Wally Gold (May 15, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and music business executive from

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

Personal life

Gold was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, United States. Gold moved to

with his wife and two young sons and was soon joined by the addition of his daughter. He had five grandchildren.

Career

Gold first performed as a saxophone player in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

band during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After returning from Japan, he started college at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

where he formed the singing group

The Four Esquires The Four Esquires were an American vocal quartet from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The original four members were all students at the Boston University. Following the completion of their studies, they were signed in March 1956 by London ...

. Gold toured with

in the late 1950s and had two hit singles "Love Me Forever" and "Hideaway". They also appeared on ''The Patty Page Show'' and ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

''. By 1960, Gold joined Aaron Schroeder with whom he co-wrote two Elvis Presley Number 1 hits – " It's Now or Never" (1960) and "

Good Luck Charm In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

" (1962). During this period, Gold also co-wrote

Lesley Gore Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...

's number 1 hit " It's My Party". Gold's songs have been recorded by scores of artists, including

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...

's "

Because They're Young ''Because They're Young'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Paul Wendkos and starring Dick Clark as Neil Hendry, an American high-school teacher who tries to make a difference in the lives of his students. The film co-stars Tuesday Weld, ...

" which peaked at #4,

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

's "Half Heaven-Half Heartache" (#12) and "Take Me Tonight",

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

's "Time and the River", as well as by

Paul Petersen William Paul Petersen (born September 23, 1945) is an American actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Petersen first rose to prominence in the 1950s playing Jeff Stone on ''The Donna Reed Show'', and transitioned to a singing career in the 19 ...

and

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

. Gold has a total of 81 songs credited in the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

database. By the mid-1960s, Gold was hired as a house producer for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, where he produced albums for

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

and

Jerry Vale Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover ...

, and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

's 1969 album "

What About Today? ''What About Today?'' is the eleventh studio album released in July 1969 by Barbra Streisand. It is considered to be her first attempt at recording contemporary pop songs and features songs by The Beatles and Paul Simon, among others. Two single ...

". In the 1970s, Gold moved over to work as Vice President/general manager for

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music record producer, producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by Time (magazine), ''Time' ...

's music organization, where he discovered and produced the band

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. He worked on other successful projects as well, including a TV game show called ''

Musical Chairs Musical chairs, also known as Trip to Jerusalem, is a game of elimination involving players, chairs, and music. It is a staple of many parties worldwide. Gameplay A set of chairs is arranged with one fewer chair than the number of players ...

'' (1975) and a TV comedy ''

A Year at the Top ''A Year at the Top'' is an American sitcom that aired for five episodes on CBS from August 5 to September 2, 1977. Produced by T.A.T. Communications Company, the series was created by Heywood Kling and co-executive produced by Don Kirshner and ...

'' (1977) (uncredited) starring

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both '' Late ...

and

Greg Evigan Gregory Ralph Evigan (born October 14, 1953) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He began his career in theater, appearing in the Broadway production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', followed by a stage production of the musical '' Gr ...

. He also served as Musical Coordinator for the ''Rock Concert'' TV series. After leaving the music business, Gold worked as a

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

until his death from

colitis Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine ( colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases. In a medical context, the label ''colitis'' (without qualification) ...

in 1998 at the age of 70.

References

External links

Obituary from the Independent

A Year At The Top listing at IMDb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Wally 1928 births 1998 deaths Record producers from New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey People from Teaneck, New Jersey 20th-century American singers 20th-century American businesspeople ASCAP composers and authors 20th-century American male singers Travel agents (people) American male songwriters