SiriusXM in the last year has invited Rick Springfield to host a 30-minute program, Working Class DJ, where he plays a number of songs that fit a theme, conveniently including one of his own songs. The idea is that he'll also shares stories about his days in the business...but the real draw is that he's a complete goof on the air, clearly not preparing much in advance, sometimes reading from his script, but otherwise ad-libbing. I listen mostly to hear unusual tracks which often veer very far from the normal 80's on 8 playlist (which is also why I like the top 40 re-creations they do from a week in the 80's -- they play everything, regardless of chart performance or genre).
This week the category was Country Crossover, which Rick clearly assumed meant artists (like himself) who recorded a country-flavored album, despite being from another genre (and spent much of the show ranting about how his record was not accepted by Country people!). Such albums were very limited in the 80's, but many artists did individual country-leaning tracks in the early 80's (see Pointer Sisters below)
Instead, his producers gave him a set of country artists who'd crossed over to pop -- Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, and the like -- the heyday for which was 1981-3, exactly the same time as Rick's own peak in popularity. He was sharing the airwaves, countdown shows, slots on Solid Gold, and such with these folks, yet he acted like they were all brand new records for him.
Here's the week he was #1 on the Hot 100:
2 14 ENDLESS LOVE –•– Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (Motown)-5 (2)
3 3 THEME FROM “GREATEST AMERICAN HERO” (Believe It Or Not) –•– Joey Scarbury (Elektra)-14 (3)
4 4 I DON’T NEED YOU –•– Kenny Rogers (Liberty)-9 (4)
5 5 ELVIRA –•– The Oak Ridge Boys (MCA)-13 (5)
6 6 SLOW HAND –•– The Pointer Sisters (Planet)-11 (6)
7 8 BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY –•– The Manhattan Transfer (Atlantic)-12 (7)
8 9 HEARTS –•– Marty Balin (EMI-America)-12 (8)
9 10 QUEEN OF HEARTS –•– Juice Newton (Capitol)-11 (9)
10 2 THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE –•– Air Supply (Arista)-13 (1)
11 13 (There’s) NO GETTIN’ OVER ME –•– Ronnie Milsap (RCA)-7 (11)
Kenny Rogers, Oak Ridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap, Juice Newton all right there with him. Granted, none are staples of 80's on 8 today, or were played on MTV, but this was the scene in 1981.
Funniest was when he went on a serious rant about Eddie Rabbitt's name, claiming absolutely no knowledge of him or his #1 hit "I Love a Rainy Night"... yet here they are in October 1981:
9 10 I’VE DONE EVERYTHING FOR YOU –•– Rick Springfield (RCA)-11 (9)
10 5 STEP BY STEP –•– Eddie Rabbitt (Elektra)-15 (5)
He and Rick were both in the top 10 of 1981 with their #1s and further down with these last two.
