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After decades on the fringes — or maybe just the summer county fair circuit — Rick Springfield, now 58, just landed his 17th CD, Venus In Overdrive, at #28 on the Billboard charts for his highest debut in 20 years. This was shocking for a number of reasons: 1) 17th CD? Really? 2) Apparently Springfield has sold close to 20 million CDs. Again, really? 3) 58? Wow, he looks good — maybe even better than contemporaries Sting and David Bowie.

All of which brings me back to the ear-piercing squeals and radio contest winner photo-op line at my one and only Rick Springfield concert circa 1982 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As you can see from the photo, my friend David and I were wearing our '80s finest quasi-military gear for the occasion, outdone only by our new best mate, who went full metal jacket with his green paratrooper jumpsuit, frosted-tip new wave mullet, and spanking white Reebok high tops. (Remember those?) My friend's older brother had actually won the tickets, but felt "above" Springfield's particular brand of pop. So, we were dropped off by David's mom and hustled backstage to wait in line for our way awkward grin and grip with the soap-opera singer-turned pop star.
 
 
My first brush with fame may have been better if I were a tweenage girl, because I was pretty sure after seeing the show that it would be the last I'd hear of Mr. Springfield. That is until I recently heard my four-year-old daughter singing at the top of her lungs in the other room, "I wish I was Jessie's gurllllllll!" over and over and over again. She went on like this for about 10 minutes until I finally asked, "Where did you hear that?" She smiled, blamed her school pal, and said, "Lilly's car. She loves that song! It's awesome."

Awesome. Exactly.
OK, so he's got a certain look.

I can only imagine the new generation of young girls and soccer moms (and their moms) everywhere so enthralled with the AARP-eligible rocker that they rushed out to buy the album. That might partially explain the chart love — that and the fact that last year he returned to the scene of his first brush with fame, TV's General Hospital, where the Australian native put the Dr. Noah Drake scrubs on again. And, in an only-in-the-soaps twist, he simultaneously suited up as an Aussie-accented alter ego, rocker Eli Love. It probably didn't hurt that he performed his new single, "What's Victoria's Secret?" in character on the show the week before the album's chart debut. Or that it basically rips off the "Jessie" riff and, mark my words, will eventually end up in ads for the lingerie company, unless they sue him first. Actually, if you look around, it's kind of like Ricky Boy never really left us.

Rick Springfield as Eli Love

 

Rolling Stone just voted "Jessie's Girl" the #1 karaoke song of all time. Rockers Everclear and country act Rascal Flatts have covered it during their live shows; it was featured in the Jennifer Garner flick 13 Going On 30, though not to be outdone by its place in Paul Thomas Andersons' Boogie Nights with the ultra creepy Alfred Molina scatting along to it during a drug deal gone about to go horribly wrong as his "Awesome Mix Tape #6" unspools in the background.

Here's where it all began. 

"Jessie's Girl"

 

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