In 1978, Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg had a surprise hit with “The Power of Gold.” The song, which appeared on the duo’s debut album, Twin Sons of Different Mothers, peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Dec. 9, 1978. The hit song was a last-minute addition to the album.
Fogelberg looked back on his collaboration with the jazz flutist in an interview with Performing Songwriter. “That was one of the few things that I’ve written specifically for radio that worked,” he said of “The Power of Gold.”
“We had this whole thing of all this instrumental bossa nova and other stuff—a pretty eclectic mix of music—and we had this big, huge grandiose symphonic piece that I had written and actually tried to record,” Fogelberg shared. “And I went home thinking that that wasn’t what we needed to end that album with. We needed something that rocked. And we had already done most of the album. So I remember just going home and banging this thing out in a day or two and calling Tim and saying, ‘Let’s cut this other track.’ And we did it, threw it on there, and the next thing you know, it was on the radio.”
Fogelberg was ready for a change
Before teaming up with Weisberg, Fogelberg was riding on the success of his super mellow third album Nether Lands, which featured Weisberg playing flute on the track “Give Me Some Time.” According to American Songwriter, Fogelberg once said, “When I made Nether Lands, I felt that I had finally made a grown-up record. That I wasn’t a kid anymore, and that I was finding my own voice as a writer.”
As a follow-up to Nether Lands, Fogelberg contacted Weisberg for a collaboration focused on making beautiful music without a focus on commercial hits. While much of the album was instrumental, Fogelberg included the quickly written “The Power of Gold” add-on after encountering problems with his original closing musical number.
In a chat posted on his official website, Fogelberg explained that “The Power of Gold” was tied to the theme of the album. “Actually, the song was a response to the growing materialism in my own life, and that of many of my successful colleagues – I won’t mention any names,” he said.
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A follow-up didn’t fare as well
While the duo’s similar looks, with their long hair and beards, spawned the Twin Sons idea, things changed 17 years later. Fogelberg and Weisberg reunited in 1995 for a second album, titled No Resemblance Whatsoever. This time, the twins posed with short hair and clean-shaven faces and looked nothing alike.
In an interview with Vinyl Confessions 10 years after Fogelberg’s 2007 death, Weisberg noted that the follow-up didn’t find the success of Twin Sons. “The record company gave up on it after the first three weeks,” Weisberg said. “That part was very disappointing for the both of us. But musically, it’s a diamond in the rough that a lot of Dan’s fans never heard about, and mine too.”
This story was originally published by Parade on May 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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