Post by Rob Durkee on May 18, 2013 18:13:15 GMT -5
Alan O'Day, best known for the 1977 #1 hit "Undercover Angel," died Friday (May 17, 2013) in Westwood, California. He was 72. According to Wikipedia, he'd been battling brain cancer for six months.
His biggest hit sounded like this...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-xRMw0NyW0
O'Day also wrote Helen Reddy's late 1974 #1 hit, "Angie Baby." Sadly and ironically, he also wrote another hit from 1974, the Righteous Brothers' comeback hit, "Rock And Roll Heaven." He wrote at least two other Top 40 hits, "The Drum" (Bobby Sherman) and "Train Of Thought" (Cher). According to Oldies.com, O'Day also wrote songs for David Clayton-Thomas (of Blood, Sweat and Tears), Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray, Three Dog Night, Dave Mason, Johnny Mathis, the 5th Dimension, the Captain and Tennille, Tom Jones, Peggy Lee, John Travolta, Dusty Springfield, Paul Anka, Gene Pitney and Tony Orlando and Dawn.
At Youtube, Gary Heath recalled, "I was a Music Director at a radio station at the time this song was released. Since I was one of the first in the country to play it, and it sold over a million copies, I received a Gold Record for it from the record company. As a thank you, Alan O'Day called me at the station one day to thank me. I remember telling him, "Aw come on, who is this really?" He finally convinced me that he was the real deal and I of course thanked him for calling. Memories for this song, from me anyway."
O'Day wrote many other songs in other venues. For instance, he wrote over 100 songs for the TV show series, "Muppet Babies." Plus, he performed the music for the National Geographic network's "Really Wild Animals."
For more on Alan O'Day...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_O'Day