Exciting news about RS recording some new songs, posted on Facebook earlier today with a pic of the recording studio.
My first thought, of course, was – yay!
Then my second thought was, “Wait a minute, isn’t he supposed to be in Germany already? The first Rock Meets Classic show is March 30, which is this Thursday night. How is he going to get over to Europe in time for the show? It’s a pretty hectic schedule, with a concert nearly every night for three weeks in a row. Won’t he be exhausted by the time he gets there?”
Then my third thought was, “Hey, I’m flying tomorrow, maybe we’ll be on the same plane! Maybe I’ll see him in the airport! I’ll have to be sure to look for him!” (Note: I’m not going to Germany, but quite possibly headed in the same direction. And it is possible he snapped the picture earlier in the week and remembered to post it today, or had someone else post it, but whatever.)
And then once again, yay! I wonder what these new songs are about? Will they give us some deep insight into his soul? Will it reveal some new discovery about him? What will they sound like?! (No pressure, RS….)
And one final thought: Before we move on to this next album, I think some follow up is needed from “Rocket Science.” In small print in the booklet, it says, “For the stories behind the bonus tracks “Mercy” and “Walkin’ In,” go to http://www.rickspringfield.com!” I’ve been to http://www.rickspringfield.com several times and have yet to find them. Has anybody else come across them?
A year ago tonight was the evening that I stayed at the same hotel as Rick Springfield.
I walked by him and the band in the lobby as they were checking into the hotel and because I was with my husband – who just isn’t into the “Hey, let’s hang out and see if we can meet Rick Springfield!” thing – we just walked by. I did, however, get a wave from drummer Jorge though, who was on the phone and caught me staring, and we rode in the elevator with bassist Siggy, who was very nice. (By the way, happy belated birthday, Jorge.)
We saw the show in Sahuarita that night, which was wonderful and although I talked my husband into hanging out in the casino and hotel for a bit just in case RS were to walk by, it never happened. But we did see keyboardist Tim walking around after the show and got to wish him a happy birthday (Happy birthday, Tim!)
It was a fun weekend trip with my husband. Much more fun than this weekend this year, as we are now going to empty the content of the downstairs cabinets so they and our floors can be ripped out this week because of water damage. Sometimes being a grown-up is just no fun – thank goodness for the moments in life when you can put that on hold for a couple of days to go see your teenage crush in concert!
Thirty-six years ago today, Dr. Noah Drake walked into General Hospital in Port Charles and the wonderful RS fan(s) that post on the rsandus YouTube page (and put together the Rick Springfield and US fan site), have worked to present those days of “General Hospital” in real time (only 36 years later). The clips only include the RS scenes.
He’s so cute. I was 11 when this first aired. He was 31. Sixteen years younger than I am today. That’s so weird, can’t think about that too much so I’ll just watch and enjoy.
I am writing to ask you to please nominate Rick Springfield to be inducted into the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has been eligible since 1994 so frankly I’m a little surprised that he hasn’t been considered yet. But that’s OK, no hard feelings, there’s always next year.
Rick Springfield has had a long musical career. Here’s a video of him from nearly five decades ago – in 1969, when he was the guitarist in the Australian band Zoot:
And again in 1970 with Zoot:
After leaving Zoot, he started recording his own songs. Here’s his first single, “Speak to the Sky.” This recording is from 1971, but it was on his 1972 album, “Beginnings.” (I’ve read that the number of hits an artist has isn’t considered for the nomination process, but I did want to note that this was his first hit in the top 20, reaching No. 14 in 1972. The first of 20 songs from his 18 studio albums to be on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Not that it matters in the nomination process though, of course.)
The song that really propelled him to stardom, as everyone knows, is “Jessie’s Girl,” which has been featured in many films through the years and has become one of the iconic songs of the 1980s. Here’s his performance at the 1982 Grammy Awards (the year he won a Grammy for the song.)
And here he is, still rocking “Jessie’s Girl” last year on the “Greatest Hits” TV show, at age 67, 35 years after the song’s initial release.
So what does it take to get nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
According to to the website: ” Artists — a group encompassing performers, composers and/or musicians — become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll.”
OK, so we already know it’s been more than 25 years since the release of Rick Springfield’s first record (Zoot’s first record was released in 1969 and RS’s first album, “Beginnings” was released in 1972 so we’re covered there. Can you believe that 48 years later, RS is still actively touring? Pretty amazing, right? This year alone, he’s done live shows with his own band, solo Stripped Down acoustic shows, Stripped Down acoustic shows with Richard Marx and will be performing shows with Pat Benetar later this year. Oh, and then there’s that European tour with a symphony orchestra starting later this month.)
Next: “demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent.” If you’ve ever seen him perform or paid attention to his songwriting through the years, you know he’s got that one down.
“Inductees will have had a significant impact on the development, evolution and preservation of rock & roll.”
His role in Rock and Roll history was addressed in the Sound City documentary directed by Dave Grohl. (Here’s a video with the fabulous Dave Grohl performing “The Man That Never Was,” a song from the 2013 tour that was done around the time of the documentary.)
RS was also featured in another documentary, created by his fans, “Affair of the Heart,” which shows the impact he’s had on his fans – and younger performers.
When you listen to his songs throughout the years, you’ll see all the different styles of music he’s created (evolution). For his most recent album, “Rocket Science,” from 2016, he dabbled in country.
And also from “Rocket Science,” the song “Down,” written with Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts:
For the purposes of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I suppose it won’t do any good to mention that he’s also had a successful acting career in TV and films and has also written two best-selling books, one a novel and one a memoir, but I personally think that’s very impressive. Plus he’s also performed on Broadway and performed in “EFX” in Las Vegas.
If you get an opportunity to attend one of RS’s live shows this year, I highly recommend it so you can see for yourself what an amazing songwriter/musician/performer he is and why he deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Flashback: Two years ago tonight, a tornado of thoughts swirled around in my head as I stood in line to meet Rick Springfield.
I was still on a high from the concert, which was the first RS show I had seen in 15 years. I was about to meet – for the second time, the first time was at a L.A. music store in 1999 when he signed his new “Karma” CD – the man whose face was plastered on my bedroom walls in the 1980s and whose songs played on a loop throughout my teenage years. About eight months earlier, I had started writing this blog after discovering an interview with him about his novel “Magnificent Vibration” on our public TV station website and was curious what else he had been up to. After reading his memoir “Late, Late at Night” and catching up on his music over the past few years, I found myself hooked once again.
So here I was with a little glimpse of him at the front of the line trying to think of what I could possibly say to him that could sum up all that I was feeling.
Fortunately I had the foresight to bring a note to the show with this blog address on it, with the hope that I would have the opportunity to give it to him.
This was a good thing because the interaction lasted about 10 seconds and consisted of six words. Six words: “This is for you.” “Thank you.”
Then a photographer took our picture, RS put my note in his pocket and my time was up.
(For the full account, see these previous posts: “A brief crossing of paths” and “My meet and greet.” You can see the little piece of paper in his hand in our picture, which is a cool reminder of how our paths crossed. Whether he read that little piece of paper, I’ll probably never know, but the scenarios concocted by the teenage part of my brain are pretty incredible. )
Today’s date is particularly significant to me because it would have been my mom’s 72nd birthday (which was on my mind two years ago, on what would have been her 70th birthday. In fact, I still think she may have had something to do with me getting backstage to meet him because she knew what a big fan I was.)
This year also marks 20 years since she died, which I find so unbelievable. There are so many things I wish I could talk to her about, especially since I am now a mom myself.
(It didn’t occur to me until recently that she was so much closer to RS’s age than I am. I wonder what she thought of that.)
This time of year I also think about how young she was when she died – 52 years old – and how close I am getting to that age.
Sorry this post ended up being such a downer. But life is filled with up and down moments and sometimes that has to be acknowledged.
So in memory of my mom, here are the lyrics to a song I wrote a year after she died.
A Year Ago Tomorrow
A year ago tomorrow
You breathed your last breath
The first step of a journey
A beginning and an end
A year ago tomorrow
I whispered in your ear
There was no way of knowing
If you could even hear
Time passes so quickly
One chance and then it’s gone
You must make the most of each moment
And hope your memory lingers on
Six to twelve months the doctors guessed
It turned out you only had six weeks left
Six weeks to say goodbye
Six weeks to wonder why
You spent your 52nd birthday in a hospital bed
“Happy Birthday” the balloons, cards and flowers said
We soon reversed our roles, I became the parent and you the child
I fed you lemon icees, the taste made you smile
I’m looking at an old photograph
It’s painful to know there’s no turning back
But time, like your killer, has no cure
Your future is the present and the past is but a blur
A year from now tomorrow
Who knows where we’ll be?
There’s no way of knowing
Your destiny.
I wonder if Rick Springfield knows how much he inspires people. He probably knows to some extent, as people bring him paintings, drawings, crafts or poems at the meet and greets. (I’m pretty sure I sent him a poem or two back in the day, either handwritten or typed out on a typewriter, pouring out my teenage heart.)
It’s no secret that RS’s healthy lifestyle has allowed him to continue doing what he has been doing for so long. I think we’d all like to have that much energy at age 67. Even a dose of that at 20 years younger would be nice, too. A glass of red wine every night may be a good start, but I realize that healthy eating and exercise are important components, too.
Last month, a fan inspired by RS’s healthy lifestyle started a friendly fitness competition for fellow fans. Participants sign up for the competition and download the appropriate app then their steps are tracked during the week on a Fitbit or similar device and the winner gets a prize.
I recently participated in one of the challenges and it was great! My Fitbit was sending me all kinds of laudatory messages throughout the week and I was breaking all kinds of records (clarification: my own records). My kids got in on the action, encouraging me throughout the week to take more and more steps. (Disclaimer: I finally gave in to their requests to install Pokemon Go on my phone so they would eagerly accompany me on after-school walks.) I parked on top floors of parking garages so I could take the stairs and danced around in the kitchen as I cooked dinner to get more steps in (“Rocket Science” provides great exercise music, in case you were curious.)
Sadly, I didn’t win the competition, but it was still a winning week for me because I realized I could fit in more exercise into my busy week.
Unfortunately, this week wasn’t a repeat of last week. We had two days of heavy rain so no walks in the park. Then I had work-related events nearly every night. This week I only reached the 10,000-step goal once and that’s only because I wandered around on a community college campus for 20 minutes trying to find my car, visiting several parking lots in the process.
But there’s always next week. Perseverance is the key to success, right?
My Rick Springfield crush 