Famed singer-songwriter and producer Richard Marx will perform his greatest hits during a limited engagement, “Satisfied: Only The Hits,” at Flamingo Las Vegas.
"I’m really looking forward to these performances and what I hope will be a long and fruitful relationship with Las Vegas,” said Richard Marx.
The Chicago native has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and has released several chart-topping singles including “Hold on to the Nights,” “Satisfied” and “Now and Forever.” Fans will experience the pop/rock artist up close like never before in an intimate acoustic setting during “Satisfied: Only The Hits” as Richard performs exciting versions of his greatest hits plus exclusive stories behind his hits.
As I headed back stage to the Donny & Marie Theater, of course I snapped a few pictures of their stars on their dressing rooms. But I wasn't here for the famous Osmonds, I was here to interview Richard Marx. Richard makes his Las Vegas debut in August.
As I enter the green room, I'm greeted by a familiar face, though aged from my high school memories and hair more befitting the current decade than an 80's Dallas Prom Queen. I launch the Voice Notes app to begin my interview—Richard dives right in.
"Do you know how many songs I've written with this app?" he asks. "I can't live without it."
I'm intrigued. Having worked with the video and audio app teams during my career at Apple, I want to know more.
"My whole life I was always trying to find a cassette recorder. I would get an idea or a melody and I would call my answering machine (back when we used answering machines). Now everything I need is right there. I'm going to guess there's 110, 111 songs in the Voice app."
Russ: How do you turn that into something?
Richard: The same way I always did. It all starts when I sing the ideas into the phone, I'm painting the picture. I'll sing, or I'll do the drum groove. I'll sing the melody. I guide myself through it—"The F, to D minor, to B flat." I hear the whole thing in my head. Then comes the fun part of taking it to that to what you hear on the album."
Russ: Having worked on the iPhone, it's fascinating to hear how people use this device in ways we never imagined.
Richard: Even two years from now I can't even imagine what's going to be possible with just your phone. I won't need a studio anymore. I'll just me making records on my phone and uploading them to iTunes.
Russ: When did you record your first album?
Richard: 1987.
Russ: Had you been a new artist today, do you think you would have the same success at that age?
Richard: I don't think hardly anyone can have the same kind of success that I or my contemporaries then had, in that it's another planet. The music business is another world. Financially, you write a song that becomes a #1 in the 80's or 90's–even the 2000's and it was stunningly lucrative because you were being paid a fair "wage" for your art.
Then along the way, people started to go, "We can just take that. We can steal it. We can illegally download it." Once it becomes digital I don't need to pay for that, as if there's no cost involved in making it. You would never think to go in and just help yourself to a lamp from a furniture store–that's just stealing. Somebody put money into creating that. But no one gave even the slightest thought to that when it came to creating music, or movies, or anything that became digital.
So for the financial part of it, I'm glad I came along when I did. I would be struggling to make a living if I was just a musician now trying to make it. I have three sons that are all struggling musicians. I fear for them. I don't know that they are going to be able to make a great living just doing music.
Russ: There have been some breakouts from shows like America Idol and The Voice?
Richard: American Idol gave us real careers in several cases–Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry. The Voice–can you name a winner on The Voice? Can you name a contestant on The Voice? But you know the coaches. The mission statement for The Voice was that it was going to give us the new music superstar. That's bullshit. What they gave us was refreshed careers of the coaches—which I'm grateful for. I love the Maroon 5 records that have been made since The Voice. I love the Blake Shelton records that have been made since The Voice, let's just not pretend it is what it says it is.
Russ: What was the inspiration behind Right Here Waiting?
Richard: I was on my first tour. It ended up being about a year and a half. I was dating my first wife (Cynthia Rhodes, Dirty Dancing) and she got an offer to go to Africa to make a film. I was on tour, she was in Africa (this was before Facetime or Skype) we had about 3 months apart. It was a fragile time. It was just rough, and I was really depressed. I had a couple of days off on my tour in LA, I was even more depressed when I came home and she wasn't there.
I was writing a rock song with a friend of mine and he had to go take his daughter to school, so I had about a 1/2 hour alone. I sat down at the piano and Right Here Waiting wrote itself. Easiest song I've ever written. I wrote it in about 17 minutes. The whole purpose of that song was to send her the song and just say "I miss you. This is really hard. But I'm gonna hang in there. for you"
I didn't even intend to record it. I offered it to Barbra Streisand. She asked me for a song around that time. You can't make this shit up. She said "Richard, I love this song. I love the melody. But I need you to rewrite the lyrics because I'm not going to be right here waiting for anyone." We joke about it to this day–we're great friends.
Russ: Who would cover it today?
Richard: I don't know. There's been a couple of covers of it that I really liked. Monica, the R&B singer did a cover a few years ago that I thought was great. I think there's certain songs—this is going to sound weird for me to say this about my own song—there's certain songs that don't really work by anybody but the person that wrote them. I hear people cover it. I'm sure there were another 30 uploads to YouTube of people doing Right Here Waiting. I hear covers of Don't Mean Nothing, or Should Have Known Better, and I go "Wow I wish I'd thought of that," but with there's something about Right Here Waiting that's special to me.
Russ: You've collaborated with a lot of artists. Several of them are neighbors now that you're on the Las Vegas Strip. You've worked with Donny and Marie–you're even in their showroom. You've worked with Celine, Barry Manilow. This your first Vegas residency. How does it feel to be on the Strip with the people that you've collaborated with for so long?
Richard: I don't know yet! I'll have to get back to. you. It was an interesting idea. This is a solo acoustic show. It's more intimate. There's no bells and whistles. It's a beautiful lighting show. We'll have a lot of cool video. We have four beautiful women in the string quartet. It's me hanging out with the audience, so there's something cool about that.
Russ: The hair.
Richard; Look. I was inspired by Mel Gibson and tons of guys were inspired by me. I just paid it forward.
Russ: Are you a foodie?
Richard: Yeah, but I'm vegan so it's a little challenging.
Russ: You'll have to check out the menus at Wynn. They all have vegan options. There's also a vegan restaurant in Chinatown that's incredible.
Richard: I was vegetarian most of my life but I didn't make the ethical connection until the last few years. That's when I went vegan. Once in awhile, I'll go 'shit that cookie had an egg in it."
Russ: Where do you live today?
Richard: Malibu.
Russ: What are you looking forward to most about being in Vegas for your residency?
Richard: My wife Daisy (Fuentes) and I have done our recon. We're outdoors people, so we've already got our hikes mapped out. It's gonna be hot. We're going to play tennis. I'll be working on some music. And I'm going to take the time to finally learn Spanish. I married a Latina and she and her family talk about me right in front of me and I don't know what they're talking about. I know they're talking shit about me right in front of me.
Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter performs Aug. 15 through Sept. 2, 2017. Ticket prices begin at $59, plus applicable tax and fees. VIP seats including a meet and greet with Richard Marx are also available. Tickets are available at any Las Vegas Caesars Entertainment Box Office, by phone at (702) 777-2782or by visiting www.RichardMarxVegas.com. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m.
