Wally Gold
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Wally Gold (May 15, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and music business executive from
Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...
.


Personal life

Gold was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, United States. Gold moved to
Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...
with his wife and two young sons and was soon joined by the addition of his daughter. He had five grandchildren.


Career

Gold first performed as a saxophone player in the U.S. Navy band during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After returning from Japan, he started college at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
where he formed the singing group The Four Esquires. Gold toured with The Four Esquires in the late 1950s and had two hit singles "Love Me Forever" and "Hideaway". They also appeared on ''The Patty Page Show'' and ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...
''. By 1960, Gold joined
Aaron Schroeder Aaron Harold Schroeder (September 7, 1926 – December 2, 2009) was an American songwriter and music publisher. Early years Born in Brooklyn, Schroeder graduated from the school now known as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art a ...
with whom he co-wrote two
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
Number 1 hits – " It's Now or Never" (1960) and " Good Luck Charm" (1962). During this period, Gold also co-wrote
Lesley Gore Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein, May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song " It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She follow ...
's number 1 hit " It's My Party". Gold's songs have been recorded by scores of artists, including Duane Eddy's " Because They're Young" which peaked at #4,
Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...
's " Half Heaven – Half Heartache" (#12) and "Take Me Tonight",
Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
's "Time and the River", as well as by Paul Petersen and
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
. Gold has a total of 81 songs credited in the ASCAP database. By the mid-1960s, Gold was hired as a house producer for
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
, where he produced albums for
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
and Jerry Vale, and
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
's 1969 album " What About Today?". In the 1970s, Gold moved over to work as Vice President/general manager for Don Kirshner's music organization, where he discovered and produced the band
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. He worked on other successful projects as well, including a TV game show called '' Musical Chairs'' (1975) and a TV comedy '' A Year at the Top'' (1977) (uncredited) starring Paul Shaffer and Greg Evigan. He also served as Musical Coordinator for the ''Rock Concert'' TV series. After leaving the music business, Gold worked as a travel agent until his death from colitis in 1998 at the age of 70.


References


External links


Obituary from the Independent

A Year At The Top listing at IMDb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Wally 1928 births 1998 deaths Record producers from New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey Musicians from Teaneck, New Jersey 20th-century American singers 20th-century American businesspeople ASCAP composers and authors 20th-century American male singers Travel agents (people) American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters