August 23: Singer & actor Rick Springfield- “Jessie’s Girl,” “General Hospital” - is 64-years-old today.

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Richard Lewis Springthorpe was born on August 23, 1949 in South Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia. Rick was 13 when he first played guitar, and formed a band, Icy Blues.

Springfield left school in his late teens. In 1964, he joined Moppa Blues as a guitarist alongside fellow guitarist Mike Elliott. They changed their name, first to Group X and then to Daniel Jones Ensemble by 1967. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971. Upon joining Zoot, Springfield adopted the Think Pink – Think Zoot theme that had the band members dressed head to toe in pink satin.

In 1972, he started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States. He had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US. He received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Jessie's Girl.”

He followed with four more top 10 US hits, "I've Done Everything for You,” "Don't Talk to Strangers,” "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody.” His two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog from 1981, and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet the following year.

In 1984, Springfield starred in his own movie Hard to Hold and recorded the majority of the material on the accompanying soundtrack. This soundtrack included his top-ten hit, "Love Somebody" as well as several moderately successful follow-up singles. However, the movie itself was not successful, and the soundtrack's success (though higher than that of the movie) paled in comparison to previous Springfield albums.

Nonetheless, Springfield released his next album Tao in 1985, scoring several modest hits from this release, including "State of the Heart" and "Celebrate Youth.” That same year, Springfield was one of several performers who participated in the Live Aid charity concert. Around this time, he took a brief hiatus from recording.

In 1995, Springfield formed a side-project, Sahara Snow, with Tim Pierce on guitar and Bob Marlette on keyboards and percussion, which released an eponymous album in 1997. 

As an actor, he portrayed Dr. Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital, from 1981 to 1983 and during 2005 to 2008 and 2012, returning in 2013 for the shows 50th anniversary with son/actor Liam Springthorpe. In 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir.

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For more about Rick, visit his Website at – http://rickspringfield.com/#

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-- "Jessie's Girl"
-- "Don't Talk to Strangers"
-- "Love Somebody"