"Information" by Eric Martin

Song#:  2431
Date:  08/24/1985
Debut:  90
Peak:  87
Weeks:  2
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This Long Island musician honed his chops in several groups before moving to San Francisco and forming the band 415 (named after the local area code). They did well enough to become openers for big acts like Foreigner and Hall & Oates when they came to town. After a few years of paying dues, the band got offered a deal with Elektra. Redubbed the Eric Martin Band, a self-titled debut album was recorded and released in 1983. The disc didn't go anywhere and by 1985 they decided to call it quits. Martin took a chance on going solo and signed up the Capitol Records. His first work for them was contributing the song "I Can't Stop the Fire" to the soundtrack for the film Teachers. On the heels of that, he recorded his self-titled debut album that was produced by songwriter/guitarist Danny Kortchmar, who recently had success co-writing and producing Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast. This first single was issued out to promote the LP, but the best it could do was a short two-week stay at the bottom of the chart. Capitol gave Martin a second shot and he pushed out the 1987 album I'm Only Fooling Myself, but it went nowhere and that ended his days at Capitol. However, his next venture would turn out far better (see below).

ReduxReview:  This is a good pop/rock track that has a little soulful feel to its groove. While it wasn't quite as catchy as some of the hits riding the chart at the time, the song was certainly well-written, performed, and produced. It was definitely Top 40-worthy, but for whatever reason the tune just couldn't catch a break.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  After Martin's solo career flatlined, he joined up with three other well-known L.A. musicians to form the band Mr. Big. Martin would be the lead singer and would also contribute songs. They quickly got signed to Atlantic Records and in 1989 issued a self-titled debut album that did quite well. However, their next album, Lean Into It, would prove to be their breakthrough. A song Martin had written as a teen was spruced up and included on the album. "To Be with You" would be issued as a single and it became a #1 gold record in 1992. The hit would help send their album to platinum status. The band's follow-up album couldn't produce another major hit and things quickly died down for the band in the US. However, like the saying goes - they were big in Japan! Mr. Big's career really took off in that country and they ended up securing eleven Top 10 albums and six Top 10 hits. As of this posting, Martin was still with the band and they had recently released the album Defying Gravity in 2017. It got to #9 in Japan.

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