Women believe men can just be friends.<\/p>\n
Men are more suspicious.<\/p>\n
So when my nascent girlfriend was going to the Roxy with her "friend" to see Andrew Gold I was anxious.\u00c2\u00a0 This was a new relationship.\u00c2\u00a0 She’d known him longer than she’d known me.\u00c2\u00a0 Was it real, or could she slip right through my fingers?<\/p>\n
In the seventies, Los Angeles was the musical king.\u00c2\u00a0 In the sixties, it was the U.K., at least in the middle of the decade, but by the time the decade changed everyone moved to the west coast, even the English rockers, for the weather, for the lifestyle.\u00c2\u00a0 In Los Angeles you could be who you wanted to be.<\/p>\n
And some of the acts who had been kicking around for eons finally broke through.\u00c2\u00a0 Like Linda Ronstadt.\u00c2\u00a0 She hooked up with former performer Peter Asher and engineer Val Garay and created an album entitled "Heart Like A Wheel" that zoomed to the top of the chart and became embedded in the public consciousness.\u00c2\u00a0 It made Linda Ronstadt a superstar, it was the best thing she ever did, before or after, and there was a third creative genius involved…Andrew Gold.\u00c2\u00a0 He was not only a guitarist, but an arranger, his work is stamped all over the breakthrough track, "You’re No Good".<\/p>\n
And like every second banana, a key member of the ensemble, eventually Andrew Gold stepped aside, into his own solo career.<\/p>\n
And the breakthrough came on his second album, done with the Ronstadt team, Asher and Garay and the rest of the players.\u00c2\u00a0 The track was "Lonely Boy".\u00c2\u00a0 Andrew Gold had a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 And on the follow-up there was a cut that became ubiquitous, "Thank You For Being A Friend", it was the theme for the "Golden Girls".<\/p>\n
But I knew that one when it was released.\u00c2\u00a0 Because now I was a fan.<\/p>\n
In the seventies you didn’t buy everything you wanted, you couldn’t afford it.\u00c2\u00a0 You waited for the hit, or you waited to hear the album at a friend’s house.\u00c2\u00a0 You bumped into things.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you didn’t, you never heard them.<\/p>\n
I bumped into Andrew Gold.\u00c2\u00a0 That girlfriend played that album, the second one, with "Lonely Boy", all day before she went to the Roxy to see Andrew Gold with him.<\/p>\n
And I wanted to hate it, pooh-pooh it, but there was this one exquisite cut on "What’s Wrong With This Picture", the closing number, "One Of Them Is Me".<\/p>\n
There’s a girl I know<\/span> Where do you stand?\u00c2\u00a0 Are you the anointed one, or are you in the dreaded friend zone?<\/p>\n She’s got so many men<\/span> You know these women.\u00c2\u00a0 Only you don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got charisma, or they’re beautiful, and they’re overwhelmed with male attention.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got a flock of admirers, they’re endlessly pursued.\u00c2\u00a0 But not for what’s inside, they’re hardly known, people fall in love with the exterior.\u00c2\u00a0 You think you want to be that desirable, only you don’t.<\/p>\n But it’s not only those who are genetically blessed, those who are just doing what comes naturally, what women don’t understand is they’ve got a flock of admirers.\u00c2\u00a0 Each and every one of you.\u00c2\u00a0 There are men lying in bed right now, dreaming of you, talking to you, getting into your pants.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not saying you want to reciprocate their interest, but you’re the object of their desire.<\/p>\n Some of these men hit on you, others start a conversation, still more are afraid to even speak with you.\u00c2\u00a0 Just to be in close proximity makes them sweat, gets them tongue-tied.<\/p>\n Oh come to me sweet baby<\/span> They have no idea you feel this way.\u00c2\u00a0 If only you could open up and be honest, but if the desire is not mutual you’ll be embarrassed, you’ll run, you’ll never get a chance to speak to them again, and if you do, it will be different.<\/p>\n So you decide to hate them.\u00c2\u00a0 From afar.\u00c2\u00a0 To focus on their flaws.\u00c2\u00a0 To save yourself.<\/p>\n Because you’ve been dying.<\/p>\n Dying.<\/p>\n That’s what happened to Andrew Gold.\u00c2\u00a0 Yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m stunned.\u00c2\u00a0 He was always so alive.\u00c2\u00a0 Not a passive player, but someone active, energized by life.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that I really knew him.\u00c2\u00a0 Had an e-mail exchange, but I’d see him on stage, on television.<\/p>\n You think people last forever.\u00c2\u00a0 Or at least longer than you.\u00c2\u00a0 When they predecease you, die before their time, you just can’t understand it, especially when they were not sick, when there’s no advance warning.\u00c2\u00a0 They were here yesterday, and…now?<\/p>\n Oh look into my eyes<\/span> Send me a signal.\u00c2\u00a0 Let me know.\u00c2\u00a0 Say yes.\u00c2\u00a0 Or put me out of my misery.<\/p>\n You’ve been there.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ve all had crushes.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ve all had rivals.<\/p>\n Or else we haven’t played.<\/p>\n And life is about playing.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only winning, but losing.\u00c2\u00a0 If you never lose you’ve got to ratchet up the level of your game.<\/p>\n And you want to do this now, because sometimes there is no tomorrow.<\/p>\n
So far away from here<\/span>
She’s got a lover, she’s got a friend<\/span>
And she’s got someone who’s always near<\/span>
One of them is me<\/span>
And I don’t know who<\/span>
One of them is me<\/span>
And I don’t know who<\/span><\/p>\n
Who long to love her<\/span>
To feel her body next to theirs<\/span>
Or just to understand her<\/span><\/p>\n
I’m in love with you and I can’t stop it now<\/span>
You’re a part of me<\/span>
Oh save me, oh save me from you<\/span>
What can I do<\/span><\/p>\n
Tell me what you see<\/span>
One of them is me<\/span>
And I don’t know who<\/span><\/p>\n\n