Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page, who hails from Southampton, England, first gained recognition as a songwriter in the early 80’s with Top-40 hits for Kim Carnes and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others. With Bernie Taupin, whose usual partner was Elton John (and with Dennis Lambert & Peter Wolf), Page wrote “We Built This City,” a Number One Hit for Starship (their first) in 1985. Page and Taupin returned to Number One the following year with “These Dreams,” recorded by Heart (also Heart’s first chart topper). Teaming up with Peter Cox and Richard Drummie of the UK group Go West, Page wrote “King Of Wishful Thinking,” which was featured in the movie “Pretty Woman,” and became a Top Ten hit for Go West in 1990, and “Faithful,” another hit for Go West. With Robbie Robertson, Page penned the critically acclaimed “Fallen Angel,” featured in Robertson’s first solo album. Page has also had his songs cut by, has written for, produced or worked with such artists as The Commodores, Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones, Paul Young, Brian Fery, Phil Collins, Colin Bluntsone, Robbie Williams, Josh Groban and Elaine Paige, among many others. As a Songwriter/Recording Artist, Page gained success in America for his own band Q-Feel, with the dance hit, “Dancing In Heaven,” which brought him to this country in the early 80’s; and later, Page’s debut solo LP “In The House Of Stone And Light” (Mercury Records) was released in 1994. In 1995, its title track became a substantial pop hit and adult contemporary hit – breaking the record as the longest charting single in Billboard’s A/C Chart history, and garnering Billboard’s “1995 Top Adult Contemporary Single Of The Year” Award, and ASCAP’s “most played” Award for 1995, and again 1996, at ASCAP’s Annual Pop Awards. In 2007, Page started his own independent label, IroningBoard Records and within a year released his 2nd solo album, “In The Temple Of The Muse”, which has topped the CD Baby Top-Sellers Pop/Rock charts. In 2012 his 3rd solo endeavor, "A Temper Of Peace", was released (also on IroningBoard Records) - another CD Baby top-selling Pop/Rock albums charter. His new album, "Hotel Of The Two Worlds", is expected to be released at CD Baby in June 2015.

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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It's not every artist who, on his debut album, can get Phil Collins to play drums and Robbie Robertson to play guitar, and who can write a couple of songs with Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist. But Martin Page chalked up a few hits as a writer before launching his own recording career, and it shows, not only in the superstar guest shots, but also in his musical approach. In the House of Stone and Light is the work of an artist who has been making demos of his songs for a decade and getting a string of pop covers for his trouble. It is nearly a compendium of current mainstream rock trends, from its prominent percussion tracks to Page's throaty voice, which alternately sounds like Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Robert Palmer, among other British baritones. (And it isn't only the voice that's familiar. "Monkey in My Dreams" is so reminiscent of Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" it's embarrassing.) The difference is that those artists frequently have something beyond clichéd romantic sentiments and vague spiritual concerns to sing about, and that's a big difference – it's what separates Bob Dylan from Sonny Bono, for example. (Okay, there is that song about the Holocaust, but it makes Sting sound like Elie Wiesel.) Don't forget, though, that Sonny Bono sold quite a few records in his day, and Martin Page scored another hit with the title track of his debut album. That a record as relentlessly commercial as this one didn't do even better is probably attributable to the relentlessness of its stylistic borrowings. It still takes more to become a superstar than winning a Chris De Burgh impersonation contest.

~ William Ruhlmann, All Music

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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Martin Page - Collection (1994-2015)

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