Andrew Gold
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| Andrew Gold | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 2, 1951 Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, producer, instrumentalist |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, various instruments |
| Years active | 1970s – present |
| Associated acts | Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel, 10cc, Wax |
| Website | www.andrewgold.com |
Andrew Gold (born August 2, 1951, in Burbank, California) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known in his homeland for his 1977 Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" and the 1978 single "Thank You for Being a Friend." His best known solo single in the UK was "Never Let Her Slip Away", which reached number 5 in 1978.
He has the singular distinction of being the first human voice to be 'heard' on the surface of Mars. His rendition of the theme from the television series Mad About You, entitled "Final Frontier," was used as the wake-up call for the Mars Pathfinder space probe in 1996.[1]
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[edit] Career
A prolific session musician, Gold joined the family business: his mother is singer Marni Nixon (who provided the singing voice for numerous well-known actresses, notably Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn), his father was the late Academy Award-winning composer Ernest Gold. He has two younger sisters: Martha, born in 1953 and Melani, born in 1962.
Gold began writing songs at the age of 13, and by the early 1970s was working as a musician, songwriter and producer for many well-known stars, including Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel, and James Taylor. He played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for Ronstadt's breakthrough album, 1974's Heart Like a Wheel. Among other accomplishments, he played the guitar solo and the majority of other instruments on the album's first track, "You're No Good," Ronstadt's only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1975 Gold began recording as a solo artist, releasing four studio albums. His single "Lonely Boy" has appeared in several movie soundtracks, including Boogie Nights (1997). Although "Lonely Boy" was the bigger radio hit, "Thank You for Being a Friend" gained new popularity as the theme song for the popular 1985–1992 NBC situation comedy The Golden Girls (although that version was not performed by Gold but by Cindy Fee). In the UK Gold is better known for the song "Never Let Her Slip Away", which is still played on oldies stations. For a brief period, "Thank you for being a friend" was linked to the hoax Yorkshire Ripper tapes, as a 22 second snippet of the song was played at the end of one of the cassettes sent to Yorkshire Police.
Later, Gold played on and co-produced Ten Out of 10 by 10cc, which led to his founding the 1980s pop group Wax with Graham Gouldman, and the 1990s band Bryndle. He played keyboards on "Johnny Can't Read" for Don Henley's solo debut album I Can't Stand Still. He has also produced and written songs for numerous movie and television soundtracks. He also sang "The Final Frontier", the theme song for the 1990s Paul Reiser/Helen Hunt sitcom Mad About You. He also produced seven albums for Eikichi Yazawa, a famous Japanese rock/pop singer.
For several years he lived and worked in Nashville, Tennessee recording and producing other recording artists, before moving back to the Los Angeles area.
[edit] Discography
- 1975 Andrew Gold
- 1976 What's Wrong With This Picture
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- includes "Lonely Boy"
- 1978 All This And Heaven Too
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- includes "Never Let Her Slip Away" and "Thank You for Being a Friend"
- 1979 Whirlwind
- 1996 ...Since 1951
- 1996 Andrew Gold's Halloween Howls
- 1997 Thank You for Being a Friend — The Best of Andrew Gold
- 2000 The Spence Manor Suite
- 2002 Intermission
[edit] Singles
- 1975 Heartaches In Heartaches
- 1976 Do Wah Diddy
- 1976 One Of Them Is Me
- 1976 Stay
- 1976 That's Why I Love You #66 US
- 1977 Lonely Boy #7 US
- 1978 How Can This Be Love
- 1978 I'm On My Way
- 1978 Thank You For Being a Friend #25 US
- 1978 Never Let Her Slip Away #67 US
(Note - Some of these singles were released as promo copies only)
