Geoffrey Cushing-Murray (born 1946 in

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

, United States) is an American songwriter. He served as a decorated Army officer in Vietnam and studied English at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, where he was a member of the varsity fencing team. He has written songs such as "Hot Night in a Cold Town" which was covered by

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumen ...

Uriah Heep Uriah Heep may refer to: * Uriah Heep (character), a character in the Charles Dickens novel ''David Copperfield'' *Uriah Heep (band), a British rock band active since 1969 *''Uriah Heep Live ''Uriah Heep Live'' is a double live album by Britis ...

and Steppenwolf. He was also a longtime songwriting partner of

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

of the Beach Boys, having co-written "Angel Come Home", "Full Sail", and "Goin' South" with Carl, and "Love Surrounds Me" with

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

. Plans to write with

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

were shelved at the initial discussion stage. In the comments section of YouTube, Geoffrey Cushing-Murray states, "The correct lyric is "A Mexican wind blows in breaking the hold Angelinos have on their halos." Somewhere along the line someone mis-transcribed the lyric from a demo by John Kay to the Angelina's hair non-secquitur. "

References

Living people Songwriters from New York (state) 1946 births University of California, Los Angeles alumni {{songwriter-stub