Jessie's Girl topped the charts in late spring / early summer of 1981 and started a string of comeback hits that included The Top 20 Hits I've Done Everything For You (#8, 1981); Love Is Alright Tonight (#20, 1982); Don't Talk To Strangers (#2, 1982); What Kind Fool Am I (#19, 1982); Affair Of The Heart (#9, 1983); Human Touch (#18, 1983); Love Somebody (#3, 1984) and Bop 'Til You Drop (#20, 1984).
During the in-between years, he carved out quite a teen-idol career for himself playing Dr. Noah Drake on the daytime soap opera General Hospital. And, in 1985 (as his pop chart career was just starting to slow down), Mercury Records released the very cleverly written track "Bruce" as a single.
Bruce was first recorded back in 1978 at a time when Springfield couldn't buy a hit. It told (in a humorous way) of his frustrations of constantly being mistaken for Bruce Springsteen who, at the time, was in the midst of launching an ENORMOUS career.
Springfield wrote the track with tongue planted firmly in cheek, yet it was never officially released at the time ... in fact, the picture sleeve came with a disclaimer explaining that, although the original 1978 vocals were used, "all new contemporary music tracks" were recorded "without Rick's involvement."
Imagine Springfield's surprise, then, when the single went all the way to #26!
It's all part of our "Tribute to Bruce Springsteen Week" here in Forgotten Hits!
