For anyone who has gone to or watched more than one “Stripped Down” Q&A session, it’s clear that there are a lot of repeat questions. Will he go back to “General Hospital?” (He’s pretty busy with other things lately but he won’t say never.) What does he remember about that one concert in (fill in city here) in (fill in year here)? (Nothing, he doesn’t remember it – he’s played lots of concerts in lots of cities over many years.)
And of course even though it goes against the guidelines outlined at the beginning of the session, there’s always the “Will you autograph my …” and the “Can I get a picture with you?” and the “It’s my birthday” or “It’s (fill in name)’s birthday” – with a request for him to sing “Happy birthday.”
In one video posted online, a guy proposed to his girlfriend, which included both a question and an answer (fortunately she said yes), but that’s something altogether different.
Anyway, since there are some shows coming up for his “Stripped Down” tour, here’s a message to future Stripped Down Q&Aers. Since you are one of the select few who get the opportunity to speak directly with RS and ask him a question, use your time wisely. Think of yourself as an ambassador representing RS fandom. If you are able to put together a coherent sentence when you speak to him (something that I haven’t been able to do when I’ve had the chance), kudos to you. And here are some suggested questions:
What’s the story behind the cover of your new CD and who are the kids in the picture?
Is there an overall message or topic of the new CD?
Do you know the release date of “Traces”?
Will you be touring overseas for the new CD? (That question is for his fans in Australia, Europe and wherever else since I’m sure they’re wondering).
Will there be another fan trip? If so, when and where?
By the way, the “Ricki and the Flash” Blu-Ray and DVD was released today, so if you missed it in the theater, you have a chance to watch it now. The Blu-Ray has some deleted scenes and a “Rediscovering Rick Springfield” featurette. And both the Blu-Ray and DVD have another extra bonus feature that the theater didn’t offer – you can pause and rewind as often as you want.
Update on Dec. 13: A couple of these have been answered since this was posted. 1. The boys on the CD cover are part of a stock photo and 5. Nov. 10-14 in the Bahamas.
Now it’s officially official – this was on Rick Springfield’s Facebook page today, with a list of songs! In past interviews, he’s mentioned that he had 16 songs for the CD and he’s mentioned “Walking In” as one of the songs, so maybe there will be extra tracks on some, like there was for “Songs for the End of the World.” (“Let Me In” was a bonus track on that album. Great song!) Can’t wait!
I was ready to go to sleep, but this woke me up very quickly!
What else do we know about Rick Springfield’s new CD? He’s played a couple of the songs at recent concerts: “Light This Party Up” and “Down.” Other songs that have come up here and there online are “Walking In” (at one time there was a video posted of him singing part of it at Club Med – great song, I can’t wait to hear the rest) and “Pay it Forward.” That’s four out of 16 songs.
So the countdown begins – three months from today!
Apparently Rick Springfield fans not only have his new album “Rocket Science” to look forward to in 2016, but also a new film.
He alluded to this in a recent Stripped Down Q &A, after somebody asked once again if he planned to return to “General Hospital.” His answer referred to a new independent movie he was working on.
And sure enough, there it is in IMBD: “Traces.”
The plot description is: “Facing unemployment from his record store job, divorce and his 20-year high school reunion, a listless former 90’s ‘one-hit wonder’ is given a unique second chance when he agrees to produce and record the debut album of an up-and-coming Internet sensation.”
This sounds great! His character is listed as Carl. And no, once again, he is NOT the one-hit wonder. That character’s name is Damien Shea, played by Pablo Schreiber.
No word on a release date yet, but according to writer/director Matthew Currie Holmes’ Twitter feed, it is being shot in 20 days, and they just finished Day 14.
During the Q&A after a recent Stripped Down concert, somebody asked Rick Springfield what inspired his song “Celebrate Youth.” The answer was not what you would expect.
He said that he was sitting in a steam room in Palm Springs “with a bunch of old, fat naked men” when he started thinking about that song, wondering what those guys thought of him because he was much younger than them. That is very different than the image I previously had in my mind when hearing that song…
But I thought that was so interesting because it is a reminder that inspiration can come from anywhere – and can develop into something else entirely. In the past – before marriage and kids – the majority of my songs were about dating angst. There were some exceptions, such as when my mom died and Sept. 11, but many were the results of emotions stirred up from dating encounters. After I met my husband, that angst disappeared and I rarely wrote songs anymore – until last year.
The first one I wrote in about 10 years was after reading RS’s memoir, “Late Late at Night” almost exactly a year ago. It is called “Rick Springfield Crush Revival,” and is about my renewed teenage crush on my favorite rock star.
Then in the past year, inspiration has come in from all different directions. Here are the songs, with the first few lines (click on the title to hear the song (very rough versions) or see the lyrics-I’m still working on music for some of them).
There are holes in the wall hidden underneath the pictures
I can’t answer when you call, there’s a shortage in the fixture
The lawn is overgrown and the floor’s in need of sweeping
But I can’t get out of bed, I only feel like sleeping.
“One in a Million”: The difference between how fans view rock stars vs. how rock stars view their fans.
They feel like they know you from all that you’ve shared
Devoted for decades, they’ve shown that they care
To them you’re one in a million, the brightest star in the sky
A light in the darkness, a muse in their life
“A Thoughtless Whisper”:After reading an article about how social media destroyed people’s lives.
A thoughtless whisper becomes a worldwide trend
We’ve gone too far, we can’t go back again
Everyone’s a witness with a camera in hand
Gathering evidence against their fellow man
“Distracted Driving”: One day while driving on the freeway, I missed my exit, then almost did it again the next day, which led to this song.
I passed my exit, I drove too far
Caught daydreaming inside my car
Where are we going? Are we lost?
Distracted driving, paying the cost
As the earth crumbled across the ocean
We continued our lives with depleted emotion
Underneath the rubble, thousands of lives lost
Numbed by the numbers, can’t comprehend the cost
I feel rich ‘cause I just got paid
My gas tank’s full and the bed is made
It won’t last long ‘cause the bills are due
But for one whole day I feel like you
“A Cup of Coffee”: Inspired by my husband bringing me coffee each morning
A cup of coffee on the counter waiting for me
One of the signs that you care for me
Waking in the morning with a smile on your face
Immersed in all your love, I know I’m in the right place
“Shine Your Light”: This actually started from a dark place, trying to figure out what goes on in the mind of someone who commits a horrific act (like a terrorist), but then it ended up turning around into people being inspired to do positive things in the world.
You may be quiet on the outside, but internally
There’s a fire burning and it’s yearning to break free
You think that nobody’s watching, you feel like nobody cares
Your dreams turned gray along the way, they were swallowed by your fears
“Glass Shatters”: I was emptying the dishwasher and noticed our chipped plates and how we have so many different kinds of glasses – and how things have changed since when we first got married and all our dishes and glasses were new – and they matched.
Mismatched glasses, place settings on the table
We talk about replacing them someday when we are able
Years ago they were all so shiny and new
In our earlier days, when they made their debut
And the latest song came after I noticed that someone gave my “Rick Springfield Crush Revival” video a thumbs down. Couldn’t they just see the video for what it was – a cheesy, amateur tribute to my favorite rock star? Did they really have to go out of their way to publicly (though anonymously) declare their dislike for it? Couldn’t they have just rolled their eyes and clicked on a different video?
Then I realized that that’s just the way our society is these days, and then came “Thumbs-down Mentality”:
Everyone’s a critic, a thumbs-down mentality
Can’t keep it to themselves, they need the whole world to see
You’re king of your keyboard, you’re ruler of your room
A tyrant typing madly, spreading anonymous doom.
Every time I finish a song, I am convinced that it might be my last one because the inspiration seems to come from somewhere I can’t explain and I don’t really have any control over it. Maybe it’s just a matter of being receptive to the idea, I don’t know, and I spend time developing the song once the inspiration hits, of course. But that’s what I have for now. Thanks, RS, for inspiring me to write songs again!
Although most of the search terms for this blog come up as “Unknown” – some search engines don’t reveal search terms for privacy reasons – sometimes it’s amusing to see what search terms land people on this site. For example, two recent ones were “rick springfield injured by fan october 2015” and “rick springfield bloody legs.” One of my favorite search terms is “rick springfield shirtless 66.”
This year, the most popular search terms were related to “True Detective,” such as “Is Rick Springfield in True Detective?” “Rick Springfield’s hair,” “Rick Springfield True Detective Makeup” (and even “True Detective Rick Springsteen” – argh!)
Other people searched for information about “Ricki and the Flash”: “What is Rick Springfield doing now that he has finished ricki and the flash,” “gibson sg ricki and the flash” and information about the NYC screening.
When people were searching for details about his music and concerts, they were looking for lyrics for “Light This Party Up,” information about “Down” and “Walking In” (songs reportedly on his upcoming CD), when his new album is coming out (both its former name of “Mayhem” and its current name of “Rocket Science,”) his tour bus, the story behind “My Father’s Chair,” and to ask “Is Rick Springfield still touring?” (The answer is definitely yes!)
Other people searched for information about the cost for his Club Med trip, his wife, his appearance on Live Aid, his appearance on the 2015 Country Music Awards, his birthday (I bet they were surprised to find it was in August after singing him “Happy Birthday” at an October concert), the “butt lawsuit,” meet and greets, and him selling his hair for charity.
It’s also kinda fun to note that the views for this blog (more than 4,800 so far this year) are in 57 countries. The majority are from the United States but there’s good representation from Canada and Germany, as well as some from Australia, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, the Philippines, Spain and Japan. I even learned that there is a country called Jersey.
A quick update on the “rick springfield injured by a fan october 2015” and “rick springfield bloody legs” topic – although he cancelled one concert due to a “scheduling conflict” last week, apparently he’s OK because he did his “Stripped Down” shows that were scheduled later that week. Good timing on those shows, since he doesn’t have to jump around on stage. No word yet on whether the “Human Touch” portion of the full-band show (walking on chairs through the audience to get the “human touch” from fans) will continue, but the next full-band concert is scheduled for this Saturday night, so I guess we’ll find out soon!
Update: He did go out into the audience during “Human Touch” at the Nov. 7 show at the Mystic Lake Casino in Minnesota. A collective sigh of relief could be virtually heard on the RS fans pages after this news was posted.
My Rick Springfield crush 