White crooner Tony Martin, formerly Alvin Morris, had been a pre-war star at Decca, racking up hits in the Forties and Fifties before his career hit the skids. Motown were looking for “prestige” acts to boost their roster and so offered him a lifeline at 50, and he gratefully took it, arriving at Hitsville a matter of weeks before the company began to consistently hit the chart-topping big time in 1964. This was enough to earn him Motown’s loyalty as a pre-fame old-timer, netting him three Motown 45s, all of which flopped – but he was out of step both with American musical tastes and with the rest of the Motown roster, and he eventually left in 1965 to pursue his career revival elsewhere. Away from Motown, he married Cyd Charisse and lived to the grand old age of 99, passing away in 2012.

Review Archive: Tony MARTIN (6 items)

We have 6 reviews for Tony Martin currently available here on Motown Junkies – see our archive for more details, or click a link below:

1. Talkin’ To Your Picture
2. Our Rhapsody
3. The Bigger Your Heart Is (The Harder You’ll Fall)
4. The Two Of Us
5. Ask Any Man
6. Spanish Rose

---