Classic Rock Bottom

ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 350 RICK SPRINGFIELD - WORKING CLASS DOG (1981)

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

1981 was a really, really good year for rock music.  Paradise Theater (Styx), Worlds Apart (Saga), Moving Pictures (Rush), Modern Times (Jefferson Starship, a personal favorite of mine), Hard Promises (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Fair Warning (Van Halen) were all released that year.  But this week's pick is Working Class Dog by Rick Springfield.  

The album reached number 7 in the U.S. and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.  It was the first of four straight Platinum records for Rick.  He scored his only U.S. number one hit with Jessie's Girl (I can't imagine anyone reading this not having heard that song about a million times) but he also had two other Top 20 hits on the album, I've Done Everything For You (number 8) and Love Is Alright Tonite (number 20).  You may also know that I've Done Everything For You was a cover of a Sammy Hagar song.  Of course, Springfield's version was much more successful.  There was also a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male in 1982.  And the album cover was nominated for a Grammy, though it did not win.

Personally, I like side one a lot.  Three hits and two excellent album cuts are there.  However, other than Inside Sylvia, I'm not much of a fan of side two.  That's just a personal opinion.  I think his music really matured over the next two or three albums and other than Karma, I pretty much like 'em all.  What about you?

Oh yeah, the clue.  The clue was, I'll use the words of the famous Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, just after he received the wound that proved mortal. "Do not transport me to the field hospital, but let me cross over the river, and rest under the shade of trees".  If I pulled the words "General" and "hospital" out of that clue, would you immediately think of Springfield?  Well, I could have made a clue about the girl that used to belong to Jessie, but that would have been too easy.  Anyway, nobody guessed it this week, so it looks like I'll have to make it a bit more obvious next week.  Thanks for playing though.

Side One:

1. Love Is Alright Tonite

2. Jessie's Girl

3. Hole In My Heart

4. Carry Me Away

5. I've Done Everything For You

Side Two:

6. The Light of Love

7. Everybody's Girl

8. Daddy's Pearl

9. Red Hot & Blue Love

10. Inside Sylvia

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This album is just ok to me. Listenable, but nothing really sticks with me except for one song. The hits were ok, but they aren't as good as the one song that kills 'em all. Of course everyone knows that his opus is SDAA followed by LIO but this fine for what it is.

Track #9 is the killer song. That song RULES. Just all over the board with the different styles and I like it. I like it a lot.

Nice clue, dude.

I recall the hullabaloo surrounding this guy at the time of this release. As a rocker dude (which I was) I had to denounce this mans music on the grounds that he was a soap opera actor and therefore not to be taken seriously. And then…

The response to him from the girls was a eureka moment, though Id had a couple previous experiences where certain females were able to influence my musical tastes rather easily…. And then…

I heard Jessies Girl and that riff was actually really good! And some of the guys started liking it… And then…

I started liking it. And then …

Enough of the And thens… The first two tracks are impressive. Love Is Alright has made an appearance on SHT so you know its good and Jessies Girl still gets a fair amount of radio attention, heck it shows up on facebook a lot and even in some pretty funny meme’s. Side One culminates with what I originally thought was a Hagar track, little did I know! Though this is a cool tune I do like Hagar’s version a little better. And then side one is over… crap sorry…

Side Two is more consistent than side one, but it doesn’t have the shining moments of side one, swap a couple song around and then the albums all the sudden becomes very even. Still that’s a nit, its really very good! Daddy’s Pearl is my hidden treasure if I had to choose one. Inside Silvia closes this out very mellowly – it’s the filler here if the truth be told, still it makes you think about SiIvia in certain ways… and then it ends, dang it!!!

Nice work dog (see what I did there?)

Other than Jessie's Girl, I don't think I've ever actually heard this album.

I didn't get the clue. Would someone please explain it to me in a laymen's term? I was sure it's the STYX album. You know... cross the RIVER to DIE.

Never felt a need to buy any of the Rick's album, but I like to listen to them. This one is no exception. Solid effort all around. The one song that confuses me is the coming and going 'Inside Sylvia'. Why would someone do those things inside Sylvia, of all the places? Oh... OH!... nevermind.

My favorite is the swinging 'Red Hot & Blue Love', with it's exceptional guitar solo. Who played that guitar?

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