Rick Springfield has said himself he wasn’t happy with how this album turned out, claiming it lacked the rawness of ‘Working Class Dog’ and was perhaps too polished and pop influenced.
Written by: Dangerzone
ARTIST: Rick Springfield
ALBUM: Success Hasn’t Spoilt Me Yet
LABEL: RCA
SERIAL: AFL1-4125
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Rick Springfield – vocals, guitars * Tim Pierce – guitars * Charles Sandford – guitars * Dennis Belfield – bass * Alan Pasqua – keyboards * Gabriel Katona – keyboards * Michael Baird – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Calling All Girls * 02 I Get Excited * 03 What Kind Of Fool Am I * 04 Kristina * 05 Tonight * 06 Black Is Black * 07 Don’t Talk To Strangers * 08 How Do You Talk To Girls * 09 Still Crazy For You * 10 The American Girl * 11 Just One Kiss * 12 April 24 1981
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Rick Springfield has said himself he wasn’t happy with how this album turned out, claiming it lacked the rawness of ‘Working Class Dog’ and was perhaps too polished and pop influenced. Even if he believes that I don’t, this being his most overtly AOR based album of the 80’s, more so than ‘Living In Oz’, as this fits the classic solo male artist melodic rock leanings that made such artists as John O’Banion, David Roberts and Greg Guidry staples here at Glory Daze.
Springfield had exploded by this point, and his status as pop idol although understandable, is really diminished when closely listening to this classic. The music is AOR of the finest sort with the pop sensibilities that led to countless chart hits, but with some staggering interplay that probably went over most peoples heads. To this day this comes as his most recommended work, if only by myself.
The Songs
Many have pegged ‘Success’ as inconsistent and admittedly there’s a few weaker tracks, namely cover ‘Black Is Black’ and the renamed remake of BTO‘s ‘Jamaica’ which Rick titled ‘Kristina’, simply rearranging the words but keeping the same melody. That’s as shoddy as proceedings get however.
The remaining tracks simply overwhelming with inescapable hooks that when heard for the first time, for me anyway, seem simply unbelievable. ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ was the huge hit and rightfully so, the chorus never failing to disappoint even years later and hundreds of listens later. ‘I Get Excited’ represents Springfield’s direction perfectly, soaring hooks and bridges, filled in with keyboard and guitar fills that cut and thrust in a manner only 1982 seemed to be capable of.
One of the tougher rockers is ‘Calling All Girls’, driving ahead with a huge riff, but backed by truly flawless AOR workouts such as ‘Tonight’, ‘The American Girls’ and ‘How Do You Talk To Girls’. Chas Sanford contributed a ballad ‘Still Crazy For You’ while Springfield adds the brief and emotional ‘April 24th 1981’ as a tribute to the day his father died.
In Summary
Everything an early 80’s AOR fan could hope for exists here and for anyone unlucky enough to not have experienced it somehow, you will not be able to remove it from your ears for days, weeks and months. It’s always a task to do such an album justice and it often leaves me amazed that this isn’t more widely regarded as one of the greats of its time.
Maybe it is true many among us considered Springfield a pop rocker and not deserving of wider recognition because of it, but that’s simply ridiculous. ‘Living In Oz’ was certainly a mature statement, but this is the Springfield album to own if immediate melody is your thing. Springfield might want to thank Keith Olsen for it.
Rick Springfield on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
