Well if you dont like hi, youre really gonna hate this thread because theres no negatvitiy in it, just alot of praise.

Richard Springthorpe turned 58 on 8/23! Pretty amazing considering he looks better than most that are in their 20's. But not only that, Rick for the past two years has been on and off General Hospital, the show that gave him the exposure in 1980-82, he did his final episode of the show this Friday and General Hospital in a very classy way gave him a chance to play through most of the show, and to promote a single recorded for the show and his next record and now on iTunes.so lets get on to the appreciation.....

Well Rick to me has had quite a run, he's had a career that many do not realize started in 1972 with a Top 20 hit "Speak to the Sky" and didnt start in 1981 with Jessies Girl. Rick first started in Austrailia with a band called ZOOT which actually were big Down Under and were set to come to America but their label in Australia refused to let them go over, so they said lets break up and then re-form in America, well Rick said it was a bad idea since the break-up caused a real break up. So Rick broke through in 72 with "Speak to the Sky" and America wanted him, they brought him over, but Rick was a musician and Capitol didnt want that, they wanted another David Cassidy, they wanted him do to magazines and really werent interested in his writing. So Rick came over, and it went well at first, BUT a vicious rumour started because people were saying tht Capitol had tons of girls brought in to buy the records and he wasnt really selling, well the scandal died, but no one wanted Rick after that. He recorded a second album called "Comic Book Heroes" which Rolling Stone compared to a young David Bowie, Rick says today, "It was the only positive word they ever said about me, and it was the worst thing i recorded". Well the years progressed and in 1975 Rick had a hit with "Take A Hand", from the WAIT FOR NIGHT record which was strong and worked on with Elton Johns band at the time, but it was on an indie label and they folded. So Rick once again out of a contract started just writing and then took acting classes, got some acting gigs on Wonder Woman and Battlestar Gallactica, then in 1979 he started to record WORKING CLASS DOG without a label, he couldnt even get studio time because he had no money, so the studio let him come in when they were really closed. Well then he got signed by RCA at the same time he got called for General Hospital, and at that point the Soap opera was the biggest thing on TV, so he was on the Hottest show, he got recognized, But most people thought he was an actor who happend to sing, another Stigma he took a long time to break. Well during the years of 1981-1985 Rick was on fire, he had 16 straight Top 40 records, four platnum/multi platnum records, toured the world,played Live Aid, Rick was so hot during this time he even charted B SIDES!!

Well Rick took 3 years off for the first time ever, and then came back in 1988, married with a son and a new record ROCK OF LIFE, which was doing good and rick was about to tour, when once again, something went wrong, an ATV accident that almost killed him and ended the tour chance and the record faded away, and so did Rick. He wouldnt play again till 1996, starting to play gigs he got back to recorded with a band called SAHARA SNOW, then in 1998 released his most personal record KARMA, full of a more reflective acoustic sound. Then in 2001 Rick released ALIVE his first Live Record, toured steady, opened his amazing fansite where you can get merchandise,soundcheck passes,unreleased dvds,limited cds with demos and rare tracks never released. In 2004 Rick released his hardest Rocking album ever called SHOCK DENIAL ANGER ACCEPTANCE, which showed that a guy at 55 had more balls and anger than the poser rock coming out from young artists. In 2005 his amazing cover album DAY AFTER YESTERDAY, then a return to General Hospital here and there, all while touring non stop playing small venues and theaters. Well now in 2007 Rick readies his next record and debuts a new single

WHO KILLED ROCK N ROLL??

this song kicks ass, just a great song, ROCK played by someone who knows what Rock is!!

http://www.youtube.com/wa...815pny5DqA

Heres the live performance, and major THANKS to General Hospital for letting him do a show on their show!
[Edited 8/28/07 16:58pm]