Songfacts®:

• Rick Springfield writes most of his own songs, but "I've Done Everything For You" was written by Sammy Hagar, who released the original version as a single in 1978 and often played it at his shows. There's wasn't a lot of crossover between Hagar and Springfield fans, so most people didn't know it was a cover. Hagar at the time had left Montrose and had yet to join Van Halen. Springfield's version is faithful to the original.
• Springfield had more female fans than most guitar-slingers, in part because he was starring on the soap opera General Hospital, but none of them seemed to mind this song about a woman who uses him for his fame and fortune but gives nothing in return.
• This was released as the lead single from his Working Class Dog album (with his bull terrier Ronnie on the cover). He had a modest hit in 1971 with his first single, "Speak To The Sky," but had little chart success the rest of the decade. "I've Done Everything For You" didn't do any damage either, but the next single, "Jessie's Girl," sure did. It went to #1 in America and in his native Australia. "Love Is Alright Tonite" was the next single, and then "I've Done Everything For You" was re-released. This time, with the wind at its back, it was a hit going to #8 in America and becoming one of Springfield's most enduring songs.
• Springfield made a video for this song that he directed himself. It's pretty basic, showing him and his band rehearsing the song at a club as a lady in red - presumably the song's subject - watches from the shadows. It did well on MTV, which launched in 1981 the same day "Jessie's Girl" went to #1 in America.
• The Working Class Dog album was recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, which in 2013 was the subject of Dave Grohl's documentary Sound City. Springfield is a big part of the film and joined in the supergroup Grohl put together to promote it: The Sound City players. The group played a few concerts and made various TV appearances. At shows where Springfield participated, "I've Done Everything For You" was part of the setlist.