Jessie's Girl
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"Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer
Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...
. It was released on the album '' Working Class Dog'', which was released in February 1981. The song is about
unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep affection, or may consciously reject it knowing that the admirer admires them. Me ...
of a young man for his best friend's girlfriend. Upon its release in the United States in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
, "Jessie's Girl" was slow to break out. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on 28 March but took 19 weeks to hit No. 1 reaching that position on 1 August, one of the slowest climbs to No. 1 at that time. It remained in that position for two weeks and would be Springfield's only No. 1 hit. The song was at No. 1 when
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
launched on 1 August 1981. The song ultimately spent 32 weeks on the chart. ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' ranked it as No. 5 for all of 1981. The song also peaked at No. 1 in Springfield's native country of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and later won him a
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance was a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award presented to male recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality vocal performances in the rock music genre. Originally called the Grammy Aw ...
at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards. "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. ''
Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...
'' said that "a strong rhythm guitar fuels the pop-rocker while Rick's determined vocal works the hook." Springfield recorded an acoustic version of the song for his 1999 album, ''
Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
''.


Background

Rick Springfield was taking a
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
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 Ron Ray Jessie (February 4, 1948 – January 13, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills. He played college footb ...
on it. 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 Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...
, "I was never really introduced to her. It was always just, like, panting from afar." Springfield told Songfacts that Winfrey'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. In 2006, the song was named No. 20 on
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s".


Personnel

Credits sourced from Mix *
Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...
- lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitars * Neil Giraldo - lead guitars, bass guitar *Gabriel Katona - synthesizers *
Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...
- drums


Chart performance


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications


Coheed and Cambria sequel

On 21 August 2020, the American
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band
Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. It consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), and Za ...
released a music video entitled "Jessie's Girl 2" to their official
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. 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, 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. The song also references Tommy Tutone's " 867-5309/Jenny" via lyrics that mention the protagonist changing his number. 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 ''So I Married an Axe Murderer'' is a 1993 American romantic black comedy film, directed by Thomas Schlamme, and starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie MacKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet (Travis), ...
''." 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. Springfield liked the draft prepared by Coheed and Cambria and agreed to participate. Coheed and Cambria released the single digitally and as a
7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...
in September 2020.


In popular culture

In regards to the song's use in films such as ''
Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic ...
'' (1997) and '' 13 Going on 30'' (2004) 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." "Jessie's Girl" was covered on ''
Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...
'' in the first season episode "
Laryngitis Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under 2 weeks. Causes Laryngitis is cat ...
" (2010).
Finn Hudson Finn Christopher Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character was portrayed by Cory Monteith and first appeared on television when ''Glee'' premiered its pilot episode on Fox on May 19, 2009. ...
( Cory Monteith) sings it to Rachel Berry (
Lea Michele Lea Michele Sarfati ( ; born August 29, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of ''Les Misérables'' (1995–1996), ''Ragtime'' (1997–1999), ''Fid ...
) to express his opinions about her relationship with her then-boyfriend, Jesse St. James (
Jonathan Groff Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he has received several awards including a Tony Award and a Grammy Award as well as a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Aw ...
). This version was certified gold by the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
in 2010.


See also

* List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981 * List of ''Cash Box'' Top 100 number-one singles of 1981 * List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s


References


External links


Rick Springfield discusses "Jessie's Girl"
- RetroRewind interview {{authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles Rick Springfield songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance Number-one singles in Australia RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen Songs written by Rick Springfield