Friday Night Video

This week's video in the completely unironic 10-week march to Rick Springfield's September 25th concert at The Borgata, a concert for which I'm slowly but surely accumulating something resembling a male posse, is yet another unqualified YouTube gem. It's the only cover song to appear on this list, and it's also the only duet.

The 70's and early 80's were great for many reasons, but the thing I miss most about that fabulous era was the bizarre string of variety shows in which celebrities doubled as singers and comedians on their very own primetime special. They were cheesy, but man they were fun. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey attempted to revive this practice a few years ago, but that was a total disaster. Perhaps Zoey Deschanel would be best suited to pick up this long burned-out torch, but I gleefully digress. Today's clip is from the 1982 special "Cheryl Ladd...Scenes from a Special." And yes, that's the correct title. I didn't even have to add the ellipsis. This special starred Cheryl Ladd, Carol Burnett and Rick Springfield. I'm just gonna let that last sentence sit there for a moment.

The clip is Rick and Cheryl doing a cover of the Kenny Loggins tune "Whenever I Call You Friend," which just so happens to be one of my favorite songs. In all seriousness, once you get past Rick's bright pink (leather?) suit and the fact that he's singing a duet with Cheryl Ladd, this is actually a really good performance. Even the New York Times agreed, and they're never wrong. Rick can sing. Period.