In August, I got the privilege and honor to interview the renowned Australian-American musician Rick Springfield ahead of his show at Lubbock’s own Cook’s Garage on August 22nd. The legendary singer-songwriter behind hits such as Jessie’s Girl, Don’t Talk to Strangers, and Affair of the Heart embarked on a nationwide tour with The Hooters, Paul Young, and Tommy Tutone this fall.
Here’s the full interview:
Rick Springfield performing at Cook’s Garage (Photo by Andrew Fallon)
This interview has been edited for length and clarity and was aired August 9th, 2023 on The Afternoon Show Starring Andrew Fallon.
Andrew Fallon: How’s it going, Rick?
Rick Springfield: What do you got in the background there?
Andrew: So my dad collects Star Wars action figures. I’m doing this interview in his office, and he has all these figures rigged up.
Rick: Dude, I had a great collection of super rare Star Wars stuff that I sold a little while ago. I had figures that were only like one-of-one in the world or two-of-two. I should probably be talking to your dad. Can you put him on? No, I’m kidding
Andrew: He’s at work, but I totally would. What’s the rarest figure that you had?
Rick: I had an Italian Boba Fett. There was only one in the world. I had a thing called Headman that was a Turkish bootleg. There’s only two of them in the world and mine was the best quality of all of them.
Andrew: Oh man. You can’t get much better than one-of-one.
Rick: I actually had a Ben Kenobi that I bought when they first came out in ‘77. I bought it for three bucks. They were still changing them out and trying to figure out how they would look because it was a special color. I sold it for $120,000.
Andrew: Wow. That’s a lot.
Rick: I’m sure his are worth something too.
Andrew: First off, I’ll just start off with my earliest memory of you. My music teacher in elementary school had all of these vinyl jackets displayed in her classroom. The four I distinctly remember were Elvis Live in Memphis, Born in the U.S.A., The Joker, and Working Class Dog.
Rick: With my boy Ronnie on the front.
Andrew: It always intrigued me because of the dog wearing the suit on the cover and I think as a kid I was like that’s really cool, but I didn’t know who you were. Years later, I-
Rick: Put it together.
Andrew: I had to be in high school at that point and I saw it on Spotify or iTunes and I was like “Oh, this is sick,” and I actually listened to it. That was my exposure to you.
Rick: That was my boy Ronnie. I actually went out and bought his shirt at a big tall man’s store.
Andrew: That’s really cool.
Rick: He was a great dog. I walked into the store and I said, “I want to buy a white button-down shirt”. The guy said, “What size neck?”, and I said, “18 inches”. He said, “What size sleeve?” I said “it doesn’t matter.” He then said, “No, give me an idea of the sleeve length.”, so I said “12 inches” [laughing]
Andrew: You have a new album “Automatic” that came out a few days ago. I’m interested in the process of recording an album in 2023 compared to 1983.
Rick: As far as the actual process, it’s a lot easier. This album was different in that I wrote a song and then I went in and recorded it. Then I went out and wrote another song and went in and recorded it rather than writing a bunch of songs and going in to record them all at once. It’d be easiest to do that, but I didn’t know when to stop, so there’s like 20 songs on there. It’s the first double album I’ve actually done.
Andrew: My dad saw the CD at the store yesterday, and he flipped it over and saw there were 20 songs, and he said “You should tell Rick that he actually appreciates his fans by putting more than 12 songs on an album.”
Rick: We’re on a tour now with The Hooters, Paul Young, and Tommy Tutone, and it’s great to be able to give fans more than they expect. When I first went and saw bands, there were like four or five acts on the bill. When I saw The Beatles in 64, there were like five acts before they came on. I love that whole package idea. That’s kind of what I grew up with.
Andrew: How’s it been being on the road with those wide variety of acts?
Rick: They’re all good people. We haven’t been on the road with any jerks, so it’s great. I love it.
Andrew: Are there any cool road stories so far?
Rick: We just started, but we’re not sure that our front of house guy will get into Canada.
Andrew: [laughing] Oh, that might be an issue.
Rick: [off-camera] How many DUIs you got? [laughing] He’s got three DUIs, so we’re not sure if they’re going to let him in. They’re pretty hard on you in Canada with DUIs which is really strange because bands that go there never drive. They’re always driven to places or either in a bus or a van. I don’t understand why I had to become a temporary Canadian citizen once because I got a DUI. It was their only way they’d let me in.
Andrew: Canada is really strict. A lot stricter than the states. I remember with COVID the rules were the most strict and almost over-the-top. I thought we were bad at one point. I hope your front of house guy gets in.
Rick: I know. I just wish he wouldn’t drink and drive so much [laughing]
Andrew: Your publicist was telling me you had just come back from the gym, so I was wondering when you’re on the road like this and you look still in pretty good shape, how do you mentally and physically prepare for a long tour like this?
Rick: Well, I cry for a little while because I’m gonna miss my wife and my dog. Then I get over it, and it’s kind of like going to war. You have to get in a mental state to be prepared to be on the road for a certain amount of time. It was easier when I was younger, but as I get older it’s a lot harder because you become a homebody especially after COVID when we’re all used to being home, it’s a little harder, but I get paid to travel. I don’t get paid to play because I love to play. That’s what I’m out here for.
Andrew: So getting to travel is like a bonus essentially. I feel you on the homebody stuff. I was a senior in high school when COVID hit, so I didn’t get prom or a normal graduation.
Rick: Oh, what a drag.
Andrew: Then I left for college two months later. I’m like “Dang, that’s crazy.” I did feel a little homesickness because normally I don’t feel that, but because we’re all kind of used to that.
Rick: WIth couples, it was either more babies or more divorces. You find out one or the other. You find out who’s who when you’re in lockdown.
Andrew: So you have your new rum with Sammy Hagar who’s been a lifelong friend of yours, I’m curious what does a relationship like that mean to you not only professionally but personally?
Rick: He wrote I’ve Done Everything for You. That was the second hit I had and he really helped me get on the road. When the sudden success came, he was helping me with the lights and the sound and everything. He’s just a very giving guy. He’s one of those guys that is so much fun to hang out with because he’s the most positive person I know. He always has ideas and he’s an amazing entrepreneur. I have a lot of fun with him because he’s just so up and I’m kind of the opposite. I tend to be a bit dark at times. He’s a great guy to hang out with, and certainly the right guy to get into the alcohol business with.
Andrew: What’s his favorite rum?
Rick: Beach Bar Rum, we have my favorite Kola Spice straight out the freezer. It’s great. It’s awesome.
Andrew: I bet that hits after a long show for a glass.
Rick: You got it.
Andrew: When he helped write I’ve Done Everything for You, was he happy for your success?
Rick: He always says I paid for his daughters to go through college. When you write a song, it’s kinda like your baby, and all the songs I wrote are more than songs. They live in me. You’re always really happy when someone gets the song, accepts it, and makes it part of their life too. I mean, I’ve actually heard four or five people say the song saved their lives when they were angsty teenagers which is pretty wild.
Andrew: That’s awesome. I was in a similar situation when I was listening to all of your stuff and I was like this is perfect. It’s reaching generations 40 years later which is crazy.
Rick: It’s pretty cool to see kids singing along the verses of Jessie’s Girl in the audience. It’s pretty amazing.
Andrew: Do you see a lot of younger fellows at your shows or is it mostly middle-aged people?
Rick: We had a signing after last night’s show and half of them were teenagers. It was great.
Andrew: Were they by themselves or with their parents?
Rick: Some came in a group and others were with their parents. It’s great that the audience has widened since everyone’s grown up and I’m fortunate that people show up.
Andrew: You said you love just playing music, but is there any song you just don’t like to play?
Rick: You get sick of playing a certain song for the 1,000th time or 10,000th time, but having the new album out, we’ve started doing a new song from that, and you always look forward to playing a new song because it’s new.
Andrew: How does the crowd react when you start playing those new songs?
Rick: They get Automatic. I was actually really surprised that it gets a great reaction. Usually with new songs, people just give you a polite clap. “Yeah, that was really nice. Let’s move on to the hits.”, but Automatic really gets a great reaction. I was really happy with it.
Andrew: Do you ever want to play a deep cut every now and then or is it normally the same thing?
Rick: I mean, I’m a people pleaser. I like to play the hits. I know people are there to hear them, and I want them to have a great time, so I play all the hits, we’re doing a shorter show because there’s so many people on the bill, but in a longer show, we do deep cuts from Working Class Dog, and a couple of the album’s songs that weren’t necessarily hits, but are great to play live and people get them.
Andrew: You’re going to be in Lubbock on August 22nd…
Rick: Buddy Holly. What’s in Lubbock? Where are we playing in Lubbock? Cook’s Garage? Sounds like an awfully small venue. Is it a three car or two car?
Andrew: [laughing] Actually, Cook’s Garage has an indoor venue for smaller acts, but there’s an outdoor venue for acts such as yourself. I wanna say it holds 12-13,000.
Rick: Okay, is that where he keeps all his vintage cars or what?
Andrew: Maybe, I haven’t been backstage, but maybe there’s some secrets there that I don’t know about, but I was looking and you haven’t played in Lubbock in 40 years.
Rick: Woah.
Andrew: 1983 was the last time you played in Lubbock.
Rick: I have a photo of me sitting by his grave from whenever it was. I was a big fan.
Andrew: Are you excited to come back to Lubbock or just Texas in general?
Rick: Honestly, the people are what I come for. When you’re going from an airplane or a bus to a hotel, do a gig, do a restaurant to hop to another town. You don’t get to experience much of the town. I know people would love me to say, “Oh my God! I love your town! I love this. I went here, and I did this,” and we just don’t have time. The only thing we have time for is to go to the gym, so if Lubbock has a Planet Fitness, we’ll be there.
Andrew: Lubbock has no shortage of fitness centers. If you’re not doing anything, come to the rec center at Texas Tech, and we’ll work out. It’ll be a fun time
Rick: [laughs] They have a good place there?
Andrew: The rec center is amazing. It’s like three stories tall. I actually wasn’t able to work out there this summer because I took one class in the summer, but it was online, so since I’m not an on-campus summer student, I can’t have any of the amenities, so I have to use my crappy apartment gym that is 1/20th of the size. It’s got dumbbells, a bench press, and that’s it, but whatever gets it done. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk to me and let me ask you a few questions.
Rick: I love seeing your dad’s Star Wars stuff and just checking them out. That’s cool. Thank you, Andrew.
This interview was transcribed by Zachary Sorrels
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