Music career Money became a regular performer at clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1978, Money opened for
Santana at Boston's
Music Hall. In 1982, Money took advantage of the
MTV music video scene with his humorous narrative videos for "
Think I'm in Love", performed at
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, and "
Shakin'". In 1978 and 1984, he appeared on
American Bandstand. Money's career slumped following the commercially unsuccessful 1983 album ''
Where's the Party?. However, he made a comeback in 1986 with the album Can't Hold Back'', which received a
music recording certification of platinum. "
Take Me Home Tonight," a single from the album, peaked at No. 4 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. Money only agreed to perform the songwhich included a line from "
Be My Baby," a song
Ronnie Spector performed as part of
The Ronettesafter Spector agreed to sing the line herself. In 1987, Money was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Take Me Home Tonight." In 1988, Money released
Nothing to Lose, which featured the Top 10 hit "
Walk on Water" and the Top 40 hit "
The Love in Your Eyes." Beginning in 1992, Money opened the summer concert season for the
Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, where he would return to open the venue for 27 consecutive years. In 1996, he wrote the theme music to
Quack Pack, a Disney cartoon. Money was inducted into the
Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Money wrote and performed original songs for the films
Americathon (1979),
Over the Top,
Back to the Beach (both 1987), and
Kuffs (1992), along with the television series
Hardball (19891990). In the three days following Money's death, fans streamed "Take Me Home Tonight" more than 3.1million times, an increase of 349 percent compared to the previous three-day period. Fans also streamed his other songs by 931 percent more than the three previous days.
Television, film, and radio career Money made several screen appearances. In 1997, he appeared in
Wonderland, a documentary film about Levittown, New York, where Money attended high school. In the film, he said if he had "two tickets to paradise, I'd probably get back to Levittown." Money played a fictionalized version of himself on a 1999 episode of
season 5 of The Drew Carey Show. In the episode, he had been
Mimi Bobeck's first husband early in his career, and they were long separated but never officially divorced. In May 2002, he played himself on an episode of the sitcom
The King of Queens. In October 2011, Money became the host of "Money in the Morning," a radio show on
WSRV. The gig lasted about three months. He appeared in a 2012
GEICO insurance commercial in which he is depicted as a travel agency owner who sings "
Two Tickets to Paradise" to a family that wants tickets for a vacation. to produce special projects, including "Money for the Animals", a tour with MTV VJ
Nina Blackwood designed to raise funds and adopt rescue animals in need. In 2018, Money appeared in episode 6 of
The Kominsky Method as a fictionalized version of himself who is indebted to the
Internal Revenue Service and portrays the character Freddie Money in an eponymous
tribute act at a casino to avoid further tax problems. On April 8, 2018,
Real Money, a
reality television series about Money and his family, debuted on
AXS TV. An episode sharing his cancer diagnosis aired on AXS TV the day before he died. The show's second season was expected to follow Money's "journey as he tells his family about the disease and undergoes treatment." In late April 2018,
Weekly Alibi's August March interviewed Money, who discussed his career, family, and new television show. == Personal life and death ==