Rick Springfield - Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by the 1995 CD reissue.

I recently came across a used CD of this mediocre piece of pop rock released by a soap opera heartthrob and couldn't resist. As I wrote a few weeks back: "Sometimes a nostalgic reunion with sorta familiar music from your distant past is exactly what you need." After a few spins of the disc, I've determined I'm good for another 44 years. Have a nice day.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "although far from adventurous maintains all the pop and AOR hooks that radio seems to thrive on"
• CashBox: "Each track here has a hook-heavy persuasion and sharp, bouncy riffs that epitomize the meaning of the word 'pop'"
• Record World: "energetic pop-rock that's sure to set radio and retail on fire"
• Rolling Stone (★★⯪☆☆): "he's a seasoned, knowledgeable rock & roller who should be making records better than Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet."
• Stereo Review: "if, as the album title claims, success hasn't spoiled Springfield yet, it has slowed him down a bit."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #2
• Billboard Rock: #5
• CashBox: #4
• Rolling Stone: #7

Tracks:

Title	Hot 100	Rock	AC
Don't Talk To Strangers	2	11	30
What Kind Of Fool Am I	21
I Get Excited	32
Calling All Girls		4

All of the above tunes are included in the first 7 tracks on the CD. More than likely, I played side one of this album (tracks 1-6 on CD), flipped the LP over, and played Don't Talk To Strangers before moving on to spinning a different album. In other words, I don't recall much of tracks 8-12. Don't Talk To Strangers certainly rises above the other tracks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I'm 99% sure I originally bought this album in late April/early May 1982 at a record store on the Drag in Austin. My crack staff informs me that Don't Talk To Strangers was sitting at #5 in Billboard's Hot 100 that week. I was a 15 year old high school sophomore at the time and was in Austin for school-related activities (more on that week here). If memory serves, I bought this LP along with my first copy of Revolver and a couple of pinbacks. One of my friends, being much cooler than me, picked up a copy of Sandinista! at the same time and that was my introduction to both The Clash and Central American politics. Then we all piled back on a yellow school bus for the trip back home, said trip most likely involving a group sing-along of an ELO tune.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Working Class Dog (1981)

Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 25th anniversary edition with 3 bonus tracks and surprisingly good liner notes.

Yeah, yeah, I know I should have probably purchased this album back in '81 like everybody else. But, due to some typically odd 14-year-old adolescent reasoning, I thought this pretty boy stuff was for the ladies, not wannabe macho guys like me. Never mind that I was buying Manilow and smooth jazz records at the time, I wasn't gonna be eatin' no quiche!

©1982

Naturally, the irony of having such a juvenile mindset was completely lost on my juvenile mind. Sure, I liked the album's three hits when they played on the radio back in '81, but I just couldn't bring my knuckledheaded self to buy an album from a soap star. But somebody I palled around with must have owned the cassette because I remember all the songs from what was side one (tracks 1-5) here, including the two filler tunes. You'll be happy to know I eventually got over myself and bought the follow-up, Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet, in spring of 1982 (I keep saying I need to revisit that one). However, if I heard the remaining tracks on Working Class Dog before purchasing this CD, I have no memory of it.

Regardless, this album is full of hook-filled, well-crafted power pop achieved by using a very typical, structured pop formula - as producer Bill Drescher states in the liner notes: "strong intro, strong verse, strong chorus, a good bridge and then back to the chorus." Thought was also given to the song's endings, as 9 of the 10 tracks have definite endings that don't fade out - only the final track falls away and I'm usually done by then anyway.

Jessie's Girl won the Grammy Award for Rock Male Vocalist and the album was nominated for Best Album Package (eventually losing to Tattoo You).

Press of the time:

• Trouser Press: "muscular bubblegum - rock that comes on strong and has a squishy center"
• CashBox: "Crystalline power chords, bracing harmonies and catchy as all get out hooks make this LP a rock n’ roll event."
• Billboard: "Catchy, mainstream rock"
• Stereo Review: "Springfield at last proves himself to be a pop performer of some substance."
• Record World: "Springfield is anything but a dog, but he could appeal to the working class."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #7
• Billboard Rock: #16
• CashBox: #13
• Rolling Stone: #17

Tracks: Jesse's Girl was the big hit but I think the best tune is the album opener, Love Is Alright Tonight with its most excellent chorus. This album is definitely front-loaded with all three Top 40 hits in the first five tracks and then it falls apart as it ends, finishing with an odd road house blues/boogie woogie pastiche of a track followed by a below-average ballad. But 8 out of 10 ain't bad. However, that would explain why I was only familiar with the first five tracks - I imagine side one of cassette tapes and vinyl saw a lot more playing time than side two.

There's some obvious derivations here: Carry Me Away sounds like it could have been recorded by Kansas, The Light Of Love by The Babys, and so on. But he was looking for a big commercial hit, so who can blame him? I knew that I've Done Everything For You was written by Sammy Hagar, but until I read the liner notes of this CD, I was unaware that producer Keith Olson first tried to get Pat Benatar to record it and she turned it down, but the Springfield version is played and arranged by Benatar's husband Neil Geraldo. So it's essentially a Benatar track with Rick's vocals and now I can't unhear that. Still a great tune, though.

Bonus tracks: we got 3 of 'em - a 70's sounding Kansas/Foreigner ripoff (Easy To Cry), an early version of Taxi Dancing, and the demo of Jesse's Girl. The first two were part of the tape that got Rick a recording deal with RCA. The first is surprisingly good - it wouldn't have fit on the original WCD album, but it's worth a listen. The other two are worth one pass each.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD (lifted from a previous post): One of the older girls I was crushing on around 1981 had a boyfriend with a two-syllable name and I would often sing along to this tune substituting his name for Jessie's. And then outta nowhere she dumped him for me! Just kidding, they've been married for many years.

Ricky Springfield is a buddy of Rahad