Who Did It Better? Surrender To Me

Who Did It Better? 

Surrender To Me

Somethings, like a good song, for example, deserve to be repeated. That's the case with today's Who Did It Better? selection - a power ballad written by a pair of songwriting stalwarts which would be sung by four top-selling vocalists.

Surrender to Me is a power ballad written by hitmaker Richard Marx and Ross Vannelli (Gino's brother!) At the time, Marx was busy spinning off singles from his self-titled debut album on the EMI/Manhattan label - an album that would peak at #8 on The Billboard 200, go triple platinum and churn out six singles, including the #1 hit, Hold On To The Nights.

Marx began his career at the age of five, singing commercial jingles. A tape of his songs landed in the hands of Lionel Richie, who was impressed enough to tell the then 17 year-old Marx, "I can't promise you anything, but you should come to L.A."

However, success was anything but instantaneous. He spent the next six years learning all about the industry, doing session work, writing with others, and singing commercial jingles. In 1986, he got a bit of a break, signing backing vocals on Madonna's True Blue album. (He can be particularly heard on the track, White Heat.)  

During those six years, Marx became a sought after collaborator. He helped pen a number of hits for other artists, most notably Kenny Rogers, with whom he wrote What About Me? and Crazy.

During the lift-off of his solo career, Marx's co-write with Vannelli was chosen as the love theme for the film Tequila Sunrise, starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell. 

Anne Wilson, lead singer for Heart, was in the midst of a bit of a renaissance. After falling out of favor briefly at the dawn of the 1980's, the band, with a new line-up and on a new label, returned to the top of the charts once more with a string of hits. In 1984, just prior to this new success, Anne had been asked to sing a duet with fellow Canadian Mike Reno (Loverboy) as part of the soundtrack for a film called Footloose. The song, Almost Paradise, written by Eric Carmen and Dean Pitchford, would become a huge hit, snagging the #7 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 and going #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. 

So, four years later, when shopping around for singers, Wilson seemed a good fit. Once again, she was paired with the lead singer of an established band, this time, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick. Recalling the song in a 2022 interview with Songfacts, Wilson said, "Surrender To Me was a great song. And of course, I love singing with Robin because he's one of the best singers that I've ever met. He can sing anything. He can sing an operetta."

The pairing proved to be a winning combination, with Surrender To Me rising all the way to #6 on Billboard's Hot 100.

Nine years later, Marx was in the midst of recording his final album for Capitol Records, which, back in 1989, had acquired EMI/Manhattan, Marx's original label. By this point, Marx's career arc as a pop idol had mellowed into that of an adult contemporary artist, so he decided to record his own version of Surrender To Me, choosing Lara Fabian as his duet partner. Fabian, a Canadian/Belgium singer who was a huge international artist, hadn't, at the time, broken into the American market. And, unfortunately, this duet wouldn't change that - her breakthrough wouldn't happen until 2000's I Will Love Again.

Released as a single from Marx's 1997 Flesh And Bone album, sadly, the pair's version of the duet would fail to chart.

And that's the whole story. 

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: Surrender To Me

The Competitors: Wilson/Zander vs. Marx/Fabian

Surrender To Me - Ann Wilson and Robin Zander

Surrender To Me - Richard Marx and Lara Fabian

Ann Wilson and Robin Zander

Big, thick, icy synth opening. A tad treacly, but then those were the days. Hair metal's commercial dominance and presence was still being felt in the industry. Everything was big - the hair and the sound. Even legacy acts like Chicago were finding new life, thanks to that energy and David Foster's synthesis of it. That intro? It could just as easily be a song by mid-period Chicago. 

I know that Robin Zander is a great lead singer. His work with Cheap Trick? It made the last part of the 1970's suck so much less. And, while I think his ballads with the band work, I am not buying his vocals here. He sounds incredibly strained... as if that somehow substitutes for emotional interpretation. And Ann Wilson enters the picture bringing such a balm. The contrast is welcome. It's also important to appreciate the difference between merely hitting notes while bringing a bit of muscle to the mix and actually singing a lyric. Go back. Listen to the two of them again and see if you agree. 

Zander sort of bleats his part - listen to the word 'black,' for instance. And then Wilson comes in and sounds so... natural. It's effortless. It's warm. It's interpreted. 

A bit disappointed that Ann is playing second fiddle on the chorus. But then, screechy male vocals sort of powered the era and broke through on the radio. I do like her subtle backing vocals, though. Very deft touch. 

I think Wilson could sing the phone book. She's so in control of her instrument. 

The song itself? Sounds a lot like Marx's Right Here Waiting or something David Foster would have written for Chicago. It's a big glass of fresh, warm vanilla pudding. Yeah... not very appetizing, unless you're in a certain mood. 

Listen to how tuneless Zander's vocals are on the second verse. I am shaking my head. He is so wrong for this, though I do appreciate the grit he's trying to bring to the table. I think he believes by singing in such a muscular fashion he can save this song from being a piece of utter dreck. (Good luck with that.)

Ugh. That build into the second chorus is a garbage fest. That fuzz guitar beneath the second chorus - overkill. 

What is Wilson doing on the word 'tonight'? Is that a war cry? Oh, my. Who thought that was a good idea? 

That bridge! Is terrible. Big old synth stabs and a weird ass key change. No! There is so much debris flying through the airwaves there. And it keeps going on and they add that guitar and it sounds like an old video game theme or a 45 record left out in the sun.

Now I know why I totally ignored this song on release. It is terrible. 

I'm embarrassed for all involved. But you hear the influence of those hair metal groups. Man, that schlock just coated everything long after people recognized it for the faux rock it was. 

And then again... I think that guitar solo is pretty tasty. A bit rote, but tasty. 

And then Wilson decides to just go for it on this last chorus. I adore, all the while I cringe and relish her shame, for, apparently, she has none.

And, at the end, they just sort of do exactly what the song has been suggesting all along and, indeed, surrender - surrender a battle that should have never been fought.

This is a certified train wreck. Some first-rate schlock. That it went Top Ten demonstrates just how lost we were musically, as a nation as the dawn of the 1990's fast approached.  

Richard Marx and Lara Fabian

So, keep in mind this is nine years later. The sound of that keyboard? Well, it's mellowed a bit; much more of a bell tone to it. This is a pretty intro. I appreciate simplicity.

Marx has a decent voice. I wish he'd open up his vowel sounds a bit, but the tender tone is sweet. Fabian is in achy-breaky mode, underplaying. She sounds hooded. 

They're keeping this low key... that's a welcome relief, given what we heard before. 

They sound nice together on the build up.

I wish they'd dig just a bit deeper into the introduction of the chorus. I need the consistency to alter a bit more. Tender is nice, until it becomes boring. They still sound nice together, a bit tentative, though. There's a steel-guitar washing in the background giving this a bit more texture.

Fabian sounds thick and she's doing a lot of the same vocal schtick that Celine does. It's a weird kind of throat singing that fills a lot of space, but detracts from what is actually being sung. I mean, what is she trying to say there? How does that bring any clarification or meaning to the table? It's all showy fill with no substance. Of course... look at what they're singing, right? Not a great deal of substance to work with, now is there?

What did they do with Marx's vocal entrance on the words 'aw, neither?' Oh, my word, he sounds like a mosquito zooming in on a target. That is so weird and left field.

It's sort of like Marx is trying to copy some of the vocalizing Fabian is doing. He has a lovely head voice and he keeps tamping it down in an effort to sound different. It's not bad, but it's not working. I wish he would just sing and be himself.

And I know I'm complaining about vocal fills, but that's kind of nice what the two of them do on the word 'on,' in the build up to the second chorus. It flutters.

And again, I think they need to go bigger on that chorus. 

The strings are in... so, I think they're getting ready to bring something... different.

Okay. Now that I can hear the bridge, it does make musical sense. And I like the echo melody that guitar has added. It's fill, but well done. And I think, had they worked that crescendo a bit more vocally, this might have worked. As is? A bit too horizontal for my taste.

Fabian really never breaks through. I was thinking she would, on that last chorus, but nope. Second fiddle, all the way. Her ability to meld to his voice is remarkable, I will give her that. She's an accomplished singer. 

And Marx does what Marx has always done... brought a bit of grit to the proceedings, striking his tender but tough pose. 

This was passable.

The Verdict

I love Ann Wilson. I love Robin Zander. This was a battle they never should have chosen to fight. The lack of musicality involved is staggering. I never want to listen to that song again. The sins committed by all should haunt their every waking moment.

It comes off incredibly screechy. These are two singers who do not compliment each other and, therefore, should never, ever sing together. And as bad as Zander sounds, Wilson actually makes things worse/laughable by bringing vocal pyrotechnics to the proceeding which make zero musical sense; those sounds shouldn't come out of anybody, ever. 

Marx and Fabian fail to catch fire. Which was disappointing, given their pedigrees and talent. The whole piece is cut from the same cloth with very little variation and not a great deal to get worked up about. Still, they do a nice job of it. Fabian is more than a second-rate Celine wannabe. She's actually got some skills that are very admirable, particularly her ability to blend with another singer - something a talented singer's ego doesn't always allow them to do. 

Maybe it's the song? It is so 'Richard Marx.' And bears way too many similarities to Right Here Waiting to be anything else.

So, this is easy. This goes to Marx and Fabian. Their version? A tad boring, but listenable. 

I can't say the same about the Wilson/Zander abomination.

That really needs to be buried in someone's backyard and never spoken of again.

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. You know how I love a differing opinion.

That's all for now. Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx