Rick Springfield: “Surviving the 80s”
Part Two: “Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet”
The circle of musicians who approached the changing music landscape of the 80s with the required understanding or managed to put out distinctive and high quality material on the first releases (if they were unfortunate to form at that time) is small. Usually the secret of success lies in a skill to mix in a right proportion resistance, innovation and then-modern instruments while preserving one’s identity and maintaining the song level. If one skews to this or that side, it could go hand in hand with oblivion or a risk to disappear in a crowd of the similar kind or becoming a bland copy of oneself. Even the success achieved through following the trends is not a guarantee of survival in the waters of sparkling, brightly colored and rhythmic flow typical for the 80s sound. More often than not, this success is short term and in hindsight presents itself as yet another example of a generic album from that period.
Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet, which was slapped together practically a year after the popular 1981
Working Class Dog, doesn’t avoid this lot. The LP is clearly aimed to replicate the success of its predecessor, despite the ironic statement in the title. Besides the short gap between the two albums this goal is also confirmed by the cover: it has the same cute dog that this time has come up in the world from the working class and the grateful driver Springfield who serves it champagne. A very strong sense of repetition follows for the duration of listening to the record. It has the same anthemic wanna be hit songs about girls and relationships with straightforward and measured rhythms, slick guitars, and a generous helping of the then-current studio polish. The feeling of déja vu (or impression that you listen to Side 2 of the 1981 LP) intensifies when one hears
I Get Excited, which recalls the superhit under the same number on the previous album to a fault. And this unabashed exploitation of the same approach continues until the end.
Certainly there are occasional solid songs, primarily ballads, like
Don’t Talk to Strangers, despite its clear ties to the time period, or
Still Crazy for You, which is surprisingly moving and possessing a somewhat timeless quality. But these instances do not save the LP from sinking in the flow that overtook many musicians and was only getting stronger at the time.
In the end, Rick Springfield managed to step into the same waters again, bringing joy to the fans of the previous album, but failed to add anything worthy to the bank of his artistic legacy. The record is recommended to those with nostalgia for the 80s, since it effectively translates the vibe and the spirit of the time. As for the other music fans, they can either rewind back to the good old rock or try going forward with a hope for a miracle, at one’s own risk.
