Biography
Born in London, England, Gilder was raised in Vancouver. He began his career as front-man for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd, which later briefly featured a very young Bryan Adams. Sweeney Todd had a number one hit, "Roxy Roller", that held on to the top spot in the Canadian music charts for three weeks in 1975. It went on to win a Juno Award for "Best Selling Single" in 1977.
Feeling they had international scope, Gilder and fellow band member, guitarist and songwriting partner, James McCulloch left the band and signed a US record deal. It was in his second solo album that spawned the hit, "Hot Child in the City", that gave Gilder chart success in the United States. That song went to No.1 both in Canada and the US. It also earned him two more Juno Awards: "Single of the Year" and for "Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year" in Canada as well as a People's Choice Award in the US. It stalled outside the Top 40 in the United Kingdom, though it was featured on Top of the Pops and also in a Hot Gossip dance routine on The Kenny Everett Video Show. He’s had subsequent hit singles, but none ever reach the success of “Hot Child in the City.”
Gilder has also been successful as a songwriter for artists such as Bette Midler, Joe Cocker and Pat Benatar. In 1984, the band Scandal featuring Patty Smyth had a number one hit with "The Warrior," which was written by Gilder and Holly Knight, and it earned him a BMI Airplay Award.
Gilder's songs have been used in several movies such as Youngblood with Rob Lowe, The Wraith with Charlie Sheen, Barb Wire with Pamela Anderson, Scenes From the Goldmine, that included a cameo appearance in the movie by Gilder, and in TV series like Sex and the City, That '70s Show, Ed (TV series), and most recently Nip/Tuck.
Armand Van Helden sampled "Rockaway" on his 2005 club hit, "When the Lights Go Down." The following year Nemesis recorded “Hot Child in the City” for their 2006 debut CD, Rise Up and Rocket recorded “Backstreet Noise” for their CD, Girls with Candy Hearts. Phoenix-based power pop band Sugar High recorded the song "Time After Time" for a proposed tribute album and have included the song in concert.
Gilder returned to Canada in the mid-1990s, where he continues to record and tour. He has currently settled in Port Moody, British Columbia, where he lives with his family.
A CD called, “A Night On The Town, A Day In The Country” was to be released in 2005, but was shelved.
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—André Maurois (1885–1967)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)