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Jessie's Girl

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"Jessie's Girl"
Single by Rick Springfield
from the album Working Class Dog
B-side"Carry Me Away"
ReleasedFebruary 1981
GenrePower pop[1]
Length3:14
LabelRCA Records
Songwriter(s)Rick Springfield
Producer(s)Keith Olsen
Rick Springfield singles chronology
"Take a Hand"
(1976) 		"Jessie's Girl"
(1981) 		"I've Done Everything for You"
(1981)
Audio sample

"Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album Working Class Dog, which was released in February 1981.[2] The song is about unrequited love and centres on a young man in love with his best friend's girlfriend.

Upon its release in the United States in 1981, "Jessie's Girl" was slow to break out. It debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart on 28 March[3] but took 19 weeks to hit No. 1[4] reaching that position on 1 August,[5] one of the slowest climbs to No. 1 at that time.[4] It remained in that position for two weeks and would be Springfield's only No. 1 hit.[3] The song was at No. 1 when MTV launched on 1 August 1981.[6] The song ultimately spent 32 weeks on the chart.[7] Billboard ranked it as No. 5 for all of 1981.[8]

The song also peaked at No. 1 in Springfield's native country of Australia and later won him a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

"Jessie's Girl" was released in the United Kingdom in March 1984 and peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1984.[9]

Record World said that "a strong rhythm guitar fuels the pop-rocker while Rick's determined vocal works the hook."[10]

Springfield recorded an acoustic version of the song for his 1999 album, Karma.

Background

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Springfield was taking a stained glass class. Also in the class was his friend Gary as well as Gary's girlfriend. Springfield initially wanted to use the actual name of his friend, but instead decided to go with a different name. He chose "Jessie" because he was wearing a T-shirt with the name of football player Ron Jessie on it.[11]

Springfield says that he does not remember the name of the girlfriend, and he believes that the real woman who inspired the song has no idea that she was "Jessie's Girl". He told Oprah Winfrey, "I was never really introduced to her. It was always just, like, panting from afar."[12] Springfield told Songfacts that Oprah's people tried to find her, and they got as far back as finding out that the teacher of the class had died two years previously and that his class records were thrown out one year after his death.[6] In 2006, the song was named No. 20 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s".[13]

Personnel

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Credits sourced from Mix[14]

Chart performance

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Coheed and Cambria sequel

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On 21 August 2020, the American progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria released a music video entitled "Jessie's Girl 2" to their official YouTube channel.[32] The video depicts Springfield, who supplies some of the song's vocals, working in a bar while the titular "Jessie's Girl" wreaks havoc. The lyrics state that the protagonist from the original song was successful in stealing the Girl away from Jessie, but realizes that she is mentally unstable. The protagonist muses that he was likely set up by Jessie, in order for him to be rid of the woman,[33] and that he (the protagonist) is now trapped in a loveless marriage with children and a future he did not want. The video ends with the Girl stealing the barkeeper's keys and escaping.[34] The song also references Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny" via lyrics that mention the protagonist changing his number.[34]

The band's frontman, Claudio Sanchez, stated that the song is "kind of like a National Lampoon’s movie meets So I Married an Axe Murderer."[35] Sanchez had originally come up with the idea of a sequel during a 2019 studio session and later approached Springfield to pitch the idea via an Instagram Live session.[36] Springfield liked the draft prepared by Coheed and Cambria and agreed to participate.[37]

Coheed and Cambria released the single digitally and as a 7-inch single in September 2020.[35]

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In regards to the song's use in films such as Boogie Nights (1997), 13 Going on 30 (2004), and Suicide Squad (2016) over 20 years after its original release, Springfield said, "I'm thrilled by it. As a writer, all you can ask is that a song has legs. It has an appeal that keeps coming back."[38]

"Jessie's Girl" was covered on Glee in the episode "Laryngitis" (2010). Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) sings it to Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) to express his opinions about her relationship with her then-boyfriend, Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff). This version was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association in 2010.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Huey, Steve. "Rick Springfield – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 May 2014. After a solid decade's worth of work in the '70s, Rick Springfield turned into an international star in the early '80s thanks to the power pop classic "Jessie's Girl."
  2. ^ Ling, Dave (16 April 2015). "The real story behind Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl". Classic Rock. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1991). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 545.
  4. ^ a b Grein, Paul (8 May 1982). "Chartbeat". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 18. p. 6. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 30. 1 August 1981. p. 68. ISSN 0006-2510.
  6. ^ a b "Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield". Songfacts. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl – Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Top 100 Hits for 1981". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. 21 March 1981. p. 12. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  11. ^ ""Jessie's Girl" cracks the Top 40". Entertainment Weekly. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  12. ^ "Is Rick Springfield Jessie's Girl a Real Person?". The Oprah Winfrey Show. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008.
  13. ^ "100 Greatest Songs of the 80's: #1 –100". VH1 Classic. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009.
  14. ^ "Classic Tracks: Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl"". mixonline.com. June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Australia No. 1 hits -- 1980's". World Charts. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0363." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  17. ^ "Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  18. ^ "Rick Springfield Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  19. ^ "Rick Springfield Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  20. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 25, 1981". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
  21. ^ "Record World Singles" (PDF). Record World. 1 August 1981. p. 25. ISSN 0034-1622. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jessie's Girl". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  23. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. 4 January 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  24. ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1981". RPM. Vol. 35, no. 22. Library and Archives Canada. 26 December 1981. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014.
  26. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1981". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Hot 100 Turns 60". Billboard. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl". Music Canada.
  29. ^ "British single certifications – Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan Charts June 23, 2016" (PDF). DefJamPromo. Nielsen. 3 August 2022.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Rick Springfield – Jessie_s Girl". Recording Industry Association of America.
  32. ^ Johnson, Josh (21 August 2020). "Coheed and Cambria continues the story of "Jessie's Girl" with new song, "Jessie's Girl 2"". ABC News Radio. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  33. ^ Rea, Carla (24 August 2020). "Jessie's Girl 2: He Got Jessie's Girl - But There's a Twist". 96.3 KKLZ. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  34. ^ a b Lenker, Maureen Lee (21 August 2020). "Exclusive: Rick Springfield's 'Jessie's Girl' gets murderous sequel in Coheed and Cambria music video". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  35. ^ a b Kaufman, Spencer (21 August 2020). "Coheed and Cambria unleash "Jessie's Girl 2" featuring Rick Springfield: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  36. ^ Childers, Chad (21 August 2020). "Coheed & Cambria Give Rick Springfield's 'Jessie's Girl' a Sequel". Loudwire. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  37. ^ Turman, Katherine (21 August 2020). "Coheed and Cambria Share 'Jessie's Girl 2' Video Featuring Rick Springfield". Spin. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  38. ^ Murtagh, Heather (18 June 2010). "Are you ready to rock?: '80s legend Rick Springfield to perform at county fair". The Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  39. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
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