About Rick Springfield
Richard Lewis Springthorpe , known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut single, "Speak to the Sky", which reached the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972. When he moved to the United States, he had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits: "I've Done Everything for You", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody". Springfield's two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet .
As an actor, Springfield starred in the film Hard to Hold in 1984 and the television series High Tide from 1994 to 1997. He appeared in supporting roles in Ricki and the Flash and True Detective . He portrayed Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital , returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with his son, actor Liam Springthorpe. He played a depraved version of himself in Californication . He has also appeared in episodes of Supernatural, Hot in Cleveland, and American Horror Story. In 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir.
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on 23 August 1949 in Guildford, a western suburb of Sydney. He is the son of Eileen Louise and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer. His maternal grandparents were English. When he was young, he lived at the army camp with his family in Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. At 14, he saw the Beatles perform at Festival Hall in Melbourne.
Springfield was 13 when he learned guitar. He joined various bands in England, where his father was stationed from 1958 to 1963, and several more after returning to Australia. In 1968, he was approached by bass guitarist Pete Watson to join his group Rockhouse. Later that year, Watson changed the band's name to MPD Ltd and, in October when Springfield was 19 years old, they toured South Vietnam to entertain Australian troops. Another member of MPD Ltd was Danny Finley . Upon returning to Australia, they formed Wickedy Wak. They were joined by Phil Blackmore on keyboards and Dick Howard. Go-Set journalist Molly Meldrum produced Wickedy Wak's single, "Billie's Bikie Boys", with Beeb Birtles of pop rock group Zoot as a backing vocalist.
In September 1969, Springfield replaced Roger Hicks as lead guitarist and vocalist in Zoot, with Birtles on bass guitar and vocals, Darryl Cotton on lead vocals and guitar, and Rick Brewer on drums. Upon joining Zoot, Springfield adopted the "Think Pink – Think Zoot" theme that had the band members dressed head to toe in pink satin. The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted numerous teenage girl fans, but caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians. Zoot's fifth single, "Hey Pinky", was written by Springfield. The group attempted to shake off their teeny-bopper image. They followed with a hard rock cover version of The Beatles' hit "Eleanor Rigby", which peaked at No. 4 on Go-Set's Top 40 in March 1971. Despite another hit single with "Freak" in April, which was written by Springfield, the band broke up in May.
Springfield signed with Sparmac Records and issued his debut solo single, "Speak to the Sky", in October, which peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set singles chart. Sparmac label owner, Robie Porter, was also producer and manager for Springfield. After recording his debut album, Beginnings, in London, Springfield moved to the United States in mid-1972. Springfield provided all the songwriting, lead vocals, guitar, keyboard and banjo for the album. In August 1972, "Speak to the Sky" was issued in the U.S. by Capitol Records and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September. Beginnings was the first of seven top 40 Springfield albums on the related Billboard 200. However, follow-up success was hampered by rumours that Capitol Records paid people to purchase Springfield's albums, which led to some radio stations boycotting his music.
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