Honestly, I was not expecting this
September 19, 2023 4:54 AM Subscribe
So, it's possible that one of my favorite albums of this year is by... Dr. Noah Drake? All I can do is ask that you check out the newest album from 74-year-old Rick Springfield, Automatic [YT Playlist ~1h total]. He talked to American Songwriter about this album, which blends dance hooks with punk rock. Here's the first single, title track Automatic. But please check out the full album.
There's always been a lot more to Rick than just Jessie's Girl. I've dipped in and out of his releases from time to time across literally decades, but this is the first one that's made me genuinely sit up and say "oh!" since maybe Tao.
There's always been a lot more to Rick than just Jessie's Girl. I've dipped in and out of his releases from time to time across literally decades, but this is the first one that's made me genuinely sit up and say "oh!" since maybe Tao.
"She Walks With the Angels" at the end of the American Songwriter interview sounds pretty good. Great set of pipes for a man in his mid-seventies. I will indeed check out the rest of the album—thanks, hippybear. Might have to check out the back-catalogue too, though it looks pretty vast. AllMusic suggests that the three albums starting with Working Class Dog, plus Tao, are the place to start.
posted by rory at 5:42 AM on September 19, 2023
posted by rory at 5:42 AM on September 19, 2023
The documentary An Affair of the Heart is excellent, even if you're not a fan.
posted by indexy at 5:43 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by indexy at 5:43 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
AllMusic suggests that the three albums starting with Working Class Dog, plus Tao, are the place to start.
That's pretty much the sweet spot for his career, yes.
posted by hippybear at 5:52 AM on September 19, 2023
That's pretty much the sweet spot for his career, yes.
posted by hippybear at 5:52 AM on September 19, 2023
Just watched the video - it is nice to see that Thulsa Doom recovered from the beheading in the temple to have a second career as a drummer, seems to be working out better than the cult leader thing.
posted by AndrewStephens at 8:06 AM on September 19, 2023
posted by AndrewStephens at 8:06 AM on September 19, 2023
I dunno about you, but after remembering rushing home from school to watch General Hospital I certainly feel very old suddenly.
another one for the "signs I should have accepted being trans earlier" wall.
posted by mephron at 8:13 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
another one for the "signs I should have accepted being trans earlier" wall.
posted by mephron at 8:13 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
This isn't the same Rick Springfield who was dating Linda Blair when he was 25 and she was 15, is it?
posted by yellowcandy at 8:54 AM on September 19, 2023
posted by yellowcandy at 8:54 AM on September 19, 2023
Looking forward to sharing this with my mum who used to go watch Rick Springfield play in Zoot many many years ago...
posted by pipstar at 9:23 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by pipstar at 9:23 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yellowcandy, some lyrics of Automatic further hint at the lack of self-awareness.
posted by 3.2.3 at 9:30 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by 3.2.3 at 9:30 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
He deejays on Sirius occasionally and he's pretty funny. Lots of good stories.
posted by emjaybee at 10:32 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 10:32 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that last verse on Automatic is a bummer. The world doesn’t need another old white dude complaining how sensitive everyone is these days.
But the rest is neat! Exit Wound is like Slippery When Wet era Bon Jovi. Love the bombastic production throughout.
posted by skullhead at 1:54 PM on September 19, 2023
But the rest is neat! Exit Wound is like Slippery When Wet era Bon Jovi. Love the bombastic production throughout.
posted by skullhead at 1:54 PM on September 19, 2023
We saw him play live at the Zoo and had a pretty good time. It was amusing how he threw in the guitar riff from "Jessie's Girl" in the middle of other songs during the show just to keep the audience on their toes. (It was the finale.)
posted by The Tensor at 2:43 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Tensor at 2:43 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Springfield's an interesting case. He's done a lot of mediocre stuff but he's a much better musician and actor than he needs to be, or gets credit for. Everybody's kinda put him in this box as an '80s one-hit wonder himbo, but if you give him a chance he can still surprise the hell out of you. He absolutely killed playing Lucifer in an arc on Supernatural a few years back, and if you haven't checked out Jessie's Girl 2 you're in for quite a ride. (Springfield looks a decade older than he did in that video, shot just a few years ago, and the dude still looks great for his age. How does that even work?)
That Jack Chrome track was something. I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a song to sound so much like Nick Cave and Tom Waits at the same time. (That's not meant as a dis.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:07 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
That Jack Chrome track was something. I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a song to sound so much like Nick Cave and Tom Waits at the same time. (That's not meant as a dis.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:07 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've certainly not really kept track of his career but I have tried to remember to notice him regularly, as I know he's still active. After 1988's Rock Of Life, I next got Venus In Overdrive in 2008, and Songs For The End Of The World in 2012... I will say he's probably got two songs on every album that make you take notice. And say that with confidence having not heard all of his albums, but that seems to be his minimum.
That Day Of The Dead album doesn't even appear on his Wikipedia discography page, which is probably a crime. I had never heard of it before, but I'm super glad it was mentioned here. Thanks, chavenet!
I guess he was kind of great in the rather star-studded and well-credentialed movie Ricki and the Flash, which I haven't actually seen but have meant to for nearly a decade now.
This album is still landing as ridiculous fun on my ear. The lyrics are more subtle than I think most will give them credit for, and as he said in that interview article, he wrote it deliberately maximizing the hooks, and wow, that's completely true.
I think at 20 tracks it's a bit too long, even at an hour. Might have made for a tight 15 tracks. And even then, that's seems like a ton of tracks but they're all only about 3 minutes long so none of them individually overstay their welcome.
Maybe if I put this album on shuffle so I heard some later tracks earlier in a listen through, I might come to love them all. I don't think he stacked weaker songs at the end, because they're all really catchy.
I feel like much of the current charts could learn things from him about songwriting, albeit perhaps not life approaches.
posted by hippybear at 8:58 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
That Day Of The Dead album doesn't even appear on his Wikipedia discography page, which is probably a crime. I had never heard of it before, but I'm super glad it was mentioned here. Thanks, chavenet!
I guess he was kind of great in the rather star-studded and well-credentialed movie Ricki and the Flash, which I haven't actually seen but have meant to for nearly a decade now.
This album is still landing as ridiculous fun on my ear. The lyrics are more subtle than I think most will give them credit for, and as he said in that interview article, he wrote it deliberately maximizing the hooks, and wow, that's completely true.
I think at 20 tracks it's a bit too long, even at an hour. Might have made for a tight 15 tracks. And even then, that's seems like a ton of tracks but they're all only about 3 minutes long so none of them individually overstay their welcome.
Maybe if I put this album on shuffle so I heard some later tracks earlier in a listen through, I might come to love them all. I don't think he stacked weaker songs at the end, because they're all really catchy.
I feel like much of the current charts could learn things from him about songwriting, albeit perhaps not life approaches.
posted by hippybear at 8:58 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by chavenet at 5:35 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]