His 'Human Touch':
Success hasn't spoiled Springfield yet

Nineteen years after a calamitous tour stop in Fargo, Rick Springfield is ready to return.

The 1980s pop star performs tonight at Rib Fest in the Fargodome parking lot. After a show at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in August 1985, however, fans wondered if Springfield would ever return.

In the early '80s the singer was prolific, releasing four albums like "Working Class Dog" and "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet," in four years. He scored hits with "Jessie's Girl," "Don't Talk to Strangers," "Affair of the Heart" and "Human Touch."

However, just about everything that could go wrong with that Fargo concert did. A storm threatened to pour on the outdoor crowd and the opener, Aimee Mann's group 'Til Tuesday, was forced to cancel so Springfield could go on early to beat the storm.

"Is that the one where it was outdoors and raining?" Springfield asks from his Los Angeles home. "Yeah, that's the one where we almost got electrocuted."

The singer/guitarist says he remembers little about the show, but fans, upset with his hour-long set, wrote to The Forum expressing outrage, even implying that 'Til Tuesday never even made it to Fargo. On top of that, a story later ran about how Springfield and a female acquaintance were asked to leave Chi-Chi's when neither could produce identification.

Julie Esterby of Fargo remembers the show, but was too starstruck to notice a shortened set or lack of an opener.

"I was so blown away with him, I wasn't upset if the show ended a little early," the 39-year-old says.

It was the second Springfield concert in less than a year for Esterby, but it would be almost two decades until she would see him again.

After attending a Medina, Minn., show last fall, Esterby's enthusiasm was recharged. She returned to Fargo and began a letter-writing campaign to line up a local Springfield show, as well as lobby for his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"It's very flattering and I feel very humbled by it," Springfield says of having a fan base so strong two decades after last landing on the charts.

"Anyone I meet, I always take the time to at least give them something sincere rather than, 'Hey, how ya doin' babe?' " he says. "My attitude towards fans has really gone 180 (degrees) since the '80s when I kind of looked at them as being there to serve me and now I look at it as kind of the reverse: I'm there to serve them."

Proving his point, the 54-year-old rocker signs autographs and copies of his latest CD "Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance" from 1 to 2 p.m. today at Best Buy in Fargo.

Springfield recently lent a hand, as well as a song, to a pair of fans, Susan Arnold and Allegra Clegg. The producers of the comedy "13 Going on 30" used Springfield's signature hit "Jesse's Girl" in the movie and invited the former teen idol to the premiere.

"It's kind of flattering to have written a song that's representative of an era," Springfield says. "I have songs like that that represent things to me too."

The premiere was something of a flashback for the singer, who parlayed his role as Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera "General Hospital" to his big screen debut with 1984's "Hard to Hold." The movie was a hit with his fans, but panned by critics who considered him eye candy and bubble gum pop.

He plans a return to the small screen with an upcoming appearance on NBC's "Law & Order."

Having experienced highs (winning a Grammy for "Jessie's Girl" in 1982) and lows (check out his soul-baring new song "My Depression") and some surreal events (playing in Vietnam during the war) in the past five decades, Springfield says he's never considered becoming a regular 9-to-5 "Working Class Dog."

"This the only job I've had and I love to do it," he says. "It's the only reason I feel like I can still put out a record with as much energy as this new one because I'm still very hungry and I feel like I have a lot to say."