Success Still Hasn't Spoiled This Working Class Dog Yet

By Shaunn Cartwright
Guardsman A&E Editor
Published Sep. 4, 1998

When I first saw him, I was a 12 year old tomboy, but I knew, he was "hot!" I taped video interviews with him on my little audio recorder, I listened to every radio show and top 10-100 countdown that he was in, watched him practically every week on Solid Gold and my favorite soap opera. He was my first record (not tape or cd, kiddies), my first poster, my first concert ticket (until it was stolen) and most importantly, my first crush.

When my Friend Kim first saw him, she was seven. Puberty was still far off in the distance but that didn’t stop her from falling head over heels for him. She remembers slumber parties where she and her friends would lip synch his songs while perched on the family coffee table. When his movie came out, she wasn’t even old enough to get in without an adult to see him run naked down a hallway.

Now it’s 16 years, 18 albums, three TV shows and three movies later and the feeling is still just as strong. So who is he? Well, remember that 80s song, Jessie’s Girl (you know you loved that song) and that guy, Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital? Yep, it’s Rick Springfield(not Bruce Springsteen!). And no, he’s not dead, thank you very much. We finally saw him in concert, Aug. 16 in San Ramon (Kim’s second time, my first) and he was everything we ever expected him to be and more. I never understood those girls in all the black and white videos crying and screaming at a Beatles concert. I mean, get a grip! But there I was, surrounded by 300 sweaty, drooling, screaming women (there were a few men) watching him sing his heart out while my eyes filled with tears and a scream (or maybe just a howl) welled up inside my chest.

I had waited 16 years to see him in concert and he looked and sounded even greater in concert than I expected. Of course he sang Jessie’s Girl and all the best songs off his many albums, but he also sang a new song. New song?! Yep, It’s Always Something is off his upcoming album which is slated to be released in October for his Karma tour. We can’t wait. (And of course, you can read that review right here in The Guardsman) During the concert, he’d venture out into the audience (he must be crazy) and let all those women touch him, hug him, kiss him and ... well, I’m pretty sure that’s all I saw. At one point, he jumped up on a railing two rows ahead of Kim and I and it didn’t take us too long to hurdle the corpse like guy in front of us to get as near to him as possible. Kim got closer than I did, but I got to watch her reach out very slowly, index finger extended much like e.t., and touch the tip of his shoe. It was pretty funny.

Later on, as he started to wade through 15 or so rows of lusty 20something to 50something women, we hoped he’d get closer, when he turned and came right towards us. I don’t remember any sounds, I just remember "him" walking straight towards me in slow motion before stopping directly in front of me. Of course, I seized the opportunity to hold his hands and fulfill that 12 year old fantasy of touching his
chest while Kim kissed his hand.

After the concert, he came outside to accomodate every fans request for pictures, kisses, hugs, autographs or a quick story. I managed a hug, a kiss and found out who the woman was in the song Inside Sylvia, but Kim (damn her!) managed a kiss right smack on the lips. Springfield’s song, Just one Kiss has an entirely new meaning now for a very giggly Kim. For me, the song Red Hot and Blue Love, will still do just fine. So here we are, 16 years after the fact, still infatuated by the same man and still a bit breathless. The love affair between Springfield and his fans is as old as MTV, older than two out of three Hanson brothers, started just after the first release of Grease, has survived nearly all of Roseanne’s marriages, outlived "New Coke," Atari and all of Michael Jackson’s noses, and is still as sweet as ever.