| Rick
Springfield
Biography
In
stark contrast to the raw human emotion
found on his powerful 2003 critically acclaimed
CD, “shock/denial/anger/acceptance”,
Rick Springfield has hit the ground running
with The Day After Yesterday, (release date
July 12, 2005 Gomer/DKE Records). The Day
After Yesterday is self described by Rick
as a warm and soulful collection featuring
his own interpretations of hit songs that
Rick says, “I’d wish I’d
written.” Each of the 14 tracks remain
both faithful to the originals while equally
allowing Rick the freedom to add his own
spin on classics from the Beatles, 10cc,
Foreigner, Cliff Richard and more as well
as a new Rick penned original.
“I've
always wanted to record these songs”
Rick Springfield says. “They have
been favorites of mine for a long time.
They ‘re songs I wish I'd written.
I wanted to be faithful to the originals
but still treat them a little differently
and also give them the benefit of the new
technology. Plus, I wanted to see if it
would be easier and less painful doing a
CD of songs I hadn't written...and it was.”
Tracks
include I’m Not In Love (10cc), Under
The Milky Way (The Church), Life In A Northern
Town (Dream Academy), Broken Wings (Mister
Mister), Human (Human League), Holding On
To Yesterday (Ambrosia), Baker Street (Gerry
Rafferty), Waiting For A Girl Like You (Foreigner),
Let’s Go Out Tonight (Blue Nile),
For No One (Beatles), Miss You Nights (Cliff
Richard), Blue Rose (Lizz Wright), Cry (Rick
Springfield) and Imagine (John Lennon).
On
April 26, 2005, Sony/BMG released Written
in Rock, Rick Springfield Anthology, a 2-Disc
set spanning Rick Springfield’s recording
career to date. Rick writes in the liner
notes: “This is the first time I’ve
ever been involved in a compilation of my
work, and this one covers the whole span
of my career so far. I consider these songs
to be the highlights of my past albums and
they definitively represent the different
eras of my songwriting. I’m happy
to be a part of this. It was a blast hearing
all these songs again.”
Rick
Springfield has withstood the test of time
far better than most critics would ever
have imagined, writing and performing some
of the best-crafted power pop of the past
30 years. Rick formed his first band in
high school, and eventually joined the group
Rock House, who’s who dodged mortars
while performing for troops during a tour
of Vietnam in 1968. A much sought after
and highly accomplished lead guitarist in
his native Australia, he moved on from Rock
House to join the popular band The Zoot
in 1970. Springfield went solo after Zoot’s
breakup in 1971, and garnered his first
U.S. success the following year with a re-recording
of his Australian hit "Speak to the
Sky" (Capitol, 1972, #14). 1974 and
1975 saw Rick’s skill as a songwriter
evolve as pure pop confections oozed from
the grooves of his next two album, Comic
Book Heroes and Mission Magic, the later
being the soundtrack for the Saturday morning
cartoon series of the same name starring
Rick as a rock-n-roll troubleshooter with
each episode featuring one of Rick’s
original tunes.
Perfectly poised for chart-topping success,
Rick went on to record the masterful Wait
For Night, only to have the album abandoned
promotionally when the parent record label
collapsed in 1976. A breakthrough came when
Rick was able to secure a recording contract
with RCA on the strength of his next batch
of demos. In the midst of recording what
would become the quintessential pop album
Working Class Dog, for his debut on the
RCA label, Rick was cast to play the young,
eligible Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital
in 1981. As one of the show’s most
popular cast members in it’s history,
Rick’s popularity skyrocketed, setting
the stage for the imminent release of Working
Class Dog later that year. Powered by 3
Top 40 hits including the classic the classic
Number One Hit Jessie's Girl, (RCA, 1981,
# 1) and the Top Ten follow-up I've Done
Everything for You, (RCA, 1981, #8) as well
as the party-starter, Love is Alright Tonite,
Working Class Dog enjoyed multi-platinum
smash success, and Rick eagerly left his
first major TV role behind to fully focus
on his first love of music when television
taping conflicted with his sold-out tour
schedule.
The follow-up album, Success Hasn't Spoiled
Me Yet, again reached multi-platinum certification
after its release in 1982, spawning the
smash hit Don't Talk to Strangers (RCA,
1982, #2); Both multi-platinum albums featured
nods to Rick’s story of hard work
and perseverance on their cover art as portrayed
by his beloved canine companion, Ronnie.
1983's Living in Oz took an edgier stance
musically, spawning the Top Ten Hit Affair
of the Heart. (RCA, 1983, #9) as well as
the crowd pleasing arms-in-the-air hit Human
Touch (RCA, 1983, #18) When Springfield
made his big screen debut in 1984 for the
movie Hard to Hold, the soundtrack found
Rick with another Top Five hit, Love Somebody.
(RCA, 1984, #5)
Rick’s
recording career continued with Tao (1985),
and 1988’s Rock of Life whose title
track remains a fan favorite and live show
staple. Rick took time off from recording
to settle in with family life and subsequently
released Sahara Snow in 1997, his first
full album of collaborative work with Tim
Pierce and Bob Marlette. Karma , released
in 1998, coincided with Rick’s full
blown return to the concert stage performing
to sell out crowds as fans clamored to the
internet, hungry for word of Rick’s
return to their hometown. The much anticipated
Greatest Hits Alive (2001) illustrated Rick’s
unique brand of unstoppable energy in the
live arena while the power of the critically
acclaimed shock/denial/anger/acceptance
(2004) propelled Rick onward, touring continuously
through 2004 into 2005. The “Shock
Tour” culminated with a raucous cold-out
concert in Rockford, IL filmed in high-definition
for forthcoming broadcast and DVD release
that also provided fans with their first
glimpse of songs from Rick’s latest
CD, The Day After Yesterday.
Rick
has sold over 19 million records while charting
a whopping 17 Top 40 hits to date. Having
performed for millions of fans over the
last three decades, and showing no signs
of slowing down, Rick continues to play
100 shows a year, sharing his love of performing,
unstoppable energy and his unique brand
of crowd interaction with thousands of fans
each night. Rick literally wades deep into
the crowd at each show. Rick Springfield
is currently on tour to support his new
release The Day After Yesterday.
More
information available at www.rickspringfield.com
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