Tony Martin -"Ask any man"

[Calv1971]

I love this version as much as The Supremes, i think it's a lot of fun and would love to have been a fly on the wall at this recording session, likewise with hundreds of other Motown artist sessions.
Does anyone know if there are more of Motown covers by Tony Martin in the vaults?
I have been imagining him doing versions of "In my lonely Room" and "You're gone but always in my heart" etc which again i think would be good and fun, perhaps a lot wouldn,t agree with me!!!!!

[Motown4Ever518]

What resonates with me is that there was a credible effort put forth by Mr. Martin, and that the song was an under appreciated good song by HDH. Or not just "filler", referencing a previous post.

[144man]

"Ask Any Girl" is my favourite Supremes' recording.

Tony Martin sounds so wrong on this. The song is so unsuitable for his voice [[I quite like "Talkin' To Your Picture" though, the type of song which does suit him).

Consequently, this song would be in my list of "The Top 20 Worst Motown Records" along with things like Ray Oddis and Debbie Dean's "I Cried All Night".

Sorry,
Martin

P.S. I don't have any knowledge of him recording anything else for Motown besides his three released singles, but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't something in the vaults.

[westgrandboulevard]

Agree with 144man.

Whenever I hear this track, I smile...but not for the right reasons...

Just my own personal opinion of course, but there seemed to be no point in releasing the track if , even in a different style, it was not as good in its own way as all the other releases at the time.


Tony Martin was an experienced entertainer when he recorded it, but is out of his comfort zone on 'Ask Any Man'.

His vocal technique just isn't suited to the construction of the song, and would be more effective on slow, overwrought ballads with sustained notes.

Not only is his phrasing too wooden and stilted, obviously trying to keep pace with the tempo of the rhythm track.. he also over-emphasises the emotion on the lyrics, keeping it only just the right side of parody.

The effect is not so much ham, as a sheep trying to bleat a melody.

I have a mental image of him, during the middle break, furiously twirling the microphone on the end of its lead...

[smark21]

The peak of Tony Martin’s career was when he sang You Stepped out of a Dream in MGM’s 1941 hit Ziegfeld Girl.

[theboyfromxtown]

It's a shame you guys are not too keen on Tony Martin. I have to admit that I knew about Tony Martin early on cos it was my aunt's favourite singer. I needed to find a copy of "Ask Any Man" for her because it wasn't issued in the UK.

Tony worked with Motown's Marc Gordon in 1967 which I noticed from my aunt's collection. It was on RCA - Theme from the Sand Pebbles.

[Roger Polhill]

There is an album MS 645 "Live At The Americana" in the vaults and "Honey Come Back" was assigned to him.

[bradsupremes]

Sorry but Tony Martin's version sounds like it's Mister Ed trying to sing a Supremes song. Just doesn't work.

[theboyfromxtown]

Excuse the bad scanning

[theboyfromxtown]

Proposed artwork

[theboyfromxtown]

This is nice.

[robb_k]

I would have liked to hear him sing "Love's Gone Bad" [[Underdog's version). Or maybe Dora Hall did a cover of it [[like she did "I heard it Through The Grapevine").

[luke]

lol brad and robb. How about the Boones doin Heat Wave?Oh no dont tell me they did.

[kenneth]

I like lots of the classic crooners, especially Matt Monro, Sinatra, Crosby, but I've never understood why Tony Martin was so popular. His manner of delivery just didn't appeal to me, I guess. And even if that isn't the case, his version of "Ask" is simply dreadful. "Lounge lizard" doesn't even encapsulate its arrangement.

[jeff9nyc]

Horrid, just horrid.

[mowest]

Horrid, just horrid.

Absolutely right!

[jalowe1957]

Back in the day, Berry Gordy signed mainstream "adult" performers off the supper club circuit to give Motown an aura of legitimacy in the eyes of the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, he did so with more chutzpah than wisdom. Tony Martin is a case in point.

[Calv1971]

It's a shame you guys are not too keen on Tony Martin. I have to admit that I knew about Tony Martin early on cos it was my aunt's favourite singer. I needed to find a copy of "Ask Any Man" for her because it wasn't issued in the UK.

Tony worked with Motown's Marc Gordon in 1967 which I noticed from my aunt's collection. It was on RCA - Theme from the Sand Pebbles.

Thank you for sharing your fab pictures and for the info on the Sand Pebbles 45, this sounded interesting so i found a copy on www.gemm.com, which i use for tracking down records etc when i can't find them on Ebay.
Another good site for finding items is www.musicstack.com

[theboyfromxtown]

Calvin

I'm glad you liked them. Those album project files are worth digging out if they ever come up for sale anywhere.