Mae West was once quoted as saying that if you had a pretty face you were halfway there. 'There' Mae never elaborated on but one might assume that she meant her famous bed. Well, last week a guy flew into Melbourne airport who has, most definitely, a pretty face and who is certainly halfway there, and I might add emphatically denies that he has ever set eyes on Mae West's bed.

Known once to his school friends as Richard Springthrope, this guy only this month has been written up in America's top teenage pop magazine Sixteen (reported sales of six million a month) - they said of him "feast your ever-lovin' eyes on romantic Rick Springfield cause he's going to make you pop your pony-tail and blow your cool. He's already a successful heart-warmer in his native Australia where he has a hit single, Speak To The Sky. The calm crooner is also a sensational guitarist and he's just been signed to Capitol records - so watch for his first LP, due any day now".

Needless to say, accompanying this little bit of news was a David Cassidy type pic.

Well, like the regular groupies Glenisabelle (my secretary) and myself shot out to Melbourne airport in my dashing little Celika to do exactly what they said - feast your ever-lovin' eyes on native Australian Rick. Well, I can't say my pony-tail popped nor did Glenisabelle exactly lose her cool, but I've got to give it to the lad, when he stepped off that plane he sure looked like all pop stars should.

Of course we've all known Rick for a long time but on remembering, - even his early days with the Wickedy Wak - he was pretty noticeable. His days with Zoot helped this group reach the top of the charts with their single Eleanor Ridby and although he was canned by many for having a pretty face and wearing way-out gear, one had to admit that he was a more than competent lead-guitarist.

Around about this time last year the Zoot decided to split and Rick who's already showed signs of becoming a recognized songwriter, went his own way. For months he just hung around his parents' suburban home in Melbourne and concentrated on his songwriting. Next thing we knew, he released his first solo single titled Speak To The Sky. Of course, the rest is chart history. Speak To The Sky was a national top three hit. Oddly enough Ricky, who had put showmanship back into showmanship within the Zoot, never appeared live on stage as a solo artist within Australia. In fact even up until now he has never done the Australian tour bit.

January of this year came and Ricky, who'd promised himself for so long that this year he'd go overseas, made the break. He signed his affairs up to Daddy Cool's record producer, Robie Porter and partner, Steve Binder and left to make a name for himself in America and London.

To catch up on his activities Glenisabelle and myself invaded his home to find how much more there is to Ricky behind that pretty face. Much to my horror before we could get to the front door we had to contend with quite a few young ladies outside the front gate, and would you believe a horse on the front doorstep.

Ricky sat us down in the lounge-room and much to my disgust he still looked like a million dollars - stunning American jumper, Whirlpool white shirt and pressed jeans. Disgusted I was because both Glenys and myself were suffering from a bit of a hangover and must have looked like death. After ordering from his Mum a cup of tea for us all, this is how the conversation went:

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO GO OVERSEAS?
'Well, originally to record the LP in London. The Binder-Porter Organization late last year signed up a deal for me in the States to record with Capitol, who after discussions decided I should do the album at the Trident Studios in London.'

HAD YOUR OVERSEAS TRIP BEEN DECIDED EVEN WHEN YOU WERE WITH THE ZOOT?
'No not really. But I've always wanted to go and even when I was with the Zoot Darryl Cotton and myself would often talk about it. Actually we almost went over as the Zoot which would have been really neat but unfortunately the deal fell through so the group split up. But I kept on relations with Robie Porter who was trying to arrange the Zoot deal and next thing Robie had made a deal for Speak To The Sky with Capitol.'

WHY DIDN'T YOU MAKE ANY PERSONAL LIVE APPEARANCES PROMOTING "SPEAK TO THE SKY" BEFORE YOU LEFT?
'The big hang-up with me then was backing groups. Actually I had some really good offers here from backing groups and I did do GTK and Fly Wrinklies Fly because they had competent backing groups that knew the songs I did. But the lack of a permanent backing group stopped me from doing any live appearances. It's good to see that Darryl, since he's gone solo, is working with Burke & Willis, because he's been friends with them for a long time and it's so good to work under those conditions. I also never attempted to do the solo thing here because the American deal was being finalized at that time and I wasn't sure if I was leaving this week of the next week.'

WHO DID YOU SEE POPWISE IN MELBOURNE?
'I saw Mountain just before they split up and Elton John's Festival Hall concert.'

I BELIEVE YOU WERE A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WITH ELTON'S PERFORMANCE.
'Well, not disappointed, but you see I'd never seen him live before but I'd read about it and seen all those photos of him jumping around on stage - I really love all that showman bit and of course I'd heard so many raves about him of how fantastic he was on stage. Anyway, it was his first gig with his new guitarist and he did all the songs from his new album. Honky Chateau, but he did them pretty straight. He came out with Paul Buckmaster and the orchestra but I don't think the orchestra guys really took it seriously. But apart from the visual rave, it was still really fantastic to see him.'

AFTER LONDON YOU RETURNED TO LOS ANGELES?
'Yeah, I was there for two and a half months and set myself up in an apartment. During that time we got the LP finally together, did publicity photos and went around to see all the press and those sort of people.'

DO YOU FIND THE AMERICAN POP MACHINE DISTASTEFUL?
'No, it's pretty much the same as anywhere only on a bigger scale. There's a lot more to do and to get into. You have to go and see so many more people. It's like Japan where there are so many variety shows that you have to get onto so many of them just to be seen by the majority.'

WHY DID YOU GO TO JAPAN?
'It was originally for the Tokyo Music Festival, and I was invited by this music publishing company who are incredibly influential over there. They've got everything sewn up in that country - radio, television, the lot.'

IT WAS DURING ONE OF THESE TELLY SHOWS THAT YOU THREW YOUR GUITAR UP IN THE AIR AND IT WAS CENSORED, WASN'T IT?
'Yes, it was on one of the biggest shows there like the Bob Rogers Show here. I was doing Speak To The Sky and at the end of it I did a little flip with my guitar just for a joke really and they cut it out...I couldn't believe it.'

THEY THOUGHT IT WAS SUGGESTIVE DIDN'T THEY?
'Yes. TV's very straight there.'

HAS 'SPEAK TO THE SKY' BEEN RELEASED THERE?
'Yes, I did a Japanese version, plus another local guy did a version there which won't be released until the end of July. My English version of it has also been released there.'

WHAT DO THE AMERICANS THINK OF YOUR RECORD?
'Well, the only people who've heard it so far are the people from Capitol and they really freaked out over it. Actually, it should be released in America around about now, just giving it a little breather before the LP.'

WHY DID YOU COME BACK TO AUSTRALIA AT THIS STAGE?
'Just to see everyone because I've been away for so long. I was in Japan and I could hardly go back to America without coming home first. Actually, it has fitted in well as I've been able to do a lot of television to promote my current record. Hooky Joe. I don't know when I'll be back here again so I just thought I'd drop in when I had the chance.'

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE NOW? AFTER ALL, YOU'VE BEEN AWAY NEARLY SIX MONTHS SO YOU MUST HAVE HAD SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT ALL THE GRINDING YOU WENT THROUGH WITH THE ZOOT, THE UPS AND DOWNS.
'That's the same anywhere - the grinding. I enjoyed going through all of that. Actually I would have enjoyed doing it anywhere. Groups have to go through the same thing everywhere else in the world. The thing here is that there isn't quite as many opportunities although overseas there's more people to take the opportunities. I still believe that the scene here is as good as anywhere else.'

SHOWMANSHIP HAS ALWAYS BEEN A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR ACT, EVEN WHEN YOU WERE WITH THE ZOOT.
'Yes, because I think it is important. I mean to say, look at the La De Das. They're good showman as well as good musos. Showmanship isn't necessarily smashing guitars etc. It can be anything. The Free and Elton John, I think really showed the Australian public what professional showmanship can be.'

DO YOU THINK THAT WITH YOUR PLAYING UP THE SHOWMANSHIP A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST A PRETTY FACE AND THAT YOUR ABILITY AS A GUITARIST WAS OVERLOOKED?
'Not really, because I don't consider myself as a fantastic guitarist, I never will. When you start to think like that you're finished. I use to get hurt though when guys used to say to use that we couldn't possibly play well because we wore pink clothes. It still gets me down. I consider myself a competent guitarist doing a few original things but I know there's a lot of people in this country who think that I can't play and that really bugs me, but these days it doesn't really eat me out inside.'

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO GO THROUGH THE DAVID CASSIDY-TYPE MACHINE IN AMERICA TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS?
'That's really tough to say. I don't know. I'd like to reach everyone if I could. I wouldn't just like to reach the older ones, or just the younger ones. I want to try to reach everyone. It's funny you know, David Cassidy is trying to change all that now. He's the biggest star in the world today and yet he's still trying to change it.'

DID YOU SEE HIM WHEN YOU WERE IN AMERICA?
'I saw him when he was in the next recording studio to me but I didn't talk to him or anything like that, and I've never seen him perform. But I've heard he's really good on stage. You know, that's what a lot of people think showmanship is, being like David Cassidy.'

WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED IN AMERICA, YOU WERE ONLY THERE FOR SEVEN DAYS. WHAT DID YOU DO IN THAT TIME?
'Well, I visited a few magazines and did some stories as a sort of introductory thing. In New York I had some photographs taken and did a few radio interviews but they all wanted something to hear rather than just see.'

FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER AFTER READING MAGAZINES LIKE 16, SPEC AND TIGER BEAT IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO PROMOTE A PRETTY FACE AND YOU HAVE BEEN NO EXCEPTION.
'Oh yes, but that isn't the only thing I'm into. I would like to reach everyone within the music scene if possible. I mean to say, magazines like that get zillions of guys in all the time. You just have to be lucky and so far they've been really gas to me. Then I went to London to do the LP at Trident Studios which was fantastic.'

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE FINISHED LP?
'Very much so and as an added bonus I have learnt a lot from doing it. It took about four weeks to do I suppose - we put the backings down fairly quickly but other things like the mixing, which we did in Los Angeles, took a lot longer.'

HOW LONG WERE YOU IN LONDON?
'About a month. During that time I lived with Mitch (GO-SET's London correspondent). We went to a lot of pictures and a couple of pop shows as well as discos etc. Actually when I was 12 I lived in London for about three and a half years as my father used to be in the Army and he was posted there.
But this time around it changed a lot. In fact Mitch and myself made a pilgrimage to the place where I used to live and would you believe, Andy Fraser, a member of the Free, lives about 100 yards up the street and with Mitch knowing him and all that we went in to have a chat. I must tell you about one night when I was going to go to the Speakeasy Club and decided not to, and would you believe, I missed Paul McCarthy. Wow, I was furious about that.'

WHAT ARE YOUR GENERAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LONDON MUSIC SCENE?
'Well, it was like I expected it to be because you get the papers over here and you can read about it and of course you hear a lot from people who've been there. It is indeed a very exciting city and there can be no doubt indeed that it is a capital of the world.'

THERE'S A CROSS-SECTION IN THIS COMMUNITY WHO THINK YOU HAVE AN UNUSUAL VOICE AND SOME WHO THINK YOU HAVE NO VOICE AT ALL. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
'Well, I guess it's different, but I wouldn't say it's anything incredible.'

ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE SINGING LESSONS?
'Oh yeah, that always helps. I'd take guitar lessons too if I had the time. You can always learn something new no matter how good you are.'

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU WILL EVENTUALLY SETTLE DOWN?
'I don't know. I'm based in Los Angeles at the moment cause things are happening there for me just now, but I really don't know what's going to happen in the future.'

DARRYL COTTON HAS NOW GONE SOLO. WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS CHANCES ARE OF MAKING IT, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT HE'S ANNOUNCED HE'S GOING TO ENGLAND IN JULY?
'I couldn't understand why he didn't go solo as soon as the Zoot broke up, but because Beeb and him have always been very good friends I suppose they decided to stick together and see what happened. I've heard his record and I think it's really good, and I believe he's got a really big chance of making it overseas. I've always thought he's had it in him.'

DARRYL'S DEVELOPING INTO A SONGWRITER AS WELL.
'It's a bug once it gets to you, as Russell Morris has said so many times. It takes so much of your time but you enjoy doing it.'

IN THE LAST YEAR WE'VE COME OUT OF THE HEAVY ACID ROCK THING AND INTO PEOPLE LIKE JAMES TAYLOR, CAROLE KING AND ELTON JOHN WHO ARE ALL SINGER SONGWRITERS, AND JUST RECENTLY NAMES LIKE GILBERT O'SULLIVAN AND DON MCLEAN HAVE BEEN MAKING THEIR MARK. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THESE PERFORMERS AND DO THEY INFLUENCE YOU AT ALL?
'Well, all that you've mentioned are favorites of mine and yes, a lot of these guys influence me in different ways. But you've got to remember that a lot of these names have been around for a long time. Don McLean for instance, had about four LPs released, all as good as American Pie, before he hit the big time. Promoters had attempted to push him in America but he just hasn't clicked. As for Gilbert O'Sullivan, I think he is fantastic. I saw him do his single on TV in London - he's a really weird looking guy.'

ON THE SUBJECT OF WAITING AROUND, HOW LONG ARE YOU WILLING TO WAIT ON THE OVERSEAS MARKET?
'Well, I'll just keep trying forever. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll live overseas forever but making a name for myself on the music scene is what I really want to do so I'll just have to keep at it.'

DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT "SPEAK TO THE SKY" WAS GOING TO BE AS BIG AS IT WAS IN AUSTRALIA?
'You mean, was I ready for it?'

YES
'Yes, but I was really pleased that it turned out to be so big, I never expected it, but I had hoped.'

ONE THING THAT SURPRISED ME WITH THE NEW ALBUM IS THAT YOU HAVN'T EMPHSIZED YOUR GUITAR PLAYING WITH MORE ACOUSTIC NUMBERS ETC. ANY REASON?
'There's quite a lot of guitar on there, but it's not all prominent.'

YES, BUT I DIDN'T THINK YOU NEED SUCH FULL ARRANGEMENTS.
'Do you think it's over-arranged?'

NO BUT I JUST DON'T THINK YOU NEEDED IT
'I think all the arranging suits the different songs - I've learnt a lot from doing this LP.'

DO YOU THINK "SPEAK TO THE SKY" WILL BE A HIT IN THE STATES?
'You can't be sure of anything I guess, but just the same as here, I hope. It's certainly got a lot going for it with the people behind it.'

WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU WILL MAKE YOUR FIRST LIVE SOLO APPEARANCE IN THIS COUNTRY?
'I don't know. Perhaps on the next trip back.'

WITH YOUR OWN BAND?
'I hope so, in fact I may even get one put together from here. You know I really want to get back on stage. I've started to get the itch for it.'

ARE YOU IMPRESSED BY THE SINGLES THAT HAVE COME OUT HERE SINCE YOU'VE BEEN AWAY?
'Yes, I really am. I love Allison McCallum's Superstar as I love Billy Thrope's Most People I Know. There's always been lots of good singles coming out of here, but sadly that's as far as they've got. And from what I've read I can't wait to hear Greg Quill and Country Radio's new single.'

WITH SUCH HIGH QUALITY OF RECORDS AS THIS, DO YOU THINK THERE'S MORE AWARENESS OVERSEAS OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC AND PERFORMERS?
'Yes, especially in America. But if someone could make it from Australia rather than going over there and having to do it, it would, believe me, open up a lot of gates that have always been closed.'

BEING CLOSELY ATTACHED TO THE BINDER-PORTER ORGANIZATION, DO YOU THINK DADDY COOL WILL EVENTUALLY BREAK IT IN A BIG WAY IN AMERICA?
'Yes, for sure. I saw them for the first time at the Troupador in Los Angeles and they really killed them. All the stories you read were true.'

FINALLY RICK, TELL US THE STORY OF HOW YOU MET ELVIS PRESLEY.
'Oh that - well, I was on a plane from Los Angeles to Hawaii and when I got on the plane I had to walk through the first-class area. I saw this guy and I thought, hey, he looks like Elvis Presley. I wasn't sure because I'd read all those stories about how he hated flying. But after we took off, all these people started going up to him and getting his autograph. He was apparently going for a holiday in Hawaii. Well, it got so ridiculous with all the passengers that he eventually had to get up and walk down, row by row, and shake hands with everyone. It was too much, because he really looked fantastic. I just couldn't believe my luck.'

On that note we left Rick giggling as usual and in the car driving back to the office I couldn't help but think that with a bit of the Springfield luck, the push of Capitol records, the plugs from 16, Spec and Tiger Beat one day Rick Springfield might have to walk the plane and shake hands with everyone. And if Mae West is right, then with his looks he's certainly got it made. And what about Presley taking an airtrip to Hawaii? Perhaps a little old airtrip to Australia is not out of the realms of possibility.