Comments on: Song of the Day #392: ‘Jesse’s Girl’ – Rick Springfield

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:00:01 +0000

Ha. Dana was just saying the same thing the other day. Trying to figure out which Duran Duran number would appear

By: Kerrie

Kerrie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:04:51 +0000

Oh, and as to my comment about kissing the tv screen, etc. above, that totally applied to Duran Duran for me – and they better appear in this countdown somewhere. )hint hint) The 80s would not have been the 80s without Duran Duran!

By: Kerrie

Kerrie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:02:03 +0000

Love, love, LOVE this song!! I was totally a Dr. Noah Drake groupie (and devoted GH’er at the time – also the days of Demi Moore’s Jackie Templeton character, I might add). I still blast this song on the radio whenever I come across it.

I also loved the way they featured the song in “13 Going on 30″ with the young Jennifer Garner character singing along and kissing the tv screen while watching the video. It totally captured the essence of that era for young girls like me. This song still brings me back and is a great 80s classic.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m still really enjoying this theme! Yay 80s!!

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:19:08 +0000

Born in the USA came out in 1984, three years after this song. I can certainly see from the 12 year old perspective how the Boss could be the relative unknown compared to Springfield at that point, particularly since Bruce had stopped recording in the late 70′s over a contract dispute, and then released The River and Nebraska, which were not so commercially successful in the pop world with the exception of the hit Hungry Heart. My confession on that song is that, for years (probably until college), I never knew that Springsteen was the person responsible for Hungry Heart, as it seemed so different from other songs he had done.

Anyway, as to today’s song, I suspect if you had made this your number 1 song from the 80′s, there would be no quibbling with that placement. This song basically launched the 80′s, coming out as such a huge hit in 81 and was in heavy rotation on the brand new MTV back when I’m fairly sure they only had about a dozen videos to play all day long.

The song is so damn hooky that even the most hardened pop cynics can likely be found singing along when nobody is watching.

Oh, and so long as we are making confessions, I was such a geeky 14 year old when this song came out that I actually watched General Hospital back then (Oh, come on people Luke and Laura ruled!). So, when this song became a hit, I was just so impressed that Dr. Noah Drake could sing.:)

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:19:16 +0000

Oh, and I think “Sister Christian” deserves an honorary spot on this list, as it was certainly the title from the 80′s that most found its way into your daily life

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:17:53 +0000

What is amazing about this song is that the first, and, to be honest, probably the only thing I think about when I hear it or hear of it is the scene from Boogie Nights, a film I saw only once and liked well-enough. The power of cinema is strong indeed.

Mistaking Bruce Springsteen for Rick Springfield is downright cute, and I also remember being amused and delighted by what I thought at the time was the incredible similarity of their names but now just seem like two guys with last names that start with S. When did Born in the USA come out? Cause that certainly cleared up any confusion, I’m sure.