Don't Mean Nothing
Encyclopedia
"Don't Mean Nothing" is the debut single by Richard Marx
from his 1987 eponymous
album. With the chart success of this and subsequent singles from his debut album, Marx became the first male artist to reach the top three of the Billboard Hot 100
pop chart with four singles from a debut album.
In 1988, Marx was nominated for a Grammy Award
for "Best Rock Vocal Performance - Solo" for this song.
to play slide guitar
on the song and he agreed. As a fan of the Eagles, Marx felt that musically the song could have belonged on the The Long Run
album. Two other Eagles members, Randy Meisner
and Timothy B. Schmit
sang background vocals on the song. Marx wrote the lyrics himself and co-wrote the music for this song with Bruce Gaitsch
at Marx's first house in the Los Feliz
area of Hollywood.
and Album Rock Tracks charts. The single entered the Hot 100 chart upon release at number 78 and, 12 weeks later, reached its peak of number 3. The song also became a number-one hit on the Album Rock Tracks chart. In the UK, the song reached a high of number 78.
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
from his 1987 eponymous
Richard Marx (album)
-Singles:-Personnel:*Alex Acuña - percussion*Dave Buroff - arranger, saxophone*Joe Chemay - bass guitar*Paulinho da Costa - arranger, percusion*Nathan East - bass guitar*Bruce Gaitsch - rhythm guitar, other guitars*Tris Imboden - drums*John M...
album. With the chart success of this and subsequent singles from his debut album, Marx became the first male artist to reach the top three of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
pop chart with four singles from a debut album.
In 1988, Marx was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Awards of 1988
The 30th Grammy Awards were held March 2, 1988. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Paul Simon for "Graceland"*Album of the Year...
for "Best Rock Vocal Performance - Solo" for this song.
Background and writing
According to Richard Marx's personal commentary about the song's origin, his manager at the time asked Joe WalshJoe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
to play slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
on the song and he agreed. As a fan of the Eagles, Marx felt that musically the song could have belonged on the The Long Run
The Long Run (album)
The Long Run is the sixth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1979 . This was the first Eagles album not to feature founding member Randy Meisner, who was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit....
album. Two other Eagles members, Randy Meisner
Randy Meisner
Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
and Timothy B. Schmit
Timothy B. Schmit
Timothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...
sang background vocals on the song. Marx wrote the lyrics himself and co-wrote the music for this song with Bruce Gaitsch
Bruce Gaitsch
Bruce R. Gaitsch is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable musicians such as Richard Marx, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, Agnetha Fältskog and many others as a session musician and songwriter...
at Marx's first house in the Los Feliz
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California
Los Feliz, also Rancho Los Feliz is an affluent, hilly neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, named after its land grantee José Vicente Feliz....
area of Hollywood.
Versions
There are at least four recorded versions of this song:- Album version - 4:38
- 7" single version - 3:59
- "Extended Rock Mix" version from 12" single - 6:15
- Live version recorded at the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, from the "Angelia" 12" single - 8:11
Personnel
- Lead vocals - Richard Marx
- Rhythm guitar - Bruce Gaitsch, Joe Walsh
- Guitar solo - Joe Walsh
- Bass guitar - Nathan EastNathan EastNathan Harrell East is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego...
- Piano - Michael Omartian Michael OmartianMichael Omartian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and music producer. He has been a participant in over 350,000,000 albums and CD’s sold worldwide, as a producer, arranger, artist or musician, during a career that has spanned over 38 years...
- Drums - John M. KeaneThe Keane BrothersThe Keane Brothers was an American pop music duo from 1976 to 1982, composed of pre-teens Tom Keane on piano and John Keane on drums. The duo released four albums and briefly hosted a television variety show on CBS...
- Backing Vocals - Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmidt, Richard Marx
Charts
As the lead single from Richard Marx, the song saw success on both the Billboard Hot 100 singlesBillboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and Album Rock Tracks charts. The single entered the Hot 100 chart upon release at number 78 and, 12 weeks later, reached its peak of number 3. The song also became a number-one hit on the Album Rock Tracks chart. In the UK, the song reached a high of number 78.