Gene Page
Born: 10-13-1938
Died: 8-24-1998

......from an undisclosed long-term illness.
    Born in Los Angeles, Gene studied classical music during his youth. Upon winning a scholarship to the Brooklyn Conservatory, Page moved to New York. His first big break in the recording field was arranging the strings for the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," which peaked at number one pop for two weeks and hit number three R&B on the Billboard charts in late 1964, early 1965. He also arranged Dobie Gray's "The In Crowd," number 11 R&B, and Solomon Burke's "Got To Get You Off My Mind," number one R&B for three weeks, both early 1965.
     Page first met Barry White when they co-arranged Bob and Earl's "Harlem Shuffle" for Marc Records, number 44 R&B, in late 1963. In the mid-1960's, when White was hired by Bob Keane for his Bronco/Mustang labels, he hired Page to do all his arrangements.
     Page's busy recording career was now being augmented by film and TV work. He scored the soundtrack for Sid & Marty Krofft's "H.R. Pufnstuf," in September 1969. His brother Billy Page wrote "Some Beautiful," the first single from Pufnstuf star Jack Wild's debut album, "The Jack Wild Album" on Capitol Records. Page also composed the soundtrack for the 1970 Robert Altman movie "Brewster McCloud," released on MGM Records.
     Billy also produced Gene's "Music From The Original Soundtrack Blacula." Originally issued by RCA Records in the summer of 1972, the soundtrack to the classic horror film starring Shakespearean actor William Marshall and Ketty Lester was one of Gene's first efforts as a recording artist.
     Gene Page recorded several albums, with the 1978 Arista LP "Close Encounters" being the most successful. The title track, a disco cover of the John Williams theme from the 1977 Steven Spielberg/Richard Dreyfuss movie, charted at number 30 R&B in early 1978. The album also featured the now-classic disco hit "Moonglow."
     His last album was 1980's "Love Starts After Dark." The 12" single featured the vocals of Charmaine Sylvers, of the family act The Sylvers. The song reached the top ten on the club charts and would be the last charter for both.
     Gene went back to arranging and studio work for such diverse artists as Natalie Cole, Anita Baker, The Gap Band and Johnny Mathis. Gene Page died in his native Los Angeles in 1998.
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