Waking Ear

Richard Marx/"Hold on to the Nights" -- I've been thinking lately about the under-appreciated genius of Richard Marx. Not a great lyricist, which kept him out of the headier singer/songwriter camp. But as a pop musician? Yes.

Let's do a quick runthrough of the hits only, which would leave out gems such as 1991's "I Get No Sleep," from Rush Street.

Exhibit (a): "Don't Mean Nothing," a hook-laden, sleazy take on mind-numbing Hollywood business from the self-titled 1987 debut. This could be the unofficial theme song of the Schwarzenegger campaign. The blues-ish riff spins round and never goes anywhere, from vocals to guitar to vocals. More than the ballads, the song shows Marx's great range and delivery; the swagger in "sign it on the dotted li-eeeene sounds wheezy because he's a fake tough.

Exhibits (b) and (c): "Hold on to the Nights," "Endless Summer Nights": Also from Richard Marx, these ballads are the cream atop adult-contemporary balladry's milk because of two things. One, that combination of raspiness and youthfulness in Marx's voice, pained and hopeful at the same time, not having given up despite the anguish of memory. Two, the evocation of memorable nights, which are a different sort than daytime memories, more intimate, more fleeting. "Summer" also has that bad-ass sax solo going for it, right after the begging-on-the-knees bridge.

Exhibit (d): "Angelia" was the true love song off 1989's Repeat Offender, not the clonish "Right Here Waiting," which should've been loaned to latter-day Bryan Adams. The story of a troubled, lost love is mid-tempo, but there's this antsy bass underneath, restless. And the sax is important here, too, even moreso than in "Summer," where it's just about being a solo. Here it's an extension of Marx's vocals, gritty and squinting, crying out for love to return.

Exhibit (e): With its children's-choir chorus, "Children of the Night," also from Offender heavily risks being self-indulgent. It's saved at the end, when Marx gets slightly psychedelic, bleeding out the "aaaaaahs" into a swirling mix of horns and strings.

And finally, exhibit (f): "Keep Coming Back," Marx's finest moment, from Rush Street. A street-smart R&B ballad notable for Luther Vandross' backing vocals, the song achieved a level of sophistication -- it's called "the blues" -- that Marx hadn't been able to reclaim since his first single. Vandross seems to push Marx toward the soul his vocal chords have been craving, steering him toward falsetto "ooohs" that trail up into the vapor.

I was unimpressed with "Now and Forever," the only hit from 1993's Paid Vacation, and didn't buy that album. Marx has recorded two more LPs since then, but he's now more of a songwriter than a performer and recording artist, having written and produced for 'N Sync and Kenny Rogers.

But looking back -- damn, some great tunes.