After releasing his third consecutive Billboard 200 top forty album, rather than return to the studio, Rick Springfield instead stepped back in front of the camera to film the movie, Hard To Hold. Though it would ultimately become a box office flop, the subsequent studio album / soundtrack which followed would become another smash success for him.
Hard To Hold, the album, would become his fifth top forty album, and fourth consecutive. With it would come the Billboard Hot 100 hit singles, Love Somebody (peaking at number five), Bop 'Til You Drop (twenty), Don't Walk Away (twenty-six), and Taxi Dancing (fifty-nine).
Disappointing for me was that I saw the awesome music video for the song, Bop 'Til You Drop before seeing the film, which set an unrealistic expectation for me.
When I saw that video, I was like, "Wow, is that the movie? That looks awesome!" Yeah, no, that's not even close to how the movie is. The film itself is a love story / drama. No sci-fi, no aliens, no laser blasts. Lame...but still my favorite song from the album.
Which is the perfect segue for today's Retro Spin. Things start out with the classic Love Somebody, before jumping into the next single, Don't Walk Away, and then Bop 'Til You Drop. Then it goes right into Taxi Dancing, basically blowing through all the hit singles right out of the gate, even if the latter isn't one really wasn't for me. The other three, however, are awesome tunes.
Things take a pretty steep nosedive from there, with the only real standout being the instrumental, S.F.O. Basically, if I were to sum this one up, which I will, listen to side A, and then turn it off. This is by far my least favorite of the albums over the past three days. I'm hoping things pick back up, but I'm also admittedly doubtful.
Wanting to capitalize on Springfield's success, Mercury Records would dig up tracks from a previously aborted album in 1978, remix and record them without the artist's input, and release Beautiful Feelings, and album which I've already done a Retro Spin on. Though he'd make no comments publicly about the label's move, its release would break the streak of his consecutive top forty Billboard 200 releases.
As for me, tomorrow I'm heading into his 1985 album, Tao. Like I said above, I'm hoping for things to pick up again, but I'm not expecting they will. Tao would be his final album to receive any sales certifications and begin a steady decline in overall popularity for him, possibly aided in part by the above Mercury Records release. That all unfolds tomorrow.
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