 | This article needs more citations. (November 2013) |
Moon Martin | |
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| Born | John David Martin October 31, 1945 |
| Died | May 11, 2020 (aged 74) Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States |
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| Years active | 1960s–2020 |
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| Website | Official website (Archived) |
John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, he was originally a rockabilly artist as a member of the Oklahoma-based band The Disciples, who moved to Los Angeles and adopted the name Southwind in 1967. At this time, their style shifted towards country rock. Southwind released three studio albums before disbanding in 1971. They enjoyed moderate success, with two of their singles charting nationally: "Ready to Ride" (No. 127 in 1969) and "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" (No. 105 in 1970).
Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer. He wrote the songs "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)", made famous by the British singer Robert Palmer, and "Cadillac Walk", made famous by the American singer Willy DeVille.
In the September 1979 issue of Trouser Press, Jon Young's article "New Moon Rising" described elements of Martin's life to that point, including an incident in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in which Martin and his band parked off a dirt road, to get some sleep, as it turned out, near the "summer home of Wrigley's chewing gum", and woke up to someone dressed in a waiter's jacket knocking on the car door. On the 13 October 1979 edition of American Top 40, Casey Kasem added the detail that the waiter offered hors d'oeuvres to Martin and his band.
Martin scored five minor hits of his own with "Rolene" (No. 30 US, No. 77 Australia, No. 30 Canada), "No Chance" (No. 50 US), both in 1979, "Signal for Help" (No. 60 Australia) in 1981, "X-Ray Vision", (No. 99) and "Aces With You" (No. 95) both in Australia in 1982. His 1982 song, "X-Ray Vision" was an MTV hit music video. He allegedly was given the nickname "Moon" because many of his songs had the word "moon" in the lyrics.
On October 31, 2022, Midnight Moon, a posthumous album, was released, only available on several music streaming services.
Martin died on May 11, 2020, of natural causes in Encino, California, at the age of 74.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CAN | AUS | ||||
| Shots from a Cold Nightmare |
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— | — | — | ||
| Escape from Domination |
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80 | 67 | — | ||
| Street Fever |
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138 | — | 63 | ||
| Mystery Ticket |
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205 | — | — | ||
| Mixed Emotions |
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— | — | — | ||
| Dreams on File |
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— | — | — | ||
| Cement Monkey |
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— | — | — | ||
| Lunar Samples |
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— | — | — | ||
| Louisiana Juke-Box |
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— | — | — | ||
| Midnight Moon (posthumous) |
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— | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US AC |
US Dance |
AUS | |||
| 1978 | "Victim of Romance" | — | — | — | — | Shots from a Cold Nightmare |
| "Bad Case of Lovin' You" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Hot Nite in Dallas" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "Rolene" | 30 | — | — | 77 | Escape from Domination |
| "No Chance" | 50 | 36 | — | — | ||
| "Dreamer" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I've Got a Reason" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Bootleg Woman" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "Bad News" | — | — | — | — | Street Fever |
| "Signal for Help" | — | — | — | 60 | ||
| "Pushed Around" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Love Gone Bad" | 105 | — | — | — | ||
| "Five Days of Fever" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "X-Ray Vision" | — | — | 67 | 99 | Mystery Ticket |
| "Firing Line" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Aces with You" | — | — | — | 95 | ||
| 1985 | "Love Sniper" | — | — | — | — | Mixed Emotions |
| 1992 | "Rock N' Roll Radio" | — | — | — | — | Dreams On File |
| 1993 | "Never Could Say Goodbye" | — | — | — | — | Cement Monkey |
| 1995 | "Enemy" | — | — | — | — | Lunar Samples |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
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