Song:Music Box Dancer
Album:The Very Best Of Frank Mills
The instrumental Music Box Dancer is one of the most unlikely top five pop hits in pop music history. It was written and recorded by Canadian pianist Frank Mills. I'm sure no one was more surprised than Mills when the song became a hit. He was born June 27, 1942 in Montreal and he grew up in the Montreal suburb of Verdun. He started playing piano as a child. Mills studied at Montreal's McGill University. In the late 60s, Mills was a member of The Bells. But he left before they had their big hit Stay Awhile. He went to work for the CBC and he recorded his 1972 debut album Seven Of My Songs for Polydor Records. His single Love Me, Love Me Love was a hit in Canada and it charted in the US. He left Polydor for the small label Sonogram. He first recorded Music Box Dancer on the 1974 album The Poet And I. But Sonogram went bankrupt. Mills re-signed with Polydor in 1978. They released a single with Music Box Dancer on the B-side. It was supposed to be sent only to easy listening radio stations but it was accidentally sent to rock stations. DJ David Watts of CFRA in Ottawa started playing Music Box Dancer and it became a hit in Canada. Then Polydor released Music Box Dancer in the US and Nashville DJs played it after it was used as a theme on a local news show. The song broke nationally and Music Box Dancer reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979. A couple of Mills' other singles charted but Music Box Dancer was his only big hit. You can get them on this comp. But Love Me, Love Me Love is an instrumental though Mills' original version was a vocal. Mills left Polydor for Capitol in 1981. He recorded for Capitol for years. In recent years, he has released DVDs and instructional videos on his own label. Here's Frank Mills performing Music Box Dancer 1979.
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