YOU'VE got to hand it to Richard Marx.
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No matter how nauseating some of those syrupy power ballads might be (and yes, I'm talking about Right Here Waiting), he delivers them with such complete professionalism and charm, that it's impossible not to be entertained.
On Wednesday night the soft-rock hit-maker returned to Newcastle for the first time since 2006 to play a sold-out NEX.
In the intervening 17 years the now 59-year-old might have aged slightly - though he still looked in impeccable shape - but he's continued to produce his own music and write songs for other artists like Australian country star Keith Urban.
However, to most Australian fans Marx is that mulletted heartthrob, who wooed the pop charts in the late '80s and early '90s with Right Here Waiting, Now and Forever and Hazard.
As if sensing a large part of the audience might be unfamiliar with his career since the early '90s, a video opened the show with a montage of highlights.
Marx might have been touring to promote his 13th album Songwriter, but he wasn't too proud to recognise that the predominantly middle-aged crowd were there for the hits.
Other than new tracks Believe In Me and Same Heartbreak Different Day, the 20-song set list drew heavily from his first four albums Richard Marx (1987), Repeat Offender (1989), Rush Street (1991) and Paid Vacation (1994).
Marx also endeared himself to the audience by not taking himself too seriously. When you look like a cast member of US soap Bold & The Beautiful, you might as well live up to it.
"I know a lot of places have house rules about not taking photos with a flash or taking videos, but I got into show business for people to take photos of me," Marx joked. "I kept my hair nice."
A female fan took Marx up on the offer and walked down to the front and asked for a selfie, which he happily posed for.
Marx obviously still holds plenty of sex appeal. After most songs wolf whistles echoed around NEX.
"I didn't hurt my back lifting weights in the gym or having really adventurous sex with my wife," he said. "I hurt my back today getting a massage.
"That's what happens when you're 59. So I'll take all those whistles."
Vocally Marx was ageless. That classic croon was in full flight on Hold On To The Nights and the beautiful Angelia.
He revealed the secret to maintaining his voice is a concoction of lemon juice, powdered ginger, honey and cayenne pepper, which he sipped on stage.
Marx surrounded himself with a cracking band, led by lead guitarist J Blynn. The New Yorker turned Australian permanent resident, opened the night with a short set of folk-pop songs from his solo project Dandelion Head.
J Blynn and Marx's bassist Whynot Jansveld were members of New York indie band Harper Blynn, that disbanded in 2014.
Marx is such a fan he shared vocals with J Blynn on a cover of Harper Blynn's sparkling indie track Long Way From Home. There probably wasn't a person in NEX who knew that song, but the performance drew warm applause.
Blynn's soulful guitar playing also brought fresh energy to Marx's Now and Forever and re-imagined Hazard with a spaghetti western vibe.
Marx also threw in covers of songs he wrote for Keith Urban (Long Hot Summer) and boy band 'N Sync (This I Promise You). Both felt like middle-of-the-road plodders that haven't aged well.
The pop country Front Row Seat was the definite low point. Outside of the formulaic melody, the accompanying video of Marx all loved up with his wife, Daisy Fuentes, in their palatial beachfront home was pure cringe.
By the time we'd reached the penultimate Should've Known Better a group of fans finally waltzed down to the stage to dance at Marx's feet.
Then Marx sent the fans home happy with Right Here Waiting, which ended in a Coldplay-style flourish.
Whatever you wanna say about Marx's music, you can't deny the bloke is a quintessential showman.
