The performance that helped Richard Marx fulfil his teenage dream - Sydney Morning Herald

The performance that helped Richard Marx fulfil his teenage dream

By Jane Rocca

Olivia Newton-John has been a close friend for more than 30 years. I met her when I was 19 in LA and worked on a soundtrack for her film Two of a Kind. We hit it off and wrote a few songs together. I was madly in love with her prior to that and remember staring at her album covers as a teenager. When I actually met her, that feeling went into warp speed. But she was married to Matt Lattanzi and I never had a crack.

I used to play the Xanadu soundtrack in my bedroom and sing the Cliff Richard part of Suddenly and pretend to be him. I’d close my eyes and picture Olivia looking back at me. Cut to 12 years ago at a charity event and I’m on the bill with Olivia. The organiser suggested we do a song together. Olivia asked what I wanted to sing. That night I stood on a stage under the lights and looked straight into her eyes and sang Suddenly with her. Boy it felt good.