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Martin Steven Briley (born 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist. He was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and has recorded with and written for a variety of well-known musicians, as well as releasing several solo albums.
Music career
Beginnings and early bands
Briley began playing and writing music when he was ten years old.
Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to:
Entertainment
* Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist
* H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor
* Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer
* Arthur Brown, ak ...
was his events teacher.
At the age of seventeen, Briley and his band "Mandrake Paddle Steamer" (later shortened to Mandrake)
. However, the group's published output during their lifetime was limited to two
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
, one of which was released only in Sweden.
[Joynson, Vernon (1995)]
''The Tapestry of Delights''
. London: Borderline Books. See entry on Mandrake Paddlesteamer.
Briley was later signed to
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
's AIR group of companies and went on to become an important part of the London studio scene as an arranger, vocalist and sought-after
session guitarist
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
.
[ He also had a brief stint as bassist/guitarist of the British ]progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
band Greenslade
Greenslade were an English progressive rock band, formed in the autumn of 1972 by keyboard player Dave Greenslade and bassist Tony Reeves, with keyboardist Dave Lawson and drummer Andrew McCulloch.
History
The band made their live debu ...
, touring with the group and playing on their 1975 album '' Time and Tide''. During live performances with the group he played a double-neck combination bass and guitar.
Session work in America
Briley moved to New York, where he found work as a touring and session musician for numerous artists, including Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
, Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian i ...
,Bonnie Tyler
Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...
, the Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...
, Engelbert Humperdinck, Lulu
Lulu may refer to:
Companies
* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
* Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer
* Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia
* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...
, Mick Jones, Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...
, Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
, Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
, The Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...
, Tom Jones and Albert Hammond
Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...
.
Solo work
Briley signed a deal with Mercury Records as a solo artist in the early 1980s, going on to release three albums under his own name. His single " The Salt in My Tears" went into heavy rotation on MTV and reached No. 36 on the Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
on 30 July 1983,Martin Briley USA chart history
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
. Retrieved 8 October 2012. earning him a reputation as a
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
,
as a follow-up single, "Put Your Hands on the Screen" did not crack the Hot 100.
Songwriting
Briley has received orchestral commissions, and has written songs for such artists as
Céline Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
,
*NSYNC,
Dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
,
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998.
,
Mietta
Daniela Miglietta (born 12 November 1969 in Taranto, Italy) is an Italian singer, actress and novelist. She has released 11 albums in total.
Biography
In 1988 she took part in the Sanremo Music Festival in the ''New comers'' category with '' ...
,
Kenny Loggins
Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...
,
Pat Benatar
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,
Jessica Andrews
Jessica Danielle Andrews (born December 29, 1983) is an American country music singer. At age 15 in mid-1999, she made her debut on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts with the single "I Will Be There ...
,
Five Star
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,
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " A ...
,
Rebecca St. James,
Nana Mouskouri
Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ger ...
,
Willie Nile
Willie Nile (born Robert Noonan; June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter.
In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing i ...
,
Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...
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David Hasselhoff
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Patrick Swayze
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Michael Monroe
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, Chastity Bono,
Peter Tork
Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...
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Nikki Webster
Nicole Marie Webster (born 30 April 1987) is an Australian pop singer. She is best known for her role in performing at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics opening ceremony and her song " Strawberry Kisses", which made number 21 on the list of Top ...
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Hope Partlow, Natascha Sohl, Ballas Hough,
Phil Stacey
Joel Philip Stacey (born January 21, 1978) is an American singer who first gained national attention on season 6
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,
Orianthi
Orianthi Penny Panagaris (born 22 January 1985), known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter who rehearsed in 2009 with Michael Jackson in preparation for his '' This Is It'' concert series, and performed wi ...
,
The Maine and
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...
.
Personal life
Briley lives in New York City with his wife, Dana Calitri, and has two daughters, Vanessa and Olivia.
Discography
* ''
Fear of the Unknown
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
'' (1981)
* ''
One Night with a Stranger
''One Night with a Stranger'' is the second album by English singer-songwriter Martin Briley, released in 1983. The album peaked at #55 on the Billboard Album chart, after debuting on May 7, 1983. This album featured the hit single "The Salt in ...
'' (1983) ( includes the hit single "The Salt in My Tears" )
* ''
Dangerous Moments'' (1984)
* ''The Mercury Years'' (2005)
* ''It Comes in Waves'' (2006)
* ''Iceberg Shrinking'' (2011)
References
External links
Martin Briley's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briley, Martin
English male singers
English songwriters
English rock singers
English male guitarists
English pianists
English session musicians
Living people
Singers from London
1950 births
Greenslade members
British male pianists
21st-century pianists
21st-century British male musicians
British male songwriters