Guitarist, drummer, singer / songwriter.  Guitarist and vocalist with The Rutles and Neil Innes (since 2001), Hallucinato (ambient rock improv duo), Sgt. Eggman (Beatles acoustic trio), and Geoff Beran.  Ex-vonFrickle prog rocker.

A multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, arranger, and solo artist, Andrew Gold played a pivotal role in the Southern California musical scene that spawned such Elektra/Asylum superstars as Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles.

The scion of a Hollywood musical family – his father was Academy Award-winning film composer Ernest Gold, his mother famed playback singer Marni Nixon – Gold was a member of the influential L.A.-based folk-rock band, Bryndle, alongside Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman, and former Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards. In 1974, he began collaborating with another erstwhile member of the Stone Poneys in Ronstadt, for whom he would serve as de-facto musical director on three consecutive Billboard 200 #1 albums.

Asylum released Gold’s self-titled solo debut in 1975 to widespread critical acclaim. He scored his first top 10 hit the next year with “Lonely Boy,” featuring Ronstadt on backing vocals. In 1978, Gold returned to the pop charts with “Thank You For Being A Friend,” later to become famous as the theme song to NBC’s beloved sitcom, The Golden Girls.

In addition to his multi-platinum work with Ronstadt, Gold has played with, written songs for, or produced a veritable who’s who of pop, including Art Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, James Taylor, Stephen Bishop, 10cc, Cher, and Carly Simon. What’s more, in 1996 his became the first human voice to be broadcast on Mars when his rendition of “The Final Frontier” – aka the theme song to the Paul Reiser/Helen Hunt sitcom, Mad About You – was used to wake up the Mars Pathfinder space probe.

Note: This SoundCloud is no longer being updated regularly. Please go to http://whje.com/category/entertainment/melomania/ for more recent episodes!

Melomania: an inordinate liking for music or melody; excessive or abnormal attraction to music.

From WHJE 91.3, it's Melomania, a podcast where I, Patrick Simpson, deconstruct music and what it means.

New Music Department Head at WKCR, Columbia University's radio station. Formerly worked at my high school's station, WHJE.

Born and raised just North of New York City, Bill has been an audio theater specialist since the age of six, voicing and producing sonic stories, music and soundscapes for both fun and profit. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

vetken is following