Richard Marx's 'straight From My Heart' Pleasantly Surprises Country Audiences

Whenever there's a chance an artist might meet with resistance at radio, it's not unusual for a station or record label to resurrect the "mystery artist" routine—giving listeners a chance to embrace the song before any preconceived notions might get in the way.

The latest such "mystery artist" to generate interest on country airwaves is Richard Marx, the '80s pop star known for such hits as "Hold on to the Nights," "Endless Summer Nights," and "Right Here Waiting."

Marx is releasing the affecting ballad "Straight From My Heart," from his Days in Avalon disc, to country radio. Though there has been no organized effort on the part of Marx or his promoters to use the mystery artist approach, some stations have decided on their own to employ that tactic, among them WYNY (Y107) New York. The single began airing during the station's New Country Catch of the Day, a weeknight song competition.

"We advertised it as the Y107 mystery artist. We knew going into the record if we said who the artist was, there would be some initial prejudice against a pop artist," WYNY PD Larry Bear says. "The song won for five nights . . . and there were people calling up, saying, 'We recognize that guy. It's Richard Marx!' "

Though callers recognized Marx, the station didn't name the artist. Then on March 29, Marx appeared on the morning show, and Kenny Rogers called in to reveal Marx's identity. "It was a tremendous morning. We found that so many of our regular audience came from some other musical formats and had listened to Richard in the late '80s and early '90s," says Bear, adding that the phone lines were flooded the entire hour Marx was on the air. "His music could have lent itself to country back then. His songwriting and his storytelling style, his relatability in his music, and his lyrics are a perfect match for country music today."

Marx isn't just jumping blindly into the country market. In fact, he's been a strong presence in Nashville, working behind the scenes producing and/or writing for such acts as Shedaisy, Meredith Edwards, Chely Wright, Jamie O'Neal, and Rogers for the past few years. Before fraternizing with the country music community, Marx was a frequent visitor in Music City, spending time with his in-laws, as his wife, actress/dancer Cynthia Rhodes is a native Nashvillian.

Though he was spending a lot of family time here, Marx admits he initially didn't feel welcomed by the music community. "It really wasn't the musicians in Nashville, but the industry people really made a point to make me feel unwelcome," he says. "It was always sort of this eyebrow raised [like], 'What is this pop boy doing here? What do you want?' It was not only being the new kid in school, but the new kid in school from another state."

Marx says whenever he thought of trying to work in Nashville, "it never felt right." Still, he began writing songs with Gary Harrison, an old high-school friend of Rhodes' whose credits include Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine." Their first collaboration was cut by former Mercury artist Shane Minor and produced by Dann Huff.

About that time, Marx got a call from Lyric Street Records president Randy Goodman, who wanted him to write some songs for Shedaisy. Impressed with the sister trio, Marx began contributing songs and co-writing with Shedaisy's Kristyn Osborn. Afterward, more offers poured in. He was contacted by MCA Nashville and subsequently co-wrote and recorded a duet, "The Edge of Forever," with Wright, an MCA artist. Wright invited him to perform at Joe Diffie's annual benefit concert for children's organization First Steps. "The Nashville audience was so receptive," he recalls. "It was like hitting a home run."

Wright introduced him to the Bluebird Cafe, a legendary Nashville songwriters venue, and he performed a writers' night with acclaimed Music City tunesmiths Jim Photoglo, Bob DiPiero, and Gary Burr. By now, Marx was becoming part of the Nashville songwriting community.

It was a comfortable fit for a guy who had grown up idolizing such country stalwarts as Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, and Larry Gatlin. "I would study the craft of Larry Gatlin's songwriting, and I wanted to know why his lyrics were never clichéd," recalls Marx, who at the peak of his pop success had the Gatlin Brothers sing backup on the hit "Children of the Night." "I really respected Larry. There were a handful of country songwriters that really helped me think I wanted to become a songwriter."

Marx did become a writer and got one of his first breaks when he wrote Rogers' hit "Crazy." Soon after, he launched his own pop career and became one of the most successful hitmakers of the late '80s and early '90s. He's also racked up numerous credits as a writer/producer, including Natalie Cole's "Angel on My Shoulder," Sarah Brightman's "Last Words You Said," the Barbra Streisand/Vince Gill duet "If You Ever Leave Me," 98°'s "The Only Thing That Matters," and, most recently, the 'N Sync hit "This I Promise You."

Last year, he released Days in Avalon on Signal 21, a Navarre-distributed label he launched in 2000 with friend and former Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer Bobby Colomby. Marx says he wrote "Straight From My Heart" for the country market and was thrilled to have Alison Krauss sing background vocals.

"It's not a pop record that could go country. It's a country record. The hurdle is it's me singing it, and we are trying to get over that hurdle," Marx says of the bias against pop singers trying to garner country radio play. "When you have something as a country piece, then it should at least have the fair shake that country artists get at pop radio."

Debbie Gibson Palmer, owner of L.A.-based independent promotion firm St. Regis International, has been hired to promote the single to country radio. "The overall attitude about it has been quite good," she says, noting that the record tested well for KTOM Monterey, Calif., and is getting spins at KZSN Wichita, Kan., and WBEE Rochester, N.Y.

Programmers are often reluctant to play a pop artist not only because they want to reserve slots on their playlists for artists committed to the country format but also because there may be nothing else on the album to come back with if that first single does hit. Those arguments surfaced last year when Warner Bros.' Nashville staff was taking the Don Henley single "For My Wedding" to country radio.

"If you listen to Henley's album, if he had a huge hit with 'For My Wedding,' there was nothing to come to the format with next," Marx says. "We've got five. 'Power of You and Me' could go to the country format, and certainly the duet with Chely could go to the format. This isn't just a one-off. I'm committed to [Nashville] and committed to preserving the integrity of country music."

Marx is also ready to support country radio. He says country programmers have asked him, " 'Would you come do a charity thing at our station at the risk of pissing off the pop station across the street?' and my answer was yes."

Marx is organizing a celebrity softball game to benefit cystic fibrosis research, slated for fall. The teams, consisting of artists, will be "pop. vs. country." An all-star jam session will follow the game.

Bear encourages other stations to give the song a chance. "It's got relatable lyrics. It's about eternal love," Bear says. "When he sings the song, pardon the pun, it goes straight to your heart. You feel the emotion in the song. That's what makes country music so powerful."