year he released the album ... Since 1951 . Since then produced, composed and / or wrote songs for numerous films, such as in 2003 for the horror comedy Rectuma directed by Mark Pirro, for the television soundtracks and television advertising . He sang Final Frontier , the theme song for the sitcom Mad About You . His performance of the song was used as a wake-up call for the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996 . Gold also produced seven albums for Eikichi Yazawa, a Japanese singer-songwriter .
Gold performed live with the classic rock band America in 2006 . This appearance was later released on a DVD entitled America and Friends - Live at the Ventura Theater . He played Thank You for Being a Friend , The Final Frontier , Bridge to Your Heart and Lonely Boy , he also accompanied the group America and the guest musician Stephen Bishop on guitar and sang. Gold produced America's Christmas album Holiday Harmony in 2002 , on which he also played most of the instruments and co-wrote the title Christmas in California .
Private
Gold was married to Vanessa Green, with whom he has three children. After divorcing Green, he married Leslie Kogan.
Although Gold mentioned personalities in Lonely Boy (1977), including the year of his birth, he said in an interview that it was not autobiographical: “Maybe it was a mistake to do that, but I just used those details in it because it was comfortable. I've never been a lonely boy - I had a very happy childhood. "
In 1990, Gold and four family members took part in the television show Family Feud .
On June 3, 2011, Gold died in his sleep, apparently of heart failure, at the age of 59 in Los Angeles after being treated for kidney cancer .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1977 | Andrew Gold | - |
US190 (2 weeks) US |
First published: 1975
Producer: Charles Plotkin |
| What's Wrong with This Picture? | - |
US95 (16 weeks) US |
First published: April 1977
Producer: Peter Asher |
|
| 1978 | All This and Heaven Too |
UK31  (7 weeks)UK |
US81 (14 weeks) US |
First published: February 1978
Producers: Andrew Gold, Brock Walsh |
More albums
- 1978: Whirlwind
- 1993: Never Let Her Slip Away
- 1996: Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music
- 1997: Greetings from Planet Love (as The Fraternal Order of the All)
- 1998: ... Since 1951
- 2000: The Spense Manor Suite
- 2002: intermission
- 2007: Live at the Ventura Theater
- 2008: Copy Cat
- 2008: The Beatles
Compilations
- 1991: Where the Heart Is - The Commercials 1988–1991
- 1997: Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best of Andrew Gold
- 1998: Leftovers
- 2002: Warm Breeze
- 2008: The Best of Andrew Gold
- 2011: The Essential Collection (2 CDs)
- 2015: The Late Show: Live 1978
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1976 | That's Why I Love You Andrew Gold |
- |
US68 (5 weeks) US |
First published: December 1975
Authors: Andrew Gold, Gene Garfin |
| 1977 | Lonely Boy What's Wrong with This Picture? |
UK11 (9 weeks) UK |
US7 (21 weeks) US |
First published: March 1977
Author: Andrew Gold |
| 1978 | Thank You for Being a Friend All This and Heaven Too |
UK42 (4 weeks) UK |
US25 (15 weeks) US |
First published: January 1978
Author: Andrew Gold Cynthia Fee sang the song in the opening credits of the series Golden Girls |
| Never Let Her Slip Away All This and Heaven Too |
UK5 (12 weeks)UK |
US67 (8 weeks) US |
First published: March 1978
Author: Andrew Gold |
|
| How Can This Be Love All This and Heaven Too |
UK19 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: June 1978
Authors: Mark Goldenberg, Mark Safan |
|
More singles
- 1968: Of All the Little Girls (with Charles Villiers as "Villiers & Gold")
- 1976: Heartaches in Heartaches
- 1976: Stay
- 1976: Do Wah Diddy
- 1977: One of Them Is Me
- 1977: Go Back Home Again
- 1978: I'm On My Way
- 1980: Kiss This One Goodbye
- 1980: Stranded on the Edge
- 1980: Nine to Five
Web links
- Official website (no longer updated)
- Andrew Gold at Allmusic (English)
- Andrew Gold at Discogs (English)
- July 2011 Dublin City FM Radio Special
- Andrew Gold at 45cat.com (English)
swell
- ↑ a b c Obituary. Telegraph , June 8, 2011.
- ↑ Morris, Christopher. Andrew Gold dies at 59 ( memento November 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Variety of June 5, 2011.
- ↑ a b c d Keith Thursby: Andrew Gold, musician, songwriter, arranger dies at 59 . In: Los Angeles Times , June 6, 2011.
- ^ Billboard Chart for 6-11-1977
- ↑ The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits
- ^ Adam Sweeting: Andrew Gold obituary . In: The Guardian , June 6, 2011.
- ^ Singer / songwriter Andrew Gold Dies . Contactmusic , 6 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the 70s . BBC Radio 2 , February 5, 2012, 3:00 p.m. "... with backing vocals from Freddie Mercury ."
- ↑ Songfacts.com
- ^ Mars Pathfinder - Rover Wake-Up Songs . NASA
- ^ America and friends live at the Ventura Theater. AllMusic
- ^ America - Holiday Harmony. AllMusic
- ↑ Spencer Leigh: Obituary, Andrew Gold . In: The Independent , June 8, 2011.
- ↑ nl.newsbank.com
- ^ Paul Vitello: Andrew Gold, Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 59 . In: The New York Times , June 7, 2011.
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
- ↑ a b gold / platinum databases: UK
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gold, Andrew |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gold, Andrew Maurice (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American musician, singer and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd August 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Burbank , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 3, 2011 |
| Place of death | Encino , Los Angeles |