Why I Love Music: Eddie Money…

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Eddie Money arrived in the late '70s at the height of album rock's popularity. Money had a knack for catchy, blue-collar rock & roll, which he delivered with a polished, radio-friendly finesse. Seeming to come out of nowhere with his 1977 self-titled debut, Money had actually been a fixture around the San Francisco rock scene for several years. With the assistance of a big name concert promoter, he attained major-label stardom.

In the early MTV era, he filmed a series of funny narrative videos, something his peers were reluctant to due. In the late '80s, hits like "Take Me Home Tonight" and "Walk On Water" reached the Top Ten.

Initially, Eddie Mahoney was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Brooklyn cop. His brother is a retired Sergeant from the NYPD. He attended Island Trees High School in Levittown, Long Island, NY. He attended the New York Police Academy during the early '70s, as a New York City Police Dept. Patrolman, but at night, he sang in rock & roll bands under the name Eddie Money.

To the dismay of his parents, he began singing in rock bands while still in high school. He stayed out of the Vietnam War by enrolling in the New York Police Academy and continued to sing in local combos while serving as a police cadet. Soon, however, Money's antiestablishment philosophy and growing interest in the world of rock and roll clashed with the beliefs of his parents' generation. "I grew up with respect for the idea of preserving law and order, and then all of a sudden cops became pigs and it broke my heart," Money told Rolling Stone reporter Mikal Gilmore in 1978. "It was just a goddamn shame that getting high was illegal." One day he typed up a written defense of a certain unnamed drug on police stationery and found himself booted out of the academy.

Deciding to make a go of a career in music, Money relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, where he was finally free to grow his hair long. He sold blue jeans and got his first big break when he joined Big Brother And The Holding Company, singer Janis Joplin's backing band, shortly after her demise. In 1975, after singing for a number of years in different bands, and rearranging the Mahoney surname into "Money," he became involved with popular Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham's management company. The two had met after Money performed in a battle of the bands at one of Graham's venues, and the elder statesman of rock quickly became a friend, manager, and mentor to Money. Graham helped him negotiate a recording contract with Columbia Records. The singer's first release, 1977's Eddie Money, catapulted him to overnight stardom.

His backing band featured musicians fresh from their work with the Steve Miller Band, best known for their hit "Keep On Rocking Me, Baby." The first two singles from Money's first record, "Baby Hold On" and "Two Tickets To Paradise" reached Number 11 and Number 22 on the 1978 charts respectively. Heavy touring followed, including opening dates for the legendary rock band Santana.

During the early '80s, Money began to make funny narrative videos, which became staples on early MTV and made "Shakin'" and "Think I'm In Love" hits. As only one example of his cross-generational influence, his hit single “Shakin'” is featured in the hit video game series Guitar Hero Encore on the “Rocks the 80s” edition.

Money released, in the summer of 1982, “No Control.” Of the album's best-known single, "Think I'm In Love," High Fidelity contributor Chuck Eddy opined that the song's "traction comes from how the initial mythological acoustica lures you siren-style toward the hard-boiled fuzz riff, which comes and goes."

Money recorded a series of albums for Columbia during the 1980s, including 1984's Where's The Party ?, the 1986 hit Can't Hold Back, and Nothing to Lose, which featured the Top Ten "Walk On Water," released in 1988. He had a hit, with Ronnie Spector, "Take Me Home Tonight," as well as the Top 20 "I Wanna Go Back." A greatest hits package, "Peace in Our Time," taken from the 1989 Greatest Hits: Sound Of Money, reached number 11 the next year.

This period of Money’s life was also marked by tragedy, however, when longtime friend Bill Graham died in a 1991 helicopter accident. An eighth studio album, Right Here, arrived in the same year, with the track "I'll Get By" dedicated to the late Graham. In 1992 Money released an acoustic effort entitled Unplug It In.

Money's career took an unexpected turn in 1995 when Graham's surviving namesake management company reactivated the Wolfgang Records label (a defunct imprint of Columbia originally started by Graham), and Money became the first artist in their repertoire. Issuing Love And Money in the spring of 1995 heralded a comeback of sorts for Money. The record's first single, "After This Love Is Gone," was lauded as "a chugging, rock-edged pop ballad" by Billboard magazine. Two other tracks, "Died a Thousand Times" and a cover of '70s soul singer Isaac Hayes's "Run Your Hurt Away," with its lyrics about resurrecting one's life, seemed to best reflect the renewal of Money's career and personal life.

If you would like to see him in concert, Eddie Money Currently On Tour - Click Here. His band consists of Randy Forester (keyboards), Tommy Girvin (guitar), Lee Beverly (bass), & Glenn Symmonds (drums).

Eddie is still going strong after all these years. He’s on tour, his daughter, Jesse, who also sings, on tour with him. His most recent album, “Wanna Go Back,” hit stores on March 13, 2007. The album’s music is influenced mainly by the music from the ‘60s, to include such classics as Jackie Wilson's "Higher & Higher," Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Comin," and The Foundations’ "Baby Now That I Found You."

He donates a portion of his merchandise proceeds to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and performs at fundraisers for local schools every year. In November 2007, Eddie teamed up with Warrior Custom Golf Clubs and UPS to present the Eddie Money Celebrity Shootout, which raised funds for multiple charities.

Discography…

Wanna Go Back - 2007

We Are The '80s - 2006

Let's Rock & Roll The Place - 2003

The Essential Eddie Money - 2003

Then And Now - 2003

The Best Of Eddie Money - 2001

The ABC Rarities - 1999

Ready Eddie - 1999

Demeter - 1998

Roy Rogers Tribute - 1998

Greatest Hits Live: The Encore Collection - 1998