Eddie Money
(born Edward Joseph Mahoney
, March 21, 1949) is an American rock singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums. His musical style is characterized by his recognizable vocals and memorable melodies, and his numerous MTV music videos during the 1980s. [1]
After becoming a police officer, like his father, during the late 1960s, [2] Money began to be interested in music, and eventually ended his law enforcement career in favor of becoming a musician. He moved to Berkeley, California and became a regular at area clubs, where he eventually got enough attention to secure a recording contract with Columbia Records. Later in the 1970s, he charted with singles such as "Baby Hold On" and "Two Tickets to Paradise". Money continued his successes and took advantage of the MTV music video scene in the early 1980s with his humorous narrative videos for "Shakin'" and "Think I'm in Love", but his career began to fail him after several unsuccessful releases in the mid-1980s, accompanied by his struggles with drug addiction.
Money made a comeback two years later in 1986 and returned to the mainstream rock spotlight with the album Can't Hold Back
, which featured a Ronnie Spector duet with "Take Me Home Tonight", which reached the Top 10, along with the hit "I Wanna Go Back". Money followed the album with another Top 10 hit, late 1988's "Walk on Water", but his Top 40 career ended when "I'll Get By" charted in 1992. During the 1990s and 2000s, Money continued to release numerous compilation albums along with several albums featuring new material. Today, he still tours the "Oldies" circuit regularly, often accompanied by other successful rock acts from his era, and has also made several television appearances on American sitcoms. Since 1992, Money has traditionally opened the summer concert season for DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI.
|
EDDIE MONEY TICKETS
|
1960s
Eddie Money attended Island Trees High School in
Levittown, New York where he graduated in 1967.
[3]
1970s
Eddie Money released his first album, the
eponymous Eddie Money
, in 1977. It reached #37 on the charts, and contained two of his most memorable hits; "Baby Hold On" and "
Two Tickets to Paradise". Both songs entered the top 40. The next year he followed up with his second album,
Life for the Taking
, which featured more of a pop/disco sound to keep up with the trends of the late 1970s. The album charted higher at #17, but neither of its two singles; "Can't Keep a Good Man Down" and "Maybe I'm a Fool" entered the top 20.
1980s
Two years later in 1980, Money released his third album,
Playing for Keeps
. The album only reached #35 in the United States and yielded no Top 40 singles. Two years later, he released
No Control
, which included the hits "Shakin'", "Think I'm In Love", and "Take A Little Bit". The album hit #20 in the United States.
Trying to duplicate the success of
No Control
, Money released
Where's the Party
in 1983. This album featured the songs "Big Crash", "Club Michelle" and "Leave It To Me". It became his lowest charting album to date at #67, which now makes it a hard to find and collectible CD. A second comeback for Money came in the form of
Can't Hold Back
in 1986, which featured the single "Take Me Home Tonight", featuring
Ronnie Spector, that reached #4 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Other songs include "Wanna Go Back", "Endless Nights", and "We Should Be Sleeping". The album later went platinum.
In the late 1980s, the single "Walk on Water", from his 1988 album
Nothing to Lose
, became a top ten hit. The album also featured the songs "Forget About Love" and "The Love In Your Eyes". Subsequent releases by Money have often failed to chart.
Money in the media
"
Two Tickets to Paradise" has been featured in numerous forms of media including video games, television, and movies. It was featured in the video game
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
on the radio station K-DST in 2004, and also in an episode of
The Simpsons
, to which Homer remarks "excellent guitar riff". It also appeared in the reality show Paradise Hotel. The song also appeared in the film
Operation Situation: Code Name Kill
.
"
Baby Hold On" was featured in the video game
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
on the radio station Emotion 98.3 in 2006.
"
Shakin'" is featured in the hit video game series
Guitar Hero
on the
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
edition.
Eddie appears in an episode of the
CBS sitcom The King Of Queens
, when Doug, Deacon and Arthur hire Money to play a personal concert for just the three of them in Dougs living room.
He makes an appearance in the
The Drew Carey Show
, as the former husband of
Mimi Bobeck.
Two of Money's songs ("Get A Move On" and "Open Up Your Heart") were prominently featured in the movie
Americathon
. While both appear on the vinyl release of the motion picture soundtrack album, the ballad Open Up Your Heart does not seem to have ever been released on CD or on any of Money's collections.
His song "Think I'm In Love" is featured in both
Joe Dirt
(2001) as well as
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
(2009), starring his friend Kevin James.
Money's daughter
Jesse Money is featured on the
MTV series
Rock the Cradle
, coming in last on the reality competition.
[4]
Discography
Studio albums
Year
| Album
| Billboard 200
| RIAA
|
1977
| Eddie Money
| 37
| 2× Multi-Platinum
|
1978
| Life for the Taking
| 17
| Platinum
|
1980
| Playing for Keeps
| 35
| —
|
1982
| No Control
| 20
| Platinum
|
1983
| Where's the Party?
| 67
| —
|
1986
| Can't Hold Back
| 20
| Platinum
|
1988
| Nothing to Lose
| 49
| Gold
|
1991
| Right Here
| 160
| —
|
1995
| Love and Money
| —
| —
|
1999
| Ready Eddie
| —
| —
|
2007
| Wanna Go Back
| —
| —
|
Compilation and specialty albums
Year
| Album
| Billboard 200
| RIAA
|
1989
| Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money
| 53
| Gold
|
1992
| Unplug It In
| —
| —
|
1996
| Good as Gold
| —
| —
|
1997
| Shakin' with the Money Man
| —
| —
|
1997
| Super Hits
| —
| —
|
1998
| Greatest Hits Live: The Encore Collection
| —
| —
|
2000
| Complete Eddie Money Live
| —
| —
|
2001
| The Best of Eddie Money
| —
| —
|
2003
| The Essential Eddie Money
| —
| —
|
Let's Rock and Roll the Place
| —
| —
|
Singles
Year
| Single
| Chart Positions
| Album
|
US Hot 100
| US Main Rock
| US AC
|
1978
| "Baby Hold On"
| 11
| —
| —
| Eddie Money
|
"Two Tickets to Paradise"
| 22
| —
| —
|
1979
| "You've Really Got a Hold on Me"
| 72
| —
| —
|
"Maybe I'm a Fool"
| 22
| —
| —
| Life for the Taking
|
"Can't Keep a Good Man Down"
| 63
| —
| —
|
"Get a Move On"
| 46
| —
| —
| Playing for Keeps
|
1980
| "Let's Be Lovers Again"
| 65
| —
| —
|
"Running Back"
| 78
| —
| —
|
1982
| "Think I'm In Love"
| 16
| 1
| —
| No Control
|
"Shakin'"
| 63
| 9
| —
|
1983
| "The Big Crash"
| 54
| 17
| —
| Where's the Party?
|
1984
| "Club Michelle"
| 66
| —
| —
|
1986
| "Take Me Home Tonight"
| 4
| 1
| —
| Can't Hold Back
|
"I Wanna Go Back"
| 14
| 3
| 33
|
1987
| "Endless Nights"
| 21
| 10
| —
|
"We Should Be Sleeping"
| 90
| 18
| —
|
1988
| "Walk on Water"
| 9
| 2
| —
| Nothin' to Lose
|
1989
| "The Love in Your Eyes"
| 24
| 1
| —
|
"Let Me In"
| 60
| 30
| —
|
1990
| "Peace in Our Time"
| 11
| 2
| 34
| Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money
|
1991
| "I'll Get By"
| 21
| —
| 7
| Right Here
|
"Heaven in the Back Seat"
| 58
| 6
| —
|
1992
| "Fall in Love Again"
| 54
| —
| 16
|
2008
| "Gimme Some Water" (with Vince Gill)
| —
| —
| —
| single only
|
References
- Eddie Money performs at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
- Ten Years After He Threw the Book at Him, a Besieged Judge Finds He Can Bank on Rocker Eddie Money.
- [1]
- Eddie Money Rats Out Daughter for DUI Somewhere in Vegas, Blog Talk Radio. Accessed May 6, 2009.