Monroe native to return for concert
Written by Vicki L. Kroll | | news@toledofreepress.comIt didn’t take long for pianist and composer Dale Gonyea to realize the way to be noticed was to make people laugh.
“I was trying to write songs in that kind of Elton John/Billy Joel vein, and I was working in a piano bar to pay the rent, and I couldn’t get anyone to pay attention,” he said. “But I wrote a couple funny songs, and they would pay attention to me when I did those songs, and I noticed that.”
Dale Gonyea
Others noticed, too. Ray Stevens recorded Gonyea’s “I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow” in 1979. Rosie O’Donnell, Bette Midler and Rich Little also have performed pieces penned by Gonyea.
And the native of Monroe, Mich., has written for Disney; his songs include “Nothing in the World Quite Like a Friend” from “The Return of Jafar” and “You Can Always Be Number One,” the Sport Goofy anthem.
“I won a local Emmy 18 or 20 years ago for a jingle I wrote for ‘Magnum P.I.’ when it became syndicated in the Washington, D.C., area,” Gonyea said. “I wrote a Billy Joel kind of song; it was supposed to be luring people who stay at home into this world of Hawaii.”
He will return to his hometown to perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 in the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater at Monroe County Community College. Tickets are $30.
The comic-musician started to play piano when he was 5.
“My cousin sold her piano to my mother for $10, and they brought the piano in and I was just mesmerized with it,” he recalled during a phone interview from a tour stop in Cullman, Ala. “My cousin was my babysitter, so she used to play and I would work things out because I thought if she could do it, I could do it.
“Then my mother took me for lessons at St. Mary’s Convent, and they said I was too little and then I played for them. They said come on in; you have too many bad habits already.”
Gonyea remembers a lot about Monroe — and uses it in his act.
“I have a song called ‘Hometown USA’ that I wrote about Monroe because of the strong contrast of living in Monroe, Michigan, and living in L.A.,” he said. “I like going back to Monroe; I used to say that I couldn’t go out the door without combing my hair because you knew everyone in town and everyone asked about your parents and what was going on with you and your brothers and sisters. It was really friendly, and I try to get that feeling into the ‘Hometown USA’ song.”
He plans to visit his alma mater, St. Mary Catholic Central High School (formerly Monroe Catholic Central High School), to talk with music students. The classically trained pianist may share a few tips on humor.
“Comedy is surprise,” Gonyea said. “In almost all comedy, they take you down a road and they take a turn without you realizing it.”
