PRESENTING the 4th solo album from MARTIN PAGE, the artist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who brought you the #1 smash, "IN THE HOUSE OF STONE AND LIGHT" (the title track from his CD on Mercury Records), and who wrote the hits, "Mi Morena" and "I Can't Get There Without You" (among many others), recorded by several major recording artists, as well as by Page on his previous two critically acclaimed CD's (available at CD Baby), "IN THE TEMPLE OF THE MUSE" and "A TEMPER OF PEACE". For more about this album, "HOTEL OF THE TWO WORLDS", please see credits, and the Liner Notes by Page himself, below. MARTIN PAGE – BIO: MARTIN PAGE, who hails from Southampton, England, first gained recognition as a songwriter in the early 80’s with Top-40 hits for Kim Carnes and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others. With Bernie Taupin, whose usual partner was Elton John (and with Dennis Lambert & Peter Wolf), Page wrote “WE BUILT THIS CITY,” a Number One Hit for Starship (their first) in 1985. Page and Taupin returned to Number One the following year with “THESE DREAMS,” recorded by Heart (also Heart’s first chart topper). Teaming up with Peter Cox and Richard Drummie of the UK group Go West, Page wrote “KING OF WISHFUL THINKING,” which was featured in the movie “PRETTY WOMAN,” and became a Top Ten hit for GO WEST in 1990, and “FAITHFUL,” another hit for Go West. With ROBBIE ROBERTSON, Page penned the critically acclaimed “FALLEN ANGEL,” featured in Robbie’s first solo album. Page has also had his songs cut by, has written for, produced or worked with such artists as THE COMMODORES, BARBRA STREISAND, EARTH, WIND & FIRE, TOM JONES, PAUL YOUNG, BRIAN FERRY, PHIL COLLINS, JOSH GROBAN, COLIN BLUNTSONE, ROBBIE WILLIAMS and ELAINE PAIGE, among many others. As a Songwriter/Recording Artist, Page gained success in America for his own band Q-FEEL, with the classic dance hit, “DANCING IN HEAVEN,” which brought him to this country in the early 80’s; and later, Page’s debut solo LP “IN THE HOUSE OF STONE AND LIGHT” (Mercury Records) was released in 1994. In 1995, its title track became a substantial pop hit and a No.1 adult contemporary hit – breaking the record as the longest charting single in Billboard’s A/C Chart history, and garnering Billboard’s “1995 Top Adult Contemporary Single Of The Year” Award, and one of ASCAP’s top 5 “most played” Awards for 1995, and again 1996, at ASCAP’s ANNUAL POP AWARDS. In 2008, Page released his 2nd solo album, “IN THE TEMPLE OF THE MUSE” (available at CD Baby and iTunes), the first release from Page’s independent label, IroningBoard Records, which quickly reached No.1 on CD Baby’s Top Selling Albums Pop/Rock chart, and remained in the Top 5 throughout the 1st year, repeatedly returning to the No.1 position during the 36 months following its release. Two songs from the “Temple” album have been cut by major artists: “The Long Walk Home” was recorded by ROBBIE WILLIAMS on his Greatest Hits album (Deluxe and Ultimate Editions), and “Mi Morena” was recorded by JOSH GROBAN on his multi-Platinum “Closer” album and subsequent live albums, and by ELAINE PAIGE, the “First Lady of music theatre” (performed with Jon Secada featuring Kenny G), for the lead-off track on her Gold duets album, “Elaine Paige and Friends” - one of only two new songs on an album of classics, produced by the legendary PHIL RAMONE. Page’s 3rd solo album, “A TEMPER OF PEACE” (IroningBoard Records), was released in July of 2012. An ambitious undertaking of 14 songs, completely self-played, produced and recorded, it topped the CD Baby Top Selling Albums Pop/Rock chart in the first week after its release and was featured as a Top Seller in their August newsletter. One of the songs from the “Temper” album, “I Can’t Get There Without You”, was recorded by THE OSMONDS and released as their first single from their 50th anniversary album of the same title. Page is currently working on several projects for his IroningBoard label. HOTEL OF THE TWO WORLDS - Liner Notes: This album largely reflects a brief period in my youth when I lived in the deep South - Beaufort, South Carolina, Savannah and Charleston - following my father to live near various out-of-the-way, obscure Marine Air Bases due to his career in Military Aviation. I was heavily influenced by the music I heard on the local radio back then – exclusively R&B, soul, funk, and spiritual/Gospel. I believe that that music seeped through my skin and greatly tinted my songwriting in later years. Artists of my early influences, like James Brown, Al Green, the Isley Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone, Bill Withers, Motown artists and Parliament, etc., came to the fore of my imagination and memory as I wrote this album. In later years following those early influences, my collaborations with Maurice White and Earth, Wind & Fire, The Commodores, Go West and Paul Young, and even Robbie Robertson, were successful, I think, because of my awareness and deep love of black music. In fact, those early influences are what led me to the first two bands I ever played in (as a bass player) – Cabasa in Oxford and Bronx in Bristol, which were bands whose music focused primarily on funk and soul - Again, an integral part of my music-beginnings. I’m deeply grateful for how those Southern steamy hot nights, those balmy evenings driving past miles of ghostly swamps shaded by Spanish moss trees, staring into the abyss – the endless horizon of the flat lands between Beaufort and Savannah, listening to Wilson Pickett and The Staple Singers on the car radio – penetrated and saturated my blood, and shaped my understanding of the “music of the spirit”. I can still hear the steamy swamp crickets now – keeping me awake! I didn’t plan the album this way. It just fell into a groove, a feel - an emotion that must always have been lurking just below the surface. I let my bass playing (my main instrument) take precedent as the songs formed. In this collection, the obvious exception to that rule is the song, “Golden”, which I wrote in tribute to my dear friend Mike Shipley – a truly wonderful engineer and special soul whom I was fortunate to work with for many years - who passed away during the time I was working on this album. I wrote the song the day I learned of his passing. Of course, I’m really an English Pop boy at heart, but I like to think that the mixture – the concoction of abrupt opposites – creates something that is perhaps just a little original. My soul influences have always remained as subtle overtones on my pop sensibilities. The main thing I’ve tried to capture in “Hotel” is the feeling those times gave me. The title “Hotel of The Two Worlds” holds multiple meanings for me. I had read somewhere that a certain notorious hotel in Paris during the 1800’s was named the hotel of the two worlds because it was believed to be profoundly haunted. Many poets and artists stayed there so as to experience “the other ‘Under’-world”. It was thought to be a reliable conduit/lightning rod between the world of the living and that of the dead!! The hotel of the two worlds resonated for me as a reflection of the many opposites, or contrasting “worlds” in my own life: living in the South as a young, naïve English boy in a predominantly black, funky environment during a highly racially charged time in history there; the light and dark extremes of my own nature – my emotional moods of joy and depression…. The title rang of many personal opposites. And again, as I saw the house in “In The House of Stone and Light” as my own body, so I saw the hotel in “Hotel of The Two Worlds” as a reference to the duality of my own emotional nature/psyche – a nature of constantly moving tides. In short, my humble collection here is a respectful nod to the soul music of the 70’s that I so adored as a young boy, with a few odd ditties thrown in. I truly hope you enjoy the songs and moods and that, just maybe, you’ll feel as though – for a brief stay – you, too, have visited the “Hotel Of the Two Worlds”. --- Martin Page HOTEL OF THE TWO WORLDS - Credits: PRODUCED BY MARTIN PAGE Executice Producer – Diane S. Poncher Written, Performed and Arranged by Martin Page Engineered and Mastered by Martin Page All instruments and vocals – Martin Page Recorded and mixed at IroningBoard and The Owl’s Nest studios, Los Angeles, CA Personal Management: DIANE PONCHER MANAGEMENT, Los Angeles, CA This album is dedicated to Lord Andrew, Purcey, Casper, Chuggers, Gracie and Cali, and always to Mum & Dad INSTRUMENTS PLAYED ON THE ALBUM 1. BASSES: Aria Pro II; Music Man Stingray, Rickenbacker 4001; Fender 1970’s Jazz Bass, Stick Bass. 2. ELECTRIC GUITARS: Gibson Custom 335; Gibson Les Paul Goldtop; Gretsch White Falcon; Epiphone Swingster; + MXR Talkbox 3. ACOUSTIC GUITARS: Various Taylor acoustics. 4. KEYBOARDS: Roland Jupiter 80; Roland Gaia; Novation Ultra Nova; Moog Sub Phatty; Roland DX7 II 5. LIVE DRUMS: Gretsch Snares; Zildjian Hi Hat; + various live percussion, handclaps and finger snaps. ALBUM COVER: DRAWING & ARTWORK - Martin Page – “Hotel of The Two Worlds” - Pen & Ink (© 2015 Martin Page) CONCEPT & DESIGN - Martin Page and Diane Poncher PHOTOGRAPHY: Cover - Eddie Sanderson Liner Notes – Martin Page, Diane Poncher, Mike Rodriguez, Bobby Summerfield BUILD-UP, FORMATTING FOR eBOOKLET CREDITS & LINER NOTES: (view at Facebook.com/martinpagemusic) Vanessa Leavitt facebook.com/martinpagemusic © ℗ 2015 IroningBoard Records, Los Angeles, CA. All rights reserved. Unauthorized Duplication, Reproduction or Distribution of this Sound Recording is a Violation of Applicable Laws