Moon Martin

Moon Martin stood out as one of new wave’s more unusual figures, releasing several albums that earned critical praise yet modest sales from the late 1970s into the early 1980s and then returning to view in the mid-1990s.

John Martin entered the world in Oklahoma in 1945 and performed with area groups, among them the rockabilly outfit the Disciples, while enrolled at the University of Oklahoma. He moved to Los Angeles toward the end of the 1960s and supported himself through session work, appearing on recordings by Del Shannon and Jackie DeShannon. His former Disciples colleagues soon joined him on the West Coast, adopted the name Southwind, and issued three country-rock albums on Blue Thumb—Southwind, Ready to Ride, and What a Place to Land—between 1969 and 1973. After the band dissolved, Martin resumed session duties, contributing to Jesse Ed Davis’s Ululu, Linda Ronstadt’s Silk Purse, and several Gram Parsons compositions. At the same time he turned toward a solo path, acquiring the nickname “Moon” from acquaintances who noticed his frequent use of the word in his songwriting.

A proposed 1974 solo project with producer-arranger Jack Nitzsche never materialized, yet other artists recorded his material, including the Nitzsche-produced Mink DeVille, whose “Cadillac Walk” became a modest hit, as well as Michelle Phillips and Lisa Burns. By 1978 Martin, now performing simply as Moon Martin, began his solo career; observers often likened his appearance and sound to new-wave successes Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Five albums appeared on Capitol across the next five years: the 1978 EP Victim of Romance, whose “Bad Case of Lovin’ You” later succeeded when Robert Palmer covered it; the 1979 pairing Shots from a Cold Nightmare/Escape from Domination, which yielded his only charting single, “Rolene”; 1980’s Street Fever; and 1982’s Mystery Ticket.

Martin withdrew from recording for the balance of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, then resurfaced in 1995 with Cement Monkey and Lunar Samples. That same year the British label Edsel paired his initial four albums as two-for-one compact discs—Shots from a Cold Nightmare with Escape from Domination, and Street Fever with Mystery Ticket. Producer Craig Leon, who had previously worked with Martin, verified the artist’s death on May 11, 2020.