"Should've Known Better" is a hit song written, composed, and performed by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American adult contemporary music, adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's Richard Marx (album), self-titled debut album went tri ...

. It was released in September 1987 as the second single from his Triple Platinum-selling self-titled debut album. The song peaked at number three on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

as well as #7 on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in 1987 and #4 on the

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

CHR/Pop Airplay chart. Marx became the first solo artist in recording history to reach the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 with four singles from a debut album. In the lyrics, the speaker is still in love with an ex-lover and tortured by it, to the point of regretting falling in love with her. The music video for the selection was directed by

Dominic Sena Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films ''Kalifornia'' (1993), '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and '' Swordfish'' (2001). As a music ...

Personnel

* Richard Marx – lead and backing vocals *

Tom Keane Thomas Lawrence Keane (September 7, 1926 – June 19, 2001) was an American football cornerback. High school Keane played football and graduated from Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia (now known as the Linsly School) in ...

– keyboards *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

– guitars * John Pierce – bass *

Prairie Prince Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and graphic artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to ...

– drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion *

Fee Waybill John Waldo "Fee" Waybill (born September 17, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska) is the lead singer and songwriter of San Francisco band The Tubes. Waybill has also worked with other acts, including Toto, Richard Marx, and Billy Sherwood. Early life and ...

– backing vocals

Chart performance

Released in September 1987 as the second single from his debut solo album, "Should've Known Better" entered the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on September 26, 1987 at number 64, the highest debut of the week. The single also peaked at number 20 on the U.S.

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The song also reached #4 on the

CHR/Pop Airplay chart on November 20, 1987 for two weeks and remained on the chart for 13 weeks. Elsewhere, the single reached number 50 in the United Kingdom.

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Richard Marx 1987 singles Richard Marx songs Songs written by Richard Marx Music videos directed by Dominic Sena Manhattan Records singles