Martin Briley – “One Night With A Stranger”
This is another record that falls into the category of “marred by Value Village” – there was a time in the early 2010’s when records were starting to make a resurgence, and people (like me) would go to Value Village to buy hundreds of these $0.99 records – little did I know that the Value Village price sticker is damn near impossible to remove without damaging the sleeve. This one I bought because the cover is just so absurd, that I needed it.
The opening track “The Salt in My Tears” has that classic 80’s rock sound, which we now fondly call “Adult oriented rock” – it’s got a good beat to it, and the musicianship is good. It was a hit single, reaching 36 on the Billboard 100 in July 1983 and was in heavy rotation on MTV. “Just a Mile Away” comes next, and we get a nice bassline opening before Martin starts singing, there is some guitar playing and it starts off a bit slow, but the song isn’t bad. The chorus starts, and it’s not catchy but the guitar riffs are good. We follow up with “Put Your Hands on the Screen” which has a very nice drum / percussion opening before we get into some good guitar licks, this song was a minor single that also featured a music video on MTV’s rotation. Not big on the delivery of the song title in the song, done in sort of a beat / syllable delivery “Just. Put. Your. Hands. On the screen” – the guitar playing is great. “Maybe I’ve Waited Too Long” comes next, and it kind of has that John Waite “Missing You” sound to it at first, before Martin begins to sing, it is definitely better than the previous track. Not a bad song. “She’s So Flexible” closes out the A-Side, and it’s done with the Hammond organ and drums, it’s very high energy and upbeat, it gives off a fun vibe and the kind of song that would get people onto the dance floor. So far, it’s been a pretty decent listen thus far.
The B-Side opens with the song “A Rainy Day in New York City” – and it’s got some crazy synth playing on this one, but it once more has a pretty good beat and vibe to it. The lyrics aren’t exactly anything too special on this album, nothing overly catchy – but the musicianship and song structure are pretty good. “I Wonder What She Thinks of Me” comes next, and we go back to the percussion opening and the guitar riffs before Martin starts his vocals, we do get some synth tones in this one as well. It’s not a bad song, it’s definitely something I’d listen to again. “Dumb Love” follows next, and it’s a faster paced song, the guitar playing and the drumming is pretty good. Lyrically, it’s good. I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that Martin does deliver some pretty good vocals on all these tracks. The Synth playing on this track is pretty good as well. The album closes out with the title track, “One Night with a Stranger” – and once more, we have a good beat, good musicianship and vocally it’s delivered well. The chorus and the flow of the song are what really make it.
Catalog Number:
LAT1169
Credits:
Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitar, Hammond & Piano – Martin Briley
Synthesizers & Guitar – Jamie Herndon
Drums & Percussion – Pat Mastelotto
Bass Guitar – Robin Sylvester
Backing Vocals – George Meyer
Producer – Peter Coleman
Engineering Assistance and Healing – Dave Hernandez
Recorded and Mixed at MCA Whitney Studios, Glendale, California Oct 82 – January 83
Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc Systems
Art Direction – Bill Levy and Murry Whiteman
Album Design – Lumel Whiteman Studio
Photography – Murry Whiteman
Illustration – Stan Watts
A&R – Peter Lubin
Production Coordination – Fae Horowitz
Direction – Michael J. Lembo Jr.
Released:
1983
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