American Popular Music Eddie Money Signed $227,500 Repayment Agreement with CBS Records 1985

Eddie Money

Manuscript & Autographs

Money, Eddie. Signed repayment agreement with CBS Records, 1985, documents the financial structures underlying the career of the American rock and pop musician known for “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise.” Born Edward Mahoney and recording professionally as Eddie Money, he had maintained a long relationship with Columbia Records, part of CBS, since the release of his successful self-titled debut album in 1977. The document reveals how recording-company advances or related indebtedness could be converted into formal repayment obligations, providing primary-source evidence for the study of artist-label relations, contractual finance, and the business administration of popular music careers. Money achieved eleven appearances in the Billboard Top 40 between the late 1970s and early 1990s.

Money, Eddie, professionally known as; Mahoney, Edward. Repayment agreement addressed to CBS Records. New York, New York. July 1, 1985. Two pages. Quarto. Signed “Edward Mahoney.” The typed document establishes a debt of $227,500 owed to CBS Records, a division of CBS Inc., and states in part: “the undersigned, Edward Mahoney p/k/a ‘Eddie Money’ (‘Maker’), promises to pay CBS Records, a Division of CBS Inc. (‘Payee’) on or before December 1, 1987.” By identifying Mahoney’s legal name, professional name, creditor, principal amount, and repayment deadline, the agreement demonstrates the mechanisms through which a recording artist’s financial obligations to a major label were defined and enforced. Although described as a typed letter signed, its language and function identify it more precisely as a promissory or repayment agreement rather than ordinary correspondence.

Dated during a commercially transitional phase of Money’s career, the agreement preceded his renewed chart success with “Take Me Home Tonight” in 1986, a recording that returned him to prominent national attention. The use of his legal signature, “Edward Mahoney,” reinforces the document’s contractual character and distinguishes it from promotional material signed under his stage name. Creases and scattered marks consistent with handling and execution; signature remains clear and legible. Overall very good condition. A substantive music-business document exposing the financial obligations behind a major-label recording career immediately before Eddie Money’s mid-1980s commercial resurgence.

Item #6431

Price: $95.00