User:Jack Sebastian/Eddie Money

Eddie Money (born Edward Joseph Mahoney, March 21, 1949 in New York City, New York) is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums. Rock impresario Bill Graham said of Money "Eddie Money has it all...Not only can he sing, write and play, but he is a natural performer."

After becoming a police officer, like his father, during the late 1960s, 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.

Early years
Eddie Money attended Island Trees High School in Levittown, New York, graduating in 1967.

Musical career


Eddie Mahoney made his first splash with the Berkeley California band The Rockets which included future Eddie Money band members John Nelson and Chris Solberg. After changing his name to Eddie Money he 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 had more of a pop/disco sound. 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.

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 hard to find and a 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.

Television appearances
Eddie appeared 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 Doug's living room.

He made an appearance in The Drew Carey Show, as the former husband of Mimi Bobeck.

He also appeared on Don't Forget The Lyrics! on Dec. 5, 2008, with his daughter Jesse Money, raising money for charity.

Dressed in a full-length wool overcoat, on January 2, 2010, he performed his signature hits Two Tickets to Paradise and Shakin' during halftime of college football's Liberty Bowl.

Soundtrack appearances
"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 Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s game.

Two of Money's songs ("Get A Move On" and "Open Up Your Heart") were 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.

Personal life
Money is married to wife Laurie, and has five children.

Money's daughter Jesse Money appeared on the 2008 MTV reality competition Rock the Cradle, coming in last. She also toured with Eddie in 2008-2009, performing as his opening act, as well as singing backing vocals throughout his show, including the Ronnie Spector part on "Take Me Home Tonight."

Discography

 * Eddie Money (1977)
 * Life for the Taking (1978)
 * Playing for Keeps (1980)
 * No Control (1982)
 * Where's the Party? (1983)
 * Can't Hold Back (1986)
 * Nothing to Lose (1988)
 * Right Here (1991)
 * Love and Money (1995)
 * Ready Eddie (1999)
 * Wanna Go Back (2007)