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For the upcoming We Are The 80s CD were you able to
hand pick the songs that made the CD?
Rick Springfield-Yeah
I had a little bit. There were obvious choices. They consulted
us. That's Sony right? They've been great with hooking
up with me. We did a compilation too. We did a two CD
compilation that was out last year that I wrote notes
for and everything. They are really into having the artist
work with them on the things where as BMG before RCA when
I was signed with RCA and I left they would just put a
greatest hits out every year just slap some new cover
on it and switch the songs around. You'd hear about it
from fans that there is a new greatest hits out. Sony's
been great. They've been really involved and they want
to get the artist involved in everything I've done.
Are you looking forward to the upcoming We Are The 80s
tour?
Rick Springfield-Yeah.
I think it's gonna be very interesting and it's a summer
kinda thing and they seem to work very well in the summer,
doing the package tours. I think it will be great.
Will Hard To Hold ever be coming to DVD?
Rick Springfield-It's
already on DVD.
Ooops! I guess I should have done my research. A fan sent
me that question. Will you be touring smaller markets
like the Virginia and the Carolina's any time soon?
Rick Springfield-Yeah.
We tour a lot so I'm sure we'll get there.
What was it like going back to General Hospital after
so many years?
Rick Springfield-It
was good. It was kind of something like just another acting
gig. It was kind of strange seeing the name Noah Drake
written on wardrobe, the clothes that I wore, but apart
from that it was pretty normal.
Do you know if they have any plans to expand the characters
storyline?
Rick Springfield-No,
I don't really know. I mean I'm doing a lot of other stuff.
I can't be in there every week and they know that. I don't
think they can write anything too in depth because I'm
not available.
Do you want to tell me about some of the things you have
going on?
Rick Springfield-I'm
just starting a Christmas album. We have a DVD of a concert
last year that we have coming out. A high definition DVD,
an 8 camera shoot that we shot in Coronado. We are going
to be doing a cruise next year, a Rick Springfield Cruise,
and I'm writing for a new solo record.
Cool. So the cruise will be something that fans can buy
tickets for?
Rick Springfield-Yes.
There will be guests both music and probably self guests
and a lot of great stuff. There are a couple of areas
where we do shows for like 5 nights at a place and it
becomes a big hardcore fan hang and we do a bunch of songs
that we never do usually and its usually something the
fans really look forward to so we thought a cruise would
be something really great.
I write about numerous artists and I always visit and
artist's website when I am preparing for an interview
and your website is one of greatest websites I have seen
for any artist, multi genre. Do you have a lot of input
with your website?
Rick Springfield-I
do actually. We have an incredible guy that does it. He's
a genius guy and he came to us and said, "I want to do
your website," and he's been amazing on it. It's a very,
very fan friendly site. It's very deep and there is a
lot of stuff there and there are a lot of places to go.
A couple of band members have their own little thing in
there. My dog has his own diary. There are photos, it's
a very fan friendly site and I love it. There is a special
section which is called Access RS its like a pay part
of the site where they get all the special stuff I answer
questions every week and there is a special section of
the diary that I write in there all the time and there
are special contests and stuff and we are going to be
things like a limited edition hand written lyrics to some
of the songs. It's really the kind of thing I would like
if I was a fan.
Speaking of the fans, there are so many awesome fan websites
out there do you ever get to check out the fan websites?
Rick Springfield-Yeah
I do sometimes. Sometimes someone will send me a link
to it. It's pretty amazing what they've done. There's
a lot of work inside some of those fan sites too.
Which song from Shock-Denial-Anger-Acceptance gets the
most positive reaction from the fans?
Rick Springfield-"Jesus
Saves White Trash Like You." We do that live and everybody
gets into it. The whole audience does not just hard core
fans who have heard it. It's quite a positive song and
by that time I'm usually out in the middle of the audience
doing it. We do "Wasted." It seems to be a fan favorite.
It's about a specific person. They are all very personal
stories and it was a hard rocking album and I think they
like that.
I know last fall I reviewed your album The Day After
Yesterday how did you go about choosing the songs for
that project?
Rick Springfield-Well
it was the next album after Shock-Denial-Anger-Acceptance
which was a very hard sounding hard rocking record and
I wanted something mellow. I used like "I'm Not In Love,"
"Broken Wings," kind of moody atmospheric kinds of songs
like that as a blueprint and just picked them based on
that so it would be a much more mellow record. Songs that
were not necessarily overplayed on the radio. There were
some that went under the radar like "Under The Milky Way,"
and "Life In A Northern Town." Something that I always
loved about "Baker Street." That song has been played
a lot but I just love that song so much.
Were you pleased with the results of your Behind The Music
segment that aired a couple of years ago?
Rick Springfield-Yeah
I think they did a very good job actually. There is a
lot of stuff left on the cutting room floor I did like
8 hours of interviews. But they had to focus on one particular
angle and they did and went with that. I thought it was
good. The feedback on it was very good.
Do you feel like you've been acknowledged enough for your
guitar playing and song writing?
Rick Springfield-No,I
dont think anyone ever feel acknowledged enough? (laughter).
It's not an issue with me because I'm confident in both.
I've certainly heard enough times from writers and musicians
and fans that they think I'm underrated in both areas
and to me that is a good sign so I can surprise people
rather than them thinking "Oh I thought he would be better."
You have written so many great songs I think my favorite
song of yours is "What Kind of Fool Am I?"
Rick Springfield-Thanks.
I wrote that about the girl that became my wife.
Of all of your music videos are there any that are particularly
your favorite?
Rick Springfield-Yeah
I loved "Dance this World Away." It was done by David
Fincher. We filmed it up in San Francisco and it was the
first video that he had done and he went on to do big
multi-million dollar videos and then started directing
Seven and Fight Club and all those movies but
he was a young guy at a time in San Francisco and he directed
three videos, "Celebrate Youth," and "Dance This World
Away," off the Tao album. The "Dance This World
Away," video is rarely seen but it's still one of my favorite
ones I've done.
Was the dog on the Working Class Dog album your dog?
Rick Springfield-Yeah
very much so. That was Ron.
What can fans that come out to the show this summer expect?
Rick Springfield-They
will go away hot and sweaty I guarantee it.
Last question, I know you get this all the time. When
you wrote "Jessie's Girl," did you imagine that over twenty
years later this song would be the modern classic that
it is?
Rick Springfield-No,
I didn't actually. I just thought it was another album
cut. I thought it was a good song but I certainly never
picked it as a single. I thought it would make a nice
album cut and it definitely hit a nerve. You can't really
have control over that. It's one of those things you do
your work and you know if the timings right and the Gods
are with you something special happens, something special
happens and it certainly did with that particular song
more so with any of the others. I'm very proud of that.
I'm perplexed.
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is an author and the webmaster
For Thabiz.com.
Rick Springfield interview copyright
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2006
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She is
the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as a
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inquiries, lyric writing inquiries, reprint rights,
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Rick Springfield
interview may not be reprinted, copied or distribute without
permission. You may link to this interview.Interview copyright
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com July 2006.
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