Today (March 21, 2010) is the 61^st birthday of American rock singer and guitarist Eddie Money. Despite reports that his birthday is on March 2^nd, the man himself confirmed that it is in fact on March 21^st. In the mid-70s, Money hooked up with legendary promoter Bill Graham and exploded onto the music scene. In 1977, Money released his self-titled debut record and struck Double Platinum with hits such as "Baby Hold On" and "Two Tickets To Paradise." But it is his 80s success that I will always remember best.

After great momentum heading into the decade, Money's career began to fail him after several unsuccessful releases in the mid-1980s accompanied by his struggles with drug addiction. In 1986, he would make a huge comeback with the platinum album Can't Hold Back. The album would contain two memorable singles that would both reach the top 15 of the Billboard Hot 100 with one climbing all the way to #4. Those two songs will be our first two featured videos. This week's first Flashback Video is "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector...

That song would reach #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts. It features the interesting combination of Money's raspy voice with that of Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes singing the chorus of that groups hit "Be My Baby." I have always like that song a lot.

Another song from that album that I liked a lot was "I Wanna Go Back" which was actually a cover of a 1984 song by the band Billy Satellite. The original peaked at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, but Money's version would go all the way to #14. This week's second Flashback Video is "I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money...

Then in 1988, Money released the album Nothing to Lose which would not be as successful as his last. It did however include at least one great single, "Walk On Water" which would reach up to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Mainstream Rock charts. This week's last Flashback Video is "Walk On Water" by Eddie Money...

In June 2009, Eddie Money's musical autobiography, Two Tickets To Paradise-The Musical debuted in New York and received rave reviews. Money is currently working on taking his play to Broadway. This is a show I would like to see if I get the chance. If you want to find out more about Eddie Money or his musical, you can visit his official website.

With over 28 million records sold worldwide, Money has had a tremendous career even though my favorite parts are from the 80s. Happy Birthday Eddie Money and thank you for your contribution to 80s music and all music for that matter. Your song "I Wanna Go Back" reflects my general sentiment about my favorite decade... I wanna to go back to the 80s.

That'll do it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Even though the blog only updates a couple times a week, I try to send out daily 80s tweets. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.