Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield performing live at Barnes & Noble bookstore at The Grove L.A. shopping center, May 2014
Born Richard Lewis Springthorpe
(1949-08-23) 23 August 1949
Guildford, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
  • Musician
  • singer-songwriter
  • record producer
  • actor
  • author
Years active 1962–present
Spouse(s) Barbara Porter (m. 1984)
Children 2

Musical career

Genres
Instruments
Labels
Associated acts Zoot
Website rickspringfield.com
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster

Rick Springfield (born Richard Lewis Springthorpe; 23 August 1949) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, actor and author. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972, when he moved to the United States. He had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits, "I've Done Everything for You", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody". Springfield's two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog (1981) and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982).

As an actor, he starred in the television series High Tide, from 1994 to 1997, and has appeared in supporting roles in Ricki and the Flash and True Detective (both in 2015). He portrayed Dr. Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital, from 1981 to 1983 and during 2005 to 2008 and 2012, returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with son and actor Liam Springthorpe. In 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir. He currently stars as Lucifer in the twelfth season of American TV show Supernatural on the CW Network.

Early life

Richard Lewis Springthorpe (later known as Rick Springfield) was born on 23 August 1949 in Guildford, a western suburb of Sydney.[1][2] He is the son of Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer.[1][3] His maternal grandparents were English.[4] When he was young, he lived at the army camp with his family in Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. At the age of fourteen, he witnessed the Beatles perform at Festival Hall, Melbourne.[5]

Music career

Springfield was 13 when he learned guitar. He joined various bands in England, where his father was stationed from 1958 to 1963, and several more after returning to Australia.[1] In 1968, he was approached by bass guitarist Pete Watson to join his group Rockhouse.[6] Later that year, Watson changed the band's name to MPD Ltd and, in October when Springfield was 19 years old, they toured South Vietnam to entertain Australian troops. Another member of MPD Ltd was Danny Finley (drummer). Upon returning to Australia, they formed Wickedy Wak.[6] They were joined by Phil Blackmore on keyboards and Dick Howard.[6] Go-Set journalist Ian "Molly" Meldrum produced Wickedy Wak's single, "Billie's Bikie Boys", with Beeb Birtles of pop rock group Zoot as a backing vocalist.[7]

In September 1969, Springfield replaced Roger Hicks as lead guitarist and vocalist in Zoot, with Birtles on bass guitar and vocals, Darryl Cotton on lead vocals and guitar, and Rick Brewer on drums.[8] Upon joining Zoot, Springfield adopted the "Think Pink – Think Zoot" theme that had the band members dressed head to toe in pink satin.[7][9] The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted numerous teenage girl fans; however it caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians.[7][9] Zoot's fifth single, "Hey Pinky", was written by Springfield.[10] The group attempted to shake off their teeny-bopper image.[7][9] They followed with a hard rock cover version of The Beatles' hit "Eleanor Rigby", which peaked at No. 4 on Go-Set's Top 40 in March 1971.[11] Despite another hit single with "Freak" in April,[12] which was written by Springfield,[13] the band broke up in May.[9][14][15]

Springfield signed with Sparmac Records and issued his début solo single, "Speak to the Sky", in October, which peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set singles chart.[16] Sparmac label owner, Robie Porter, was also producer and manager for Springfield.[7] After recording his début album, Beginnings, in London, Springfield moved to the United States in mid-1972.[9] Springfield provided all the songwriting, lead vocals, guitar, keyboard and banjo for the album.[8] "Speak to the Sky" was issued in the US by Capitol Records and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September.[8][17] His début album, Beginnings, was the first of seven top 40 albums on the related Billboard 200.[18] However, follow-up success was hampered by rumours that Capitol Records paid people to purchase Springfield's albums, which led to some radio stations boycotting his music.[19]

In 1973, Springfield signed to Columbia Records and recorded his second album, Comic Book Heroes, which was also produced by Porter.[8] In Australia, released on Porter's new label, Wizard Records, the album and its two singles failed to chart.[8] Springfield was promoted as a teeny pop idol similar to David Cassidy and Donny Osmond.[8]

Springfield spoke of the teenybopper image in Circus Magazine[20] in 1973. He said he was not sure how it happened. "Someone saw my photo and that was it."[20] He went on to say that someone asked to take a photo of him in a white suit and thought that it was "a bit dull", so he took some crayons and "scrawled an R with a lightning bolt going through it ... which became my emblem."[20]

From September 1972 to September 1973, Springfield starred as "himself" in the ABC-TV Saturday morning cartoon series Mission: Magic!, for which he usually wrote and performed an original song in each episode. In 1974, he issued an Australia-only album, Mission: Magic!, which was "full of infectious bubblegum pop songs".[8] His single, "Take a Hand", reached the US top 50 in 1976. The single was taken from the album Wait for Night, which was issued by his new label, Chelsea Records. Soon after its release, the record company folded.[8][17] During the late 1970s, he concentrated more on his acting career, guest-starring in several primetime TV dramas.[1][8]

Springfield continued to write and record and, in 1981, released his next album, Working Class Dog. The album spawned the single "Jessie's Girl", a worldwide hit which peaked at No. 1 for two weeks in the US on the Hot 100 and the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart.[17][21]

Springfield won the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.[22][23] Working Class Dog reached No.7 on the Billboard 200.[18] Another top 10 single from the album was the Sammy Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You".[8][17] He had further success with the follow-up albums Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982) and Living in Oz (1983).

Springfield was frustrated with people in interviews mistaking him for Bruce Springsteen, expressed in the track "Bruce" on the album Beautiful Feelings (1984). In 1984, Springfield starred in his own movie, Hard to Hold, and recorded the majority of the material on the accompanying soundtrack. The soundtrack included a top-ten hit, "Love Somebody", as well as several moderately successful follow-up singles. However, the movie itself was not successful, and the soundtrack's success (though higher than that of the movie) paled in comparison to previous Springfield albums. Nonetheless, Springfield released his next album Tao in 1985, scoring several modest hits from this release, including "State of the Heart" and "Celebrate Youth". That same year, Springfield was one of several performers who participated in the Live Aid charity concert.[24] Around this time, he took a brief hiatus from recording.

Springfield was a judge for the eighth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.[25][26]

Acting career

Springfield in September 2011 before a performance in Boston

Springfield made his acting debut on The Six Million Dollar Man on October 30, 1977, in an episode entitled "Rollback". In December, he appeared on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, portraying Ned Nickerson. On January 20, 1978, Springfield guest-starred on an episode of Wonder Woman entitled "Screaming Javelin." The character he portrayed was Tom, the concerned fiancé of an Olympic gymnast who had been kidnapped by a megalomaniac. Later in 1978, Springfield played the character of Zac in Saga of a Star World, which was, with some differences, the pilot episode of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series. He also co-starred as Keith Stewart in episode 17 of season 4 ("Dwarf in a Helium Hat") on The Rockford Files and as Tommy Archer in episode 4 ("Murder on the Flip Side") of The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978. In 1979, he guest-starred on an episode of "The Incredible Hulk" entitled "The Disciple" as Mike Roark, a police officer who must decide whether to avenge the death of his father who was also a police officer, or simply provide justice and capture the alleged criminal. In 1981, he became a soap opera star on General Hospital. He had signed a contract with RCA Records and already recorded the album Working Class Dog, which neither he nor his agent had expected would do very well, which is why Springfield took the soap role. But the song "Jessie's Girl" went to No. 1 and Springfield ended up both playing the role of Dr. Noah Drake from 1981 to 1983, while simultaneously going on tour with his band. The success of the song boosted the ratings of the show which, according to Springfield, "became the biggest show on TV for that summer". The fame from the show also boosted the sale of the song.[27]

In 1984, Springfield made a full-length feature film titled Hard to Hold. In 1998, he played in the film Legion. He also wrote the soundtrack for Hard to Hold. In 1992, he played the title role in the short-lived ABC series Human Target, based on the DC Comics character of the same name.[28] In 1989, he starred in the film Nick Knight, in which he played an 800-year-old vampire seeking a cure for his condition. The film was later remade as the first two episodes of the series Forever Knight. In 1991, he appeared in the made-for-TV movie Dying to Dance. From 1994 to 1997 he starred in the television series High Tide that ran for 69 episodes.

In addition to the roles on television and in film, Springfield also acted in musical theatre. In 1995, he was a member of the original Broadway cast of the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe.[29] This Tony Award-nominated musical featured the songs of rock & roll songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. From February 2000 to December 2002, Springfield performed in EFX Alive![30] at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Springfield starred in several episodes of the third season of Showtime's Californication. His first appearance was in episode 3 on 11 October 2009, in which he plays a "twisted version of himself"; a "hedonistic Rick Springfield" from the past.[31] Springfield starred in "Ho'ohuli Na'au", an episode of Hawaii Five-0. He played the role of photographer Renny Sinclair.[32] Springfield also starred in "Everything Goes Better With Vampires", an episode of Hot in Cleveland. He played the role of a toll booth worker who pretended to be the famous singer/musician Rick Springfield in an attempt to impress women.[33] Springfield had a recurring role on True Detective as Dr. Irving Pitlor, a psychiatrist.[34][35]

In 2015 Springfield appeared as Greg alongside Meryl Streep in the Movie Ricki and the Flash.

in 2016, Springfield was cast as the character Lucifer on The CW show Supernatural for the show's 12th Season. He first appeared in the season's second episode Mamma Mia.

In July 2016, Springfield appeared on ABC's Greatest Hits.[36]

General Hospital

See also: Noah Drake and Eli Love

In December 2005, Springfield was asked by the General Hospital producers to return to the show in his role as Dr. Noah Drake after a 23-year absence.[37][38] His run was subsequently extended although, as of 2007, he remains a recurring guest star and not a full contract cast member.[39]

Springfield returned to General Hospital as Dr. Noah Drake in April 2013.[40]

Personal life

Springfield during the shock/denial/anger/acceptance tour in 2004

In October 1984, Springfield married his girlfriend, Barbara Porter, in his family's church in Australia.[41] They had met several years earlier when Springfield was recording Working Class Dog and she was working as the recording studio receptionist. They have two sons, Liam (born 1985) and Joshua Springthorpe (born 1989).[1]

In 1985, when his first son was born and after the release of his Tao album, Springfield took a break from his musical career, to spend more time with his family, and to deal with the depression that had affected him since his adolescence.[42][43]

In popular culture

In 1985, Jimmy Hart recorded the song "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield", featured on The Wrestling Album.[44][45][46][47] The premise of the song is that the object of Hart's affection seems to idolize Springfield to the point that Hart feels rivaled by him, prompting Hart to pick up singing as well in order to compete for his girl's affection. The song makes references to "Dr. Noah Drake" as well as to "Jessie's Girl". In a 2014 interview, Springfield claimed that although he had heard the title and was aware of the song's existence and had met with Jimmy Hart in person, he had never actually heard the song.[48]

Memoir

Springfield's autobiography, Late, Late at Night: a Memoir (ISBN 978-1-4391-9115-6), was released in 2010. In October, it peaked at No. 13 on The New York Times Best Seller list.[49]

In August 2012, Late, Late at Night was named No. 23 of "The 25 Great Rock Memoirs of All Time" by Rolling Stone.[50]

Discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result
1982 Best Rock Vocal Male Performance "Jessie's Girl" Won
1983 "I Get Excited" Nominated
1983 Best Pop Vocal Performance Male "Don't Talk To Strangers" Nominated
1984 Best Rock Vocal Male Performance "Affair of the Heart" Nominated

On 9 May 2014, Springfield was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to music.[51]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rick Springfield Biography". The Biography Channel (UK). Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Kimball, Duncan; Sanders, Tiffany (2007). "Rick Springfield". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Rick Springfield Biography (1949–)". Film Reference. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Rick Springfield. "Late, Late at Night". Books.google.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  5. ↑ "Rick Springfield: On learning the craft of acting, wanting to be a rock star and living with depression". Abc.net.au. 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  6. 1 2 3 Kimball, Duncan; Culnane, Paul (2007). "MPD Ltd". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Kimball, Duncan (2007). "Zoot". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Rick Springfield'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 McFarlane, Ian (1999). Encyclopedia entry for 'Zoot'. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 9 August 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Hey Pinky". APRA Search Engine. Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 21 July 2011. Note: registered under Springfield's birth name, Richard Lewis Springthorpe.
  11. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed (6 March 1971). "National Top 60". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed (3 April 1971). "National Top 60". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Freak". APRA Search Engine. Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 21 July 2011. Note: registered under Springfield's birth name, Richard Lewis Springthorpe.
  14. ↑ "Official Web Site". Rick Springfield. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  15. ↑ "Zoot". Birtles.com. 7 June 2002. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  16. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed (19 February 1972). "National Top 40". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Rick Springfield Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media (Nielsen Company). Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  18. 1 2 "Rick Springfield > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  19. ↑ According to the 2005 A&E documentary Rick Springfield: Behind The Image.
  20. 1 2 3 "Rick Springfield – A Comic Book Hero No More" by Hugh Slafia, p. 27, Circus Magazine, No 36 – Vol 8, No 3, 1973 – Circus Enterprises Organisation K47453.
  21. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  22. ↑ "Rick Springfield > Charts & Awards > Grammy Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  23. ↑ "Past Winners Search Results for Artist: Rick Springfield". Grammy Awards. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  24. ↑ Lee Linder (14 July 1985). "'Global jukebox' makes plea for Africa". The Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. p. 6. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  25. ↑ "Boston's Own Debbie And Friends Among The 8th Annual Independent Music Awards Vox Populi Winners". Debbie and Friends. PRLog. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010.
  26. ↑ "Independent Music Awards – 8th Annual IMA Judges". Archived from the original on 29 January 2009.
  27. ↑ Soapography, "Rick Springfield and Kimberly McCullough", aired 16 June 2007 on SOAPnet
  28. ↑ King, Susan (31 July 1992). "Rick Springfield Targets Acting as Road to Success". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  29. ↑ "Smokey Joe's Cafe". Internet Theatre Database. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  30. ↑ "Review of EFX Alive, starring Springfield by Chuck Rounds on". Igoshows.com. 22 February 2001. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  31. ↑ "RickSpringfield.com". 17 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  32. ↑ "Hawaii Five-O Recap: Recently Arrested Rick Springfield Guest Stars". Current-movie-reviews.com. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-05-05. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  33. ↑ "Everything Goes Better With Vampires Recap: Joy dates a guy she thinks is her teen crush Rick Springfield (Rick Springfield)...". 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  34. ↑ Harnick, Chris (11 December 2014). "Rick Springfield joins True Detective season 2". E!. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  35. ↑ Herzog, Kenny (28 June 2015). "True Detective Recap: Death Crow". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  36. ↑ ABC
  37. ↑ Aurthur, Kate (30 November 2005). "Rick Springfield Returns as an Older, Drunker Soap Opera Hero". New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014.
  38. ↑ Kroll, Dan J. "GH News, Rick Springfield Returning to GH , General Hospital". Soapcentral. Archived from the original on 21 October 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  39. ↑ King, Susan (20 December 2005). "Springfield Returns To Hospital". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014.
  40. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  41. ↑ "About GH: About the Actors | Rick Springfield | General Hospital". Soapcentral.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  42. ↑ "American TV Icon: Rick Springfield". Fox News. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  43. ↑ Radio 94.5 "The Buzz""Interview". Archived from the original on 9 September 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2013. , 2 February 2006
  44. ↑ "The Wrestling Album:Jimmy Hart - Eat Your Heart Out, Rick Springfield". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  45. ↑ http://www.metrolyrics.com/eat-your-heart-out-rick-springfield-lyrics-wrestling.html
  46. ↑ http://www.kingjerrylawler.com/jimmyhartinterview.html
  47. ↑ http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1141079496.shtml
  48. ↑ http://interviewly.com/i/rick-springfield-jun-2014-reddit
  49. ↑ "NYT BestSellers list October 24,210 through November 7, 2010". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  50. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  51. ↑ "Tupac Shakur, Phil Hartman to receive Walk of Fame stars - see list". Ontheredcarpet.com. Retrieved 2015-08-05.

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