So take, these broken wings, Kyrie, and tell me what happened to Mr. Mister…

American pop/rock group Mr. Mister had big success in the mid-1980’s, but after a couple of albums they parted ways. Why? And what became of the members? To understand where and how the band came to be, we have to go back to 1978 and the formation of the band, Pages. Lead by singer Richard Page (b.1953) and percussionist Steve George (b.1955), along with Peter Leinheiser, Jerry Manfredi, Russ Battelene, John Lang, Charles “Icarus” Johnson and George Lawrence. The group saw no commercial chart success, and after three studio albums, they split in 1981. Page and George were desperate to continue and enlisted the help of Pat Mastelotto (b.1955) and Steve Farris and thus, Mr. Mister was born.

Two years of recording produced their debut album, “I Wear The Face”, in 1984, which was lead by the single “Talk The Talk”, although this followed a familiar patten for them of not doing anything on the chart. Success did come with the second release, “Hunters Of The Night”, which made it to No.57 on the US singles chart, while the album struggled to do anything like that. Mr. Mister abandoned this project and moved on with no time for rest with a second long player during 1984 and into 1985. This time, production and quality of sound were that much sharper and right for the time as the lead single, “Broken Wings”, would prove. The band’s third single was indeed third time lucky for them as it found its way to the very top of the singles chart in June 1985. It also became a huge hit worldwide, making the top ten in over twenty countries, including the UK, where it peaked at No.4.

Mr. Mister launched their second album, “Welcome To The Real World”, in November, which would also top the American album chart and sell over a million copies, as well as gaining Platinum discs around the world. Before the year was out, the band made it three chart toppers in a row with the second single, “Kyrie”, going to number one at the end of December and into January 1986, where it also topped the Canadian chart and the Norwegian chart as well (UK No.11). Mr. Mister would pull a third top ten hit off the album with “Is It Love?” that Spring, while a fourth, “Black/White”, was a minor hit in Canada. For whatever reason, international success dried up at this point as the band hit the road and toured with the likes of Don Henley, The Bangles and Tina Turner, as they also began writing for their third and ultimately, final album together.

“Something Real (Inside Me/Inside You)” was released in August 1987 and made No.29 at home and that too, is where the hits dried up for the band even on their own doorstep. The album, “Go On…”, faltered at No.55 while the three remaining singles released into 1988, all flopped. Farris departed that year and was replaced by Paul Clark, who began working with the band on a fourth album. Recorded during 1989 and titled “Pull”, the album was completed in 1990, but shelved as the band went their separate ways. Numerous best of’s popped up during the 1990’s while Richard Page launched himself as a songwriter. He notably worked with Madonna on her 1994 hit, “I’ll Remember” as well as other top flight artists such as Celine Dion, Chaka Khan, Meatloaf and more recently, British singing star, Leona Lewis.

Page has also released four studio albums of his own material and toured with Beatle, Ringo Starr. Steve George has also been a successful songwriter, working with Richard Marx, Amy Grant, Cher and Barry Manilow, to name but a few. Drummer Pat Mastelotto has toured and recorded with Martika, The Pointer Sisters, The Rembrandts and Tina Arena and in 2021, released his own album of original material, “A Romantic’s Guide To King Crimson”, with his wife on lead vocals, under the artist name of The Mastelottos. Twenty years after it was completed, the final Mr. Mister album, “Pull”, was given the light of day in 2010, released on Richard Page’s own Little Dume record label, while ten years later in 2020, an expanded edition of the album was released with three previously written but not recorded songs, which brought Mr. Mister back together for the first time in thirty years! See, broken wings CAN be mended, to let you fly again!

Remember Mr. Mister at their official FACEBOOK page and keep in touch with Richard at his WEBSITE

Take a look at our other Where Are They Now? posts or find out more here.