Tim Malchak

Tim Malchak first gained recognition through his work alongside Dwight Rucker, forming the earliest biracial country duo ever to reach the charts with a single. Born in Binghamton, New York, he entered his initial band while still in fifth grade. During college he took up folk singing, then relocated to Southern California toward the end of the 1970s, where he opened shows for Commander Cody and Spyro Gyra. By 1982 he had returned to New York and encountered Dwight Rucker, proprietor of a health-food restaurant who had performed jazz fusion in the early 1970s and later pursued a pop career.

Their partnership quickly earned them an opening slot with Michael Martin Murphey. In 1983 the pair traveled to Nashville and secured a contract with Revolver Records, resulting in the minor hits “Just Like That” and “Why Didn’t I Think of That.” Later that year they switched to Alpine Records, the imprint launched by their co-producer Johnny Rutenschroer. Their first Alpine release, “I Could Love You in a Heartbeat,” climbed into the Top 70, and its video attracted widespread attention. Two additional minor chart entries followed in the next year before the duo disbanded.

Malchak stayed with Alpine and issued his own composition “Easy Does It,” which reached the Top 70 in 1987. In 1988 he placed two singles inside the Top 40—“Colorado Moon,” the title track of his debut album, and “Restless Angel.” He also registered two Top 50 hits that same year, then moved to Universal shortly after the appearance of his second album, American Man. The following year he delivered the closely related Different Circles, which yielded the modest successes “Not Like This” and “If You Had a Heart.”