Rick Springfield was my obsession when I was a tweenager; I owned every album, listened to them every day, bought every Tiger Beat issue that had an article about him in it. I started watching General Hospital just in case he made a guest appearance. I was personally offended when Hard To Hold received bad reviews. But, I was getting serious about my music, delving deeply into classical music (with the exception of a Doors obsession for a year or two of high school) eventually becoming a music education major, and going on to earn a Master of Music in Music Education. Throughout high school and undergrad, I looked back on my obsession for Rick with embarrassment, and, a little shame. I explained it to myself as a child's obsession with simple music and continued to eschew most pop music.
When I was taking classes for my Master's Degree from Boston University, I was struck by the philosophy that was evident in the classes--that music educators need to accept and encourage popular music in order to make music exciting and accessible to all students. With this in mind, I began to reexamine artists that I had dismissed.
Of course, I had to look at Rick Springfield. Was it just a tweenage crush that made me love his music? Was there really something redeeming in his music?
I am quite happy to admit that there were and are several things about his music that made me love it. The first is his mastery of a "hook"--think about the opening riff of "Jesse's Girl": the bass line immediately draws you in and continues through beneath the verses, the instrumental break, and is quoted beneath the refrain. Additionally, the electric guitars "answer" the bass line with their own hook in the refrain and then proceed to create variations on the same question (bass line) and answer (electric guitar) theme in the instrumental break. This creates a sense of unity, but provides enough variation to provide a richness and complexity to the main theme.
The main chord progression is IV-V-I-vi, the 50's chord progression (I-vi-IV-V eg. Heart and Soul; Duke of Earl) starting on the IV chord. This give an immediate sense of familiarity ("Hey, I've heard this before!"); however, the instrumental ventures into the dominant key (goes from the key of D to key of A-that's my harmonic analysis anyway-the G# chord seems to be a stronger pull to A), using a slightly unusual progression of VI-IIVI-vii-VI-vii-VI, returning to the original progression (although in A it is now VII-I-IV-ii-ii-I) which does not resolve until the words "woman like that", creating and adding to the sense of tension and frustration. The return to D and a restatement of the electric guitar riff and refrain create a sense of closure, bringing us full circle to the original dilemma.
The lyrics, of course, express a relateable occurance--who hasn't had at least a passing thought about a friend's significant other? And, I am convinced that his use of the word "moot" has significantly increased it's modern day usage.
I have successfully convinced myself that there is more to Rick Springfield than just a pretty face. He is releasing a new album next month, titled "Rocket Science" which seems to be an eclectic mix of pop, rock and country. I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with Rick's music and enjoying his new music without considering it my guilty pleasure.
