Week of April 17: General Hospital: The Golden Music

By Sylvia Gurinsky

ABC's "General Hospital" is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The show has been featuring its greatest hits, remembering pioneers and bringing back supercouples.

The recent Nurses Ball scenes have included some of the show's greatest musical hits.

The peak of "General Hospital's" popularity - the early 1980s - coincided with a rise in the popularity of visual music on resources such as MTV. During that decade and somewhat during the 1990s, the cast list included actor-singers who did both on the show.

Among those who sang on "GH" were John Stamos, who played Blackie, and Wallace Kurth, who played Ned (Ashton) Quartermaine. There were two others who were hitmakers, however.

The first was Rick Springfield, an Australian-born actor-singer who played the handsome Dr. Noah Webber. At the same time Springfield increased heart rates on the show, he was moving up the charts with "Jessie's Girl."

Sorry to say, Springfield's original 1980s "GH" version of the song cannot be found (yet), but here's a recent version he did for the golden anniversary - as himself, not Noah:

Jessie's Girl

Another "GH" heartthrob who was versatile was Jack Wagner, who has played Frisco Jones. While Frisco and Felicia (Kristina Wagner, once married to Jack Wagner offscreen as well as on) were one of "GH's" supercouples, it was Tania (Hilary Edson), not Felicia, to whom Frisco sang "All I Need" in 1984:

All I Need

The biggest "GH" supercouple of them all, Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis), don't sing. But as they tracked down the Ice Princess and escaped the Cassadines during the early 1980s, the Patti Austin-James Ingram song "Baby Come To Me" was used for their treks. Another Austin-Ingram duet, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," was used as the love song for Robert and Holly Scorpio ( Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms). Again, alas, no "GH" clips that feature those songs.

In 1998, a CD of music from the show was released - but not those songs, given music rights laws.

But take your Jack Wagner, Rick Springfield and Austin-Ingram CDs and say a Happy Musical 50th to General Hospital!

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!