Dick Marx Explained

Dick Marx
Birth Name:Richard Henry Marx
Birth Date:12 April 1924
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, US[1]
Death Place:Highland Park, Illinois, US
Genre:Jazz, pop, rock
Occupation:Musician, arranger, composer
Instrument:Piano
Years Active:1950s–1997
Associated Acts:Richard Marx

Richard Henry Marx (April 12, 1924  - August 12, 1997) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He also composed for film, television, and commercials.

Personal life

Marx and wife Ruth (née Guildoo) had a son, Richard Marx, pop singer, songwriter, and record producer.[2] Marx also had two daughters and a son, from a previous marriage.[3] He was of German Jewish descent.[4] [5]

Career

Marx played piano in childhood. He got his professional start playing in nightclubs in Chicago.[6] In the 1950s, he accompanied singer Helen Merrill and released several albums.

Beginning in the 1960s, he spent three decades in advertising, writing commercial jingles for Dial soap, Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal, Ken-L Ration dog food, Nestle's Crunch candy bars, Arm & Hammer baking soda, Virginia Slims cigarettes, La Choy Chinese food, the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team and many more. His son Richard and wife Ruth sang on some of the commercials.

Dick Marx also composed a theme for news programs on WBBM-TV in 1975 that would eventually expand to other local stations owned and operated by CBS and used in different arrangements over nearly 50 years before the network introduced a new theme that aligned with its current branding.[7] In the 1980s he moved to Los Angeles and composed music for the films A League of Their Own and Edwards and Hunt and the television program Fudge. He died in Highland Park, Illinois, from injuries caused by a car accident in Las Vegas.

Discography

As leader

As sideman or guest musician

With Johnny Frigo

With Eddie Harris

With Helen Merrill

With Ken Nordine

With others

As arranger or conductor

Notes and References

  1. Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1938
  2. Web site: Ruth Guildoo Marx Royalties . 2009-04-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110727201523/http://www.raroyalties.org/japanese/albumtitles.html?partic=5083 . 2011-07-27 .
  3. News: Dick Marx's Death Notice. 2009-04-05 . The New York Times . August 14, 1997 .
  4. Web site: Grammy Jews. www.jewishworldreview.com. May 25, 2021. March 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210301165008/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0304/grammies2004.php3. dead.
  5. Web site: Richard Marx on Twitter: "My grandfather was a Jew from Frankfurt who lost family in the camps and still the fact that this comedian is being jailed in the UK should frighten all of us." / Twitter.
  6. Web site: Hogan . Ed . Dick Marx . AllMusic . 1 October 2018.
  7. Web site: Exclusive: Inside the rebranding of CBS-owned local stations . 2024-04-28 . NewscastStudio . 5 January 2023 . en-US.
  8. Web site: Dick Marx Credits AllMusic . AllMusic . 1 October 2018.