“We Were Golden”: The Soundtrack of a Lost California, and the Band That Never Was
There’s a moment in “We Were Golden,” a nostalgic surf rock anthem from Mikey’s in the Mustang, where you can almost feel the salty ocean breeze on your skin and the innocence of a bygone era slipping through your fingers. It’s the California of the 60s—the golden era of sun-kissed beaches, drive-ins, and young love. And yet, as Mikey (aka Mike Mahoney) reflects on the past, it’s clear that this isn’t just a song; it’s a reverent tribute to a time when life felt simpler, when the waves seemed endless, and when every drive felt like the beginning of something new. But “We Were Golden” is more than just a retro throwback. It’s a piece of a much bigger story.
With its rolling surf and upbeat, beachy vibe, the song is part of a grand project—an album that will serve as the soundtrack to a movie currently in the works.
“I wanted to do a tribute song to Brian Wilson after I’d finished my legacy stuff,” Mike explains. “But my producer, Dave, said, ‘You don’t want to write a geography song. You live in a time, in a place that’s unique.’ And that’s when I started thinking about my own experiences. It wasn’t a geography lesson—it was about my life, my memories.” The song “We Were Golden” was co-written with Mike’s longtime collaborator and producer David Blackburn, and became a tribute to Wilson’s timeless influence on Mikey’s own musical journey.
And those memories? They come flooding back in the chorus of “We Were Golden,” with imagery of places like Disneyland in the 60s when the park wasn’t a corporate powerhouse but a haven for young lovers and dreamers to enjoy the dances they would put on with live bands. The song captures the innocence of a time when girls had to pay $2 to get into Disneyland, and the guys paid $4. They’d wear their best suits, head to the dance stage, and wonder if the girl standing across the room might be their first love.
“It was the innocence of the time. That’s what I wanted to convey in the song,” Mike recalls. “We used to go to Disneyland, and the world was simple. There was magic in everything. I wanted “We Were Golden” to take people back to that time. And it wasn’t just Disneyland. It was about the whole experience—sitting at the Tastee Freeze with your friends, talking about the future, but not knowing where it would lead. We didn’t have the distractions of modern technology—we didn’t even have the internet or cell phones. A long phone cord in the kitchen was all we had.”
This reflection on the simplicity and wonder of youth drives “We Were Golden”—and the larger project that’s slowly unfolding. The track features some of the same Beach Boys-inspired harmonies that made the 60s a magical time. “I knew I didn’t have the voice anymore to do it, so we brought in a couple of guys—Patch and Liam—and they knocked it out in under eight hours,” Mike says, chuckling. The resulting track has that rich, layered sound that calls back to Good Vibrations and all the great music of the California coast.
And it’s not just the sound that evokes nostalgia—it’s the visuals too. The music video takes you on a journey through a time capsule, featuring scenes of a white Mustang, carefree beach days, and vintage clips of the iconic places Mike remembers. Some of the footage, he admits, is stock—“I couldn’t drive around to find 32-cent gasoline anymore,” he laughs—but the imagery brings everything full circle. When Mike sings about driving with a bucket of gas, it’s not just a line; it’s a visceral snapshot of a time when a few bucks at the pump meant a full day of adventure.
“It was about evoking those memories,” he explains. “We wanted to show what it was like to live in that world—a world where you could just get in your car with your friends and drive off into the sunset. And Disneyland, the Tastee Freeze—those were the places that defined it all.”
But beyond the sweet, sunny vibes of “We Were Golden”, there’s a story within the story. Mike is working on a film—Think American Graffiti meets The Notebook, but with a twist. The film opens with a reunion concert of 70-year-old men who never got the chance to play the gig they dreamed about as kids. It’s a journey through youth, love, and the undeniable pull of nostalgia.
The film will explore the impact of the Vietnam War, the way it changed a generation, and the ripple effects it had on the kids who lived through it. The film’s storyline follows a group of college students in 1967 who were also in a band, capturing their lives in Orange County before the Vietnam War swept in and forever altered their world. The film will then shift to 2017 when the band reunites for “one of the concerts they never got to do.”
“We were still innocent when the war hit,” Mike says. “We weren’t into the drug scene, we were still hanging out on the beach, drinking beers. But then, the draft hit, and a lot of my friends—some of the best ones—didn’t come back. It decimated our community. That’s something we’re trying to capture in the movie.”
The project, which is set to film a concert scene this spring, will bring together the talents of a well-known Hollywood director and cinematographer, along with William Gereghty, who will help guide the film’s visual direction. A close friend is also working on the script. The project is being spearheaded by men in their 60s and 70s, a generation that is keenly aware of the passage of time and the opportunities lost.
It’s not a movie about young rebels running from the law or fighting for their lives in the streets. Instead, it’s a story of lost opportunities, of what could have been—a reflection on the promise of youth and the stark reality of adulthood. “We Were Golden,” in all its upbeat, surf-inspired glory, is a celebration of that lost innocence, a look at how even the most carefree days can end in heartbreak.
Mike’s passion for the project is palpable. “It’s not about the money or fame,” he insists. “It’s about telling a story—one that I think a lot of people, especially those from my generation, will really connect with. We were golden, and now we’re just trying to bring that feeling back.”
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