Q: Hi -- I'm searching your site for anything about Trade Martin. Is he still around? I thought I heard him interviewed on the radio awhile back. Will you be doing anything on him?
Thanks
Dippity Doo
A: Trade Martin reached One Hit Wonder status when his only chart hit, That Stranger Used To be My Girl, went to #28 on The Billboard Pop Chart back in 1962. (It went all the way to #14 here in Chi-Town.)
Most recently, he has been spending the majority of his "musical" time producing records for other artists, most notably B.B. King. (Over the years, Trade has also produced sessions for Rick Nelson, B.T. Express, Solomon Burke, Lesley Gore and The Tokens, amongst others.)
In between, he had a pretty successful career writing, producing and recording advertising jingles for companies like Prudential Insurance, Pepsi-Coloa, Pan Am Airlines (as well as TWA), Gillette and Colgate, often winning awards for his efforts and campaigns.
Trade has also written a number of film scores and, for a while, was one of Phil Spector's "Go To" Guitarists on many of Phil's "Wall Of Sound" Productions of the early '60's.
By all appearances, he is alive and well ... in fact, there's a brand new Christmas song posted on his website:
Click here: Trade Martin Music
Meanwhile, we also found this posting on our FH Buddy Artie Wayne's website from a couple of years ago:
Click here: Trade Martin And An Exclusive Look Inside Of A Phil Spector Recording Session! « Artie Wayne On The Web
Kent Kotal
FORGOTTEN HITS
P.S. Here's Trade's only Top 40 Hit as a recording artist, That Stranger Used To Be My Girl.
