|
home
News
1-1-06
Happy New Year!
Martin has dived into the
MySpace.com pool by creating his own space. You can
listen to some new songs and add Martin to your friends list if you are so
inclined. Go to http://www.myspace.com/32518561
to check it out.
Martin will also be teaching a
course 'Songwriting for Musicians' at the New School in NYC. The
course will begin in Spring of 2006
10-25-05
Revola Records releases Martin's early 70's project Liverpool
Echo.

Martin Briley has enjoyed a
phenomenally diverse 40-year life in pop. From
humble origins as a founder member of late '60s Brit
psych legends Mandrake
Paddle Steamer, through years of success as an in-demand
session vocalist
and guitarist (featuring on recordings by Julian Lennon,
Bonnie Tyler, Neil
Sedaka, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Engelbert Humperdinck,
Lulu, Mick Jones,
Donna Summer, Dan Huff, Cliff Richard, Charlie Pride,
Olivia Newton-John,
Johnny Mathis, Michel Legrand, The Hollies, Anton Fig,
Chris Squire,
Meatloaf, Tom Jones, Albert Hammond, Ian Hunter, Mick
Ronson, Andy
Williams, Jim Steinman, Charles Aznavour and Jimmy Webb
amongst others -
no, I'm not making this up!) to belated solo success in
the 80s with hit
single "Salt In My Tears" and a series of
critically acclaimed solo albums
to his current post as one of only two hand-picked
songwriters at Sir Paul
McCartney's MPL Communications. His songs have been
recorded by Celine
Dion, *NSYNC, Dream, Michael Bolton, Kenny Loggins, Pat
Benatar, Jessica
Andrews, 5-Star, Jeff Healey, Rebecca St. James, Nana
Mouskouri, Willy
Nile, Gregg Allman and Barry Manilow and he was recently
awarded an RIAA
award for worldwide sales of 8 million for Celine Dion's
"A New Day Has
Come". Phew! A mighty impressive CV I trust you'll
agree.
But way back in 1973, before all the plaudits and mega
unit-shifting,
Martin, along with former Mandrake guitarist Brian Engel
and session aces
Clem Cattini and Herbie Flowers, cut an album as The
Liverpool Echo for the
London indie, Spark Records. The brief was to write a
dozen songs that
evoked the spirit and spunk of early Merseybeat and
record them as quickly
and authentically as possible for the label's 'Replay
Series'. These days I
guess you'd call it power-pop. The band duly obliged,
coming up with a
superb long-player that melded A Hard Day's Night-era
Beatles melodies,
Cavern Club sweat, ultra-convincing production values
and the kind of tough
early '70s performances that would've had emerging
pub-rock movers like Dr
Feelgood and Brinsley Schwartz quaking in their bovver
boots. If they'd
have heard it. Not surprisingly the album sank like a
stone. Housed in a
sleeve depicting a Beatles-dominated front page from a
1963 edition of the
Liverpool Echo newspaper, it was an anachronism and an
anomaly in a year
when glam and prog ruled the roost.
But time has been very kind to The Liverpool Echo and
it's value has risen
steeply as word has spread among collectors - you'll be
lucky to find a
copy for sale these days and if you do it's likely to
set you back an arm
and a leg.
You Might As Well Surrender / Girl Said To Me / You Know
It Feels Right /
No Not Again / Seems Like Today Will Never End / Gone
Gone Gone / If I Told
You Once / Girl On The Train / Sally Works Nights / No
More Tomorrows /
Don't You Know I've Been Lying / Another Night Alone
6-28-05
Martin Briley and Andy Marvel (
Co-writer and co-producer of Jessica Simpson's “With You” ) are currently
in the studio writing and producing songs for new Atlantic recording artist
Jeannie.
Recent collaborations include:
Derek McDonald ( Universal recording artist ), Jeannie ( Atlantic recording
artist ), Holly Lamar, Gary Philips, Christy Carlson Romano, Jennifer
Perry, Laurie Bonavenia, Trudi Collins and Jennifer Karr.
If you are interested in hearing soundbites of
Martin singing some of his MPL demos,
click HERE
HAVE YOU HEARD?
UNIVERSAL'S HIP-O SELECT BRINGS YOU THE DEFINITIVE
MARTIN BRILEY BOX SET:
Martin's long awaited box
set of his solo recordings will be out early July. No , Really!
We mean it this time. Here is a glimpse of the cover art
and copy from the promotional material. Please note that no red berets were
actually hurt or harmed in any way during the making of the
artwork. 
" In a perfect world,
which this clearly isn't, Martin Briley would be a household name, putting
his album out every 18 months or so to the delight of his several hundred
thousand fans (we would have said millions, but we didn't want to be
greedy). Instead, he practices his songwriting craft in a tiny home studio
on behalf of others, and most of the recordings he makes these days are
demos heard only by other artists and their managers. Now that's not
exactly digging ditches, so don't cry for him, Argentina. But in the early
Eighties, there was a perfect moment when public taste intersected with a
tasteful musician for an MTV-driven Top Fifteen hit called "Salt In My
Tears."
Mind you, Briley had already had a decent career by the
time "Salt" hit the video screens. Starting off in a band called
Mandrake Paddle Steamer, Briley segued into Dave Greenslade's eponymous
prog-rock outfit for what was arguably their best album, Time and Tide.
Following that, he moved to New York City and ultimately lined up a gig
playing bass with Ian Hunter's band, contributing bass and vocals on the
Short Back And Sides album as well as touring.
In 1981, opportunity, in the form of Mercury Records,
knocked: Martin issued his first solo album, Fear Of The Unknown. Looking
not unlike a British Jackson Browne on the back cover, Briley's arch sense
of humor rocketed over the heads of the American public. Nonetheless, he
made a second album. 1983's One Night With A Stranger contained what every
successful artist in 1983 needed: an MTV hit. The song, "Salt In My
Tears," was a middle finger in the rear view mirror of a failed
relationship, and Briley, for his part in the video, played it with laconic
ease, most of it supine on a couch. It wasn't that he had intended it that
way, but food poisoning had overcome him on the day of shooting, so the
director was forced to improvise around Briley's wooziness. The mother of
invention spawned a beautiful child, and the single climbed the chart in
tandem with its rotation on the tube. The single peaked at 15, the album at
55.
As you might expect, the anticipation for Dangerous
Moments, Briley's third album, was extra-high. Producer Phil Ramone, known
for his work with Paul Simon and Billy Joel, was brought on board. It was a
marriage made on Jerry Springer's stage. Briley, ever the gentleman,
obliquely suggests that they had different musical visions, but it's clear
that the magic of One Night With A Stranger was not in evidence. The album
peaked at 85, and while the title track grazed the top forty of the
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the ride was over, and Briley left Mercury.
Only the last two of Martin's albums have ever had a
legitimate CD release, and they routinely fetch upwards of $150 on eBay
(when you can get them). Our release contains every track from all three of
his albums, PLUS six previously unreleased tracks unavailable anywhere
else! All of them were painstakingly remastered in 2004, so they sound as
clear and crisp as the day they were first laid down. Add to that extensive
notes by noted rock critic Scott Schinder and complete lyrics by Briley
Himself, and you have a deluxe snapshot of a very brief and fruitful period
of a long and successful career.
Martin is currently working as one of two hand-selected
staff writers at MPL
Communications, Sir Paul McCartney's publishing house. Briley is
considered by many to be one of the most prominent songwriters in America
today, writing for such artists as Celine Dion, N'SYNC, Jessica Andrews,
5-Star, Willy Nile, Michael Bolton, Pat Benatar, Gregg Allman, Kenny
Loggins and Barry Manilow, to name just a few. In fact, he was recently
presented with an RIAA award for Celine Dion's "A New Day Has
Come" for worldwide sales of 8 million. "
4-10-04
Martin
Briley was recently presented an RIAA award for Celine Dion's "A New
Day Has Come" for worldwide sales of 8 million at ASCAP's New York
headquarters.
Briley is currently signed to Paul
McCartney's MPL Music Publishing, Inc. and is the 2004 ASCAP Songwriter in
Residence at the Berklee College of Music. Pictured (l-r) are ASCAP's
Senior VP of Membership Tom DeSavia, Briley and ASCAP's AVP/Membership
Loretta Munoz.
Recently Martin was sent a copy
of the lyrics that were included in the "One Night With a
Stranger" Korean Release. Interesting translation to say
the least. Check out what the Korean audience thought Martin was
singing: Korean Lyric Sheet
1-12-04
Martin has been invited once again to participate in a
songwriting clinic at the Berklee School of Music. He has been named the
ASCAP Foundation’s Songwriter in Residence at Berklee. The clinic will be
held April 15 and 16. More details to follow.
8-3-03
Martin will be a guest speaker at The Berklee School of
Music on Friday, August 15, 2003. The "Songwriting
as a Career" Clinic will consist of a two hour lecture and a two
hour song critiquing session.
Martin
Briley signing his new worldwide publishing deal at the New York offices of
MPL Communications. Left to right: Alan Tepper ( VP Creative Services ),
Martin, and Bill Porricelli ( Senior VP Promotion )
3-5-03
Martin has just signed an
exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Paul McCartney's MPL
Communications. For more information on MPL Communications click here.
12-29-02
Just in time for 2003, Martin is
making available a new song exclusively through his web site.
"The Massage" keeps with Martin's tradition of
delivering pop rock sensibilities and witty lyrics.
Listen
To "The Massage"

(sample Mp3)
If you would like to purchase a
complete version of this song on CD, print and mail the mail order
form on the Order Music page. Send it to us, along with a money order
and we'll send you "The Massage".
12-8-02
First things first! The
biggest news on the Martin Briley web site is the site itself. After
much thought, consideration and prompting from fans of his music, Martin
decided to hurl himself into cyber space. We hope you like the
results. Be sure and contact us at Info@MartinBriley.com if you have
any suggestions, questions or other information that may be helpful.
This year, "Salt in my Tears" reared
it's ugly head yet again on a massive, new compilation called, "Like,
Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture
Box ( Totally )" on Rhino Records.
Keep in touch.
Swimming Head Productions
Copyright 2002 Martin Briley , J. Stephen Smith
|