Rick Springfield: “Surviving the 80s”
Part Four: “Hard to Hold”
It is a rare occasion when a film soundtrack has inherent value. In most cases, it has a utilitarian function as a musical appendix to the picture. Moreover, nearly always it is filled with instrumentals, a fact that scares away potential listeners, leaving these albums only for the fans or those appreciating the author.
While he was still on the peak of his popularity, Rick Springfield decided to star in a full-length feature film and at the same time wrote the soundtrack. Unsurprisingly the main character was also a successful singer and pop idol, so it seemed to be of certain autobiographical nature. Later Springfield confessed he agreed to take on the part for monetary reasons and was very negative about the picture. Nevertheless, the soundtrack acted as a full-fledged LP, which contained both the songs written by Rick and songs written and performed by others. As such, we can assess it regardless of the picture but as another studio work.
Well, the result turned out to be quite unremarkable. Maybe it has to do with the nature of the material that even though self-sufficient, still was supposed to serve as an accompaniment to the film. Compared to his previous release
Living in Oz that was semi-experimental and not devoid of interesting ideas, this one is a definite step back, like a fear to leave the room where everything is familiar and in its place. Again, these limits might have been imposed by the flick (and the genre in general). The featured performers cannot really save the album too, as all of them except one drown is the maelstrom of generic, polished and simple content.
Only the first cut manages to somewhat stand apart with its guitar solo still preserving some pop-metal flavor of the previous release. From here on until the last song the listener gets an earful of unobtrusive and undistinguished tracks that fade without a trace out of our attention as soon as they end.
But what really stands out in this saccharine-yet-bland hodgepodge of tiresome pop, pseudo-disco and mawkish ballads is the last song which as if descended from the empyrean of the
Genesis ex-vocalist.
I Go Swimming which is performed in a trademark strained manner by the famous progressive musician on the verge of his biggest solo success (magnificent
So is not very far) is the best (to be correct, singularly distinctive on the album) song. However, it cannot save the rest.
Still the experience of creating and releasing the soundtrack remained just that – the experience – that failed to add anything to the overall score. That year another album was released, which turned out to be a lot more interesting. But this is a story for another time.
