Clair Marlo: ‘If I don’t write music, I am unhappy’

CEBU, Philippines — Clair Marlo, the hitmaker behind the late ‘80s hit “Till They Take My Heart Away,” hasn’t performed on stage for 33 years as she focused on raising her kids. Now an empty-nester, the 56-year-old singer-songwriter is making her comeback, starting in the Philippines.

Marlo was at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino last September 13, where she joined Australian artist Rick Price (known for his hit “Heaven Knows”) for a nationwide tour that included an earlier stop in Bacolod on Sept. 11 and wrapped up in Metro Manila on Sept. 15.

She explained her decision to start her comeback in the Philippines: “It’s the natural place to be in. If you look at which country plays my song the most, it’s the Philippines.”

In the ‘90s, Marlo played a show at the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas (then called the Folk Arts Theater) in the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Malate. She also guested on Johnny Litton’s late-night talk show “Oh No! It’s Johnny!” and various radio shows, including one on a heavy metal station – an experience she recalled as being “blown away” and “incredible.”

A hit in the Philippines, “Till They Take My Heart Away” has been covered by various Filipino artists, including Kyla and M.Y.M.P.

Marlo said she was “astonished” by how much her song resonated with Filipinos, saying, “When you see somebody who says they can relate to the song, they can grow with it. It’s a form of satisfaction, as I connected with somebody.”

While she was absent from the stage for three decades, Marlo hasn’t given up on music, continuing on a more dormant path by composing songs for various movies and television shows. Her profile on IMDb lists her as having composed music for 176 projects, with 46 additional credits as part of the music department, including “The Equalizer” and an episode of “Stranger Things” – the latter of which was uncredited.

She explained that creating music for Hollywood productions allowed her to continue making music while raising her children. She said, “I couldn’t imagine being on tour while the children are at home, and they require [attention] so much. Now, I am free to go around the world as I choose.”

Marlo has always lived and breathed music, having been musically trained at the age of five and starting to write her own songs when she was nine. However, she thought that being a musician wasn’t a practical career, so she initially had her eye on becoming a doctor. It was her daily conversations with her next-door neighbor, who was studying in medical school, that changed her mind.

She recalled, “When he got into the cadaver part of it, I said to myself, ‘I don’t think I want to become a doctor.’”

Marlo eventually decided to pursue music academically. She first studied at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, City University of New York. Growing up in the Big Apple, her parents didn’t want her to pursue her studies too far away from them, especially since she finished high school at the age of 16.

When she realized she preferred writing pop music instead of making classical music, Marlo transferred to Berklee College of Music, where she earned her degree. She said of her alma mater, “There was nowhere else that you could learn how to write popular music, and that was the absolute perfect place for me.”

For Marlo, songwriting is an instinctive process, with no set formula for how a song comes together. She embraces the waiting that comes with creating music, allowing her mind to work through an idea until it eventually becomes a song.

“I let my mind do the talking because it’s working 100 percent of the time, even when you’re sleeping. Your mind is always working, solving problems, working out thoughts you’ve had. The subconscious doesn’t usually tell the conscious what it’s doing,” she said.

“I wrote a song [in my head] in five minutes, but it took me seven years to write it because I couldn’t figure out how to put these words into music,” she added. “There was somebody who once said that writing a book would mean opening your heart up and bleeding all over the paper. It’s true because it’s a way to get in touch with yourself.”

Marlo warned, however, that a music career is not for the faint of heart, cautioning, “If you can imagine doing anything else other than music, do that because [making music is] a very tough road to go down.”

Marlo also said those who have a passion for music and want to make it their lifelong mission should go for it. “I gave up a lot of things to do what I do. But that’s not a choice for me, because if I don’t write music, I am unhappy,” she said. “I have to write. It flows through us. I would be miserable if I don’t write music. I always go to the studio, sit down and play something because it’s ingrained in my blood.”

Having grown up in a Croatian immigrant household where her father was a mechanic and her mother was a homemaker, Marlo wanted to impart to her children that they should pursue things that make them happy and that they have the heart for.

“I am not that special,” she said. “I am just somebody who loves to do what I do. If you want to do it, and if you have a yearning, go for it if this is your path. Do what you love, because even in the miserable times, you can still do something that satisfies you in some way.” — (FREEMAN)