The Richard Orange Template

Richard Orange - "I'm still singing to get the fish to bite"

By Dawn A. Baldwin.

He's wearing clockwork orange sunglasses when I meet him --They're orange rimmed with a clock holograph on each lens. And he's nervous. Kinda shy.

Richard Orange? The same guy who sang with Zee, jumped on tables, threw drinks in his face, and smashed wine bottles on his head? (They were fakes) Yeah, same guy. Same shocking orange hair, orange guitar, orange socks.

And this man's shy?

Well certainly not out of a lack of important things to talk about...but maybe out of an appreciation of quieter occupations, like tropical fish, Brian Eno music, fossils and rocks. After all Richard is a man of words; on or off the stage, he places them carefully and well.

Lately he has a lot to thank his lucky words for. Earlier this summer, after a showcase at Walker's Midtowner, Richard signed a publishing contract with Dick James music. They published the Beatles, Elton John, The Holleys, Al Stewart, and a book full of other hit makers. As a staff writer for the organization, Richard will be required to turn out songs, work with other writers and record. DJM for their part, will pitch his edgy, pop-soul material toward signing on a major deal. Arthur Braun, U.S. Manager for Dick James, is currently working with the producers of Belinda Carlisle and the Bangles in hopes that one of the acts will cover Richard's new song, "Hey Boy," an upbeat dance tune with a sexy chorus. The motels, John Waite, Starship, and Lone justice among others are also interested in Richard's strikingly original material.

Thanks to Braun's aggressive marketing efforts, several record companies (among them capitol/EMI) are closely watching Richard's development as a writer. Convinced that the high-energy tune "All the way to China," a rock'n roller with sneaky oriental motif keyboards, is a first class hit, the record companies are holding out for several more songs of the same calibre.

John Hornyak, president of Sounds Unreel Studios where Richard cuts his demos, feels the rest of his material is equally as good. "But you never can tell in this business. You don't know exactly what these guys are looking for," he explains. "The Dick James people think he's going to be big, really big. When I went to the Nashville office, people were coming up to me, shaking my hand. They offered me office space when I'm in town. Out in L.A. the secretaries are all fans. They get together in the morning and listen to " All the way to China." They really believe in him."

A world-wide publishing company with a reputation to go with that title is a nice group of folks to have on your team. Besides marketing his songs and gaining the doting interest of record companies, DJM has arranged for Richard to enter "All the way to China" in the Yamaha Music Foundation's Tokyo Song festival. And on a less urbane if no less meaningful note, Richard has been asked to work on a couple of songs for the soundtrack of an upcoming Sylvester Stallone film.. A sort of Rocky meets an arm-wrestling trucker flick . ZZ Top will deliver the title track. [More]

Extract taken from the 'Memphis Star' September, 1986.