You may or may not know the name Martin Page, but as a fan of pop music, there is no doubt you know many songs he has directly played a key role in creating.
Born in Southhampton, England, on September 23rd, 1959, Page formed a group called Q-Feel by his 21st birthday in 1980. In 1981, the group signed with Jive Records and had a couple of minor hits.
By 1983, Page had decided to leave the UK and move to the United States in order to pursue music from a different angle – behind the scenes. As such, Q-Feel broke up in 1984, but the best was still ahead for Page.
In June of 1984, Ray Parker Jr. had the hit single “Ghostbusters,” on which Page played many music instruments, including synthesizers. Page and Parker’s efforts were rewarded when the song won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
In 1985, Page rode the hot hand and co-wrote two songs that went #1 back-to-back in “We Built This City” by Starship and “These Dreams” by Heart. By then, Page was in demand with many artists and continued to dig in through the rest of the ’80’s.
By our beloved 1990’s, Go West hit the pop charts, with Page helping to author both “King of Wishful Thinking” and “Faithful” in 1990 and 1992, respectively. By this time, Page was officially known as a renowned writer and musician, but had always dreamed of doing a solo album.
As such, he pursued and was awarded a record contract as a solo artist in 1994 by Mercury Records. Soon after, the album “In the House of Stone and Light” hit shelves. I’ve heard Page say before that the album took him two years to make. He literally shut himself off from the world and just let the songs write themselves. He wrote, produced, sang, put together, everything – and the album is a must grab if you don’t have it.
The title track, “In the House of Stone and Light,” was written about looking for the stillness in yourself. The song spent twenty six weeks on the Billboard charts and peaked at #14 in February of 1995.
I’ve always found it to be quite odd that Page had such success with this album and song, and disappeared as a solo artist afterward.
It wasn’t until fourteen years later, in 2008, that a new album came out, entitled “In the Temple of the Muse.” I have yet to check out this album but based on my enjoyment of nearly everything Page has ever touched, I’m excited to do so.
Martin Page has a terrific website and I highly encourage you to check it out. There are quite a few videos on there, including him playing on the Jay Leno show back in 1995.
The website is www.martinpage.com
Until Next Time – Dave O
