Moon Martin

John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020)^[1] was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Moon Martin
Born	John David Martin (1945-10-31)October 31, 1945 Altus, Oklahoma, United States
Died	May 11, 2020(2020-05-11) (aged 74) Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	New wave power pop
Occupations	Musician songwriter
Instruments	Guitar vocals
Years active	1960s–2020
Formerly of	The Disciples Southwind
Website	Official website (Archived)

Early years

Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, he was originally a rockabilly artist as a member of the Oklahoma-based band The Disciples, who moved to Los Angeles and adopted the name Southwind in 1967. At this time, their style shifted towards country rock.^[2] Southwind released three studio albums before disbanding in 1971. ^[3] They enjoyed moderate success, with two of their singles charting nationally: "Ready to Ride" (No. 127 in 1969) and "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" (No. 105 in 1970).^[4]

Peak of success

Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer. He wrote the songs "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)", made famous by the English singer Robert Palmer, and "Cadillac Walk", made famous by the American singer Willy DeVille.^[5]

Martin scored five minor hits of his own with "Rolene" (No. 30 US, No. 77 Australia,^[6] No. 30 Canada^[7]), "No Chance" (No. 50 US), both in 1979, "Signal for Help" (No. 60 Australia) in 1981, "X-ray Vision", (No. 99) and "Aces With You" (No. 95) both in Australia in 1982. His 1982 song, "X-Ray Vision" was an MTV hit music video.^[6] He allegedly was given the nickname "Moon" because many of his songs had the word moon in the lyrics.^[5]

On October 31, 2022, Midnight Moon,^[8] a posthumous album, was released, only available on several music streaming services.

Death

Martin died on May 11, 2020, of natural causes in Encino, California, at the age of 74.^[1][9][10]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US[11]	CAN	AUS[6]
Shots from a Cold Nightmare	Released: 1978 Label: Capitol Records	—	—	—
Escape from Domination	Released: 1979 Label: Capitol Records	80	67[12]	—
Street Fever	Released: 1980 Label: Capitol Records	138	—	63
Mystery Ticket	Released: 1982 Label: Capitol Records	205[4]	—	—
Mixed Emotions	Released: 1985 Label: Capitol France	—	—	—
Dreams on File	Released: 1992 Label: Fnac France	—	—	—
Cement Monkey	Released: 1993 Label: CORE	—	—	—
Lunar Samples	Released: 1995 Label: CORE	—	—	—
Louisiana Juke-Box	Released: 1999 Label: Sonodisc France-Eagle UK	—	—	—
Midnight Moon (posthumous)	Released: 2022 Label: Joanne Gough	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live album

• Bad News Live (1993, Fnac France)

Compilation albums

• The Very Best Of (1999, EMI Sweden, 1978-1982)
• Shots from a Cold Nightmare + Escape from Domination (1995, EMI Special Markets, Demon Records)
• Street Fever + Mystery Ticket (1995, EMI Special Markets, Edsel Records)

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
		US [13]	US AC [13]	US Dance [13]	AUS
1978	"Victim of Romance"	—	—	—	—	Shots from a Cold Nightmare
	"Bad Case of Lovin' You"	—	—	—	—
	"Hot Nite in Dallas"	—	—	—	—
1979	"Rolene"	30	—	—	77	Escape from Domination
	"No Chance"	50	36	—	—
	"Dreamer"	—	—	—	—
	"I've Got a Reason"	—	—	—	—
	"Bootleg Woman"	—	—	—	—
1980	"Bad News"	—	—	—	—	Street Fever
	"Signal for Help"	—	—	—	60
	"Pushed Around"	—	—	—	—
	"Love Gone Bad"	105[4]	—	—	—
	"Five Days of Fever"	—	—	—	—
1982	"X-Ray Vision"	—	—	67	99	Mystery Ticket
	"Firing Line"	—	—	—	—
	"Aces with You"	—	—	—	95
1985	"Love Sniper"	—	—	—	—	Mixed Emotions
1992	"Rock N' Roll Radio"	—	—	—	—	Dreams On File
1993	"Never Could Say Goodbye"	—	—	—	—	Cement Monkey
1995	"Enemy"	—	—	—	—	Lunar Samples
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.