'Jessie's Girl'
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Springfield in concert in 1985. 34 Years Ago ‘JESSIE’S GIRL’ GOT A TV SOAP SALES BUMP Rick Springfield’s role on the top-rated General Hospital helped him reach No. 1 in 1981 ON AUG. 1, 1981, RICK SPRINGFIELD jumped to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to his role on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The Australian singer-actor had appeared on the Hot 100 previously (going as high as No. 14 with his first entry, 1972’s “Speak to the Sky”), but his TV exposure brought the 31-year-old a new level of fame. Springfield’s debut single for RCA, “Jessie’s Girl,” arrived on the Hot 100 dated March 28, 1981 — the same month that he joined the cast of General Hospital as Dr. Noah Drake. On an average day that year, more than 11 million viewers watched the show, according to Nielsen, making it the top daytime serial at the time. And that sizable audience helped make the guitar- CODA driven pop song Springfield’s first and only Hot 100 No. 1. A Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance followed. Though Springfielddeparted the show as a regular in 1983, his music and acting career continued to blossom: He has notched 21 singles on the Hot 100, appeared in Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary, can currently be seen as a creepy therapist in HBO’s True Detective and will star alongside Meryl Streep in the filmRicki and the Flash, which opens Aug. 7. Springfield wasn’t the only beneficiary of General Hospital. Through the use of music on the program — or its actors moonlighting as singers — the show helped generate Hot 100 smashes for Herb Alpert (“Rise,” No. 1 in 1979), Patti Austin and James Ingram (“Baby, Come to Me,” No. 1 in 1983), Christopher Cross (“Think of Laura,” No. 9 in 1984) and soap actor Jack Wagner (“All I Need,” No. 2 in 1984). —KEITH CAULFIELD TITLE-Artist (Producer) Writer, Label& Number (Distributing Label) JESSIE'S GIRL-RickSpringfield (Perth Olsen), R. Springfield, RCA 12201 CLM THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE-Air Supply (Harry Maslin), G. Russell, Arista0604 REWINDING CPP THE THEME FROMTHE "GREATEST THE AMERICAN HERO"-keySunbury (Mike Post), M. Post,S. Geyer, Elektn 47147 ABP BP CHARTS I DON'T NEED YOU-penny Rogers (Lionel B. Richie Jr.), R. Chrisitan, Liberty 1415 WBM ELVIRA-Tbe Oak RidgeBoys (Ron Chancey), D. Frazier, MCA51084 © Copyright 2015 by Prometheus Global Media LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. BILLBOARD MAGAZINE (ISSN 0006-2510; USPS 056-100) is published weekly except for two issues in January, March, July, December, three issues in April, June, September, and four issues in August and October by Prometheus Global Media LLC, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595. Subscription rate: annual rate, continental U.S. $299. Continental Europe £229. Billboard, Tower House, Sovereign Park, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England LE16 9EF. Registered as a newspaper at the British Post Office. Japan ¥109,000. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send all UAA to CFS. Send non-postal and military facilities changes of address to Billboard, P.O. Box 45, Congers, NY 10920-0045. Current and back copies of Billboard are available on microfilm from Kraus Microform, Route 100, Millwood, NY 10546 or Xerox University Microfilms, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. For reprints, contact Wright’s Media, [email protected], 877-652-5295. Under Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 41450540 return undeliverable Canadian addresses to MSI PM#41450540, P.O. Box 2600, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A8. Vol. 127 Issue 23. Printed in the U.S.A. For subscription information, call 800-684-1873 (U.S. toll-free), 845-267-3007 (international) or e-mail [email protected]. For any other information, call 212-493-4100. SAM EMERSON/POLARISSAM 84 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 8, 2015.