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Last update: 18/12/18

Having recently acquired three of his best known albums on good quality second hand vinyl, I was shocked to discover that the multi instrumentalist singer songwriter Andrew Gold had passed away in 2011 after battling renal cancer. Admittedly, I hadn’t heard any material from him since his 80’s collaborations with 10CC’s Graham Gouldman on various Wax UK projects, but his mother Marnie Nixon would regularly appear on BBC 4 musical documentaries and I had no reason to suspect all was not well. Sadly, she would outlive her son.

Best remembered for his ’70s smashes “Lonely Boy,” “Thank You for Being a Friend,” “How can this be love” and “Never let her slip away,” Gold was born in Burbank, California on August 2, 1951. The son of composer Ernest Gold (who won an Academy Award for his score to the film Exodus) and vocalist Marni Nixon (the singing voice of Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady), he first attracted attention as a member of the Los Angeles band Bryndle alongside Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman, and Karla Bonoff. Swiftly emerging as one of the most sought-after session musicians on the West Coast scene, his résumé would include dates with James Taylor and Carly Simon. Solo success would soon follow.

In 1975, Gold released his self-titled solo debut; its follow-up, What’s Wrong with This Picture? (1977) was his commercial breakthrough, notching an international hit with “Lonely Boy.” “Never Let Her Slip Away, “ from 1978’s All This and Heaven Too, also reached the British Top Five, but the album’s most enduring moment remains “Thank You for Being a Friend, “ the blockbuster ballad later remade as the theme song for the hit sitcom The Golden Girls. After touring with Linda Ronstadt in the early 80’s he teamed with 10cc alumnus Graham Gouldman to form Common Knowledge, recording a self-titled LP in 1984. Gold and Goldman then rechristened their duo project Wax UK, notching a minor hit in 1986 with “Right Between the Eyes.” “Bridge to Your Heart” was a British smash in 1987, but after 1989’s A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes, Wax UK disbanded.

I last saw Andrew in the 2010 documentary “Beatles Stories,” in which he discussed becoming acquainted with the band and working on solo projects with Lennon, McCartney and Starr throughout the 70s, 80’s and 90’s.

A melodicist at heart, check out his work. It rarely disappoints