"Angelia" ( ) is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

recorded by

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with " What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers ...

and the third released single on his second album, ''

Repeat Offender Recidivism (; from 'recurring', derived from 'again' and 'to fall') is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to Extinction (psycholo ...

''. "Angelia" hit number 2 on the US ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' singles chart, and number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on December 2, 1989. It was also a top-40 hit in Australia and made the top 50 in the UK. On the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, "Angelia" peaked at number 2 for several weeks behind the

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

duet "

Don't Know Much "Don't Know Much" (also titled as "All I Need to Know" on other versions) is a song written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow. Mann was the first to record the song in 1980, gaining a minor chart hit in the US. The song was made famous whe ...

Background

Richard Marx based the sound of "Angelia" on

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

's 1983 album ''

Pyromania Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

'' and the 1987 album ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

''. During recordings of "Angelia", engineer and co-producer David Cole along with Richard Marx tried to copy the sounds of the guitars and drums that Def Leppard and producer Robert "Mutt" Lange had used on the ''Hysteria'' and ''Pyromania'' records. During a night out with Def Leppard guitarist

Phil Collen Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Before joining Def Le ...

, Richard Marx was told that Def Leppard attempted to emulate Angelia for a song that was to appear on the next Def Leppard album, ''

Adrenalize ''Adrenalize'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 March 1992 through Mercury Records. It is the first album by the band recorded without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991, although most songs were ...

''. The song Def Leppard recorded with "Angelia" in mind was likely the hit "

Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" is a 1993 single by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album '' Adrenalize''. The song reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock charts, and #34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. This ...

". The production and sound of the song "Angelia" is Richard Marx's favorite from his second album, ''Repeat Offender''.

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

played the guitar solo on the song.

Personnel

* Richard Marx – lead and backing vocals * C. J. Vanston – keyboards, arrangements *

Bruce Gaitsch Bruce R. Gaitsch (; born February 7, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable bands and musicians such as Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, and Agnetha Fältskog as a session musician and son ...

– guitar *

– guitar, guitar solo * Jim Cliff – bass *

Prairie Prince Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to ...

– drums *

Marc Russo The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in the fall of 1970, the group was originally a quartet that featured lead vocalist and guitarist Tom Johnston, guitarist and second vocalist Patrick Simmons, bass ...

– saxophone

Track listing

All songs written

and produced by Marx and David Cole. # "Angelia" – 4:08 # "Endless Summer Nights" ive at the Palace Theatre– 5:44

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* 1989 singles 1989 songs 1980s ballads Richard Marx songs Songs written by Richard Marx Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Michael Bay Capitol Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub