Buoyed by one of the biggest hits of the decade, Rick Springfield enjoyed an impressive run as one of the most consistent hitmakers in the first half of the 80s. And, like many of that era, the second half of the decade was harder for him to navigate.
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He managed to score one solid smash in the second of the 80s. It would be the last one of his career, in part because he put that career on hiatus not long after it was released.
More than Just Jessie
“Jessie’s Girl” stands as one of the defining hits that helped establish the sound of the 80s. In fact, its legacy is such that it may overshadow all the other successes that Rick Springfield delivered as an artist throughout his music career.
For example, Springfield scored a top 15 US hit at the start of his solo career with the spiritually inclined “Speak To The Sky”, which came out a full decade before “Jessie’s Girl”. He then battled to regain that level of exposure for a long stretch while also establishing his acting career.
Once “Jessie’s Girl” returned him to the limelight, he made sure he wasn’t going to lose it. Springfield churned out an incredible 15 Top 40 hits in the US in the years 1981 through 1985. With numbers like those, it’s a bit of a travesty that Springfield doesn’t get more respect as a true pop music legend.
“Life” Happens for Rick Springfield
In any case, those hits started settling a little bit lower on the charts in 1984 and 1985. Rick Springfield was struggling a bit in his personal life. A bout of depression fueled music that skewed a bit gloomier than the power pop anthems from his first few albums of the decade.
And then Springfield took a three-year hiatus. A lot was happening in his life, including the birth of his first child. In addition, he was dealing with writer’s block. As it turned out, the first situation helped solve the second.
When Springfield returned to action, his music had brightened again. He chose “Rock Of Life”, the title track to his new album, as the first single. The production was bold, melding quasi-reggae rhythmic touches with shout-along choruses. It was a big swing musically, which somewhat masked the ambivalence of the lyrics.
Pop and Substance
While a lot of songwriters use the birth of a child as an excuse for a tender ballad, Rick Springfield admits in the lyrics of “Rock Of Life” to feelings of “pain and confusion” mixed in with the glad tidings. “Waking up blind with the house on fire” is a pretty good estimation of how it feels when a child enters your life, and you don’t quite have your own stuff together.
The public responded well to “Rock Of Life”. Springfield found himself back in the Top 40 at No. 22. Maybe he might have sustained that momentum. But he was prevented from touring behind the Rock Of Life album due to a serious motorcycle accident.
Rick Springfield decided to leave the pop music chase behind following that. He wouldn’t return with a new album until 1999 with Karma. As a result, “Rock Of Life”, a somewhat forgotten gem, serves as his last foray into the pop charts’ rarefied air.
Photo by Larry Marano/Shutterstock
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