Set list: Rick Springfield

I saw Rick Springfield perform and let me just say that he is not only awesome in concert, but seems like a very cool person. He also did a lot of cool guitar theatrics. Here's the set list:

(Thanks to Amy for the comment letting me know what #11 was)

1. Who Killed Rock and Roll
2. Will I
3. Affair of the Heart
4. Kristina
5. I've Done Everything for You
6. Rock of Life
7. Fire (the Jimi Hendrix song)
8. Living in Oz
9. Crossroads (as popularized by Cream)
10. Saint Sahara (this is a new song that he performed for the first time. It was written for a young girl who recently died of brain cancer. Her mother was in the audience.)
11. Red House (the Jimi Hendrix tune)
12. Don't Talk to Strangers ... this one went on for a long time as he entered the audience and kept having random people sing the title, as well as other forms of interaction with the people (e.g., coaxing a shy guy into singing by telling him ladies love guys who sing, inviting a 12-year-old birthday girl on stage to dance and sing with him, etc. What an awesome 12th birthday, eh?)
13. Medley: Bop 'Til You Drop / Celebrate Youth / Calling All Girls / Don't Walk Away / State of the Heart / What Kind of Fool Am I / I Get Excited / Bop 'Til You Drop
14. Intro to Saturday Night (the BCR tune) / I Can't Explain (the Who song). He also took this opportunity to mock his movie Hard to Hold and tell a story about Keith Richards (with a guitar lick from "Satisfaction" to accent it)
15. Love Somebody
16. My Generation (The Who song) ... he at this point had a guy from the audience give him his cell phone and used it to play guitar... then had a woman give him her cell and randomly called someone.
17. Human Touch ... this was the song where he went through most of the audience, including people (like me) on the second floor. I was within inches of Rick Springfield!
18. Jessie's Girl
Encore
19. Perfect
20. Love Is Alright Tonite

The Squirts opened. I don't really know their song titles, but here are a few lyrical snippets from each song they sang which may or may not be helpful in identifying them:
1. "I am left here barely breathing"
2. "The Way I See You" - I think that's an actual title
3. "worst of times" "i'd do it all again"

Legendary Rick Springfield

In order to supplement the Rick Springfield Anthology set (see this post) I also picked up this set, entitled Legendary. The two complement each other well as far as providing a solid overview of Springfield's career. I mentioned the draw of Anthology is that it contains several early hits. Most of these are absent from this set, although "Speak to the Sky" and "Take a Hand" are here. However, the main draw of Legendary is that it provides a good overview of his 1980s output. Songs included here that initially drew me to the set include the hit duet with Randy Crawford, "Taxi Dancing," the rock radio hit "Calling All Girls," and the album track "Living in Oz." For chart-inclined people, I'll include a look at Springfield's hits at the end of this post.

New standouts for me include "Carry Me Away," "The Light of Love," "Daddy's Pearl," "Calling All Girls," "Living in Oz," "Can't Stop Hurting You," "Walk Like a Man," and "World Start Turning," which are the sort of rock Springfield became famous for in the early 1980s; "Red Hot & Blue Love," which is a bit of an adventurous romp with a rockabilly influence; "Tonight," which sounds like a classic waiting to happen had it been released as a single and not just the b-side of "Don't Talk to Strangers;" a rockin' remake of the Los Bravos hit "Black Is Black;" "How Do You Talk to Girls" and "Tiger by the Tail," which seem to take stylistic nods from Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello and artists of that sort; and "Honeymoon in Beirut," an awesome song that really should have been a huge hit.

And am I really the only person who loves "Taxi Dancing?" Springfield's slow songs usually aren't my favourites, but I think he and Crawford do an ace job on this. Haven't seen many other reviews which are very kind to this particular song, though.

I forgot to mention in my Anthology review that "I've Done Everything for You" was written and originally recorded by Sammy Hagar. I've not heard Hagar's, but damn I love Springfield's version. Such a great song! Another brief personal note: "State of the Heart" has been growing on me with every listen. I think it's among my Springfield favourites now.

Track listing for the set:
1. Speak to the Sky
2. Love Is Alright Tonite
3. Jessie's Girl
4. Hole in My Heart
5. Carry Me Away
6. I've Done Everything for You
7. The Light of Love
8. Everybody's Girl
9. Daddy's Pearl
10. Red Hot & Blue Love
11. Inside Silvia
12. Calling All Girls
13. I Get Excited
14. What Kind of Fool Am I
15. Kristina
16. Tonight
17. Black Is Black
18. Don't Talk to Strangers
19. How Do You Talk to Girls
20. Still Crazy for You
21. Just One Kiss
22. April 24, 1981
23. Human Touch
24. Alyson
25. Affair of the Heart
26. Living in Oz
27. Me & Johnny
28. Motel Eyes
29. Tiger by the Tail
30. Souls
31. I Can't Stop Hurting You
32. Like Father, Like Son
33. Love Somebody
34. Taxi Dancing (with Randy Crawford)
35. Bop 'Til You Drop
36. Take a Hand
37. Dance This World Away
38. Celebrate Youth
39. State of the Heart
40. Walking on the Edge
41. Walk Like a Man
42. Rock of life
43. Honeymoon in Beirut
44. World Start Turning
45. One Reason to Believe
46. Soul to Soul
47. Tear It All Down
48. Woman
49. Dream in Colour
50. Hold On to Your Dream

I saw one review complain about the mastering on this set, but to my ear it sounded just fine. I do not have particularly discerning ears when it comes to these matters, however. My only problem is the skimpiness of the included liner notes, but that's a minor issue.

As I mentioned I'd provide, here is a rundown of Springfield's U.S. charted tunes. I'll also make a note as to which set contains which songs: (A) for Anthology and (L) for Legendary.

1972
"Speak to the Sky" (#14) (A) (L)
"What Would the Children Think" (#70) (A)

1974
"American Girls" (#98) (A)

1976
"Take a Hand' (#41) (A) (L)

1981
"Jessie's Girl" (#1) (#10 album rock) (A) (L)
"I've Done Everything for You" (#8) (A) (L)
"Love Is Alright Tonite" (#20) (#40 album rock) (A) (L)

1982
"Don't Talk to Strangers" (#2) (#11 album rock) (A) (L)
"Calling All Girls" (#4 album rock) (L)
"What Kind of Fool Am I" (#21) (A) (L)
"I Get Excited" (#32) (L)

1983
"Affair of the Heart" (#9) (#23 album rock) (A) (L)
"Human Touch" (#18) (#34 album rock) (A) (L)
"Souls" (#23) (L)

1984
"Love Somebody" (#5) (#13 album rock) (A) (L)
"Don't Walk Away" (#26) (#41 album rock)
"Bop 'Til You Drop" (#20) (A) (L)
"Taxi Dancing" (#59) (L)
"Bruce" (#27) (A) (recorded in 1978)

1985
"Celebrate Youth" (#26) (A) (L)
"State of the Heart" (#22) (A) (L)

1988
"Rock of Life" (#22) (#45 album rock) (A) (L)

As you can see, from a hits perspective, both sets do a pretty good job collecting them, with each having a few that the other omits. The main draw of Legendary is not just the hits, but also the many cool Springfield album tracks, such as those mentioned in this post. The only hit omitted by both is "Don't Walk Away."

Anthology (Rick Springfield)

Rick Springfield's Anthology is another of my latest purchases. Anthology is a 24-track overview that includes a mix of Springfield's early hits from the 70s and more well-known 80s tunes. Particularly cool is the inclusion of "What Would the Children Think," one of Springfield's early hits that many other compilations seem to ignore.

I was very pleased with this CD musically. I like Rick Springfield, especially songs like "I've Done Everything for You" and "Human Touch." I discovered that his early stuff is also quite good as well, and enjoyed hearing songs like "Speak to the Sky," "Hooky Joe," and "What Would the Children Think." Also fun to hear was his comedic hit "Bruce," about the Springfield-Springsteen confusion.

While there are some big hits missing from this CD, Anthology is a nice disc to start with for a Springfield collection.

Tracks:
1. Jessie's Girl
2. I've Done Everything for You
3. Don't Talk to Strangers
4. Love Is Alright Tonite
5. What Kind of Fool Am I
6. Affair of the Heart
7. Human Touch
8. Love Somebody
9. Bop 'Til You Drop
10. Celebrate Youth
11. State of the Heart
12. Rock of Life
13. Speak to the Sky
14. What Would the Children Think
15. Comic Book Heroes
16. I'm Your Superman
17. Believe in Me
18. Hooky Joe
19. American Girls
20. Child Within
21. Eleanor Rigby
22. Take a Hand
23. Archangel
24. Bruce