by Richard Skelly » Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:44 pm
Don Goodwin, we hardly knew ye.
Possessor of an endearing pop voice, Goodwin hit airwaves on both sides of the border with This Is Your Song. Released in 1973, it did better in Canada than the US, where it peaked at only #86 on Billboard. With Paul Anka composing and producing the ditty, Goodwin qualified for CanCon treatment.
Then, Goodwin pretty well disappeared. An album, These Are Your Songs, emerged in 1975 with plenty of Anka covers. His labelmates on the independent Silver Blue included Eddie Holman and a pre-disco Van McCoy. David Hasselhoff later recorded for Silver Blue. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Hoff’s co-star on Knight Rider, Rebecca Holden, eventually married Silver Blue owner Joel Diamond. But I digress...
Even people who knew Goodwin wonder where he went. On one thread, long-ago schoolmates remember good times with Goodwin in Huntington Beach, California and Aspen, Colorado respectively. The latter chum recalls Goodwin’s graduation-yearbook quote: “He who doesn’t live his life for wine, women and song will be a fool his whole life long.” Almost sounds like something Paul Anka could have written.
The Colorado friend claims Goodwin told him Anka made him feel “uncomfortable” during recording sessions. Also that Elton John had some undefined connection to the proceedings. A couple of thread commenters recall hearing This Is Your Song used in a 2008 commercial. (Another heard the entire song on the radio the following year while visiting Bogotá, Columbia.) The ad jingle wouldn’t be surprising since Anka always had a knack for getting songs covered or otherwise given renewed life.