We seem to be in an extended period of ’80s revivalism in music, in which the sounds of New Wave and Synthpop, plus production qualities inextricably linked to artists like Joy Division and Prince are prevalent in new tunes. If this retro mining forges ahead, at some point these musical reference points have to move a few years forward, finally bumping into Richard Marx, right?

If you’re chuckling to yourself at that suggestion, oh, what a short memory you have! The Chicago-born songwriter (Kenny Rogers, Vixen, Ann Wilson/Robin Zander) and former Lionel Richie backup singer ruled the radio in the late ’80s. With an instantly identifiable guitar-pop sound that didn’t shy away from synths or sax, Marx became the first solo artist to chart seven consecutive top five singles (“Don’t Mean Nothing,” “Should’ve Known Better,” “Endless Summer Nights,” “Hold Onto The Nights,” “Satisfied,” “Right Here Waiting,” “Angelia”). And those were just the biggies.

Later, he again shared his songwriting talents with others, serving up smashes for *NSYNC, Josh Groban, Keith Urban, and Luther Vandross. Get schooled on Marx’s musical history:

Currently on tour, Marx is readying the U.S. release of Stories To Tell, scheduled for May. The album, out in Europe since last fall, features stripped-down versions of his hits and those made famous by others.

“Endless Summer Nights” is among the new set’s reworked tunes, and serves as the album’s lead track. Twenty-three years ago this week, the prom-ready theme song (at my high school, anyway) sat at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Endless Summer Nights” would reach #2 on March 26, 1988, spending two weeks there.

“Endless Summer Nights” sure loves itself some saxophone, an instrument non grata in pop music now. Which of today’s artists will be bold enough to bring back the sax?

Actually, a certain Danish pop group was way ahead of the curve on paying musical homage to Marx, at least to my two ears. Check out Alphabeat’s “Fascination,” and see if you also don’t also hear echoes of “Should’ve Known Better,” a similarity I noted back in March 2008.

Purchase Richard Marx – “Endless Summer Nights” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.