Moon Martin -

Moon Martin (1945–2020) was an American songwriter and singer who released five albums between 1978 and 1985 on Capitol Records. Robert Palmer charted with “Bad Case of Loving You,” originated on Martin’s debut Shots from a Cold Nightmare.

Martin’s second album, Escape from Domination, spawned the 1979 Billboard hits “Rolene” and “No Chance.” His fourth album, Mystery Ticket, contains the 1982 Australian hit “X-Ray Vision.”

The Disciples

He was born John David Martin on October 31, 1945, in Altus, Oklahoma. His first-recorded band, The Disciples, formed as a rockabilly act at the University of Oklahoma. They released three 1966–67 garage rock singles.

Bassist Jim Pulte wrote both sides of the August 1966 Disciples single “Only the Blind Can See,” released on the Chicago small-press Ivanhoe Records. Martin plays the fuzz-laden chords on its b-side, “Junior Saw It Happen” (2:55), a mid-tempo rocker with rattling tambourine and a Vox organ break.

Dallas small-press Foundation Records issued the 1967 second Disciples single, comprised of one R&B cover (“Have You Ever Had The Blues”) and the Pulte original “Darlin,” a rattling medium-slow Vox organ rocker.

Martin and Pulte co-wrote the third Disciples a-side, “It’s Over,” a pounding soul-rocker with subtle organ and vibrato guitar licks. It appeared on the Wisconsin small-press Feature Records, backed with the Otis Redding cover “Respect” (popularized by Aretha Franklin and cut by fellow garage rockers The Vagrants).

In 1967, The Disciples moved to Los Angeles. They changed their name to Southwind and signed with Venture Records, a subsidiary of MGM.

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Discography:

Shots from a Cold Nightmare (1978, Capitol Records)
Escape from Domination (1979, Capitol) – #80, Billboard 200; #67, RPM Magazine Top 100
Street Fever (1980, Capitol) – #138, Billboard 200, #63 AUS
Mystery Ticket (1982, Capitol) – #205, Billboard 200
Mixed Emotions (1985, Capitol France)