#128: Love Is Alright Tonite by Rick Springfield
Peak Month: February 1982
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
YouTube.com: “Love Is Alright Tonite”
Lyrics: “Love Is Alright Tonite”
Richard Lewis Springthorpe was born in 1949 in suburban Sydney, Australia. His dad was an Australian Army officer, and in his childhood, Rick lived on an army base. He was 13 when he learned guitar. Rick joined various bands in England, where his father was stationed from 1958 to 1963, and several more after returning to Australia. When he was still 14, in mid-June 1964, Rick saw the Beatles in concert in Melbourne at Festival Hall. In 1968, he was approached by bass guitarist Pete Watson to join his group Rockhouse. By the fall of ’68, Watson changed the band’s name to MPD Ltd and, in October when he was 19 years old, they toured South Vietnam to perform in concert for Australian troops. Another member of MPD Ltd was Danny Finley (drummer). Upon returning to Australia, they formed Wickedy Wak. By 1969, Springthorpe was in a band called Zoot. The band recorded a heavy rock version of the Beatles “Eleanor Rigby”, which climbed to #4 on the Australian pop chart in 1970.