1989 Richard Marx – Repeat Offender

Repeat Offender is the second studio album by singer/songwriter Richard Marx. Released in mid-1989, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The album went on to sell over five million copies in the US alone (several times that worldwide) due to five major singles on the Billboard charts, including two No. 1 hits: “Satisfied” and the Platinum-certified “Right Here Waiting”.

After touring for fourteen months on his first album, Marx returned to the studio with a number of songs that had been written while on the road. The album was recorded with well-known L.A.-area studio musicians and would go on to become even more successful than his debut record, pushing Prince out of the #1 spot on Billboard 200 album chart. It went triple platinum within a few months and eventually sold over 5 million US copies. Repeat Offender was the result of the energy generated from over a year and a half on the road and was written or co-written entirely by Marx. “Some people might think that it would be easier this time around, that I could just kick back.” Marx said at the time, “but the truth is, it’s harder, I’ve got more to prove.”

The first two singles, “Satisfied” and the platinum-selling “Right Here Waiting,” both reached #1, completing a string of three consecutive No. 1 singles. When the third single from Repeat Offender, “Angelia” climbed to #4, Marx became the first solo artist to reach the Top 5 with his first seven singles. Since then, “Right Here Waiting” has been covered numerous times, most notably by Monica and 112 in a 1998 duet.

Another single from the album, “Children of the Night”, was written in support of the suburban Los Angeles (Van Nuys)-based organization for runaways. It became the sixth single from the album, and all royalties were donated to the charity.

Marx’s second world tour began in the spring of 1989 and took him to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Europe, Canada, and the United States, lasting through August 1990. Highlights of that tour included a performance in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London and an invitation from Tina Turner to tour Germany.

Marx also had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform The Beatles’ “Help!” at the Berlin Wall in late 1989. Marx also received his second Grammy nomination in 1990 for “Best Pop Vocal Performance — Male” for “Right Here Waiting”.