I may have found my fraternal, yet far more talented, twin brother after reading Richard Marx’s new memoir Stories to Tell. Born the same year, Marx’s vocabulary and humor are exactly as I speak and write, his references and sentence enhancers included. Additionally, his forty-four storied chapters cover his experiences with many musicians and singers with whom I’ve had long distance love affairs with: Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Kenny Loggins, just to name a few.

Even better, Marx has a genius way of building his chapters into mini fun tales of suspense. In many, I was reading merrily along, not knowing quite who he was talking about, when whammo! Surprise! A famous singer I admired would be unveiled or a nifty twist to the story revealed.

Richard Marx admits that his father’s work as a jingle writer provided him with a leg up for opportunities many don’t have access to, yet he makes up for that with a generosity in sharing specifics about the actual process of writing, mixing, and maybe most importantly, mindful vision boarding, to create an atmosphere for success.

I had a blast looking up songs on Youtube as I read, many of which I had no idea Marx had had a hand in, moved to tears by songs, both new to me and old familiars I hadn’t listened to in some time. Without spoiling any of the reveals, just know that Marx has had Billboard chart hits in four consecutive decades and his book is sure to please any music lover.

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