New Rick Springfield Interview

Rick Springfield: It's good to be singing
By Greg Hernandez, Columnist
Article Launched: 07/28/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

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."

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