Gold was a multi-instrumentalist who played guitar, bass, keyboards, accordion, synthesizer, harmonica, saxophone, flute, drums and percussion, as well as more arcane musical devices such as ukulele, musette, and harmonium. He was also a producer, sound engineer, film composer, session musician, actor, and painter.
Throughout the years, he played and/or sang on records and/or live performances with artists including Carly Simon, Jennifer Warnes, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Bishop, Nicolette Larson, Maria Muldaur, Neil Diamond, Barbi Benton, Juice Newton, Leo Sayer, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Karla Bonoff, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Frankie Valli/Four Seasons , Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Roy Orbison, Don Henley, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Cher, Jesse McCartney and J.D. Souther.
Gold was born in Burbank, California, and eventually followed his parents into show business. His mother is singer Marni Nixon (who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady); his father was Ernest Gold, the Austrian-born, Academy Award-winning composer for the movie Exodus. He has two younger sisters.
Gold began writing songs at the age of 13. Abroad in England for school, the 16-year old Gold scored his first recording contract on the strength of a selection of demos he submitted to Polydor Records’ London 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
1970–79
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 and Karla Bonoff, releasing the single "Woke Up This Morning" in 1970. He played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for Linda Ronstadt's breakthrough album, 1974's Heart Like a Wheel, and her next four albums. Among other accomplishments, he played the majority of instruments on "You're No Good," Ronstadt's first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, and the same on "When Will I Be Loved," "Heat Wave" and many other classic hits. He was in her band from 1973 until 1977, and then sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1975, Gold began recording as a solo artist, releasing four studio albums in the 1970s and over twelve since then. His hit single "Lonely Boy" reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1977 and has appeared in a number of film soundtracks, including Boogie Nights in 1997 and Adam Sandler's 1998 movie The Waterboy, among others. In February 2000, the American rock band Foo Fighters recorded a cover of the song to be used as a B-side for an upcoming single off their 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose; however, it wasn't used as planned. On Marc Maron's January 17, 2013 WTF podcast, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl said that the band's cover of "Lonely Boy" would eventually be released as the A-side of a special "Solid Gold" 45 rpm single with a Foo Fighters version of Gold's "Never Let Her Slip Away" as the B-side.
Although "Lonely Boy" was the bigger radio hit in the States, his single "Thank You for Being a Friend" (which peaked at #25 in 1978) later gained popularity as the theme song for the 1985–92 NBC situation comedy The Golden Girls (performed by Cindy Fee for the show). "Thank You for Being a Friend" has also shown up in places as diverse as an episode of the long-running animated TV situation comedy The Simpsons, a 2013 Super Bowl ad for the National Football League,[10] and an audio file in various musical greeting cards. Gold's biggest UK hit was "Never Let Her Slip Away," which made it to #5 twice on the British singles charts, once by him and again 14 years later by dance-pop group Undercover. Freddie Mercury, who was a friend of Gold's, assisted him with sparse harmony vocals as an uncredited background singer. Among the artists recording Gold's material was British singer Petula Clark who covered "Lonely Boy" in French ("Poor Lonesome Playboy") on her Paris, Orleans, Paris album. In 1976, Gold wrote the title track "Endless Flight" for singer Leo Sayer's hit album.
1975 also marked a successful collaboration with Art Garfunkel, wherein Gold played most of the instruments on Garfunkel's solo hit "I Only Have Eyes For You" (which went to #1 on the UK Singles Chart), as well as several other cuts on Garfunkel's album Breakaway. That year, Gold also played guitar on two cuts of Eric Carmen's album Boats Against the Current, including "She Did It," which was a #23 hit that same year.[17] Gold toured with the Eagles; worked in the recording studio and toured with Jackson Browne; played and sang on record and toured with James Taylor; and was second engineer on part of Joni Mitchell's Blue album.
1980–2011
In 1981, Gold produced, co-wrote, sang and played on three 10cc tracks that appeared the hit-making pop-rock band's 1981 album Ten Out of 10. Subsequently, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman 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 up. 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 U.K. where the duo had several Top 10 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 when possible.
Gold played on Cher's hit 1989 album Heart of Stone, and, during the early '90s, wrote hits for Trisha Yearwood as well as Wynonna Judd for whom he co-wrote the #1 single "I Saw The Light" with Lisa Angelle. (Later, Gold would produce Angelle on her own album, which featured a number of songs they co-authored.) He also produced singles for Vince Gill, wrote and produced tracks for Celine Dion, and arranged a cover of the Everly Brothers' hit “All I Have to Do Is Dream" that was sung by stars Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen in the 1984 science-fiction film Starman.
In the 1990s, Gold once again joined forces with ex-bandmates Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Kenny Edwards to re-form Bryndle and finally release their first full-length album, Bryndle. In 1996, Gold left Bryndle and released the children's holiday-oriented novelty album Halloween Howls. 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, and released 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 Byrds and The Beach Boys. 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 space probe in 1996.[18] Gold also produced seven albums for Japanese singer-songwriter Eikichi Yazawa.
During 2000, Gold compiled a Wax rarities album, Wax Bikini, as well as recording and releasing a new solo album The Spence Manor Suite - which was followed in 2002 by another solo collection Intermission. He appeared in a 2006 concert with the classic rock group America, and the performance was later released as a DVD entitled "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 fellow guest artist Stephen Bishop on guitar and vocals. Gold had earlier produced America's Holiday Harmony Christmas album back in 2002, wherein he also played most of the instruments and co-wrote the track "Christmas in California."
Personal life
Gold was married to Vanessa Green, with whom he had three daughters, Emily, Victoria, and Olivia. After a divorce from Green, he married Leslie Kogan.
Although Gold put personal references in the lyrics to "Lonely Boy" (including his year of birth), he admitted in an interview that it was not autobiographical: "Maybe it was a mistake to do that, 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."[21]
On June 3, 2011, Gold died in his sleep from heart failure at age 59 in Los Angeles.
Bridge to Your Heart
Andrew Gold Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm losing sleep
Look at what you're doing
And I hi yes I know that I was wrong
But I couldn't see
See what I was losing
Come back now baby
Little run around
Little lost and found
Little lost and found yeah
Don't make me crazy
Just bring your body back home
Right here where you belong
Whoa
Building a bridge to your heart
Whoa
Let's make a new start
Build a bridge to your heart
I don't know what the future's gonna be
Good or bad
Time won't be your saviour
And I can't give you no written guarantee
I won't make you sad
But I'll be on my best behaviour
Look what you're doing
When you put me down
When you put me down
Made me the clown
Made me the clown yeah
Look what you're doing
Just come on over and see
Just how much lovin's in me yeah
I'll take you any way I can tonight
Come back and satisfy my appetite
You gotta know you mean that much to me
To get you back you know I'll do anything
Come back, baby
Just bring your body back home
Right here now baby
Where you belong
I'll take you any way I can tonight
Come back and satisfy my appetite
You gotta know you mean that much to me
To get you back you know I'll do anything
The lyrics to Andrew Gold’s Bridge to Your Heart convey longing and desperation for a lost lover. The singer expresses that they have been losing sleep since the lover left, and they understand that they were wrong but did not realize what they were giving up at the time. The lyrics contain a plea for the lover to come back and bring their body home, so they can build a new start and a bridge to their heart. The singer acknowledges that they cannot guarantee a perfect future but assures their lover that they will be on their best behavior and that there is a lot of love in them.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the theme of building a new start and the longing to be united with the loved one. The bridge to the heart is a metaphor for a renewed relationship between the two, where they can fill the gap and bring peace to each other's lives. In contrast, the verses contain a sense of hurt and betrayal, highlighting the negative emotions that the singer feels. However, the lyrics are not negative or angry, as the final plea shows a sincere and earnest attempt at rebuilding something special that seems lost.
Line by Line Meaning
You hoo hoo you've been gone for so long
I've missed you for so long
I'm losing sleep
I've been so worried about you and our relationship
Look at what you're doing
You're causing us both pain by staying away
And I hi yes I know that I was wrong
I realize that I've made mistakes and contributed to our distance
But I couldn't see
I didn't understand the gravity of my actions until it was too late
See what I was losing
I didn't realize how much I was putting our relationship in jeopardy
Come back now baby
I'm begging you to come back to me
Little run around
Don't wander or stray anymore
Little lost and found
Find your way back to me, where you belong
Don't make me crazy
I can't handle being apart from you any longer
Just bring your body back home
Come back to me, where you belong
Right here where you belong
You're my home and my heart
Building a bridge to your heart
We need to mend our relationship and rebuild our connection
Let's make a new start
Let's leave the past behind and begin again
I don't know what the future's gonna be
I'm uncertain about what lies ahead for us
Good or bad
No matter what happens
Time won't be your savior
We can't just wait for things to get better on their own
And I can't give you no written guarantee
I can't promise that everything will always be perfect
I won't make you sad
But I vow to do my best to make you happy
But I'll be on my best behavior
I promise to be the best partner I can be
When you put me down
You hurt me deeply
Made me the clown
I felt embarrassed and foolish
Just come on over and see
Please come back home and experience how much I love you
Just how much lovin's in me yeah
I have so much love to give and share with you
I'll take you any way I can tonight
I just want to be close to you right now
Come back and satisfy my appetite
I crave your love and affection
You gotta know you mean that much to me
You're incredibly important to me and I can't live without you
To get you back you know I'll do anything
I'm desperate to make things right again and will do whatever it takes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SCHUBERT MUSIC PUBLISHING INC.
Written by: ANDREW GOLD, GRAHAM KEITH GOLDMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@OC.Occitanie
Wax - Bridge to your heart
Samantha Fox - Nothing's gonna stop me now
Inxs - Need you tonight
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Terence Trent d'Arby - Wishing well
Tiffany - I think we're alone now
Depeche Mode - Never let me down again
Michael Jackson - Bad
Madonna - La Isla Bonita
These songs define my childhood.
@dawnyvic
This is one of those songs that a lot of people won't remember, but that when you rediscover it it brings a big smile to your face and a warm feeling in your heart 😊❤
@victorvance2573
That´s exactly what happened to me!
@danielward7008
Anyone over 45 will remember this being a massive radio hit at the time.
@ashfaq1999
Agree 😊
@DVDfeverGames
God, I loved Wax back in the day. Made my '80s go with a zing, and the whole energy of the American English album was incredible. RIP Andrew Gold.
@tracymillsom4171
This was 1 of best songs whoever u right back at you bless you didn't know anyone knew this have it on vinyl thanks ❤
@DVDfeverGames
@@tracymillsom4171 I had it on tape, and later on, on CD.
@leechiappa8177
Still listening to this wee gem in 2024 🏴,
Memories of high school discos ! Class .
@ColoSon
This came on the radio yesterday. I'm a huge fan of 80s music but didn't know the song. One of my 1 yr old twins started dancing like hell to this.
Sad to read in the comments, that the singer already died. But the good music will keep on living forever and will even make toddler dance like crazy. This went straight to my playlist now.
Also like the irony that this came out when I was 1 yr old and now one of my 1 yr old dancing to it... blows my mind somehow.
Greetings from Germany
@Marcusml333
It's always nice to hear when people play good music for their children. Some of my earliest moments, growing up in the early '90s, was my dad playing Beatles and Nirvana for me.