Moon Martin was one of those characters who hitched a ride on the New Wave and followed its tributary into the smoother waters of Power Pop.

He never made it but his debut album Shots From A Cold Nightmare did include two self-penned tunes that became better known in other artists’ hands.

One was Cadillac Walk, one of several standout songs on Mink DeVille’s debut album, and the other was this one – Bad Case Of Loving You – which became a hit for Robert Palmer (below).

You’ll doubtless remember the video with those poker-faced young women in black cocktail dresses pretending to play electric guitars behind him.

In truth, Palmer’s version is probably better but Martin’s version could easily have been a hit, with its choppy guitar riff, catchy tune and vocal harmonies.

So who was Moon Martin? He started out in a rockabilly band called The Disciples who moved to Los Angeles and became a country-rock outfit called Southwind, before working as a session guitarist.

Prior to going solo, he played – under his birth name John Martin -on records by Del Shannon and Jackie DeShannon (no relation), a few Gram Parsons tunes and Linda Ronstadt’s Silk Purse.

He was jokily christened Moon because he used the word so often in his lyrics, as can be checked on the string of albums he released in rapid succession in the late Seventies and early Eighties.

Disappearing from view in the Nineties, the Oklahoma-born Martin lived in Encino, California, where he died in 2020.