Rick Springfield

My Story….

There are several years that separate myself & the rest of my siblings. When I was in grade school, my mom went back to work. She left my oldest siblings in charge of picking me up from school. Every day was the same story….it was 2:15 and they were missing General Hospital. That meant I had to RUN out of class and get to the car so we could get home before they missed anything good. And I say THEY because both my brother AND my sister were into it. It was the early 80s and Luke & Laura were all the rage.

Naturally, being the curious kid that I was, I wondered what was so great about the show and started watching it with them. I remember all the great stories (mostly Luke & Laura adventures) and I had managed to form a little bit of a crush on “Jeff Webber” (aka Richard Dean Anderson who later became famous for portraying MacGyver). Soap operas are known for their beautiful people. Women weren’t the only lookers on the show. Since the primary audience is women, the men have to be something special too.

Enter Dr. Noah Drake.

Jeff who?

I was smitten and for an almost 10 year old that is saying something. What was even better was that Dr. Noah Drake (aka Rick Springfield) was a ROCK STAR in real life. He was on tour and my sister thought it would be a great idea for me to go to my very first rock concert.

July 2, 1982

Well, long story short…I was a goner. That was it. My sister said I was transformed over night. I became an avid reader of 16 Magazine, Tiger Beat & Bop – all publications that I would later learn Rick Springfield hated. But I digress. He was in all the magazines and I had his picture everywhere. And I am not just saying that. There wasn’t a speck of paint that you could see on my walls – every inch was covered with his face. To illustrate my point, if you can recall those magazines, they would always have a page that showed past issue covers. I would cut THOSE out and then cut his face out of THOSE covers. We’re talking little 1/4″x1/4″ images and I would tape them to my bed posts because I had run out of room on my walls.

I was fortunate enough to live down the street from the venue that Rick would come play at each summer. He’d sometimes do more than one show and I’d go see all of them. By the time I reached Junior High, my locker was full of his pictures and I had fashioned book covers (because we made book covers for our school books back then) with his pictures. And yes, like any other teenager with a crush, I would practice writing my name – Kristina Springfield. So what if my name wasn’t ACTUALLY Kristina. It was certainly close enough. I knew he sang it just for me anyway and he wasn’t actually saying “Kristina” …it was “Kristine – AH!” Yup. A certifiable dork. But I loved him.

Rick was my constant companion for many years. He was my friend during the times when it felt like I had none. And when he sang it was always for me. It started in about the 5th grade and lasted well into high school – about the time that he seemed to disappear from the music scene. I was sad to see him go and not get new music from him but you know how things go – they change and well, I was growing up. I graduated high school, went on to college and eventually met and married my best friend.

Now, Mike (my husband) would tease me constantly about my love and admiration for Rick Springfield. He would always bat his eyelashes at me, raise his voice up high and sigh “Oh, Rick! RICK!” To which I would always reply, “Yeah, well you were hot for Tiffany! Explain THAT one!”

Time carried on but my love for all things Rick Springfield never changed. His music still ranked as some of my favorites and when he came to town to play at the State Fair in 2001 I was more than eager to take my sister and go rock out! And we did! That’s another story entirely and a hilarious one at that!

In January 2008, my five year old daughter & I returned home one day to find my husband had passed away. I won’t go into the details other than to say it was unexpected and one of the most horrible experiences of my life. The cloud that enveloped me that day was dark and foreboding. I was 36 years old, a widow and single mother to a 5 year old girl. Not that being a single mother was unique – many had done it before me – it was new to me. Not only was I mourning the death of my husband and best friend but our dreams and plans for the future died right along with him. What was I to do? Where was I to go?

Now, you may ask yourself what this has to do with Rick Springfield. Well, A LOT. We had the funeral and then about a week later made the journey east to my husband’s hometown to attend a memorial. We were sitting in the hotel room when my sister who was surfing the internet said to me, “How about we go see Rick Springfield in April? He’s coming to Wendover. You need something to look forward to.”

Surely a concert would not lift me out of my darkness forever but for a couple hours I would be able to escape myself. I was all for it. Seeing the concert reminded me of a time long ago when I sought solace from the pains that most teenagers feel – awkwardness, isolation, etc. Back then what always made me feel better was hanging out in my room and blasting Rick’s music on my Kenwood stereo. Our seats were about half way back in the concert hall – certainly not bad ones but as luck or whatever would have it, a lady happened by and offered my sister and I tickets in the 3rd row. I kinda have to wonder if my late husband had anything to do with that!

Rick didn’t disappoint. He was energetic and just what the doctor ordered. I let go and forgot about myself for a couple hours. As he does with every show, Rick found his way into the crowd and eventually on my sister’s chair. I’d never seen my sister go that crazy. This is that moment. How she got so lucky I would never know!

rick_debbie

From that moment I made the decision to try to find joy. I knew it would be hard. I wasn’t a very happy person at the time and seeking joy in anything seemed difficult. But I decided that perhaps I was just trying too hard. I came to the conclusion that perhaps I should just find it where I could and I would start by going back to a time when I was really REALLY happy. And for me that time was when I was that 10 year old little girl seeing my first rock concert. I was going to seek out my friend, Rick.

I introduced my daughter to Rick’s music. We have his Alive CD in the car and it stays there. Whenever she wants to listen to it, she knows that all she has to do is push a button and the music will start playing. We talk about her Dad a lot. And these conversations are usually started whenever she hears the songs Rick sings about his Dad (April 21, 1981 and My Father’s Chair). She wondered about why he was singing these songs and I explained to her the story. For a little girl she pondered this deeply. She and Rick share birthdays that are 7 days apart. She feels a closeness to him that I didn’t anticipate and soon she was begging me to go to one of his shows.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t play here often. Usually he’s at a casino about 90 minutes from here and they don’t allow children. But I promised her that one day I’d take her to see him as soon as he played a venue close by that she could get into. I also promised her that he’d sing with her at the concert. It was a bold promise but I just knew it would happen for her some day.

That day came in April 2009. He was finally doing a show in Utah down near St. George. I bought tickets for her, myself, my mother and my sister. The family (including Dad and my nephew) made the 6 hour drive down to southern Utah for the show. The show was awesome as expected. We were 5th row center and I had never seen Michaela so engaged in a concert. She hadn’t been to many shows but this one was different. She sang to every song. I watched Rick’s eyes and they seemed to be on her most of the time. When the time came for “Don’t Talk to Strangers” I told Michaela to get ready. Sure enough, Rick made his way to the edge of the stage and leapt into the front row. He balanced on the backs of chairs and climbed over 4 rows to reach ours and then stopped right in front of Michaela. Frankly I was stunned. Sure I had made that promise to her but this was better than I had hoped. I fell to the floor to try and catch the moment on film. I hadn’t acted quickly enough to change lenses so I was stuck trying to catch an up-close shot with a zoom lens – NOT AN EASY THING. I lay on the ground and watched in awe as he asked her name and proceeded to sing with her.

Michaela & Rick singing “Don’t Talk to Strangers”

This was a moment I would never forget. For that moment in time that night, my daughter and I felt joy. The excitement that she felt when the show ended was intoxicating and I wish it would last forever. I know…I KNOW! C’mon Kris! You’re being melodramatic! No, really I am not! I was so happy for her, I felt like crying. She had been through so much in her short 6 years by this point. I just wanted her to feel a little bit of euphoria. And she did. We had a good talk later about the adrenaline rush she was feeling. It was, in a word – AWESOME.

I have had several other opportunities since to see Rick in concert. Each time is a renewal for me to remember that life isn’t all that bad. I may have difficulties from time to time when I think of the hand I’ve been dealt. I may not know where the road I am on is heading but I do know that I can take these little detours along the way to rejuvenate my spirit.

In July 2010, Michaela and I ventured to Denver to visit my best friend. Rick was performing at a venue near by and we went to the show. It was a general admission show and that meant getting there early to get a decent seat. And being the middle of July it meant for a very long hot day of waiting. We waited for hours to get seats close to the stage. We were fortunate to do so. Michaela passed the time making a sign to hold up during the show and I passed the time coveting a white guitar at the souvenir stand. As I stared at this guitar the thought that I should just seize moments to remember kept going through my mind. Buying this guitar meant that I would get to go backstage to meet Rick to have him sign it. It had been 28 years since my first concert. I had been within inches of him at many concerts but could never bring myself to reach out and touch him. Now I was standing at the souvenir stand shaking. An unemployed widow spending this kind of money – it was foolishness. What was I thinking?

Seize the moment.

I bought that guitar. And I took my little girl backstage with me to have Rick sign it. He signed it to both of us which I asked him to do because one day that guitar would be all hers. I told him that I had waited 28 years for this moment. I am not sure he knew exactly how to react to that. I was pretty nervous and praying that I wouldn’t say anything retarded. I did of course. I told him that he was saying “Kristine – AH!” and not “Kristina”… I’m such a fangirl! A couple hugs and a kiss on the cheek later, it was over. I met my idol – finally.

So, what else more is there to look forward to? I’ll tell you what…. FIVE DAYS on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean with Rick. w00t!

And the story will continue…

Homemade Videos Featuring Rick Songs:

Christmas With You – a video dedication to my husband the first Christmas without him 2008.

April 2009 Concert Memories

Double click image to start video…

Check this out! I caught Michaela w/my iPod. Listen carefully to what she’s singing along to!

My Rick Memories