The prolific recording artist, singer/songwriter/producer/guitar teacher recently passed away at age 70 in Nashville, TN. He was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., lived in London until he was four years old, and studied music at Brooklyn College.

MARTIN JOHN BUTLER
(17 September 1954 – 15 February 2025)

At six years old, he became the first soloist in the New York All City chorus and was featured in a NY State PBS program. At fifteen, his first band, Triton, earned a weekend residency at Dodgers Bar, a well-known Blues/Jazz club in downtown Brooklyn, and played sold-out shows at the legendary Gaslight Cafe and Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village.

Martin John’s next band, Pandora, was a hard rock/glam band. He was the lead guitarist and co-wrote songs on their debut. Pandora featured future stars, such as drummer Frank LaRocca (Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, John Waite, David Johansen Band), bassist Buzzy Verno (David Johansen Band, Cherry Vanilla), and vocalist Rick Prince (Plum Nelly, Foreigner). Arf Arf Records “posthumously” released a bootlegged CD of a demo Pandora recorded in a Cleveland, Ohio loft, done when Martin John was 17, to acclaim in Rolling Stone and a cult following online. A vinyl edition of ‘Pandora’s Space Amazon’ (read an interview with Martin John here) is available on Supreme Echo Records, and a documentary was in the works.

After Pandora, Martin John formed The Demons with singer Eliot Kidd, initially including future Heartbreakers guitarist Walter Lure. The Demons were part of the first wave of Punk bands playing at CBGB. Temporarily managed by club owner Hilly Crystal, they recorded a ‘Live at CBGB Vol. II’ album that was never released. Craig Leon (Ramones, Blondie) produced it and brought The Demons to the attention of Mercury Records.

Their Mercury debut album, ‘The Demons,’ sold 250,000 copies, reaching Billboard’s #1 in eleven states within four weeks. Still, the untimely death of drummer Mike Rappoport, and the arrest and incarceration of singer Eliot Kidd on drug charges led to Mercury discontinuing their support.

Martin John shared bills and close friendships with legendary NYC groups, The New York Dolls, Blondie, Mink DeVille, The Ramones, The Dictators, Patti Smith, Television, and The Heartbreakers. The Very Few, MJB’s next band with former Demons member Bob Jones played at many of the legendary clubs of New York, Privates, Danceteria, CBGB, and the Mudd Club, etc.

After The Demons and The Very Few, Martin John began a solo career writing and producing music for radio and television and as a session guitarist, notably with Busta Jones and Paul Duskin, (Chris Spedding, Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, Talking Heads). His songs were featured in numerous TV shows, including Wiseguy, The A-Team, Walker, Texas Ranger, and MacGyver, eventually winning a CLIO award and Radio Mercury Best Radio Commercial as a writer/producer.

Throughout a twelve-year battle with a life-threatening illness, Martin John taught music privately, founding The Rock & Roll Schoolhouse. Recovering, and reemerging as a singer/songwriter/producer with a solo CD, ‘Watching The Days Fallin’ 2007, his song ‘Wait For Nothing’ was featured in the compilation CD ‘Day One,’ the proceeds going to first responders of the 9/11 tragedy.

MJB wrote and produced music for the award-winning documentary film WishMakers in 2018. His second solo album, ‘What the Heart Only Knows,’ was released in late 2020 to critical acclaim. Moreover, the same year, he co-wrote and co-produced the single ‘Life is Hard’ for Americana artist Dusty Wright. He co-produced and mixed Mr. Wright’s 2022 release, ‘Lonelyville,’ to critical acclaim. He contributed four tracks to the 2022 award-winning documentary Worst to First, the story of the rise of Z-100, the world’s biggest FM radio station.

Relocating to Nashville in mid-2022, Martin John co-produced the ‘Dusted Off’ (all cover songs) album for Dusty Wright and was working on new music for his next album, ‘To the Light.’