Friday Night Video

A longer-than-expected trip to Atlantic City delayed this until now, but posting it on a Sunday seems more appropriate as it turns out. Today's song in the Rick Springfield concert countdown, now just seven weeks away from appearing at The Borgata in, yes, Atlantic City, has a definite spiritual bent to it. While most people instinctively assume that Jessie's Girl was Rick's first big hit in the states back in 1981, the truth is far different...and sort of shocking.

Way back in 1971, ten years before Jessie's Girl, Rick released a song called Speak to the Sky, a song which topped out at #14 on the US billboard charts. By that standard, Speak to the Sky was Rick's fifth biggest hit of his US career. The song itself is unlike almost every song you may ever have heard from Rick (as my poor friend Rich can attest to---he suffered through my entire lecture thanks to our room in Atlantic City coming equipped with an iPod dock). How different? So different that it's one of the most covered songs in country music, and it's now considered a standard song for line dancing. I'm not making this up. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube and do a search on "Speak to the Sky." Rick's name barely shows up, but in his place are dozens and dozens of different line dance videos from all over the world performed to his song. Crazy.

To better demonstrate my point, I've got two videos for you today. The first is a choppy recording of Rick doing the song with his band---interesting to watch because of how happy and good-boy he seems when singing about the lord. Compare that to later in his career when he basically simulates sex to his audience. The second video is from The Lucky Boots Club, a French line dancing group doing a choreographed jig to the song. This is interesting because it's a French line dancing group doing a choreographed jig to a Rick Springfield song...and it's considered normal.





Crazy.