Martin Page - The Amber of Memory (2018)

English musician Martin Page had a U.S. dance hit as frontman of techno-pop group Q-Feel with 1982's "Dancing in Heaven" before finding international success as a songwriter. After helping to send acts like Starship and Heart to the top of the singles chart, he went on to hit the U.S. Top 20 as a solo artist in the mid-'90s.

A native of Southampton, Page grew up on military bases due to his father's work. He split much of his time outside of school between soccer and music, listening to live performances and learning to play bass guitar. He spent some time as a session musician before forming Q-Feel with co-songwriter/guitarist Brian Fairweather, keyboardist Chris Richardson, and drummer Trevor Thornton. The band hit number 18 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with "Dancing in Heaven" from their only album, Q-Feel, released on Jive in 1982. The song was rediscovered throughout the decade, appearing on the soundtrack to the 1985 film Girls Just Want to Have Fun and reaching number 75 on the Hot 100 with a re-release in 1989.

In the meantime, Page relocated to Los Angeles and found success behind the scenes as a songwriter, teaming with lyricist Bernie Taupin and career songwriters Dennis Lambert and Peter Wolf for the 1985 number one "We Built This City" by Starship. He and Taupin returned to the top of the Hot 100 a year later with "These Dreams," recorded by Heart. Page also partnered with Peter Cox and Richard Drummie of Go West on "King of Wishful Thinking," a Top Ten hit for the group in 1990 after it was featured in the movie Pretty Woman. His songs were also recorded by the likes of Kim Carnes, Paul Young, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Page made his solo debut with In the House of Stone & Light in 1994. Released by Mercury, it featured contributions by former bandmates Fairweather and Thornton as well as drumming by Phil Collins. Two of its singles landed in the Hot 100, including "Keeper of the Flame" and the title track, which climbed to number 14.

Page continued to write for others over the years to follow, with his songs appearing on multiple albums by singer Hanne Boel. Josh Groban performed his "Mi Morena" for 2004's Live at the Greek before Page recorded it himself for In the Temple of the Muse, released independently in 2008. His third LP, Temper of Peace, followed in 2012, the same year he supplied the title track for the Osmonds' I Can't Get There Without You. Page issued his own Hotel of the Two Worlds in 2015, with the half compilation, half original concept album The Slender Sadness (The Love Songs) arriving in 2017. ~ Marcy Donelson

Tracklist:

1. Swan on a Black Sea
2. The Machine and Its Shadow
3. The Child's Eternities
4. Moths Drink the Tears of Sleeping Birds
5. Acedia
6. Shunyata
7. The Hawks of May
8. Aeroplanes
9. Night in St. Cloud
10. Splinter Echo
11. Cloudtorn