You know, every time I’m close to despair over the fact that all the pop culture I loved in my youth is now being remade, re-imagined, mashed-up, or just plain forgotten, and that nothing really ever seems to stand the test of time, least of all the crap I like, I’ll hear an anecdote that restores my faith, however briefly, that all is not lost…
It seems that The Girlfriend was driving around on Saturday with her sister-in-law and two of her nieces in the car. They were listening to Rick Springfield’s new album, Venus in Overdrive, a gift from me, naturally.*
At some point, Anne asked the twelve-year-old niece what she thought of the music and was told, “it’s okay,” which is, of course, kid-speak for “it doesn’t make me want to fling myself from the car in utter embarrassment, but neither would I ever in a million years choose to listen to this lame-o stuff if you weren’t the one in control.”
Meanwhile, Anne’s sister-in-law was perusing the CD booklet, which is filled with photos of Rick with his fans. She was amused by one in particular, a shot of a middle-aged woman holding up a hand-lettered sign that read, “Jessie’s Girl was a moron.” The sis-in-law explained to the others why she was laughing and suddenly the twelve-year-old came to life.
“This is the guy who did ‘Jessie’s Girl?’ I love that song! It’s so coooool!”
Anne says that Venus in Overdrive became much more appealing to the kid after she made that connection. A connection with a song that was already 15 years old when she was born.
Ah, yeah, it brings a tear to my eye…
* I’ve been planning to write a review of the album for several days now, but as with so many of my other good intentions for this blog, I seem to be not getting around to it with great speed. I will say this much: it’s good, if not quite what the press releases promised it’d be. It’s not the second coming of Working Class Dog. It is, however, Rick’s most accessible and radio-friendly work in years, definitely worth your time if you like the man’s sound at all. I predict “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” and “Saint Sahara” are destined to become live favorites in his future concerts.
