Eddie Money, the classic-rock hitmaker from the ’70s and ’80s, died yesterday in Los Angeles, age 70. Born Edward Mahoney in Brooklyn, he ditched a would-be career as a New York cop and moved to California, where he came under the wing of legendary promoted Bill Graham and hit the big time with the self-penned “Two Tickets to Paradise.” His drug habits undercut his success, but he made a quick comeback in the early ’80s, fueled by cinematic music videos like this one.
His biggest hit was his “Take Me Home Tonight,” for which he talked Ronnie Spector into coming out of retirement. Though Money confessed that he didn’t like the song, it reached No. 4 in Billboard and convinced Spector to resume her career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnRCk6DN9EE
His last Top 40 hit came in 1990, when he covered Elvis Costello’s “Peace in Our Time.”
