Rick Springfield back on 'General Hospital' for 50th Anniversary

photo courtesy: ABC Television/rickspringfield.com

Rick Springfield is currently in the midst of a brief return to "General Hospital."

The veteran musician/actor is reprising the role of Dr. Noah Drake, which he first played from 1981-83, in conjunction with the ABC-TV soap opera's 50th Anniversary.

Ongoing plot lines have brought back various characters from the past.

Yesterday, he was on the talk show "Katie" and is also part of host Katie Couric's "20/20" special to air Saturday night on ABC about the soap milestone. 

Come Monday's "General Hospital" episode, Springfield will perform with full band during the "Nurse's Ball" event plot. Last October, Songs for the End of the World - his first studio album in four years - came out on Universal Music Enterprises.

An excellent collection that was among my 2012 year end top 20 albums, the songs range from gorgeous power ballads ("You & Me") and insanely catchy hard rock ("Wide Awake," the sarcastic, chant-friendly "I Hate Myself" and "Love Screws Me Up") to soaring power pop ("Our Ship's Sinking") and the memorable new wave-tinged ("One Way Street").

All could be easily be radio hits today if program directors had more open minds and didn't stigmatize '80s hitmakers.

The album comes with different intriguing cover art designs and bonus material that can be accessed by scanning a picture inside the booklet through an app developed by Aurasma.
I have the version that contains a great live cover of Paul McCartney & Wings' "Jet," recorded in Nashville. 

Earlier this year Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl tapped Springfield to be part of his Sound City Players, which have made several live appearances across the country and in the U.K. to promote Grohl's acclaimed documentary on the infamous Sound City studio. 

Springfield recorded his hit LPs Working Class Dog, Living in Oz and Hard to Hold at the studio. He joined Foo Fighters on seething rocker "The Man That Never Was" on the new Sound City soundtrack album Real to Reel (RCA).