RIP, Andrew Gold

[Smasher_Sloan]

He was all over the radio 34 years ago this summer with "Lonely Boy." Also did "Thank You For Being A Friend," which lives on via "Golden Girls" reruns.

Part of the Linda Ronstadt band back in the day, too.

Only 59.

http://oregonmusicnews.com/blog/2011/06/04/singersongwriter-andrew-gold-dead-at-59/

 

[Bubbler]

Listened to a 1982 countdown today on XM and he got name-checked. Recorded before his death. Weird.

 

[Bob Cook]

"Lonely Boy" had to be the whiniest hit in a decade full of sensitive guys on the charts. I mean, this guy was spun into permanent existential crisis by the birth of his sister. Who, in the song, didn't do anything to him. Her mere presence was all. Unless she was born a succubus, I'm not sure what young Andrew was so put out about.

 

[CarltonBanks]

"Lonely Boy" had to be the whiniest hit in a decade full of sensitive guys on the charts. I mean, this guy was spun into permanent existential crisis by the birth of his sister. Who, in the song, didn't do anything to him. Her mere presence was all. Unless she was born a succubus, I'm not sure what young Andrew was so put out about.

Well how would you feel if your parents said you were the only son and you thought you were the only one, then they brought you a sister and told you they had to attend to HER needs because she's so much younger than you? Huh? I know I would be PISSED.

 

[shockey]

hey, dude whined himself into a hit single. give him a break. dunno why i think of this, but any time i hear his name i think of linda ronstadt introducing him as, 'the fanTABULOUS andrew gold...'

r.i.p. hope he didn't die a lonely man....

 

[CarltonBanks]

hey, dude whined himself into a hit single. give him a break. dunno why i think of this, but any time i hear his name i think of linda ronstadt introducing him as, 'the fanTABULOUS andrew gold...'

r.i.p. hope he didn't die a lonely man....

Want to talk about bad introductions (at least inaccurate ones)? Check out Helen Reddy introducing the Sanford Townsend band on Bert Sugarman's Modnight Special back in the 1970's. I would say she missed the mark with her prediction. Great song, though...

 

[shockey]

hey, dude whined himself into a hit single. give him a break. dunno why i think of this, but any time i hear his name i think of linda ronstadt introducing him as, 'the fanTABULOUS andrew gold...'

r.i.p. hope he didn't die a lonely man....

Want to talk about bad introductions (at least inaccurate ones)? Check out Helen Reddy introducing the Sanford Townsend band on Bert Sugarman's Modnight Special back in the 1970's. I would say she missed the mark with her prediction. Great song, though...

in fairness to ms. ronstadt, i didn't mean to suggest it was a 'bad introduction, just a memorable fusing of adjectives. i never thought that she had misspoken...

 

[finishthehat]

Didn't realize his mother was Marni Nixon. who did the singing for Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn in the movies of West Side Story and My Fair Lady.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I hope when he was old and gray and walking with a cane, someone bought him a cadillac.

 

[D-3 Fan]

hey, dude whined himself into a hit single. give him a break. dunno why i think of this, but any time i hear his name i think of linda ronstadt introducing him as, 'the fanTABULOUS andrew gold...'

r.i.p. hope he didn't die a lonely man....

No, he didn't die a lonely man. At least he was greeted at the pearly gates by Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, and Rue McClanahan.

I didn't mind "Lonely Boy." I like the song. [/ducking]

 

[Starman]

Family reunions must have been fun when Uncle Andrew showed up drunk again to ***** out his parents for pampering his sister, his sister for stealing the attention, and his nephew for falling victim to the same vicious circle.

Must have been like the reunion in "Scent of a Woman."


Plus if you listen to the lyrics, his witch sister was exactly two years younger than him, so I somehow suspect young Andrew was not sitting around giving a lot of thought to the shifts in the family dynamics created by the new arrival.



Ahhh, what the hell. The song was a hummable piece of Seventies AM cheese.

RIP.

 

[DanOregon]

Gold was a charter member of the sensitive bearded "one-hit wonders" of the 70s with Robbie Dupree, and Henry Gross.

 

[steveu]

If you were born after the 1970s, it takes a bit to understand the decade. Singer-songwriters like Gold were all the rage back in those days. Lonely Boy was a big hit around what, 1977? I think Thank You for Being A Friend came out the next year (or was it included on that same album?). Both songs were good, but of course everyone will remember "Friend" because of Golden Girls.

 

[CarltonBanks]

Gold was a charter member of the sensitive bearded "one-hit wonders" of the 70s with Robbie Dupree, and Henry Gross.

Let's not forget Rupert Holmes...especially if you like Pina Coladas.

 

[CarltonBanks]

The guy that will always personify the 70's music scene for me is Gordon Lightfoot. He had a string of terrible, catchy tunes.

But his lyrics were confusing as hell at times. Ever actually listen to the words of "If you could read my mind?" If so, please tell me what the ghost in a wishing well is all about.

 

[Starman]

The guy that will always personify the 70's music scene for me is Gordon Lightfoot. He had a string of terrible, catchy tunes.

But his lyrics were confusing as hell at times. Ever actually listen to the words of "If you could read my mind?" If so, please tell me what the ghost in a wishing well is all about.

Uh, about an old-time movie?

 

[CarltonBanks]

The guy that will always personify the 70's music scene for me is Gordon Lightfoot. He had a string of terrible, catchy tunes.

But his lyrics were confusing as hell at times. Ever actually listen to the words of "If you could read my mind?" If so, please tell me what the ghost in a wishing well is all about.

Uh, about an old-time movie?

You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
as long as I'm a ghost you can see.

WTF? He is referencing the ghose in the movie, I guess, but what the blue blazes is he talking about?

 

[Huggy]

Gold was a charter member of the sensitive bearded "one-hit wonders" of the 70s with Robbie Dupree, and Henry Gross.

You can add Dan Hill to this list too.

 

[Starman]

The guy that will always personify the 70's music scene for me is Gordon Lightfoot. He had a string of terrible, catchy tunes.

But his lyrics were confusing as hell at times. Ever actually listen to the words of "If you could read my mind?" If so, please tell me what the ghost in a wishing well is all about.

Uh, about an old-time movie?

You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
as long as I'm a ghost you can see.

WTF? He is referencing the ghose in the movie, I guess, but what the blue blazes is he talking about?

It's a metaphor in which he is comparing himself -- in the view of the ex with whom he is breaking up, to whom the song is addressed -- with a ghost in some spooky old BW movie they once watched. He's saying, "to you I am nothing more than a ghost now."

It's like the "old-fashioned love song" in Three Dog Night's "Just An Old-Fashioned Love Song," it's not referring to a specific article (or song, or ghost from a wishing well) but simply the IDEA of some vaguely-remembered shared experience by which the singer can appeal to the romantic nostalgia of the ex.

See also "Taxi" by Harry Chapin.


It's also a good technique by songwriters to give the audience (made up primarily of teens) the feeling they are older, wiser, and more mature than they really are.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Gold was a charter member of the sensitive bearded "one-hit wonders" of the 70s with Robbie Dupree, and Henry Gross.

Shannon by Henry Gross was the cheesiest schmaltz of the 1970s, and challenges Honey by Bobby Goldsboro and Tell Laura I Love Her as the cheesiest schmaltz evah.