Tommy Page

Thomas Alden Page entered the world in New Jersey on May 24, 1970. Piano lessons began when he turned eight, followed by keyboard studies at twelve that soon led him to perform alongside his brother in a local group. After finishing high school he relocated to New York City, where he took a position verifying dress codes at the nightclub Nell’s while simultaneously pursuing business coursework at N.Y.U. During those evenings he also created and tracked the track “Turning Me On,” then circulated promotional copies of his EP to area DJs.

A year into the Nell’s job he secured an introduction to Madonna’s producer Mark Kamins and Sire Records president Seymour Stein; that encounter produced a recording contract with the label in spring 1988. His self-titled debut arrived the same year and registered modest success across Asia behind the ballad “A Shoulder to Cry On,” yet drew scant attention in North America. Two years later another chance meeting occurred when members of New Kids on the Block, then at their commercial zenith, shared a limousine with Page; Donnie Wahlberg offered to supply him with a Billboard number-one single. The resulting track “I’ll Be Your Everything” featured Page’s lead vocals supported by harmonies from Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, and Danny Wood, appeared on the follow-up album Paintings in My Mind, and earned him the opening slot on the group’s Step By Step tour.

Television appearances on Joan Rivers and Regis and Kathie Lee followed, along with teen-magazine covers and a sold-out global trek. Within six months Warner Bros. dispatched him to producer Mike Paley for a contribution to the Dick Tracy soundtrack, issued a holiday single, and delivered the third album From the Heart. Domestic sales soon stalled, prompting his American label to drop him and label him a one-hit wonder.

Japan proved more receptive: Warner Japan issued the collection Friend to Rely On, comprising fresh material and B-sides, plus a greatest-hits retrospective. Page then moved to Pony Canyon Records, which released the more mature albums Time in 1994 and Loving You in 1996. As the latter project neared completion he finished his N.Y.U. degree in International Business and Marketing, settled into a Manhattan residence, and acquired a weekend home in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The single “Missing You” topped Asian charts, yet the late-1990s Japanese economic downturn forced the label to shutter most offices and cloud his recording prospects.

Intent on delivering one last project before shifting focus to production work for other artists, he issued Ten Til Midnight in spring 2000. After finishing each album he routinely walks the shoreline with a Walkman; only when the music stirs him does it pass “the test.” Despite achieving just one American hit, Tommy Page assembled a substantial discography of seven full-length albums across twelve years.