Catching up with Rick Springfield...
Rick Springfield has a new album coming out Tuesday, the same day he will perform his single "Victoria's Secret" on an episode of "General Hospital."
No, it isn't 1982, when he was playing Dr. Noah Drake on the ABC soap at the same time that he had a thriving career as a Grammy winning pop star with 17 top-40 hits, including "Jessie's Girl," "I've Done Everything For You" and "Don't Talk to Strangers."
Fast-forward more than 25 years and Rick, who still drops by to play Noah on occasion, will appear on the soap this week as rocker Eli Love.
"The good thing is they brought in a different character and he gets to do my new single, which I'm really happy about," Rick said last week. "Any time you can get on TV with a new song is great."
So why didn't he ever sing on the show during the height of his fame?
"I never thought that was plausible," he said. "He's a doctor. Of course, they wanted me to do it in the '80s. I said no. There was radio play and you didn't need to. Plus I was fighting everyone thinking I was a soap star who wandered into the recording studio. Now I've been around long enough where it makes sense."
The truth is, by the time Rick got really famous on "General Hospital," he had already released six albums with his first hit single, "Speak to the Sky," which made the charts way back in 1972.
At the peak of his fame, Rick's hit albums included "Working Class Dog," "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet," "Living in Oz" and "Hard to Hold," which was also the title of his motion picture debut.
"I loved it. It was great," he said of those heady days of '80s stardom. "There was a tough side to it as well, but I love to work."
Even when his recording and acting careers have been on the wane, Rick has never really stopped recording and touring.
Now he is especially excited about his first studio album in four years, "Venus In Overdrive," which is being favorably compared to his classic "Working Class Dog" album from the early '80s.
"There's a really good buzz on this one which you can't manufacture," he said. "There's been some stuff falling into place so it has a special feel to it. Where it goes from there, I have no idea. This feels very, very different to me. It doesn't feel like I'm pushing against the door."
I mention to Rick that I saw him in concert at the Orange County Fair about 10 years ago. Even though we didn't meet, he did walk across some chairs near me when he made his way into the audience.
He laughed.
"I love playing live," he said. "It's the way I connect with people. I'm a pretty quiet person in my family life. The party guy only comes out when I play live. He's anxious to come out."
He turns 59 next month but remains remarkably youthful and energetic.
"I'm very much into health," he said. "I like to eat well; I have always worked out. But it's mainly being passionate about what you do. The energy of the audience is really what keeps me playing. It's as much of a high as it ever was. The fans have hung in there."
Here is a clip of Rick in concert from late last year:
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Greg Hernandez authored Out In Hollywood for the Daily News from June 2006 to February 2009. He can now be found at Greg In Hollywood: www.greginhollywood.com
The concert in Rowlett, Texas was my first Rick Springfield concert ever, I took the roses and a rather embarrassing sign that read " I 'm a Rick Springfield concert virgin, please be gentle". I wore an O.D. green colored Marilyn Monroe t-shirt and cargo shorts.
When I and the others entered into the area where the concert was held, I was a bit nervous because I hadn't been to any concerts since 1986 and was not sure how to act. I met quite a few fellow Rick fans including Brenda who took the pic of Rick with the Star Wars t- shirt that I threw up on stage. There was a tremendous amount of electricity in the air and we were all waiting to see Rick.
When he took the stage, it was magic, his presence seemed to light up the night. He opened with" Who Killed Rock N Roll" which is his newest addition to his arsenal of awesome songs and the crowd loved it. I admit, I too was blown away by it!!! Goes to show that he still has what it takes as a songwriter.
What really impressed me, was when he went into the audience with the mic and had people sing "Don't Talk to Strangers". I have never heard of anyone else going into the audience and have people sing back to them, and not all of them on key; that did not seem to matter to Rick, what mattered was that they made the effort.
During Love Somebody, he actually called someone on a cell phone and let us listen in as the surprised recipient of the call answered ( He is a really goofy guy, and I really like that about him ).
During Human Touch, he went deep into the audience and really thrilled them. I had heard that he did this at his concerts, but to actually see it was very mind-blowing. I have never experienced anything like that in my whole life.
Rick is unlike anyone out there, he actually values his audience and interacts with them. I left the concert feeling so much better than when I had arrived... for one night, I was able to forget about all of the things that I was going through and I will always remember that atleast for one night, I got to let my hair down and I rock out with Rick and lots of other people too.
Doesn't get any better than Rick Springfield - talented to the max and yes, he sure does give his all to the audience. Loving this video of the new song "What's Victoria's Secret" from the new cd Venus in Overdrive. I also heard it play over the speakers in Best Buy and couldn't wait to get my copy!