*Photo by your intrepid blogger, of our B&V Eddie Money vinyl collection

All of us here at B&V were stunned when we heard the news today, oh boy, that 70s/80s Rockstar, singer Eddie Money passed away today at the age of 70 from esophageal cancer. I knew he was in ill health and had cancelled his summer tour, but I had no idea it was this serious. My condolences to his family, fans and friends… While most of the headlines today are going to read something along the lines of “Singer of “Two Tickets To Paradise” and “Baby Hold On To Me” has passed away,” there was a lot more to Eddie Money than those two seminal tracks from his debut album. He started as a New York cop and ended as an international rockstar… I’ll never forget his trade mark style of singing out of the side of his mouth. When I took my latest driver’s license photo, right before they snapped the pic, I said out of the side of my mouth, “are you going to take the pic?” When I saw the photo I said to the Rock Chick, “Look, I’m Eddie Money…”

Now many of you may be scratching your head and thinking, Eddie Money? We at B&V are on the record as fans of the Money Man, Humor – The Song Stuck In My Head From Vacation: “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” . For many of us who came of age in the late 70s/early 80s, we remember just how kick ass Eddie Money was. From 1977 to 1986, or 1988 if I’m being generous, Eddie released a series of great, straight forward rock and roll records. Never as important as Springsteen or as popular as Tom Petty, Money was just fun! Bruce may be lurking in the Darkness On The Edge of Town, but Eddie was asking, “Hey, man, uh, Where’s the Party? From Eddie Money to Can’t Hold Back, Eddie’s albums delivered… well, with the exception of Where’s The Party, which after the title track didn’t have much to recommend itself…although my buddy Dennis used to swear by the track “The Big Crash.”

While the two tracks I mentioned above, “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Baby Hold On” were big there were so many great deep tracks from Eddie Money. His cover of “You Really Got a Hold One Me” was definitive, in my opinion. I can pick a deep track on almost each of his albums that should have been a hit: “So Good To Be In Love Again,” “Life For the Taking,” the reggae tinged “Running Back,” “No Control,” “Club Michelle,” or “Calm Before the Storm,” are all great tracks everybody should check out. The man just rocked… not metal, just meat-and-potatoes, soaring rock and roll.

I got on the bandwagon early, in 1978 when I picked up both Eddie Money and his second album, Life For the Taking. Some might complain that Eddie faced the sophomore slump and I’ll admit the debut was better, but with the title track, “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” (later covered by Joe Walsh), “Rock And Roll the Place” and the best track on the album, “Gimme Some Water,” Life For The Taking is still an amazingly strong album… “Slap my horse in the ass, with my last dying gasp, my brother could hear me say… gimme some water…” Hell, yes!

Eddie had his demons… mostly drink and drugs. I think some of the success probably went to his head and his third album while still strong was a step down from those first two. Although I’ll always be fond of Playing For Keeps because of the track “Trinidad.” It was his fourth album, which benefitted from a boost from MTV and some funny videos that really broke Eddie world wide, No Control. “Think I’m In Love” was the big hit and remains a track I love. I was a freshman in college and that song still evokes memories of that troubled year… My favorite track was the rockin’ opening track, “Shakin’.” He wrote a great tribute track to the then just-deceased John Belushi, “Passing By the Graveyard,” that could have been a warning to himself.

I had tickets to see Eddie on that tour, with April Wine opening for him no less, but due to circumstances beyond my control I didn’t see it. I had to wait to see him live until Eddie’s “comeback album,” Can’t Hold Back, which followed the commercial disappointment of Where’s the Party. I saw him twice on the Can’t Hold Back tour… once in KC with my roommates Drew and Dennis, and once on the Boston Commons with my buddy Matthew while I was living in Boston during the summer of ’87. Eddie did not disappoint in concert. Watching him rock out with the Boston skyline in the background is a definite concert highlight.

Sadly, after that I lost touch with Eddie Money. I was vaguely aware of the song “Walk On Water,” but the magic after that seemed to disappear. Grunge came and all music fundamentally changed. Music like Eddie’s was relegated to the classic rock stations in towns and cities across the country. But every now and then I found myself putting “Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star” on my stereo and turning it up loud…

Rest in Peace Eddie… You were a big part of my junior high to college  years and I’ll always be fan…Tonight, with a tall tumbler of vodka… I may just be turning that song up again… “My mother says I’m lazy, my girlfriend thinks I’m crazy, but I wanna be a rock n roll star…”