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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 Ronnie.
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.
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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