I love the songs "ENDLESS SUMMER NIGHTS" and "DONT MEAN NOTHING" (Classics)
But he just released a new album for anyone who is interested

Marxist!!!!

The new albums kick ass, there are actually 3 out there that are new, strictly through his site for now and his label. SUNDOWN is a covers collection with a few new tracks, duets with Toni Braxton and Vince Gill. Then theres DUO an album of acoustic tracks with Matt Scannal, then there is EMOTIONAL REMAINS which also kicks ass, this album includes "Through my Veins" which is easily his best ballad and song ever! No one knows how to write piano ballads anymore, and this dude doesnt get the props he deserves. He is also behind 14 number one hits as the writer on all and the performer on 6.

Iam a big fan. Done a couple of threads on here about him.

"Children of the night" is one of my all time fav tracks. I also like a few of the songs he worked on for other people. Kevin Cronin's "face the music", Paul Anka's "somebody loves you" Vickey Moss's "if I turn you away" etc....All excellent songs.

thesexofit said:

Yeah never gets his respect, people tend to even forget that he was MOSTLY the man behind "dance with my father" it was just as much about him and his dad that passed. SHAME on the grammies for not allowing him to perform it as the singer making him play piano as Celine Friggin Dion sang it.

lastdecember said:

Yeah, Richard and Luther worked a couple of times together. You can hear Luther singing backing vox on "keep coming back" for example (the remix to this was better then the album version)

thesexofit said:

Yeah they were very good friends, Lionel was also another that first hired Richard out of high school to work with him.

lastdecember said:

I know that Richard was with David Foster for a while (good learning experience if anything), but I read somewhere that David told Richard whilst he would make it as a hot producer, he would never make it as a solo star! Richard grafted for years before the bigtime. I guess as his debut was a sucsess, people don't realize that.

thesexofit said:

Yeah one of the things that put him on the "outs" in the industry especially with the Grammy Academy, which he was outcast from up until about 2000. He performed a song on the "Nothing in Common" soundtrack back in 1986, right as he got signed, but had yet to release his debut. His debut came out in 1987 and he scored 4 top 10hits and sold close to 4 million in the states of the cd, one of the first to do so with a debut, the Best New Artist Grammy had his NAME on it, no doubt, but the Grammys pulled out the rule that they only evoke for random artists, and Richard became that years Whitney Houston, as he was disqualified for the Nothing in Common track.

lastdecember said:

I got that soundtrack LOL. I must pull it out.

So, because he had a song out in 1986 on a OST, but his debut wasn't until 1987, he was not eligible for best new artist of 1987?

I admire him. He is a formulaic songwriter, but a very good one. Great singer too. Best for me: Hold on to the Nights (especailly at the end when he gets dramatic), Hazard (why wasn't that song a huge hit?), and of course Right Here Waiting, a modern pop classic.

fms said:

Hazard was a top10 for him, it got higher than the lead single which was "Keep Coming Back", that album "Rush Street"was Richard trying to get away from the ballad image he was being cornered into so he was losing some of his Top 40 play at radio, plus he was viewed as "80's" and since it was the 90's that decade was all about killing anything 80's needless to say almost no new artist survived the 90's, the 80's artists still went on.

right here waiting is my fav....have to check out his other songs...he was on the news a few days ago...beautiful voice.

definitely a fan here.

and don't forget The Mullet...