Vale Alan Mansfield

The Facebook post hit me like a punch in the kidney.

I’m reposting it here verbatim.

From the Sharon O’Neill Facebook fan page.

“Kia ora everyone,

Yesterday morning I lost the love of my life, Alan.

His daughter Lauren and I were with him and he passed comfortably and peacefully. Alan battled for three years and although he passed away cancer free, the ravages of his radiation treatment took a toll on his poor body. He was brave and fearless and his Doctors and nurses were amazed at how long he waged the war and they loved him dearly. He is sadly missed by Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Sydney.

His struggle was buoyed by your heartfelt thoughts and prayers and we both thank you so very much for being with him on his journey.

I asked him to drop by and say hi every once in a while.

I know he heard me therefore I might be in for a few surprises however they may manifest themselves. I’ll take anything.

Alan didn’t want any kind of funeral fanfare and we will say goodbye privately and low ‘key’ as a family.

You may like to do the same by playing his music, maybe Young Years, one of the many songs that we wrote together and one of our favourites.

On that note, enjoy your music, because it’s the best endorphin you’ll ever feel in your body and it lasts.

Kia kaha

Love you,

Sharon.”

For those who might not know, Alan Mansfield was a keyboardist and producer extraordinare. He was an American living in Australia at the time the New Zealand-based rock band Dragon were reforming after their hitmaking run in the 1970’s. Alan produced their major comeback hit “Rain,” and eventually joined the band as part of their 1982 album Body and the Beat. Alan stayed with Dragon for the next decade, performing on many of Dragon’s biggest hits.

Trust me. In college, I played Dragon’s “Rain” like it was the only record in the music library. Drove all my fellow broadcasters nuts with it. I didn’t care. If you can’t appreciate great songs like “Rain,” you need your ears checked. 😀

Eventually Dragon became a double-hall-of-fame inductee, joining the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame and Australia’s ARIA Hall of Fame.

During my time as a writer for Goldmine magazine, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alan Mansfield (and Dragon co-founder Todd Hunter) about the band’s history. After the article was published, I kept in touch with Alan Mansfield (and with his wife, New Zealand rock singer Sharon O’Neill) over the years.

Sadly, in 2021 I received news that Alan was battling cancer. I blogged about it and said some prayers for him.

A Prayer of Hope for Alan Mansfield

He battled cancer with the same vigor and charm and determination that defined his life. And every moment after that cancer diagnosis was an additional moment of blessing upon this world.

We only get one shot in this grand plan called life. And whatever your feelings are about the afterlife – if there even is one – you have to make every day count. Every single day.

Alan Mansfield did just that. And now we have his music to remember him by. And we have the fantastic Dragon catalog, of which he was a part.

In her message to the fans, Sharon recommended that in lieu of a big, showy funeral, that we enjoy the songs he wrote and produced. Like this track he co-wrote with Sharon, a Dragon hit called “Young Years.”

Which I’ll do right now.

Thanks for everything, Alan Mansfield. And if there is a rock and roll heaven out there, I know that you and Marc Hunter and Paul Hewson and Neil Storey are all collaborating on one amazing jam session.