"Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology": A 2005 U.S. release with 153 minutes of music!
Written: Dec 06 '05 (Updated Aug 14 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Rick Springfield's best, from Zoot through his solo years, is all here on 2 CDs.
Cons: No lyrics in CD booklet (very minor complaint).
The Bottom Line: More than two-and-a-half hours of music on 2 CDs, with 42 tracks personally chosen by Rick Springfield which span his career from 1970 through 2005.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Written in Rock: The Rick Springfield Anthology by...
Richard Lewis Springthorpe, whose recordings have sold over 20 million copies, recently was in the audience for a Raspberries (Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti) reunion show in Los Angeles reliving the youthful memories of a Raspberries' fan who is getting a bit older.
Nearby, also reliving their youth by watching the Raspberries perform a sell-out show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, were Raspberries' fans Paul Stanley of Kiss, Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's, Gilby Clarke of Guns 'n' Roses, Clem Burke of Blondie and members of The Romantics (at an earlier sell-out, two-night stand in New York City at B. B. King's, the Raspberries' audience had included Jon Bon Jovi, Little Steven, Max Weinberg, Billy J. Kramer, Desmond Child, members of The Rascals and members of Fotomaker).
But who is Richard Lewis Springthorpe? Well, he is better known by his stage name of Rick Springfield. He was so excited by the Raspberries gig that he went backstage, had his photo taken with the band, and then posted the photo with a personal description of the event on his own website (see a photo of Rick with Raspberries at http://www.rickspringfield.com/full/photos.html).
It's cool to see a "rock star" who is not afraid to be himself and who is still eager to "celebrate youth" at the age of 56.
While soap opera TV fans of "General Hospital" are celebrating his return to "General Hospital," rock fans can rejoice in the release of a new, definitive "greatest hits" package on RCA/Legacy/BMG Heritage, the recent U. S. release of "Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology" in 2005.
This CD
While "Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology" is not the first "best of" set from the star, it is the very best of them all. It shows the four-time Grammy nominee (he won in 1981 for "Best Male Rock Vocalist") and three-time American Music Awards winner in all of his musical glory.
It's a 2-CD, 42-track (actually 43 songs; one track is a two-song medley) set that features the best of Rick Springfield's Billboard magazine chart singles (between 1972 and 1988, he hit the Billboard Hot 100 with 17 singles, including five Top 10 U. S. hits).
"Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology" has a total running time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 8 seconds.
All 42 tracks were personally chosen by Springfield for this release. Springfield was the album's executive producer as well.
Really special is the fact that this collection spans Rick's entire career from his work in the band Zoot in 1970 through his solo activity through 2005, bringing together tracks that appeared on the various labels Springfield has recorded for over the years (EMI, Capitol, Chelsea, Columbia, RCA).
The remastered recordings sound crisp and clear --- great on a home studio or in the car, locations where these 2 CDs are going to see a lot of play from this writer.
The set includes a hard-to-find track by Rick's band Zoot (a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby") and a live performance of "Free" among its many stunning performances. Also featured is Rick's most recent hit, "Beautiful You", which hit the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 30 in 2004.
The 20-page CD booklet (with interviews and photo research by Raspberries' biographer Ken Sharp) features track-by-track commentary by Rick Springfield which provides a fascinating read. Yes, guys and gals, the booklet also features lots of great color photos of the still-very handsome Mr. Springfield.
My only booklet gripe: no lyrics, but that's a small complaint --- the booklet is otherwise very well-done and brings back a lot of memories (where's my walker?).
The 42 tracks:
"Eleanor Rigby" (performed by Zoot), "Speak To The Sky", "Believe In Me", "American Girls", "Take A Hand", "Jessie's Girl", "I've Done Everything For You", "Carry Me Away", "Love Is Alrite Tonite" and "The Light Of Love".
Also, "Everybody's Girl", "Inside Sylvia", "Don't Talk To Strangers", "Calling All Girls", "I Get Excited", "What Kind Of Fool Am I?", "Kristina", "Living In Oz", "Souls", "Affair Of The Heart", "Alyson" and "Me & Johnny".
Also, "Human Touch", "Love Somebody", "Don't Walk Away", "Bop 'Til You Drop", "Dance The World Away", "Celebrate Youth", "State Of The Heart", "Written In Rock", "Walk Like A Man" and "The Power Of Love (The Tao Of Love)".
Also, "Rock Of Life", "Honeymoon In Beirut", "World Start Turning", "Itsalwayssomething", "Ordinary Girl", "April 24, 1981"/"My Father's Chair" medley, "Free" (live), "Will I?", "Beautiful You" and "For No One".
Recommendation
"Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology" is a must have, even for the fan that already has more than one "best of" set from Rick Springfield.
Rick Springfield
Off the Top 40 Pop charts for many years (but still enjoying Adult Contemporary chart hits after selling over 20 million recordings worldwide), Rick Springfield continues to tour and to release brilliant albums (such as 2004's outstanding "Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance").
For those youngsters who may not listen to "classic rock" radio these days, I'll tell you who Rick Springfield is.
First off, he's a cool, guitar-playing singer-songwriter born in August of 1949 who could still pass for a guy in his 20's.
Rick, the son of an Australian Army colonel, is fondly remembered by Vietnam vets for performing for the troops while with one of his early bands in 1968-69 (there's a photo of him entertaining the troops in Vietnam at http://www.rickspringfield.com/RSdotcom/images/Vietnam 1968 'MPD').
Richard Lewis Springthorpe first became the true "rock star" known as Rick Springfield when he scored an Australian Gold Record Award as a member of the band known as Zoot (a band known for dressing in pink and named "Australia's #1 Band" in 1970) for their cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby".
While a member of Zoot, Springfield was also voted "Australia's # 1 Guitarist" in 1971 and 1972 (people sometimes forget what an incredible guitarist Springfield is).
Going solo in 1971, Springfield soon scored an Australian Top 10 album with "Speak To The Sky". The folks in the outback loved Springfield so much that he won magazine polls as "Australia's #1 Musician" and "Australia's #1 Singer-Songwriter" in 1972.
U. S. stardom
Hitting stateside in 1972 on Capitol Records (as a label-mate of that label's legendary acts such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Raspberries), Springfield scored with the long-player "Beginnings", which rose to #35 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.
On the singles charts in 1972, Rick scored his first U. S. hit with "Speak To The Sky", which had already hit #1 in his native Australia. Soon Springfield's shag-haired face was smiling from U. S. teen magazine covers, and beaming into living rooms across America from U. S. TV appearances on "American Bandstand" and "Sonny & Cher."
In 1974, Rick starred in the ABC-TV Saturday morning cartoon series "Mission Magic".
Minor hits, however, were what followed in the U. S. --- scoring three more Hot 100 singles through 1976, none of which hit the Top 40. Dropped by Capitol, Springfield then floated to other record labels including Chelsea and Columbia.
Springfield had no chart hits between 1976 (when "Take A Hand" hit #41) and 1980.
Rick Springfield, actor
With a music career on the skids, Springfield studied acting with Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"). He won guest spots on TV shows such as "The Incredible Hulk", "Nancy Drew", "The Rockford Files", "Wonder Woman" and "The Six Million Dollar Man".
In 1978, Springfield appeared in the pilot for the original version of TV's "Battlestar Galactica" as Colonial Viper pilot Zak (Zak was the brother of another pilot, Apollo, played by actor Richard Hatch, but Zak died in the show's first episode; a photo of Springfield and Hatch is at http://www.rock-of-life.com/images/biopics/BioPic5.jpg).
Then along comes superstardom as Dr. Noah Drake ("young lady, you seem to have a chest cold") on TV's "General Hospital," and American women of all ages were soon wanting a visit from "Dr." Springfield.
Rick Springfield, musician
TV stardom opened some closed doors, so Rick began writing songs for his "Working Class Dog" album in 1978. RCA signed him to a contract in 1979 for the album, but arguments over whether to put Rick Springfield's "teen dream" face or a picture of a dog on the cover of the LP kept the album from being released for a time.
RCA felt that Rick's TV stardom and good looks would sell the album. Springfield had been down the "good looks" path before and wanted to be known for his music this time out, so he wanted a photo of a dog wearing a white shirt and a black tie on the cover instead of his own face.
Rick won the argument in 1981, when the release of "Working Class Dog" saw the dog as the cover shot. MTV had launched the year before and was playing any music video it could find, so the video for Springfield's single "Jessie's Girl" was soon in heavy rotation on the music channel.
Superstardom
The rest, as they say, is history. "Working Class Dog" went to #7 on the album charts in 1981, bounced up the charts by heavy airplay for its debut single, "Jessie's Girl", which climbed to #1 for two weeks.
"Working Class Dog" soon sold over a million copies, going Gold and Platinum along the way during its amazing 73-week chart stay. It also produced additional hit singles with "I've Done Everything For You" (written by future Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar) rising to #8 and "Love Is Alright Tonite" reaching #20.
The album helped Rick win the American Music Awards title of "Best Male Vocalist" in 1982.
Superstardom
If anyone doubted Rick Springfield's "comeback" wouldn't continue, they were soon proven to be very wrong. Springfield's second LP, the cooly titled "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet", went to #2 on the charts for three straight weeks in 1982 (remaining in the Top 200 Albums arena for 35 weeks).
"Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet" gave birth to the hit singles "Don't Talk To Strangers" (which hit #2 for four straight weeks during its 21 weeks on the charts), "What Kind Of Fool Am I" (#21) and "I Get Excited" (Grammy-nominated, it peaked at #32).
With the singles starting to chart lower, Springfield left the cast of TV's "General Hospital" in 1983 to concentrate on his music career.
Declining sales
The next album, "Living In Oz" in 1983, failed to go Top 10, peaking at #12, but spending 57 weeks in the Top 200 Albums chart. It became Springfield's third multi-platinum-selling album.
The album produced the 1983 hits "Affair Of The Heart"(#9), "Human Touch" (#18) and "Souls" (#23).
In 1984, Springfield moved his career into motion pictures with the film "Hard To Hold". The movie lasted all of six weeks in theaters, but the soundtrack album rose to #16 during its 36 weeks on the music charts, producing a #5 single with "Love Somebody".
The "Hard To Hold" soundtrack (which also included tracks by Peter Gabriel, Nona Hendryx and Graham Parker) produced three additional hit singles for Springfield in 1984: "Don't Walk Away" (#26), "Bop 'Til You Drop" (#20) and "Taxi Dancing" (a duet with Randy Crawford that peaked at #59).
Falling star
Springfield married Barbara Porter in 1984 and new priorities in his life were necessary when his family began to grow (a son, Liam, came along in 1985, and his second son, Joshua, was born in 1989). He was also missing his father who had recently passed away.
Springfield's chart stardom began declining in 1985 when the "Tao" album sold the 500,000 units needed for a Gold Album Award, but couldn't sell the one million units needed to earn a Platinum Album Award (despite a sell-out tour and an appearance at Live Aid).
The "Tao" album produced the hits "Celebrate Youth" (#26) and "State Of The Heart" (#22), both of which fell far short of the Top 10.
1986 saw Rick's last live performance for the next seven years when he performed a tune about his father, "My Father's Chair", on "American Bandstand's 25th Anniversary Special."
The accident
Rick crashed his ATV and shattered his collarbone, meaning he couldn't hold a guitar for six months and couldn't tour in support of his 1988 album, "Rock Of Life". The album died a quick death, but produced Rick's final Top 40 Pop hit in 1988 with "Rock Of Life", which peaked at #22.
Rick moved to San Diego in the 1990s, began playing live at small venues in 1993, and started acting again. In 1994, he starred in the syndicated TV series "High Tide", which lasted three years. His voice was also used in the cartoon series "Johnny Bravo".
Returning to the charts
A 1998 album, "Karma", was released on Platinum Records, rising to # 189 on the charts, winning the praise of critics, and sparking a successful VH-1 "Behind The Music" episode (one of the show's highest rated episodes, according to VH-1).
The album might have done better had the label not folded. It was a disappointment for Springfield, who had toured constantly for 10 months to increasingly larger crowds in order to create a "buzz" for the album before it was released.
Down but not out, Springfield did live performances on "The Today Show" and appeared in several TV series, including "Suddenly Susan" (opposite Brooke Shields).
He also appeared on Broadway and has continued to record, reaching the Billboard Adult AC Top 30 in 2004 with the single "Beautiful You".
Some classics
Here's a rundown of some of my favorites on "Written In Rock: Rick Springfield Anthology", all written by Rick Springfield (except "Eleanor Rigby" and "For No One", both written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney):
"Eleanor Rigby"
With his band Zoot in 1970, Rick's first hit single was this Beatles' cover, which is rich in a psychedelic "summer of love" feel in its arrangement (Rick calls it "very guitar-heavy").
To take a well-known Beatles' song and give it a new feel is nothing new, but to make it sound as interesting as the original tune is quite an achievement --- the band succeeds here:
"...all the lonely people, where do they all come from? / all the lonely people, where do they all belong?..."
"Jessie's Girl"
Springfield looked like a rock star when he appeared on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" in 1981 --- a lean, mean, rocking machine, if you will. He may have been in his early 30s age-wise, but he looked much younger. The song is pure power pop filled with a killer guitar intro, a hard-driving melody and a catchy-as-hell chorus:
"...I wish I had Jessie's girl / where can I find her, a woman like that..."
"Don't Talk To Strangers"
Very witty lyrics float along on a bright, uptempo melody here, complete with spoken French words mixed with the English lyrics on the song's bridge:
"...I don't like what's getting back to me / now who's this Don Juan I've been hearing of / love hurts when only one's in love / did you fall at first sight or did you need a shove / ... / don't talk to strangers, baby don't you talk / don't talk to strangers, you know he'll only use you up..."
"Calling All Girls"
Some scorching lead guitar drive a hard rock melody, a mix of Foreigner and The Beatles, that is one of my personal favorites:
"...I've got a message, put it through emergency / I wanna hear it on the radio tonight / calling all girls, if you're looking for love (you got it) / calling all girls, if you're looking for a hot time / calling all girls, if you're looking for fun / calling all girls, if you're looking for a good time tonight..."
"Human Touch"
Electronic pop and disco rhythms mark this tune, which was promoted by a sci-fi inspired video. The tune features a percussion-driven, pure pop chorus.
It's as much a rock anthem as it is a warning of a computer-driven world that even then was arriving on the scene:
"Everybody's talking to computers / they're all dancing to a drum machine / I know I'm living on the outside / scared of getting caught between / I'm so cool and calculated alone in the modern world / ... / we all need the human touch / we all need the human touch / I need the human touch..."
"State Of The Heart"
I consider this to be one of the best pop ballads of the 1980s. It features an opening vocal effect that reminds me of the the little girl's voice in the film "Poltergist" who is calling to her family via their television set from a place where she is held hostage by spirits --- scary in the film, but sensitive and romantic in this song, especially within the tune's sensitive lyrics:
"I know your name / I told you mine / we've stopped and passed the time of day / you work in town / I work at night / that gives us six until seven to work this out / if I seem a little strange / it's just a state of the heart..."
"Souls"
The lead guitar playing highlights the bridge of this rocker which also features an irresistible chorus:
"...two souls searching for each other / one spirit looking for the other / caught between a hard, hard place and a rock / two souls searching for heaven / rolling the dice looking for a seven / to the tick, tick, ticking of time / gotta beat the clock..."
"Celebrate Youth"
With a quirky backbeat and electronic rhythms, Springfield examines in his lyrics the desire of those of us who have become disillusioned by the world as we age to try to recapture our youthful innocence by seeing the world through the eyes of our children:
"...'cause every man sees / in the younger man the hope / every woman sees / in the younger girl the dream / everybody lives / the pride and the passion of the young / from the womb to the tomb / we will remember what it means / so celebrate youth..."
"April 24, 1981"/"My Father's Chair" medley
The deep loss that Rick Springfield still feels after the passing of his father from this world is very well conveyed in this gentle acoustic medley:
"...my father's chair still standing there / all alone since the long night /... / so where's this healing time brings / I was told the pain would ease / but it still hurts like the first night..."
"Will I?"
One of my favorite tracks on the 2004 "Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance" album, "Will I?" is that '80s pop star singing with a more gritty vocal over some crunching guitar sounds and a powerful backbeat with a memorable guitar riff driving the glorious harmonies on the chorus --- it has "hit" written all over it, so why isn't it a hit?:
"...tho' I broke my heart on the reef of your infidelity / I'm down here calling, my hands and knees crawling / for the one I thought was you / 'cause you gave it away like it was nothing at all / tell me, will I ever see you again, will I?..."
"Beautiful You"
The tune that put Springfield back on the charts (okay, it's not Top 40 Pop, but Top 30 AC isn't a bad thing folks) in 2004. Springfield is very modern-sounding here: a bit pop, a bit jazz, a bit rock 'n' roll:
"...beautiful you / you didn't have a clue / you star in the story of my life / beautiful you..."
"For No One"
Springfield explains in an interview in the CD booklet's liner notes that The Beatles' "Revolver" album is his favorite Beatles' LP. He takes the original tune's acoustic melody and marries it to various instrumental references to other Beatles' songs in the melody.
It's an enjoyable remake of a Beatles' track which Springfield thinks is unfairly "low-on-the-radar" of most people's Beatles' lists:
"...and in her eyes you see nothing / no sign of love behind the tears / cried for no one / a love that should have lasted years..."
On The web
Official site: http://www.rickspringfield.com
Official Fan Club: http://www.rickspringfield.net
Related reviews
Rick Springfield and Beeb Birtles (of The Little River Band fame) were members of Australia's Top 40 band The Zoot. Their work appears on the CD Zoot Locker: The Best Of The Zoot, 1968-1971: http://www.epinions.com/content_280651665028
Raspberries ("Go All The Way") Live On Sunset Strip was recorded by Mark Linett (the Grammy-nominated soundman behind Brian Wilson's Smile CD) in 2005 at their reunion show in Los Angeles, a concert attended by Rick Springfield (who wrote about the experience on his website, posted with a photo of him with the band that features Eric Carmen). That show was released in 2007 on Rykodisc (with liner notes by Bruce Springsteen, and a CD booklet photo of John Lennon wearing a Raspberries sweatshirt), and I have no doubt that fans of Rick Springfield's music will love the album (get the Deluxe set, with two CDs and a DVD): http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.