Remembering "Hard to Hold"

The scene is very clear in my mind.

One car crashes into another. A man jumps out to meet the woman driving the car he hit. He tells her he’ll buy her a new car. She scoffs.

“I’m James Roberts,” he says.

She looks at him without any clue who that is.

“I’m James Roberts,” he repeats.

She still shrugs, insisting they exchange insurance information.

Instead, he jumps back in the damaged car he was driving and speeds off.

The movie is “Hard to Hold” from 1984, and rock singer Rick Springfield plays James Roberts, a rock star. That is why he is incredulous that she does not who he is.

It is one of the opening scenes in the movie, and the only one I had seen back in 1984 on some show whether it was “Entertainment Tonight” or “Good Rockin’ Tonite”.

I always wanted to see that movie, and finally did a couple days ago.

The movie had some interesting actors and good music, including a hit single by Springfield.

“Love Somebody”
It was in the Fall of 1984 that I really started getting into music. Then, for Christmas in 1984, I got a ghetto blaster as my main present. It really opened up the music world to me. I could listen to the radio and whatever station I liked, tape stuff off the radio, tape things from tape to tape because there were two decks, and play tapes full of music.

On New Year’s Day, 1985, I discovered LA-107 FM was playing an all-day marathon of the top 100 albums of 1984. Initially, my intention was to listen to the countdown and record the songs I liked. I quickly got a dose of reality. LA-107 was an album-oriented rock station, meaning they focused on albums over singles. So for each album in the top 100, the station played more than one song, because they were highlighting the albums.

Consequently, since I also wanted to watch the college football bowl games and do other things, I had to pick and choose the music I wanted to tape. What that meant was tuning in, seeing if I liked the song playing or the artist, and tape that. It wasn’t very efficient but that was okay.

One of the songs I did record was “Love Somebody” by Rick Springfield. I had already heard it a bunch and really liked it. Now, I was able to listen to it whenever I wanted, which I did, and pretty much learned all the words.

The song was from the movie “Hard to Hold” and was on the soundtrack for the movie. I had listened to a lot of Rick Springfield before that, because he had been a staple of the junior high dance. Beyond his signature song “Jessie’s Girl”, he had “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “I’ve Done Everything for You”, and “Love is All Right Tonight”.

“Love Somebody” went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Watching the movie
I always wanted to see “Hard to Hold”, but it was never a priority. Then last January, on this 80’s movie channel, it was airing. I recorded it on the PVR but, again, it was not a priority, so I didn’t watch it.

A few months ago I discovered the PVR erases recordings after a year. That meant the clock was ticking.

Finally, with about a week left, I sat down and finally watched “Hard to Hold”.

The movie
“Hard to Hold” is pretty light-hearted. It starts out with rock star James Roberts, played by Springfield, eluding fans and, in the process, getting into a car accident with child psychologist Diana Lawson, played by Janet Eilber. She has no idea who he is, much less ever heard his music.

James sets out to date her, and they build a relationship over the course of the movie, with their ups and downs. He even meets her dad, played by Albert Salmi, who dies near the end of the movie, throwing another road block in the way of their relationship.

Diana decides to pursue a job in Europe but, in the end, James leaves a concert – after performing “Love Somebody” – and stops her at the airport where they are reunited.

The movie never takes itself too seriously, and really doesn’t have a lot of dramatic tension. Springfield spends the whole movie being lovable and endearing. Even when he is angry or frustrated, it isn’t for very long.

The only antagonist is his songwriting partner, Nicky Nides played by Patti Hansen, who at times appears to be jealous of James’ and Diana’s relationship. At other times they talk about how they can’t sleep together and work together at the same time. The music has to come first.

And the music is a big part of the movie. Springfield’s songs are used to bridge virtually every scene, so the music is really part of the setting as much as the city.

The cast
There are some interesting actors in the cast too.

Patti Hansen, who played Nicky Nides, is the wife of Keith Richards, legendary member of the Rolling Stones. They were married ion 1983, not that long before “Hard to Hold” came out.

Janet Eilber, who played Diana Lawson, would go on to appear in “The Best Times”, a short-lived TV series based at a Los Angeles high school. It came out in the summer of 1985, and I just loved it. I looked for it everywhere on the Internet and found all six episodes a few years ago on YouTube. I should have watched it then. I didn’t and as quickly as I found “The Best Times”, it was taken down just as quickly. The only thing I can find online is some video of the opening credits and some still pictures of the actors in action.

Parting thoughts
There are a lot of gaps in the movies and TV shows I wanted to see from the 1980s. The fact I lived on a farm meant I had difficulty getting to town to watch movies in the theatre or rent them and return them. It also meant I was limited to the three channels of peasant vision.

I always wanted to see “Hard to Hold” ever since I saw that one scene back in 1984.

I wasn’t disappointed at all. It is not classic cinema, but it is good natured fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has some great music.

More than that, it is a window into the 1980s, and I always appreciate looking back.