On May 16th in my hometown of Keokuk, Iowa, Richard Page was born. Mr. Page was a highly regarded session musician who found success after teaming up with other session players to form a band. That band, the horribly named Mr. Mister, achieved three top ten singles (two of them reached #1) with their second album, Welcome To The Real World. I lived in Keokuk during the time the band reached this success and I can tell you that no one seemed to figure out that the lead singer of the band that happened to have the number one song in the country was born and lived in Keokuk for the first six years of his life.Hell, I didn't realize it until over a decade later when I was reading the "M" section of an All Music Guide book.
Regardless of Mr. Mister's longevity on the charts, I do think the town should have made some sort of acknowledgement, either with a street being named after him or, at the very least, a declaration of Richard Page day. Mr. Page could have been given honorary keys to the city and then called his family, thanking them for moving away.
Page, who turns 54 today, is now "semi-retired" and lives in California and hasn't returned to Keokuk in over 48 years.
I guess he took the lyrics to "Broken Wings" literally.
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