Rick It Up

Rick Springfield knows who's the biggest badass

Nov 13, 2002 at 4:00 am
Soap actor/cock-rocker Rick ("Jessie's Girl") Springfield was multimedia long before Mos Def, Chris Isaak and the like. Fresh off a lengthy run at the MGM Grand in Vegas, Rick also still rocks -- in a Dirk Diggler "You Got the Touch, You Got the Power" sort-of way -- and was a hella good sport in his interview with the RFT. Here are some of the highlights:

RFT: Who's the best musician/actor in the biz today?

Springfield: It's a tough thing to do. I think J-Lo actually does pretty well.

What's more of a chick magnet: a goatee or stage makeup?

I can send you some of the makeup, and you can check it out for yourself. [Editor's note: Sorry, Rick, but the makeup makes you look like Jeff Buckley's corpse].

Ryan Adams is one of the musicians who is obviously heavily influenced by your music. Do you agree?

My wife went and saw him last night. She said it was a great show.

Don't you think he should just bite the bullet and cover Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69?"

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Who's better, Sammy Hagar [Springfield covers Hagar's "I've Done Everything for You'] or David Lee Roth?

Both are good for different things. Sammy's got a great voice and is a great writer. I love Dave's attitude.

You appeared in the TV show The Incredible Hulk. So who's a bigger badass, Eric Bana (who will play the Hulk in the forthcoming feature film) or Lou Ferrigno?

Lou Ferrigno would kick Eric Bana's ass.

Explain the nuances of the Tao of Sex (Rick once played a Tao of Sex-inscribed guitar).

It's called shock value on a guitar. The guitar's been auctioned off and gone. I assume it means the true way of sex.

Have you ever seen the porn spin-off Genital Hospital?

No, have you? I've never heard of it.

Are you bigger in Germany than David Hasselhoff?

Nobody's bigger than David Hasselhoff in Germany.