Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on scores of records by other artists, especially

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

, and had his own success with the U.S.

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits " Lonely Boy" (1977) and " Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), as well as the UK top five hit "

Never Let Her Slip Away "Never Let Her Slip Away" is a song written by American musician Andrew Gold, who recorded it for his third album, ''All This and Heaven Too (album), All This and Heaven Too'' (1978). The single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and nu ...

" (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of Wax, a collaboration with

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...

Graham Gouldman Graham Keith Gouldman (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10c ...

. During the 1990s, Gold produced, composed, performed on and wrote tracks for films, commercials, and television soundtracks, such as "Final Frontier", the theme of the sitcom '' Mad About You''. Some of his older works experienced newfound popularity: "Thank You for Being a Friend" sung by another performer was used as the opening theme for ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'', and the children's novelty song " Spooky, Scary Skeletons" (1996) became an

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

in the 2010s. In 1997, Gold released a tribute to 1960s

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

, ''Greetings from Planet Love'', issued under the pseudonym "the Fraternal Order of the All". Leigh, Spencer
Obituary, Andrew Gold
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', June 8, 2011.

Early life

Gold was born on August 2, 1951, in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

, California,Obituary
''Telegraph'', June 8, 2011. and eventually followed his parents into show business. His mother was singer

Marni Nixon Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the s ...

, who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...

in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'',

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...

in ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

'', and

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

''; his father was Ernest Gold, an Austrian-born composer who won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for his score for the movie '' Exodus''. He had two younger sisters. Gold began writing songs at the age of 13. While in school in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for one year, the 16-year-old Gold scored his first recording contract on the strength of a selection of demos he submitted to Polydor Records'

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

office. That contract resulted in the single "Of All the Little Girls", which was recorded with his friend and collaborator Charlie Villiers, and released in 1967 under the name Villiers and Gold.

Career

1970s

By the early 1970s, Gold was working full-time as a musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a member of the Los Angeles band Bryndle, alongside Kenny Edwards,

Wendy Waldman Wendy Waldman (born Wendy Steiner on November 29, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Early life Waldman grew up in the Los Angeles area and was raised in a musical environment. Her father Fred Steiner was a ...

, and Karla Bonoff, releasing the single "Woke Up This Morning" in 1970. He played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for

's breakthrough album, 1974's '' Heart Like a Wheel'', and her next two albums. After Ronstadt's '' Hasten Down the Wind'', Gold began a solo career. Among other accomplishments, he played the majority of instruments on " You're No Good", Ronstadt's only No. 1 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and on " When Will I Be Loved", " (Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", and many other hits. He was in her band from 1973 until 1977, and then sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, performing at some of her concerts. In 1975, Gold debuted as a solo artist with the album ''

Andrew Gold Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop rock, pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on s ...

'' and played most of the instruments on

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

's solo hit "

I Only Have Eyes For You "I Only Have Eyes for You" is a song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin. The song was written for the 1934 film ''Dames (film), Dames'', in which it was performed by Dick Powell. Several other successful recordings of the song were m ...

" (a major hit in the United Kingdom where it topped the UK Singles Chart), as well as several other cuts on Garfunkel's album '' Breakaway''. Gold's second studio album, '' What's Wrong with This Picture?,'' was released in 1976 and featured the hit single "Lonely Boy", which reached No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 1977. Although Gold put personal references in the lyrics to "Lonely Boy" (including his year of birth), he said in an interview with author Spencer Leigh that the song was not autobiographical. "Maybe it was a mistake to do that," he said, "but I simply put in those details because it was convenient. I hadn't been a lonely boy at all – I'd had a very happy childhood." In 1977, Gold played guitar on two cuts of

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (August 11, 1949 – March 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit " Go All the Way" and four albums. He embarked on a so ...

's album '' Boats Against the Current'', including " She Did It", a No. 23 hit that year. Although "Lonely Boy" was the bigger radio hit in the States, the single " Thank You for Being a Friend" from Gold's third album, '' All This and Heaven Too'', peaked at No. 25 in 1978, later gaining popularity as the theme song for ''

'', performed by Cindy Fee. Gold's biggest hit in the United Kingdom was "

", which peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart on two occasions, first by Gold himself in 1978 and again by dance-pop group

Undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

in 1992.

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

, a friend of Gold's, was an uncredited background singer. Gold also toured with the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, worked in the studio and toured with Ronstadt and

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

, recorded and toured with

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, and was second engineer on part of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

's album ''Blue''.

1980s

Gold played on Cher's hit 1989 album '' Heart of Stone'' and, during the early '90s, wrote and composed hits for

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

as well as Wynonna Judd, for whom he co-wrote the No. 1 single " I Saw The Light" with

Lisa Angelle Lisa Angelle (born December 27, 1965, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is an American country music singer-songwriter. During the 1980s and 1990s, Angelle wrote songs for several country artists including Wynonna Judd, who reached num ...

. (Later, Gold would produce Angelle on her own album, which featured a number of songs on whose authorship and composition they collaborated.) He also produced singles for

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

, wrote and produced tracks for

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, and arranged a cover of the

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, an ...

hit "All I Have to Do Is Dream" that was sung by stars

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

and Karen Allen in the 1984 science-fiction film '' Starman.''

Wax

In 1981, Gold produced, co-wrote, sang and played on three

tracks that appeared on the hit-making pop-rock band's 1981 album '' Ten Out of 10''. Subsequently,

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of ...

and

of 10cc invited Gold to become a member of the group. Although he had worked with them in the studio, business conflicts prevented him from joining their ranks. In late 1983, 10cc broke up, and in the aftermath, Gold and Gouldman formed Wax. Wax recorded and toured for five years. They enjoyed international success, particularly in the UK, where the duo had several hits including " Right Between the Eyes" and their biggest hit, " Bridge to Your Heart". Wax broke up as a recording and touring entity in 1989, but Gold and Gouldman continued to write and record together whenever possible.

1990s

In the 1990s, Gold once again joined forces with ex-bandmates Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Kenny Edwards to re-form Bryndle and release their first full-length album, ''Bryndle.'' In 1996, Gold left Bryndle and released the children's

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

-oriented novelty album ''Halloween Howls''. It features covers of " Monster Mash" and the themes from ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

'' and ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', plus nine original songs, including " Spooky, Scary Skeletons", which regained popularity from the 2010s onwards as an

. The same year, he released the solo album ''....Since 1951,'' and produced Stephen Bishop's ''Blue Guitar'' album. Thereafter, he recorded the psychedelic '60s tribute album ''Greetings from Planet Love'' under the pseudonym "The Fraternal Order of the All," releasing it on his own record label, "QBrain Records." This album was a multi-tracked solo affair with Gold essentially playing all of the instruments and singing all of the vocals on original songs in the style of Gold's favorite 1960s bands such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

. He produced, composed, and/or wrote tracks for numerous films, such as the comedy ''Rectuma'' from director Mark Pirro, and contributed songs to many television soundtracks and commercials. Among his more high-profile gigs, he sang "Final Frontier," the theme song for the television sitcom '' Mad About You''. In a remarkable turn of events, his rendition of the song was used as the wake-up call for the

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' was an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a rover (space exploration), roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a Lander (spacecraft), lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a ligh ...

space probe in 1996. Gold also produced seven albums for Japanese singer-songwriter

Eikichi Yazawa is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and a prominent figure in Japanese popular music. Yoko Yazawa of The Generous is his daughter. He has been nicknamed as Ei-chan (永ちゃん), Boss or The King of Rock. Biography Sources: 1949-1967: Early Li ...

2000s

In 2000, Gold compiled a Wax rarities album, ''Bikini Wax'', as well as recording and releasing a new solo album ''The Spence Manor Suite;'' this last was followed in 2002 by another solo collection, ''Intermission''. In the early 2000s, he formed a Byrds tribute band, Byrds of a Feather, which performed in the Los Angeles area. He appeared in a 2006 concert with the classic rock group

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop. The performance was later released as a DVD titled ''America And Friends – Live at the Ventura Theater''. The show featured Gold performing "Thank You for Being a Friend," "Final Frontier," "Bridge to Your Heart," and "Lonely Boy," as well as accompanying America and Bishop on guitar and vocals. Gold had produced America's ''Holiday Harmony'' Christmas album in 2002, in which he also played most of the instruments and co-wrote the track "Christmas in California."

Legacy

In the early 2010s, Gold's song "Spooky Scary Skeletons" became the subject of Halloween-related

s through its popularity on

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...

's video games board. Within a few years, the song turned into a viral phenomenon, with numerous highly viewed remixes and dance tutorials for it being posted on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

; it was described by ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine in 2019 as the "Internet's Halloween anthem". YouTuber Dave Wave released a popular remix of the song that was later published on Spotify by Craft Recordings. The song also became highly popular on social media site

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, with videos including it receiving several hundred million views. By 2019, the popularity of "Spooky Scary Skeletons" had inspired a deluxe digital release of ''Halloween Howls''. This version of the album included the addition of two extended electronic dance remixes of "Spooky Scary Skeletons." "Spooky, Scary Skeletons" was adapted into a children's picture book by Random House Children's Books, featuring the lyrics to the song on August 27, 2024. In 2020, an early version of Gold's song "Savannah" was issued as a digital single. It was followed by ''Something New: Unreleased Gold'' – a posthumous compilation album of previously unavailable tracks, including some demos – in vinyl, CD and digital formats, along with two digital singles from the album: the title song and "Come Down to Me."

Personal life and death

Gold's first marriage was to Vanessa Gold, with whom he had three daughters, Emily, Victoria, and Olivia. Emily is also a musician, and currently fronts the Los Angeles rock band Cosmo Gold. In the early 1980s, Gold was engaged to singer

Nicolette Larson Nicolette Larson (July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997) was an American singer. She is best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young and her 1978 hit single of Young's " Lotta Love", which hit No. 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary ...

, but the engagement ended shortly after the completion of Larson's 1982 album ''All Dressed Up and No Place to Go'', which Gold produced. Gold was also involved with

Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an ...

while she was on SNL in the late '70s and he wrote the hit song, "Never Let Her Slip Away" from his release, "All This and Heaven" for her. He later married Leslie Kogan, who continues to manage his musical legacy. Gold was diagnosed with

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

and responded well to treatment. However, on June 3, 2011, he died in his sleep from heart failure, aged 59.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilations

* 1978: ''An Interview with Andrew Gold'' (promo-only interview & music LP) * 1991: ''Where the Heart Is: The Commercials 1988–1991'' * 1997: '' Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best of Andrew Gold'' * 1998: ''Leftovers'' * 2011: ''The Essential Collection'' * 2018: ''An Introduction to: Andrew Gold'' * 2019: ''Complete Albums 1975–1980'' (Digital) * 2019: ''Lonely Boy: The Greatest Hits'' (Digital) * 2019: ''Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music'' (Deluxe Edition Digital) * 2020: ''Something New: Unreleased Gold'' * 2021: ''Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music'' (Vinyl) * 2023: ''Greetings from Planet Love - The Fraternal Order of the All'' (Vinyl Digital CD remastered) * 2023 ''Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music'' (Vinyl, CD) * 2025 ''Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music'' (Vinyl, CD)

Live albums and EPs

* 2005: ''Rhino Hi-Five: Andrew Gold'' * 2007: ''Andrew Gold – Live at the Ventura Theater'' (Digital EP) * 2015: ''The Late Show – Live 1978'' * 2019: ''Merry Christmas: Thank You for Being a Friend'' (Digital EP) * 2020: ''Something New: The Solo Demos'' (Digital EP)

Box sets

* 2013: ''Andrew Gold + What's Wrong with This Picture + All This and Heaven Too + Whirlwind...Plus'' * 2020: ''Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology''

With Wax

* 1986: '' Magnetic Heaven'' * 1987: ''

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

'' * 1989: '' A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes'' * 1998: '' Common Knowledge.com'' * 2019: '' Wax Live in Concert 1987''

With Bryndle

* 1995: '' Bryndle'' * 2002: '' House of Silence''

Singles

Other appearances

With other artists

Cuts and covers

References

External links

Official website

Andrew Gold and Graham Gouldman songs
at Harvey Lisberg {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Andrew 1951 births 2011 deaths American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters Record producers from California American soft rock musicians Musicians from Burbank, California Singer-songwriters from California Asylum Records artists American people of Austrian descent American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American expatriates in England Contestants on American game shows