Rick's back on rock

By REGINA MEDINA

SINGER-SLASH-ACTOR Rick Springfield - yes the '80s heartthrob of "Jessie's Girl" fame and " General Hospital " popularity - is back.

Not that the former pinup boy went away, really, but Springfield hasn't had a hit since the invention of New Coke. And his TV appearances have been mostly limited to '80s-themed retrospectives and the occasional TV movie.

But the Grammy-winning rocker has his creative juices flowing again thanks to his latest effort "shock/denial/anger/acceptance," which he recorded in the studio at his Malibu , Calif. , home.

Through it all, time has been kind to Richard Lewis Springthorpe. Dude is still cute, looking particularly buff and alluring on the CD's cover.

Springfield will be in town - well, Glenside, Montgomery County , at the Keswick Theatre - tomorrow, promoting the album and the single "Beautiful You." And, of course, some of his other '80s hits, including "Affair of the Heart" and "Don't Talk to Strangers."

The album's title refers to the four stages of healing, he said recently, chatting with us whilst workers dug a pool at his seaside home.

"I was going through a lot of stuff when I wrote it. It's an appropriate title. I write to heal," said Springfield , who had a brush with the law in October 2000 when he was charged with physical abuse against his wife Barbara Porter, aka "Jessie's Girl." The matter was later dropped.

Rick and Barbara have been married 19 years and they have two sons, Liam, 18, and Joshua, 15.

But, his female fans still connect with Springfield , who, for some odd reason, used to get confused with Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen.

(Even his soap opera character Dr. Noah Drake had all the " General Hospital " nurses fighting for his attention during his stint from 1981-83.)

Springfield recently attended the premiere of the Jennifer Garner flick "13 Going on 30" - his classic "Jessie's Girl" is featured in it - and the women went predictably crazy.

The No. 1 song, featured on his 1981 album "Working Class Dog," is still popular, but he has "no idea" why.

"If I knew that I would write 1,000 more songs like it," said Springfield , 54. Upon more reflection, he says it was a combination of factors: a summer release, "an appropriate amount of angst and a need to write off disco," he said.

With regard to "shock/denial/anger/acceptance," he likes his effort. He calls the single "Beautiful You," "a catchy little tune. But I didn't think that 'Jessie' was anything, so I'm the last one to judge."

Sometimes his judgement, or rather his management's judgement, has been called into question. By him.

There was that time he sang a duet with former "Charlie's Angel" star Cheryl Ladd on one of her TV specials.

One of his managers persuaded him to do the television show just as "Jessie's Girl" was still breaking, he said. They sang "Whenever I Call You Friend," according to the www.rickspringfieldfans.com. Ladd is "a lovely person and everything, but it was not a musical milestone by any stretch of the imagination."

Don't worry, we'll always have "Love is Alright Tonite."