The Wall Street Journal-20080214-He May Not Win Grammy- but He-s Big in Walgreens- Box of Chocolates Plays David Martin-s Tune- A -Positive Love Song-

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He May Not Win Grammy, but He's Big in Walgreens; Box of Chocolates Plays David Martin's Tune; A 'Positive Love Song'

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To break into the music business, a lot of young singers promote themselves on social-networking Web sites or stand in line to audition for "American Idol." David Martin is hoping Valentine's Day will do the trick for him.

Today, when lovers open one of 65,000 heart-shaped boxes of Whitman's chocolates purchased at Walgreens drugstores, they will hear 30 seconds of Mr. Martin singing "Something in Your Eyes," a song he wrote and performs.

Blond, boyish and 31 years old, Mr. Martin says he wants to revive the positive love song. "I like to encourage people that there really is a happily ever after," says Mr. Martin. His manager calls him "the love doctor," but Mr. Martin says, "I prefer the 'voice of romance.'"

Since his album, also called "Something in Your Eyes," was released a year ago, Mr. Martin has played for wedding-planning conventions and a nationally syndicated self-help radio show called "The Beacon."

He also sang at a costume ball held during the annual Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, a gathering of about 1,000 women's fiction writers and readers. During his performance, Mr. Martin brought his wife, Maggie, onstage and they shared their high-school sweetheart story with the audience.

"People cried," says Adam DeGraide, who heads Astonish Entertainment LLC, Mr. Martin's small independent record label. "There are so many songs of heartbreak, there's a real opportunity for David's message to stand out," Mr. DeGraide says.

Boston's soft-rock radio station Magic 106.7 played "Something in Your Eyes" 229 times last year. "Positive love songs is one of the areas where I have the toughest time finding music," says Mark Laurence, the station's music director, who adds that choosing a playlist for a nightly program called "Bedtime Magic" is especially hard. "There's a lot of angst out there."

Lyrics from "Something in Your Eyes," are printed on the limited- edition line of Whitman's Valentine's Day chocolates, made by Russell Stover Candies Inc.: "In your eyes, I saw a million angels; I saw an endless sunrise in your eyes." An embedded sound chip plays part of Mr. Martin's song when a flap on the lid is lifted. An Internet download of the song, "the year's most romantic," is free with the purchase of a $9.99 box of 12 chocolates weighing 6.25 ounces. The album itself has sold about 1,000 copies and more than 1,200 digital downloads as of Feb. 10, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Last week, Mr. Martin performed for winners of a promotion held by the Boston radio station for a "once in a lifetime chance to meet David Martin." Gloria Herbert, a 53-year-old home-care coordinator in Boston, took her lunch break, plus an hour of vacation time, to join the fans crowding into the studio to see Mr. Martin perform. "He gets you right there," she says, holding her chest. After Mr. Martin autographed her candy box, Ms. Herbert sighed. "This is something I'll cherish," she says. "And I'll eat the chocolates."

Mr. Martin says his favorable take on love is inspired by his own love story. He first set eyes on his wife at a hockey game back home in Fargo, N.D. Then high-school sophomores, the two quickly fell in love. They decided to get married in their senior year when they learned that a baby was on the way. Months into their marriage, Mr. Martin found a divorce lawyer's card among his wife's belongings.

The two reconciled, however, and 10 years of marriage later, Mr. Martin wrote 10 love songs to her for their anniversary. The oldest of their four children is now 13.

At a party about a year later, he told his love story and sang songs he had written for his wife. One of the guests, Mr. DeGraide, then an Internet entrepreneur who sold digital-marketing services to car dealerships, was so impressed he signed Mr. Martin as the first artist on his new label.

Before pop music, Mr. Martin wrote and performed Christian music while working as a youth and music minister in Fargo and, later, in Portland, Ore. Mr. DeGraide persuaded his aspiring star, whose real name is David Lubben, to use his middle name, Martin, as his surname. Mr. Martin says his mother always called him "David Martin" when she scolded him. "It took me a while to get over the feeling I was in trouble all the time," he says.

He got his big break in January last year when Russell Stover executives heard him sing at a party and were impressed. The candy company had been discussing producing a musical candy box but hadn't considered using an unknown artist until that moment, says Mark Sesler, Russell Stover's chief marketing officer. (The only other artist ever promoted on Russell Stover boxes was Elvis Presley.) The company was wowed. "He is what Valentine's Day is all about," Mr. Sesler says.

Mr. Martin and his record label agreed to license the song to the confectioner, for a small, undisclosed fee. "I'm hoping the momentum from these chocolates will help me get a spring tour," says Mr. Martin.

That Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Thursday this year bodes well for Mr. Martin, says Paul Minger, category manager for confections at Walgreen Co., which has exclusive rights to sell Mr. Martin's chocolates. "If Valentine's Day falls on a weekend, sales aren't as good. Men have more choices then and will take their wife or girlfriend out to dinner, to a movie, or a weekend away," he says. "But if it's during the week, men will stop at a Walgreens and pick up some chocolate and maybe some flowers."

When the chocolates first hit store shelves last month, Mr. Martin was eager to test the product on his wife. On the chocolate-box lid, Mr. Martin wrote a note: "To my girl, you're the reason this heart is singing."

"I loved it," Ms. Lubben says.