Martin Briley -

Martin Briley is an English musician, vocalist, and songwriter who first appeared in the pop-psych band Mandrake Paddle Steamer, which issued a single on Parlophone in 1969 and recorded more than an album’s worth of material that later appeared on assorted archival discs.

Mandrake marked the start of Briley’s partnership with musician Brian Engel. Across the 1970s, the pair worked in a sequence of mostly shortplayer one-offs: Corn and Seed Merchants (1970), Prowler (1973), The Liverpool Echo (1973), Starbuck (1973–74), True Adventure (1974), Slick Willie (1977), and Elevator (1978). During 1975/76, the two briefly parted as Engel cut two albums in rustic-rockers Limey and Briley played bass in the symphonic supergroup Greenslade, appearing on their fourth album Time and Tide.

After fourteen years in the music biz, Briley went solo with the 1981 Mercury album Fear of the Unknown, followed by the 1983/84 albums One Night With a Stranger and Dangerous Moments. He scored a US hit with “The Salt in My Tears.”

Early Years and Mandrake Paddle Steamer

Martin Steven Briley was born on August 17, 1949, in London. At age ten, he took up songwriting. In 1967, he met singer Brian Engel at Walthamstow Art College. They formed Mandrake Paddle Steamer with keyboardist Martin Hooker, bassist Paula Riordan, and drummer Barry Nightingale.

Mandrake Paddle Steamer established the Asgard club night at the Angel Hotel in Stratford. A representative of Shapiro Bernstein caught their set and introduced the musicians to producer Rob Finnis. He supervised their May 1969 Parlophone single “Strange Walking Man” and “Steam” at Abbey Road Studios. The band also recorded a John Peel session for Top Gear.

Engel left in August 1970. Riordan and Briley assumed the singing roles, while David Potts replaced Nightingale on drums. The remaining musicians shortened the name to Mandrake, but Briley soon withdrew from the group.

AIR and the Briley–Engel Projects

Briley approached George Martin’s new AIR organization in 1970 with the score for a 20-minute composition titled “The Bombers’ Children.” AIR signed Briley, who brought Engel into the project as a co-writer. Peter Sullivan oversaw the album sessions. Arranger Andrew Pryce Jackman worked with the pair on orchestral material and became Briley’s musical mentor. AIR shelved the recordings, which RPM expanded for the 2007 archival release Between the Sea and the Sky.

Parlophone extracted “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” from the AIR material for an AUgust 1971 single (b/w “Jaywick Cowboy”), billed as Corn and Seed Merchants. The label returned to the recordings in April 1973 with the Prowler single “Pale Green Vauxhall Driving Man,” backed with the same B-side. BBC objections to the Vauxhall reference prompted a revised version that obscured the marque with synthesizer.

Briley and Engel next formed Liverpool Echo with bassist Keith Brown and drummer Dave Johns. Spark released the group’s 1973 self-titled album. Jackman produced the Engel-sung sessions, which drew on songs the partners developed from their memories of early-1960s Merseybeat.

Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley then recruited Briley and Engel to realize material under the Starbuck name. RCA issued their April 1973 single “Wouldn’t You Like It?” They reappeared on Bradley’s with the October 1973 single “Do You Like Boys,” followed in July 1974 with “Heart Throb.” The pair also fronted a touring configuration assembled around the studio project.

Briley also played guitar behind singer-songwriter Sandy Davis on the former Gracious frontman’s 1974/75 albums Inside Every Fat Man and Back on My Feet Again.

Decca issued the 1974 Briley–Engel composition “Where the Roxy Used to Be” under the True Adventure name (b/w “Outlaw Love”), recorded on Sandy’s TEAC four-track machine. They reunited under the Slick Willie name for the 1977 Pentagon single “Side Walk Surfing–Skate Boarding.”

Greenslade, London Sessions and New York

Briley worked as an arranger, singer, and session guitarist across London and spent a period with the BBC TV Orchestra. Greenslade recruited him on bass and lead guitar late in 1974 beside drummer Andrew McCulloch and keyboardists Dave Greenslade and Dave Lawson. They cut the 1975 Warner album Time and Tide and group opened American dates for Sparks and Kraftwerk.

At Olympic Studios, Briley and Engel supplied backing parts for The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack, released in 1975 alongside the film.

Chris Blackwell signed Briley to Island Records in New York in 1975 and commissioned the instrumental concept album The River. Andrew Pryce Jackman produced the London sessions with keyboardist Dave Lawson and drummer Henry Spinetti. Davis supplied backing vocals only on the closing track, “Poly Delta and the Ocean.” Island shelved the completed record, which Polyglot first issued in 2022 as a digital release.

In 1979, Briley met singer Ellen Foley at the upstate New York residence of ex-Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter. Foley, on the verge of sessions with Hunter and Mick Ronson, recruited Briley as bassist. Her debut album, Night Out, appeared in September 1979 on Epic and spawned a Dutch No. 1 hit with “We Belong to the Night.”

Briley backed Hunter on the singer’s 1979 fourth solo album, You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, and accompanied a string of Hollywood shows documented on the 1980 live release Welcome to the Club. Their arrangement extended to Hunter’s 1981 studio album Short Back n’ Sides, a reference to recent hair trends.

Fear of the Unknown

Martin Briley released his debut solo album, Fear of the Unknown, in August 1981 on Mercury.

Briley wrote and arranged all ten songs. He played every guitar part and shared bass duties with Robert Brissette. Drummer Eric Parker worked with keyboardist Tommy Mandel. Pianist-violinist Graham Preskett and backing singer Eric Troyer completed the session group.

“I Feel Like a Milkshake” chatters through a rapid-fire, multitracked a cappella opening and comic diner lines. “One Step Behind” unfurls filigreed piano, broad electric-guitar layers, and heavily echoed singing. “Fear of the Unknown” coils around an agitated string quartet and distorted singing.

A1. “Slipping Away” (3:22)
A2. “The Man I Feel” (4:02)
A3. “I Feel Like a Milkshake” (3:53)
A4. “First to Know” (3:06)
A5. “Heart of Life” (5:00)

B1. “A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing” (3:12)
B2. “I Don’t Feel Better” (3:12)
B3. “More of the Same” (2:56)
B4. “One Step Behind” (5:49)
B5. “Fear of the Unknown” (3:57)

Sessions spanned July through August 1981 at Howard Schwartz Recording in New York, where Briley co-produced with engineer Allan Blazek. Assistant engineer Richard Brownstein supported the room. Blazek worked in sequence on 1981/82 albums by The Who (Face Dances) and Glenn Frey (No Fun Aloud).

Designer Bob Heimall developed Bill Lewy’s cover concept around illustrator Norman Walker’s photorealist painting. Photographer Waring Abbott supplied the credited photography and also shot 1981 self-titled Mayday album. Walker depicts an empty paneled room with a framed portrait above the fireplace. One red boot and a wall shadow occupy the foreground.

Mercury issued “Slipping Away” in October 1981 (b/w a medley of “A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing,” “The Man I Feel,” “I Don’t Feel Better,” and “Fear of the Unknown”). In February 1982, “I Don’t Feel Better” reappeared with the same medley.

One Night with a Stranger

Martin Briley released his second solo album, One Night with a Stranger, in 1983 on Mercury.

Briley retained sole authorship and arrangement credit across nine songs. The supporting lineup changed to bassist Robin Sylvester and drummer Pat Mastelotto. Guitarist-keyboardist Jamie Herndon added a second instrumental role, while George Meyer supplied backing vocals.

“The Salt in My Tears” drives a lean riff through chromatic runs, suspended chords, and syncopated bridge changes. “Put Your Hands on the Screen” glides through layered keyboard figures and a dreamlike lead. “She’s So Flexible” prances from a circus-calliope opening through comic double entendres.

A1. “The Salt in My Tears” (3:27)
A2. “Just a Mile Away” (4:06)
A3. “Put Your Hands on the Screen” (4:33)
A4. “Maybe I’ve Waited Too Long” (4:04)
A5. “She’s So Flexible” (3:52)

B1. “A Rainy Day in New York City” (4:47)
B2. “I Wonder What She Thinks of Me” (3:52)
B3. “Dumb Love” (4:58)
B4. “One Night with a Stranger” (3:42)

Sessions spanned October 1982 through January 1983 at MCA Whitney in Glendale. Peter Coleman produced, with Dave Hernandez as assistant engineer. Coleman and Hernandez worked together beforehand with Pat Benatar on her 1982 album Get Nervous. She included the Briely co-write “Take It Any Way You Want It” on her prior album, Precious Time.

Lumel Whiteman Studio assembled the sleeve under art directors Murry Whiteman and Bill Lewy. Whiteman supplied photography, while illustrator Stan Watts created the main image after work on Black Sabbath’s 1982 Live Evil. He also illustrated the 1983 Quiet Riot album Metal Health. The illustration shows a woman on a bed beneath a suited man suspended below a water surface. A small television sits against the far wall. The package received a Grammy nomination.

Mercury lifted “The Salt in My Tears” as a May 1983 single (b/w “Dumb Love”), which reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, “One Night with a Stranger” followed (b/w “Put Your Hands on the Screen”).

One Night with a Stranger reached No. 55 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, Briley played guitar on the title-track to the 1983 Bonnie Tyler album Faster Than the Speed of Night, a multi-million seller.

Dangerous Moments

Martin Briley released his third solo album, Dangerous Moments, in February 1985 on Mercury in the United States. European pressings appeared in 1984, before Mercury’s domestic issue.

Briley expanded the studio cast around bassist Carmine Rojas and guitarist G.E. Smith. Keyboardist Peter Wood joined drummers Anton Fig and Steve Holley in the principal group. Nick Gilder co-wrote “Think of Me.” Wood contributed to “It Shouldn’t Have to Hurt That Much.” Rob Fahey shared “If This Is What It Means,” and Briley wrote the remaining songs.

“It Shouldn’t Have to Hurt That Much” lingers through repeated closing phrases across its final passage. “Before the Party Ends” races through unpaid bills, aging, mortality, and life beneath Beatles-era pop and nuclear anxiety. “School for Dogs” bounds through canine-style group replies and comic double entendres.

A1. “Dangerous Moments” (4:03) – Briley
A2. “Think of Me” (3:46) – Briley, Gilder
A3. “Ghosts” (4:26) – Briley
A4. “It Shouldn’t Have to Hurt That Much” (4:25) – Briley, Wood
A5. “Alone at Last” (3:43) – Briley

B1. “Before the Party Ends” (3:06) – Briley
B2. “If This Is What It Means” (3:20) – Briley, Fahey
B3. “Dirty Windows” (4:46) – Briley
B4. “School for Dogs” (3:05) – Briley
B5. “Underwater” (3:55) – Briley

Sessions spanned May through August 1984 at the Hit Factory and Clinton Recording in New York. Phil Ramone produced with engineers Michael Barry, Ed Rak, and Bobby Cohen. Jim Boyer mixed the album. Ramone simultaneously produced the debut Julian Lennon album Valotte at the Hit Factory while Briley played guitar on the title song and “Too Late for Goodbyes.”

Art directors Murry Whiteman and Bill Lewy worked with illustrator Stan Watts on the package concept. Lumel & Whiteman Studio designed the sleeve, and Waring Abbott supplied photography. Abbott also photographed the 1984 Lou Reed cover for New Sensations. The cover presents an upward view past Briley into an inverted cityscape. Grammy voters nominated the package for Best Album Package.

Mercury issued “Dangerous Moments” in 1984 (b/w “School for Dogs”), before the U.S. album release. The title track reached No. 31 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. “It Shouldn’t Have to Hurt That Much” followed (b/w “Dirty Windows”). Dangerous Moments reached No. 85 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.

In July 2005, Hip-O Select gathered the three Mercury albums and six unreleased demos on the two-CD The Mercury Years, issued in 3,000 copies with a 48-page book.