Springfield heads into the light with new album
By THOMAS BOND
Get Out

In his own words, Rick Springfield's been “going through a lot of turmoil” the last few years, including charges — that were eventually dropped — of physical abuse against his wife. He sheds light on dark times and dark emotions on his new album “shock/denial/anger/acceptance.”

“I'm still together with my wife. It's been a long journey and we've certainly had our ups and downs, but we're very, very strong and we've got great kids,” Springfield says by phone from his Southern California home. “We've always had a very fiery, volatile relationship. We've always argued and we've always made up and we're still the type of couple that'll sit in a restaurant and hold hands and talk to each other. We're very connected and we've been through couples therapy and learned a lot about each other that way.”

On the new album's “The Invisible Girl,” Springfield nods to his biggest hit “Jessie's Girl” by quoting its instantly recognizable guitar hook. The latter song went to No. 1 on the pop charts in 1981, earned him a Grammy and still resonates today as it's featured in the new film “13 Going On 30.”

“It's my ‘Thanks for the Memories.’ They'll play it at my funeral!” the 54-year-old says of the tune. “I'm still writing music and that's the most important thing to me personally, but I don't want to get away from ‘Jessie's Girl’ because I'm very proud of it and the fact that I wrote it. It's like having a favorite kid that you never get tired of showing off and having people go ‘Oooh, ahhh.’ It was the whole start of my career.”

Of course being a remarkably attractive man didn't hurt either and his looks have not deserted him in the least over the years.

“Maybe I should write a book about it, the way everybody focuses on it!” Springfield says of his appearance. “I've always eaten well and exercised and I love what I'm doing and that helps. I've gone through phases where I've been miserable and looked like crap and I'm a big believer that what's inside shows on the outside.”

After releasing his previous CD, “Karma,” on an independent label that folded shortly after issueing the disc, Springfield put out his new album on his own label, Gomer Records.

“I knew the only way to have any control over the promotion of my record was for me to put my money where my mouth is and be the company,” Springfield says. “It's been good so far. It's been expensive but I've always believed that the best investment is in yourself and I've gotten the most adds (at radio stations) with the single ‘Beautiful You’ since 1985.”
And fans can expect a good mix of the new album and old favorites at his live show.

“We do all the old stuff but we do seven or eight of the new songs, which is a lot actually,” Springfield says. “Even in the early ’80s I'd usually only do four or five songs from a new album, but these new songs sound great live and they fit in really well.”