Am I wrong for re-assessing Rick Springfield?

[Bubbler]

I heard Affair Of The Heart on my way back from a game tonight, and I have to admit, I kind of dug it.

Then it dawned on me ... I dig A LOT of Rick Springfield songs. Jessie's Girl, Don't Talk To Strangers, I've Done Everything For You, those are all quite good. Even Human Touch and Bop Till You Drop won't get turned off on my radio. Plus his videos (watch Human Touch) are often 80s kitsch at its finest.

Thing is, I never cared much for Rick Springfield when he was an active pop star (granted, I was like 12) and I'm one of those music snobs who is usually averse to someone who isn't critically approved. But the bottom line is the man produced some very good 80s pop and he deserves his due.

Is he worthy of my critical re-assessment?

Answer this for me. I'm begging you ... please ...

 

[mike311gd]

I was never a big fan of Rick, so my answer would be a resounding no.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

I say yes. I liked some of Rick's stuff when it first came out but dismissed him as bubble-gum, General Hospital flavor of the month. But his body of work holds up pretty well. Well, except "Speak To The Sky," which came out when he still had an overpowering Australian accent.

He still is out there, slogging along on the road.

And I STILL wish I had Jessie's Girl.

http://www.rickspringfield.com/full/rsmain.html

 

[Bubbler]

So wait a minute? Mike thinks he sucks, so that would mean I am wrong to re-assess Springfield.

And Lyman's with me, he kind of digs him, so I would not be wrong in re-assessing, right?

I think your responses need to be flipped.

 

[BYH]

Three posts and not a single mention of "Love Somebody?" You all reek of fail.

Speaking of fail, my wife and I saw Rick in NYC a few months back. She won tickets from a radio station. I swear. She really did. He was pretty good...had the energy of somebody half his age. And like Bubbler, I sat there surprised by how many songs I knew.

But the movie that was supposed to catapult him into multimedia superstardom, "Hard To Hold," was truly wretched. "Hard To Watch" would have been a better title. Rick has all the range of Derek Jeter at short. No surprise that he hasn't had a big hit song since that movie.

 

[John]

Jessie's Girl shows up on my iPod fairly regularly and I'm not ashamed of that.

Of course, Heat of the Moment does, too.

 

[BYH]

Jessie's Girl shows up on my iPod fairly regularly and I'm not ashamed of that.

Of course, Heat of the Moment does, too.

Don't cry, John.

Only time will tell if you're a geek or not.

 

[sportschick]

Jessie's Girl shows up on my iPod fairly regularly and I'm not ashamed of that.

Of course, Heat of the Moment does, too.

Don't cry, John.

Only time will tell if you're a geek or not.

Geeks are hot. It's why Matt Damon is this year's sexiest man alive.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Three posts and not a single mention of "Love Somebody?" You all reek of fail.

Speaking of fail, my wife and I saw Rick in NYC a few months back. She won tickets from a radio station. I swear. She really did. He was pretty good...had the energy of somebody half his age. And like Bubbler, I sat there surprised by how many songs I knew.

But the movie that was supposed to catapult him into multimedia superstardom, "Hard To Hold," was truly wretched. "Hard To Watch" would have been a better title. Rick has all the range of Derek Jeter at short. No surprise that he hasn't had a big hit song since that movie.

"Hard to Hold" sucks. No doubt about it.

But "Working Class Dog" and "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet" more than make up for it.

You'd never guess the guy was 57-58 years old now.

 

[Bubbler]

Hard To Hold might very well suck, but it produced some fine kitschy videos.

Youtube up Bop Til You Drop, Human Touch, etc.

 

[Bubbler]

Three posts and not a single mention of "Love Somebody?" You all reek of fail.

Dammit. You're right. That's a good song too.

As a result of my heaping slice of fail, Working Class Dog is considering legal action ...

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I bought a used copy of Rick Springfield's Greatest Hits a few months ago. I loaded it into iTunes and then stashed it away like it was German scheitze porn. It sort of sticks out on my hipster doofus iTunes list, lodged between Richard Thompson and Rockpile.

You're not wrong for re-assessing. He's pretty good. Musically he's really not all that far from Cheap Trick, which has infinitely more hipster cred. (Of course, Bun E. Carlos was never a soap opera pretty boy.)

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Rick Springfield is waaaaaaaaaaaay underrated. He was on top of the world for awhile there in the '80s. And his songs are pretty good! He even had a new CD a couple years ago which was decent. And believe me, he still packs 'em in at county fairs, rib cook offs, and the like.

He and the Go Gos are two of the most underrated performers of all time.

BTW, Rick has a Christmas CD out this year! Here's a video from it: http://www.rickspringfield.com/cwy/cwy_video.html

 

[Chef]

I may have to dig into the archives to re-live some Rick.

Granted: You have to be in a different mood to thoroughly enjoy Springfield.

 

[mike311gd]

So wait a minute? Mike thinks he sucks, so that would mean I am wrong to re-assess Springfield.

And Lyman's with me, he kind of digs him, so I would not be wrong in re-assessing, right?

I think your responses need to be flipped.

I never said Sprinfield sucks. I just never liked his music. My reading comprehension might blow chunks at times, but I don't think the guy is a bad musician.

 

[EStreetJoe]

The thread has gone this far without mention of ? It's a Rick Springfield classic.
I've Done Everything For You is a great one as is Jessie's Girl.

 

[93Devil]

I have Napster on now, and I am giving him a re-listen. But going in, I think this is good observation. Springfield's stuff holds up over time.

Journey and Men at Work also fall into this category of getting better over time.

Jessie's Girl and I've Done Everything For You are classics.

 

[StormSurge]

I'm with ya Bubbler. Good stuff.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

You are, in fact, a sad case.

 

[Chi City 81]

Jessie's Girl was the No. 1 song the day I was born. I've never had any quarrel with Mr. Springfield.