Legacy Live Music Review: Tommy Page
More of my early rock and roll writing days, courtesy of 'The Lowell (MA) Sun' newspaper
Tommy Page, 1990. Credit: Sire Records/Veronica Sim
Prologue
Page From the New Kids: Tight act, fans in a frenzy
Concert Review: Tommy Page, Sweet Sensation, Linear, last night at Club Casino
By Amy McGrath, Sun Correspondent
Monday, August 13, 1990
Hampton Beach, N.H. — If pictures could paint a thousand words, then there aren’t enough words to describe the mass adulation laid upon Tommy Page by 1,700 screaming fans at the Club Casino last night.
Page whipped through a torrent of tightly choreographed numbers and quicksilver hip-thrusts to leave the mostly female, teenage audience hoarse with exhaustion at the end of his equally fast nine-song, 55-minute set.
His attraction has been helped along by his movie-star good looks and a brand of slick, dance-oriented pop that bopped along the lines of Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, and New Kids on the Block.
At 21, this native New Jersey fellow has quickly launched himself into the hallowed stratosphere known as teen idoldom. It was therefore no surprise that his show was a quickie run-through of songs from his self-titled debut album and his current release, Paintings in My Mind. It didn’t have to amount to anything more than that.
A Zillion Kisses/℗ 1988 Warner Records Inc./YouTube
Sprinting onstage in a sparkling white suit, Page opened his set with “A Zillion Kisses” as his two sidekick dancers/singers pumped up the shrieking masses into a high-pitched frenzy.
He was able to show his versatility early on as he moved onto the piano to render his ballad “A Shoulder to Cry On” with a nice, sincere sensitivity, which in turn sent many of those young female enthusiasts right off into teen idol heaven.
The passionate proceedings were interrupted briefly by his dancers’ solo turn in the spotlight, a little unnecessary as their rap consisted mainly of the word ‘party’ and not much else. Their dancing, however, was extremely spirited and uninhibited, nicely offsetting Page’s rather tailored, cool approach.
Returning in a sequined outfit, Page worked the stage during “When I Dream of You.” Saxophonist Bob Gay displayed his outstanding work, along with the rest of Page’s crack support band of solid musicians.
I’ll Be Your Everything/℗ 1990 Reprise Records/YouTube
Page’s association with New Kids on the Block certainly didn’t hurt his exposure when he toured with them late last year, and as proof of that, his biggest hit of the evening was “I’ll Be Your Everything,” which was co-written by Page and New Kids Jordan Knight and Danny Wood.
Closing out the emotion-packed night with “Turn On the Radio,” Page has solidified his place in the fast-paced world of teenage heartthrobs. His move onward will hopefully last longer than the abbreviated set showcased last night.
Epilogue
Tommy Page continued to record and went on to work in the music industry, most notably as an executive at Warner Bros./Reprise from 1997-2011, helping to guide the careers of Michael Bublé, Alanis Morissette, Green Day, and Josh Groban. He then continued to evolve his talents, working as an executive at Pandora, publisher at Billboard, senior vice president at Cumulus Media, and as vice president of music partnerships at The Village Voice.
Page died in 2017 at the age of 46 and is survived by his husband Charlie Wright and their three children.
In 2018, the West Orange (NJ) Scholarship Fund announced that a permanent endowment fund had been established in his memory. The inaugural grant was presented by Page’s friends Mark Levinsohn and Lisa Boymann to graduate Leonardo Zeoli.
Great to see that he used his experience to build a successful career in the music industry. It's good to see happy endings like this when we tend to hear so much about the tragic ones.