"Real Money" Star Eddie Money On His Relationship With Long Island & More
"Baby Hold On," "Two Tickets To Paradise," "Take Me Home Tonight," "I Wanna Go Back," "Shakin'," "Walk On Water," "I'll Get By"... Those are just some of the hits that Eddie Money has had in his 40-plus years as a big-name entertainer. However, not everyone realizes that Money is originally from Long Island, which is where he premiered the Two Tickets To Paradise musical, as penned with prior No Place Like Long Island interviewee John Blenn.
For the past few summers, Money has played a big outdoor show at East Meadow's Eisenhower Park, although such has not yet been announced for in 2018. In the meantime, Money is one of the stars of Real Money, which premieres on AXS TV on April 8th at 9:30 PM. Real Money features all members of the Money immediate family, including Eddie's wife Laurie and their five kids -- three of which are musicians who have collaborated on-stage with their father -- and promises to be full of the wit which Eddie Money has long been known for.
I had the pleasure of speaking with The Money Man by phone, and below are some of our Island-centric moments. When I answered the phone with a "this is Darren," the energetic singer immediately led into it...
More on Eddie Money and Real Money can be found online at www.eddiemoney.com.
Eddie Money: You gotta love Long Island, baby. That's where I am from, 516, baby. The best Italian food in the world, it is not in Brooklyn, it's not in Manhattan, it's in Long Island.
Are you originally from Hicksville?
Eddie Money: I'm actually from Plainedge, which is next door to Hicksville.
What year did you leave Long Island for good?
Eddie Money: I left Long Island in 1968. I quit the police department, I was a police trainee, my father was patrolman of the year and he was driving me out of my f**king mind. My rock band from high school moved out to California, and they said “Eddie, you gotta come out to California and sing. We're going to get a record deal.” Well sure, I quit the police department and moved out to California to get a record deal. Those guys couldn't get a record deal if they were the only four musicians in the world on Earth.
But I moved out and then I came out to them. They didn't have their act together and then I hitchhiked up to northern California and eventually I did a so-called Sounds Of The City, which was amateur night at Winterland. I got a record deal with Bill Graham at Columbia Records because I had “Baby Hold On To Me,” “Two Tickets To Paradise”… I was writing a lot of songs. Then I signed with Bill Graham, next thing I know I was on Saturday Night Live, which I had never seen before because I worked every Saturday night. Then I did Merv Griffin and then I get Mike Douglas and I cooked up a leg of lamb with Dinah Shore, and the next thing I know I was famous.
That's quite a long answer as to where, when you left Long Island. Did you ever think about moving back? Or you’re just a California guy at this point?
Eddie Money: I would have moved back to Long Island, but the only one thing that stopped me from moving back to Long Island, my mother lives there. And I had a New York mother. If you know what I'm talking about, you probably have one so... When you're married to a woman that knows everything, then you think back to your mother, because they know everything, you know?
