Monday, July 23, 2007

In Praise of...Eddie Money



First off, let me say I had just started in the business of playing rock and roll when Eddie's first album came out. I had been in the business for a while but when late 1978 rolled around, I was helming the morning show on "KFMH, 99 plus stereo" in suburban Muscatine Iowa. With a signal that stretched from Des Moines to LaSalle-Peru, and a format that was "..we have a format?", I was a pretty happy guy. That being said, the first Eddie Money release hit me in the gonads. Born Eddie Mahoney, this guy was a native New Yorker and followed his dad on the force, disillusioned with a paper pushing assignment, he decided to see how far he could go.


I immediately loved "Two Tickets", "Baby Hold On" and also discovered some great stuff on the songs that weren't popular like "Save A Little Room In Your Heart For Me","Jelousies" etc. His next, "Life For The Taking" was equally strong but by "No Control", he was toast. He redeemed his career with "Can't Hold Back" in 1986. That was pretty much it. He released "Peace In Our Time" around Christmas 1990 but hasn't regained his popularity. Come to speak of it, he was a dick to me in Nashville. It was my last official appearance as a station employee and he made it clear why it was time to leave the business.


But, Eddie, my man, love the gritty passsion you put into most of your music, and we'll keep the blondes hidden from sight. Here's the top ten:




1. "When You Took My Heart"(1981)-I heard this on a competing station in 1981 and almost got fired I wanted us to play this song so much. Great power pop masterpiece.


2. "Two Tickets To Paradise"(1978)-I've heard this more than you. East coast straight ahead rock and roll with a protaganist and a plot. Always one of the highest testing classic rock songs ever.


3."Save A Little Room In Your Heart"(1978)- "Old faces and old places don't bother me Like they seem to bother you We've had our day No more sorry's to say But there's just one more thing I want you to do... Save a little room in your heart for me Save my pictures with your other memories Save a little room in your heart for me And I'll be there "- damn fine song.


4. "Endless Nights"(1986)-Everyone dug "Take Me Home", but to me, this was THE song from that release.


5. "Trinidad"(1980)-The summer of 1980, hot and muggy. Nasty hot, song of the summer to me.


6. "Baby Hold On"(1978)-Another pop masterpiece.


7. "I Wanna Go Back"(1986)- Man, I hear ya. Another great pop song, a song filled with hooks, great playing and the words that nail a 51 year old to the ground.


8. "Peace In Our Time"(1991)-Classified as a Christmas song by many programmers, I think of the Berlin wall falling. I thought this was the last great Eddie Money song


9. "Can't Keep A Good Man Down"(1979)-Nice funky chunky bottom and another great 1979 era song.


10."Take A Little Bit"(1982) the only thing from "No Control" I liked.




What a picky ass I am huh? Keep the blondes away. Thanks Eddie

2 comments:

Brian Holland said...

I saw the Money Man at Spirit Fest a few years back, and he wasn't bad, and I'd always heard that he put on a great show in a small venue like the Uptown Theater, or even smaller clubs.

Maybe you can help me on this--there's an Eddie Money song that I've been trying to find that had a line in it that went something like "...and the child became a man." I don't know the title, but I wanna say it was from the early-to-mid '80s. Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

The song that you're searching for with the lyrics "...and the child became a man." is titled "When You Took My Heart" from Eddie Money's "Playing For Keeps" album.

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