Martin Gordon - Biography

Biography

Martin Gordon was born in Ipswich, and grew up Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He studied piano and classical guitar as a child, attended summer schools hosted by the British National Jazz Youth Orchestra, where he took lessons from Nucleus bassist Jeff Clyne and later studied harmony and counterpoint.

Gordon began his musical career in the 1970s with the Californian pop brothers Ron Mael and Russell Mael from Sparks, who were seeking a bassist after their relocation to the UK. Gordon played with Sparks on the album Kimono My House. "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both Of Us" and "Amateur Hour" were UK hits from that album. "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" made No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. After one album, Gordon and Sparks parted company.

He moved on and formed Jet (described by Allmusic as "the first supergroup of glam" and then Radio Stars, who were in reality Jet wearing different trousers. Jet's eponymous album was produced by Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker. Between the demise of Jet and its reincarnation as Radio Stars in 1976, he performed briefly with pioneer of American punk Ian North; along with drummer Paul Simon, Gordon played a handful of dates with Ian's Radio before rejoining members of Jet to form Radio Stars.

Radio Stars achieved a modicum of success with a single 'Nervous Wreck' which charted at #38) and two critically well-received albums Songs for Swinging Lovers and Holiday Album. The band has been anthologised with Two Minutes Mr Smith (Moonlight Records) and Somewhere There's a Place For Us (Ace Records). Ace Records re-released the Radio Stars catalogue on CD in 2003. In 2008, Radio Stars reformed for a gig at London's Blow Up Metro Club, to promote the release of live recordings from the 1970s entitled 'Something for the Weekend'. The performance featured original members Martin Gordon, Andy Ellison and Ian Macleod accompanied by drummer Steve Budney from Gordon's 2007 solo debut in Boston, USA. The band also performed one-off gigs at the Rebellion festival in London (13 December 2008) and at London's 100 Club (22 January 2010).