OK, since we got a good response to the Rick Springfield post, I wanted to stay on the soap-opera actor turned singer vibe. While I could devote a month's worth of blogs to Springfield's hits, there's a lot of ground to cover in the 1980s, so I'll mention this next man once and only once.

Jack Wagner.

The 47-year-old got his start playing Frisco Jones for the better part of 12 years from 1983-95 on General Hospital, and at the same time had a Top 40 hit with a ballad called "All I Need."

How big was this hit?

It was a bigger chart hit than every single Rick Springfield song except for "Jessie's Girl," and "Don't Talk To Strangers," which I'll catalogue at some other point when I discuss '80s songs that my church hated.

That's right. "All I Need" was a No. 2 smash, and it was a radio staple in 1985. However, in terms of staying power, neither this song nor its singer had any. Wagner was no rock star, and he really was never a capable pop star.

Where I'll give the guy credit is in his choice of ballads. Within the scope of big, fluffy pop love songs, "All I Need" was among the most satisfying, like a giant marshmallow cookie when all you needed was a wafer.

Furthermore, Wagner's follow-up, "Too Young," was a lesson in vocal disaster. Hey, I'm not saying that Wagner couldn't sing, but I am saying that it was as if the producers couldn't decide whether Jack would sing in his upper or lower register.

That song never charted on the Top 40, but again I thought it was a competent 80s ballad, just nothing with any staying power. Total fluff, like a gargantuan bowl of pudding when you merely needed a spoonful of tapioca.

Thanks to YouTube and all those folks who post old "Solid Gold" clips, enjoy both hits from Wagner -- oh, and check out his poofy mullet.