Rick Springfield - Comic Book Heroes (1973)

(Australian 1962 - Present)

Some people think of Rick Springfield as the good looking star of General Hospital who burst onto the music scene in the early 1980's with his chart topping hit "Jessie's Girl". But almost ten years before that break-through, Rick Springfield recorded 'Comic Book Heroes', one of several memorable early albums that established him as a singular musical talent.

Boprn in Sydney, Australia on August 23, 1949, Richard Lewis Springthorpe - later changed to Springfield - was bitten by the music bug at age thirteen, when he receioved his first guitar. Soon he was honing his chops with such bands as The Jordy Boys, MPD, Rock House, Wickedy Wak and Aussie sensations Zoot, a band which also included Beeb Birtles, later a member of The Little River Band. Voted the top guitarist in Australia in 1970, Springfield topped the Aussie charts with the hit "Speak To The Sky" that year.

In 1972, Springfield's debut U.S album 'Beginnings' was released and a re-recorded acoustic version of "Speak To The Sky" went to the Top 15 of the U.S Charts. At about the same time, Springfield landed the role on Mission Magic!, a Saturday morning cartoon show which ran on ABC-TV for one season. Featuring a cache of infectious pop gems culled from his Australian-only Mission Magic! album, Springfield's cartoon image in the show was very similar to the drawing that appears on the cover of Comic Book Heroes.

The next year, he began recording Comic Book Heroes at Morgan Studios in London with producer Robie Porter and orchestrator Del Newman, best known for his work with Cat Stevens. The concept of the album centered on the trials and tribulations of a fictional character similar to such super heroes as Spiderman and Batman. In fact, "I'm Your Superman" ("my Marc Bolan rip-off", confesses Springfield) includes a sampling of the theme from the classic TV show The Adventures Of Superman.

Despite his credentials as a serious songwriter and musician, Springfield had become a mainstay in teen magazines like 'Tiger Beat' and 'Valentine'. At the time of Comic Book Heroes' release, he struggled with being pegged alongside the freshly-scrubbed cherubic teen idols of the day. "They were trying to market me as the new David Cassidy but I wasn't delivering the bubble-gum songs that they needed. It was a real drag," says Springfield.

In fact, the songs on Comic Book Heroes have nothing in common with "white-bread" teen-pop. The album was amature and eclectic collection of quintessential pop. From the baroque harpsichord-majesty of "The Photograph" to the high-octane kick of "the Liar", Comic Book Heroes is a notable attempt at expanding the borders of pop music.

Along with a stellkar cast of seasoned musical pros, Springfield tackled a myriad of instruments including all guitars, electric piano, Hammond organ and moog synth. There is even a nifty Beatlesque backwards guitar solo on one track. "I did some backwards stuff on the end of "Do You Love Your Children". I just love the sound of backwards guitar. It's from my old sixties days." The song, ironically, was inspired by a religious leaflet titled 'Do You Love Your Children' that was placed under the door of Springfield's Hollywood apartment.

The nostalgic epic "Born Out Of Time" is Springfield's favorite song from Comic Book Heroes. "It worked as a song and it has a lot of emotion because I had really found that I was enamored with Greta Garbo at the time and was very caught up in the whole silver screen romance. I had my wall covered with Greta Garbo posters. I got this absolute fan worship thing for her. I'd just sit and watch her movies all day long."

Despite raves from the pop cognoscenti, including Rolling Stone, who compared Springfield toi David Bowie, Comic Book Heroes fizzled on the charts. Bad fortune plagued Springfield throughout the '70's. His 1974 Springfield LP was shelved by Columbia Records, while 1976's Wait For Night was doomed when his record label folded midway through a concerty tour. It would be years of musical mishaps and assorted guest roiles on such TV shows as Battlestar Galactica, The Six-Million Dollar Man and Wonder Woman before he struck gold in 1981 with Working Class Dog. A hit album coupled with his popular role as Dr. Noah Drake on TV's General Hospital, quickly made Rick Springfield a household name.

Since then, Springfield has tallied up a string of seventeen Top 40 hits including "Don't Talk To Strangers", "Love Somebody" and "I've Done Everything For You", as well as multi-platinum albums and sold out tours.

Assessing Comic Book Heroes twenty years later, Springfield is justifiably proud of the record. "The best review I ever got from Rolling Stone was for that record. It was a part of me. I can look back on it and it's like opening a drawer of memories". As a magazine ad for Comic Book Heroes stated way back in 1973, Rick Springfield is much more than another pretty face. (liner notes written by Ken Sharp, August 1993)

Album Release

In 1973, Springfield signed to Columbia Records and recorded his second album, Comic Book Heroes, which was also produced by Porter. In Australia, released on Porter's new label, Wizard Records, the album and its two singles failed to chart. Springfield was promoted as a teeny pop idol similar to David Cassidy and Donny Osmond. Springfield spoke of the teenybopper image in Circus Magazine in 1973. He said he was not sure how it happened. "Someone saw my photo and that was it." He went on to say that someone asked to take a photo of him in a white suit and thought that it was "a bit dull", so he took some crayons and "scrawled an R with a lightning bolt going through it ... which became my emblem."

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my Australian vinyl pressing and includes full artwork and label scans. I recently acquired this album by chance, while out grocery shopping. A nearby house was holding a garage sale and although it was late in the day, I found this album tucked away behind some boxes, and it had clearly been missed by earlier record collectors.  The cover was a little rough but the vinyl is in pristine condition.

I already had the single "I'm Your Superman" so finding this album was magic. I was going to include the B-Side of the single as a Bonus Track (thinking it was a non-album track), until I worked out that it had been lifted from his Beginnings LP.

While researching this album I came across a 'one of a kind' action figure of Rick Springfield (see left), that had been made by a die-hard fan. WTF !  To read more about this, see megomuseum.com 

I also discovered that the Columbia and Wizard releases have slightly different track listings, with the last track on each side swapped. So the Columbia LP finishes with "Do You Love Your Children" while the Wizard LP concludes with "Misty Water Woman"

Australian Track List

A1 Comic Book Heroes 0:42

A2 I'm Your Superman 2:59

A3 Weep No More 3:39

A4 Why Are You Waiting 3:57

A5 Believe In Me 1:47

A6 Do You Love Your Children 6:05

B1 The Liar 3:39

B2 The Photograph 3:23

B3 Bad Boy 3:07

B4 Born Out Of Time 3:47

B5 Misty Water Woman 4:29

The Band:

Rick Springfield - Guitar, Electric Piano, Hammond Organ, Moog Synthesizer, Lead Vocals

Mike Morgan - Piano, Harpsichord

Dave Wintour - Bass

Terry Cox - Drums

Comic Book Heroes Link (203Mb) New Link 25/08/23