RIP 2019
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From the New York Times obit:
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“Mr. Money, whose birth name was Edward Mahoney, announced last month that he had stage 4 esophageal cancer.
He and his family have been the focus of a reality television show on AXS TV, “Real Money.” The episode in which he learns he has cancer was broadcast the night before he died.
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He began training to become a police officer at 18, but by night he was rocking with a band called the Grapes of Wrath.
“Those were the days when students were fighting with cops all the time,” he said, “and the band eventually fired me because they didn’t want a ‘pig’ in the group.””
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A long excerpt from a lovely Rolling Stone tribute:
Baby Hold On: Why Eddie Money Was the Patron Saint of Rock Uncool
With a string of immortal hits, the late singer ignored trends and hit FM paydirt time and time again
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For decades, we’ve been taught that pop stars, especially rock stars, are supposed to embody a certain type of cool. But the accidental genius of Money, who died Friday of heart valve complications at 70, was that he almost never was. Throughout pretty much his entire career, he was rock’s endearing every-palooka, a clumsy, somewhat overwrought guy who was one of rock’s most relatable acts and, during a 45-year career, stumbled onto some of the most enduring radio hits of his era.
Money threw himself into songs the way he threw himself into stage shows: with a sloppy passion. Rock lyrics don’t get any more generic than those in the frisky “Think I’m in Love” or his first hit “Baby Hold On” — “the future is ours to see/when you hold on to me” — but Money sang them, and other songs, as if he believed fully in every single word and that his life depended on conveying them with as much intensity as he could.
This was also the era of the pillow-soft sound now called Yacht Rock, a fairly loathsome term dripping with ironic appreciation for the likes of Christopher Cross and Rupert Holmes. But again, Money was never quite right for that moment, either. Hardly a suave crooner, he stood in for every person who was all sputtery emotions, bereft of the polished or articulate gene. As seen repeatedly in his videos, he couldn’t quite pull off the glam-sultry look either, even when he was pretending to be a vampire (“Think I’m in Love”).
Five minutes of bleating desperation, “Take Me Home Tonight,” the 1986 hit that put him back on the charts after a dry spell, remains a wondrous record. As always, he sang it as if his world was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it — a tension only released when Ronnie Spector emerged to pay homage to her Ronettes hit “Be My Baby” in what may have been the first “live sample” in pop, not cribbing from an old record but actually using the original singer to recreate the part.
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Baby Hold On: Why Eddie Money Was the Patron Saint of Rock Uncool
We pay tribute to the trend-oblivious hitmaking prowess of the late, great Eddie Money.
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@JC seems odd he was quite old in the 80's eh.
Yeah, I was surprised too. He always had that kind of drawn look which it never dawned on me was probably because he was pushing 40. Back in those pre Internet days the only source of information like that was the music papers, NME, Melody Maker, Smash Hits and our own Rip It Up and you’d have to be lucky enough to strike a copy with an interview with a particular band. I quite liked The Cars, knew the members names and their music but realistically knew nothing about them.
In any event, they were farking massive back then. If anybody remembers Live Aid “Drive” was on almost constant rotate in every break between performances. I think I’ve yet to hear a better produced album than Heartbeat City. The songs themselves sound pretty dated though, as I say they defined that era so it’s inevitable they sort of stayed in a time warp. Genius in its own way though.
Their first album was, at the time, a thing of wonder. Innovative songs, really slick playing and the technology was mind blowing for those days. That’s the one I still play.
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@MiketheSnow said in RIP 2019:
Funnily enough I was just thinking something similar when I heard about Ocasek. Most of those pioneers are circling the drain now and soon most of my heroes will be history. Getting older sucks.
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@jegga Costumes and effects aside, the show held up very well. Good acting and writing.
That was the main feature of Blake's 7 and Dr Who back in the 80s, great script writing that allowed you to forgive the cheapo effects
Did we even realise they were cheapo effects back then?
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@jegga Costumes and effects aside, the show held up very well. Good acting and writing.
That was the main feature of Blake's 7 and Dr Who back in the 80s, great script writing that allowed you to forgive the cheapo effects
Did we even realise they were cheapo effects back then?
Well no, absolutely mesmerised by the quality script writing. "EXTERMINATE"
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@jegga Costumes and effects aside, the show held up very well. Good acting and writing.
That was the main feature of Blake's 7 and Dr Who back in the 80s, great script writing that allowed you to forgive the cheapo effects
Did we even realise they were cheapo effects back then?
Yeah half the shit they used as spaceships looked exactly like the detergent bottles in the laundry.
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@jegga Costumes and effects aside, the show held up very well. Good acting and writing.
That was the main feature of Blake's 7 and Dr Who back in the 80s, great script writing that allowed you to forgive the cheapo effects
Did we even realise they were cheapo effects back then?
Not really. Shit it was great growing up in the innocence of the 70s and 80s. You weren’t privy to all of the insider story, you just enjoyed shows for what they were. The kids know too much now, and I think something of the imagination of film, TV and music is lost
The coming death of just about every rock legend
