Richard Marx

Bob Lefsetz (0:02)

Welcome, welcome, welcome back to The Bob Lefsetz Podcast. My guest today is Richard Marx.

Richard, you have this new song with John Stamos, Take Care of California. How did that come to be?

Richard Marx (0:16)

Well, John Stamos and I became friendly in the last 10 years, just really socially. And I was aware that he was a musician, plays with the Beach Boys, plays percussion in different bands.

And he came to a studio to do some overdubs on some tracks on my last album, my latest album called After Hours.

And he said, by the way, I've co-written this song that's sort of like a love letter to California and it would be really, really cool if you sang some background vocals on it. And honestly, you know, when it comes to people who I like, and I mean, the song would have to be just horrendous for me to say no. And it wasn't, it was, I actually kind of liked it. It was kind of catchy and real simple, but there was something, there was an earworm about it. So I said, well, I would do it for you anyway, because I like you, but I said the song is cute, you know? So I went in and I was doing a bunch of background vocals, and then of course I get the text, hey, since you're there, it wouldn't be the most awful thing if you sang the bridge by yourself. And so then it just sort of became a feature thing. And then we shot a little video together. And really it's just an excuse to hang out with John. He's a really lovely guy and I was happy to do it.

Bob Lefsetz (1:39)

So you didn't co-write the song?

Richard Marx (1:42)

No.

Bob Lefsetz (1:43)

Oh, it was totally his song.

Richard Marx (1:45)

I just did a buddy a favor. Just as he did for me.

Bob Lefsetz (1:49)

You no longer live in California, right?

Richard Marx (1:51)

I still have a home in Malibu, but my wife and I are Florida residents as of this last year. That's where I am now. I'm in Miami.

Bob Lefsetz (2:01)

How'd you decide to move to Florida?

Richard Marx (2:03)

My wife's family's here.

I came to Miami and throughout Florida touring over the years, but I never really spent much time here. And honestly didn't really get it. I didn't really get Miami. When I would come to Miami in the past, I would be like, I'd come here to work, and then I wanted to get out.

And then I sort of was reintroduced to it through Daisy, my wife, when we started dating. And she, you know, I'm sure you can understand this. Like you discover a place that you thought you knew in a totally different way. And I kind of fell in love with it. And her, all her family is here. And so we bought a house here maybe six, seven years ago, because we were here so often. And then it just made total sense to become residents in the last year, because we love it here. We're here most of the time. And why not take the 13 and a half percent? You know what I mean?

Bob Lefsetz (3:01)

Yeah, there's obviously tax advantages. But what's it like living in Miami compared to other places you lived?

Richard Marx (3:08)

Well, I've really only lived in Chicago and LA. And Miami is very different than both of those.

I would say that the biggest difference is that when I'm in Miami, other than when I spend time with Daisy's family, I don't really have friends here. I don't hang out. I don't really work here. I don't have any kind of, I mean, I have a guitar and I have a keyboard setup in a room. But this is not a musical place for me. This is just a place where we live. And I really do enjoy, where we are, we're not in Miami Beach. We're kind of outside of that. So we live in a quieter part of Miami that has become, especially at my ripe old age now, something that I appreciate. I appreciate sort of just being quiet. And I like the lifestyle here. It's kind of almost like island living. We can be in the Bahamas in no time.

So it's a little like living on vacation when I'm here, but I kind of feel that way in Malibu too. I feel like I've carved out, for me at least, the perfect existence.

Bob Lefsetz (4:18)

So other than Daisy's family, you don't have a community there personally?

Richard Marx (4:24)