Song:Separate Lives
Album:...Hits
Of course Phil Collins had plenty of hits in the 80s. The 1985 top five hit Separate Lives was on the soundtrack of the film White Nights. It's a duet with Marilyn Martin. Who? Well, that's the point. She was going to be this big star. But her career fizzled. She was born May 4, 1954 in Tennessee but she grew up in Louisville, KY. After singing in local clubs, she toured with Joe Walsh and then moved to Los Angeles. She got into session singing. And I guess the big album she appeared on was the 1985 Stevie Nicks album Rock A Little because Atlantic Records head honcho Doug Morris heard her and asked for a demo. Meanwhile she appeared on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets Of Fire. Jim Steinman produced that and he produced her demo. That got her a deal with Atlantic. Morris was working on the music for White Nights. He asked Collins and producer Arif Mardin if they would record a song with Marilyn. They agreed. Stephen Bishop wrote Separate Lives and he recorded it on his 1985 album Sleeping With Girls. He was getting divorced when he wrote it. The record reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also nominated for an Oscar. But Say You, Say Me by Lionel Richie also in White Nights won the Oscar. It wasn't on the soundtrack album for contractual reasons. Marilyn released her solo debut album Marilyn Martin in 1986, The single Nigh Moves, a duet with John Parr (St. Elmo's Fire) was a top 30 hit. But that was the final chart appearance for Marilyn. The album did not do as well as expected. And she worked with big name producers like Arif Mardin and Phil Ramone. For her 1988 album This Is Serious, Marilyn worked mostly with Night Moves producer Jon Astley. They even got Madonna and her producer Patrick Leonard to write a song for her. It didn't help and Atlantic dropped her. Marilyn returned to background singing. Morris suggested she go to Nashville and record a country album. After the 1994 single Through His Eyes didn't do well, the album was shelved. It is available on Marilyn's website. Marilyn is still around. She released a Christian album in 2012. She toured with Stevie Nicks and she currently tours with Fleetwood Mac. As was explained in the Oscar winning doc Twenty Feet From Stardom, some singers aren't meant to be stars. Here's the video for Separate Lives by Phil Collins featuring Marilyn Martin.
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