Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” is one of those songs that has practically become part of the weather, to the degree that Springfield’s role in it almost doesn’t matter. But the former soap-opera star made some really good new wave-inspired power-pop records back in the day, including 1981’s near-classic Working Class Dog (which includes “Jessie’s Girl” and several songs nearly as good). These days, despite his decidedly older-skewing demographic, Springfield continues to make albums for a young audience—specifically 2009’s My Little Precious One: Lullabies For A New Generation, a collection of songs he wrote for his children.

Updated 05/04/2011