Richard Marx - From Rags to Riches
By Sarah Hutchings.
In this exclusive interview, Richard Marx talks to Sarah Hutchings about his early life - from snot-nosed kid to international rock star to icon of social reform.
Like many of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Richard's fame sprung from humble beginnings. Growing up in the back streets of Beverly Hills left a lasting impression on Marx. Walking past the one-storey houses in these outer 'slum' suburbs he used to cry for those without swimming pools, those less privileged than himself. The degradation Richard observed deeply affected him, as a man and as a musician.
"Yeah man, it used to eat me up inside when I saw the way those kids, good kids, had to live. My friend C.J. used to have to wash the dishes, by hand I mean, every day after school. Sometimes he had to take out the garbage, I remember once he got some garbage on his clothes. I'll never forget that, the way he just wiped it off and kept going, kept living, taking each day as it comes."
Richard always knew he wanted to be a rock star, but a love of music was coupled with a strong desire to raise social awareness.
"From the day I got hold of my first guitar I knew that, man, this was what I wanted to do, I knew it right here [indicates chest] you know? I wanted to make a difference, wanted to help all those kids like C.J."
However, Richard's mother, Mrs Marxalopoulos, wasn't so keen on the idea at first. "I wish I could say that my parents were supportive, but frankly I can't. I used to be up in my room playing and mom would say 'put that guitar away and come and eat your dinner!' y'know? she didn't realise that music was my life. She thought I should finish high school, do my homework, all that s**t, I don't think I can ever forgive her for that.......When I was 15 [pauses] this is hard for me to say, Dad took away my guitar, said I was spending too much time with it, thought I was f****n' it or something, just 'cause I slept with it and sometimes used it to scratch."
Richard couldn't spend all of his time with his beloved guitar, Bessie. To keep food on the table Richard had to go out to work when he was just 18. "My mom said I had to earn my own way 'cause I was eating them out of house and home. I think she was just pissed 'cause I used to use her hairspray, and, like, once, she caught me using her eyeliner, but I just wanted to look like Kiss, y'know?..... I worked in a paint store. They used to pay me seventeen bucks an hour. And out of that I had to buy everything - mousse, jeans, concert tickets, sometimes I was so poor I had to miss out on issues of 'Guitar' magazine and that cut me like a knife. [looks down]. Like a knife".
Being shot from obscurity into superstardom was hard for Richard. "Yeah, I liked the money and the fame and all that, but it was hard to adjust. I would walk down the street and people would hassle me for an autograph and I just couldn't believe it, I was like, who? me? I couldn't believe that people would want my autograph. After a while I accepted it and realised that people need someone to look up to, a hero, someone cool and sexy. I always knew that people found me attractive, and when I realised my looks and my music maybe made someone's day that little bit easier, I accepted it."
In later years, Richard has been known for the contribution he has made to social, economic, philosophical and religious theory. "I picked up a book by some guy with the same last name as mine and I just knew there was something in it, it wasn't just a bunch of egghead crap. And I knew that I could fix up these ideas and make them really worthwhile, and that's what I've done. I think my namesake would be glad to know that his work hasn't counted totally for nothing."
Behind Richard Marx's public personae, a warm and loving human being resides. He is as quick-witted as he is talented and as compassionate as he is handsome. The closest that many of us will come to to him is through his music, which speaks for itself. Richard Marx: complex, enigmatic, esoteric, elegant, composite, elaborate, heterogenous, comely, aristocratic, discriminating, benevolent and magnanimous. He is all these things and more.
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