Stories To Tell
Release Date: July 6, 2021
Pre-order link: https://bit.ly/2GccljM
During the late 80s and early 90s, you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing one of Richard Marx’s many hits. Outside of his singing career, his songwriting and producing were even more prolific, producing hits for legendary artists such as Kenny Rogers, Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand and Josh Groban. If you were dating during those years, you knew Richard Marx would be on your mix tape.
I follow Marx on Twitter and he’s a no nonsense, tell it like it is kinda guy on social and political issues, ready to take any detractors to task. His upcoming memoir “Stories To Tell”…is nothing like that. It’s a heartwarming collection of anecdotes and relationships from his life and career with quite a bit of his dry humor thrown in.
Opening with the illness he suffered during his last tour in 2019, I took notice immediately since we had met at the Paste Studio in NYC the afternoon before his Staten Island show. Marx was definitely sick and we tried to get him some medication before the evening. While I’m not sure any of that helped, I’m glad he was able to complete the tour without mishap.
You won’t read anything about a crazy rock and roll lifestyle in this memoir, except for perhaps his encounter with the Taiwanese mob. Otherwise, the book is really about relationships. I was constantly amazed by all the incredible musicians Marx has worked with throughout his career and the backstories of those relationships. While some may find him a bit boastful, if I had the career that he did and was married to Daisy Fuentes, I’m pretty sure I’d be shouting it from the rooftops!
I’m glad that one of my favorite artists during my college years is still active and, having written number one songs in each decade from the 1980s to the 2010s, I’m looking forward to his next!
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
• “My mind imagined…a sentence that consumed the words “never,” “work,” “town,” and “again”.”
• “I trailed Bruce and Bobby down the stairs and considered tripping Bobby so that he’d tumble headfirst to the bottom. That way we’d have to call for an ambulance and then eventually I could say to Bruce, “So, here’s the tape.””
• “A biting, cynical look at Hollywood written by a twenty two year old kid about to release his first album. Yep.” (regarding “Don’t Mean Nothing”)
• “Those jumps off my piano were also the reason I had both my hips replaced in 2015, which didn’t bother me as much as it could have because I was finally able to hear the words “Richard Marx” and “hip” in the same sentence.”
Photos from Paste Studio session on October 18, 2019
NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025