Bruce Springsteen–Born to Run (and in the U.S.A.)

As I write this, Today (September 23rd) is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday. As long as I’ve written entries for my blog, I’ve toyed with idea of writing one for Springsteen.  But, I never felt like I was a huge fan or expert or authority of any kind to write about Bruce Springsteen AKA “The Boss”.  In this blog, I will recall how I became familiar with the music of Springsteen, my favorite album of his and the friends that I associate when I hear his music.

I guess I first came to know of Bruce Springsteen around 1978-79 when ABC-TV ran a show called “The History of Rock and Roll” on a Friday night. I remember spending the night at a friend’s house as we watched this. Everyone was included from Elvis, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry in the 50’s to the Beatles, the Stones and Jimi Hendrix in the 60’s. When it came to highlight groups of the 70’s, I don’t remember a lot on that broadcast except for this guy that had been heralded as the NEW voice of Rock and Roll. They played a very long clip of this guy known as Bruce Springsteen. This became a name that I continued to hear on and off for years to come. In 1982, Springsteen released his album named after my home state Nebraska. It sparked my interest a little. But, at the time, my interests in rock were of a heavier nature and with drummers that were a little more bombastic. 
Then, in 1984, Bruce Springsteen was just plain hard to ignore.  I remember walking into the record store that I spent most of my high school years at one afternoon. It was about a week or so before Born in the USA had been released. The owner of the record store quickly asked me, “Are you gonna get the new Springsteen album next week?”  As I said, I was a big fan of heavier guitar and loud bombastic drums like Van Halen. Springsteen was just something that didn’t interest me.  The extent of my Springsteen knowledge included a brief bit that Robin Williams did in his act as “Elmer Fudd sings Bruce Springsteen”. In the days of MTV, soon Bruce was ubiquitous and EVERYWHERE!  The video for Dancing in the Dark was in heavy rotation with a young Courtney Cox dancing around with New Jersey’s new favorite son. 

…kinda silly…but I love how Max’s snare drum sounds.

This video just seemed very silly with Bruce dancing around. I thought he was some kind of big rock guy and this just seemed really pop oriented. I wouldn’t say I had any dislike for him. I just didn’t understand all the hoopla. It seemed like every MTV news update had something about Bruce on tour, Bruce’s new video etc etc. But, I do remember when MTV debuted the video for Bruce’s homage to the Glory Days,  I remember loving so much about the song.

My fellow Dustys’ employees and I used to talk about what artists would we talk about when we talk about the music of the 80’s. We joked about people like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince. Then, someone would say, “What about Springsteen?”
One of my early college roommates was a vocal music major and just didn’t get the whole attraction of Springsteen because he obviously didn’t have any formal vocal training. When Bruce’s live box set was released in 1986, The record stores were absolutely filled with this collection. My roommate used to joke that he couldn’t believe so many people would want this. But, as I would make my weekly and daily trips to Dustys, I found something intangible that I liked about this music. I couldn’t put my finger on it. But, something about the sound of Bruce and the E Street band was getting to me.  In 1986-87, Joan Jett recorded the song Light of Day for the movie of the same name featuring herself and Michael J. Fox. I loved that song and I soon found out that the song was written by Bruce Springsteen. My fellow employees at Dustys were obvious fans of the Boss. So, I began to hear more and more and my respect for Bruce as a songwriter grew as well.

Joan Jett singing Springsteen with Michael J Fox

Joan Jett and Bruce Springsteen doing a duet

Forrest and I used to stand at the counter of Dustys and page through the Rolling Stone Record Guide. One of the Springsteen albums that was highlighted is the 1975 album Born to Run.  At this point, I started raiding Dustys’ used LP rack for some gems that sparked my interest. I found that Born to Run and The River were the two albums that sparked my listening palette.  I would drop the needle on those albums and soon I would take away so much from the E Street band’s collective sound. Bruce received a lot of praise as a live performer and “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons became a celebrity and personality in his own right.
In the Fall of 1989, I met my lifelong friend Matt Krogmeier who is a music lover and is a HUGE Springsteen fan. Matt and I would hang out at the college radio station. We would sit in the production studios and the on-air studios talking music and he would pull out Springsteen tracks and play them for me and he would play air guitar and air drums and his love and energy for everything Springsteen was palpable. Years later, I would ask Matt to make his own “Greatest Hits” CD of Springsteen for me. He eventually sent me 3 discs.

For me, Born to Run is Springsteen’s masterpiece.  It opens with Thunder Road and then into Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Night, Backstreets, Jungleland and (of course) the title track Born to Run.  The band is strong from Clarence’s saxophone, the Mighty Max Weinberg on drums, Garry Talent on bass, Roy Bittan on piano and Danny Federici on organ.  The complete band makes a fantastic sound together that is a unique signature sound.  The great thing about this band is they really sound like no other.   I know it should also be mentioned about Little Steven Van Zandt and his backing vocals.
After I’m finished being amazed by the aural magnitude of these musicians, I dig into the lyrical content. Bruce weaves stories about growing up as a teen in the Rock and Roll America of the 50’s and 60’s.  Springsteen has said that he wanted this album to sound like “Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan and produced by Phil Spector”
Lyrics that transport you as the story tells:

“The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone againDon't run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me”

and of course the title track:

“In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and stepping out over the line
Whoah baby, this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap
It's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”

Lastly, is the iconic images of this album cover of Bruce and Clarence. Clarence has his sax and Bruce has that iconic Fender Telecaster. He
Years later, another college friend – Mark Pracht and I were on a road trip together and we had put in a copy of Springsteen’s Greatest Hits album. We had lengthy conversations about the album, the song selections and various other things.  Mark and I had become great friends and our musical tastes had grown. When I met Mark, he was big into the Rolling Stones, Beatles and the Who. I moved away and suddenly Mark was into Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. Then, of course it grew into many different artists. Mark eventually moved to Omaha in the late 90’s and then eventually moved to Chicago.  Mark and I would have a few phone conversations through the years. Mark would tell me about some music he’d been writing and how inspired he had been from the work of Bruce Springsteen.  Now, Mark was a huge fan of Springsteen and had seen him numerous times in a live setting.  He even did a series of album reviews on Springsteen’s albums on his own blog.
Now, When I listen to a Springsteen album, I usually think of both Mark and Matt. I think of my brethren from my days at Dustys Records.  Somehow, we connect this music of our youth and our life with the music that touched the people in our lives and hence we are connected to these people through our memories. Even now, as I listen to Born to Run, I’m reminded of so many people that have experienced similar stories and can relate to the lyrics “getting out while we’re young” and “tramps like us”
In the end, it’s about the vision, the drive and the songwriting of a man born on September 23, 1949 named Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOSS!

Deep Purple–Perfect Strangers

Released on October 29th 1984, the Deep Purple album Perfect Strangers was a reunion of the classic Deep Purple lineup featuring Ian Gillan on vocals, Roger Glover on bass, and the foundation of Jon Lord on keyboards, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Ian Paice on drums.  This was a big music event for me and what would become one of my favorite bands of all time.  It’s hard to believe that it all happened 30 years ago.

It was the Fall of 1984, I had started my senior of high school and my parents and my brother had moved from our longtime hometown of North Platte Nebraska to Hastings Nebraska which was about 150 miles away(or about a 3 hour drive). I elected to stay in North Platte and finish my high school years. My older sister, her husband and my barely year old niece moved into the upstairs and I stayed in my teenage man-cave downstairs.  I wasn’t a rebellious teenage kid. I had a part-time job bagging and stocking groceries in a local grocery store. I was active in various music groups in school and church activities as well.  If I had any vices, it was spending time and money at local record stores.  I was spending my part-time income on records, tapes and rock magazines like Hit Parader and Circus magazine. Another big event in the Fall of 1984 was that the town of North Platte received MTV on their basic cable service. As I write this now, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But, it really was. I had read about this channel that played 24 hours of music videos. Up to that point, if you wanted to see music videos, you had to wait for NBC’s Friday Night Videos or TBS’s Night Tracks. The problem was that this channel that I wanted to see wasn’t available in my house because my parents hadn’t subscribed to cable TV.  They had subscribed in their new home in Hastings. But, I was in North Platte.  So, I spent a lot of time at my friend Kent’s house. I remember hanging out at his house and seeing such videos like Hall & Oates’ You’re Out of Touch, Sammy Hagar’s I Can’t Drive 55 and one that seemed to have a lot of buzz about it was Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers. The reason for the buzz behind this video was because of the reunion of the classic Mark II lineup.

The video had me mesmerized. From the opening shot of the clouds and various aerial shots and then these cars pulling up a country drive followed by quick glimpses of the 5 smiling members starting with Ritchie, John, Ian Gillan, Ian Paice and then Roger Glover. Jon Lord’s Hammond organ swirls as the song progresses as Ian Paice’s drums pulsate. The band is seen playing, recording, socializing, drinking and even playing football(That’s British for soccer). Looking back, this was my introduction to who the band was and the various members. I was hooked.
I didn’t know what to expect from this album. The extent of my Deep Purple knowledge was limited to Smoke on the Water and the album Machine Head. If you read my blog on that album, you know that it had a big impact on me. But, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t have any preconceived notions about how this album should sound.  I don’t remember if I bought the album the day it was released or soon thereafter. I did buy my first copy on cassette(I’ve owned a few different copies of it)  I do remember buying it on a Tuesday and the next day, my friend Aaron Koch and I made a trip to Kearney for the High School Senior visitation day for (then known as) Kearney State College. I had decided in that Spring before that I wanted to attend college there because of the music department at Kearney and I had discovered the great Dustys Records that Spring as well. Aaron and I jumped in his Trans Am or Camaro that Wednesday morning and I asked him to put in the Perfect Strangers cassette. So, we headed down the interstate 80 to Kearney listening to this album. I don’t think this album had the kind of impact on Aaron as it did on me. This album(for me) became THE album of my senior year.
The album was a soundtrack of sorts for that year. I loved the video for Perfect Strangers. I didn’t really know what a “groove” was or what it meant to play a “groove” at the time. But, Ian Paice’s drumming reeled me in and somehow I felt it with his playing. The second single or video that was released was for track 1 on the album known as Knocking at Your Back Door. At the time, I didn’t get the meaning of the song lyrics until some time later. I do remember the video being some kind of artsy Sci-Fi setting where “Civilization is discovered years after the Holocaust”. In the video, we see a bunch helmeted individuals coming across a bunch of musical instruments buried as well as recording equipment and video monitors that eventually get turned on and we finally see concert footage of the band playing the song. It’s really kind of a silly little video. But, this was the early years of 80’s music video. So, the “storyline” of the video is a little hokey. Perhaps it’s a good thing they didn’t follow the suggestive lyrics instead. Deep Purple were a band that had succeeded in the 70’s without the benefit of this marketing tool known as music video.

There was so much great music on the album for me. Of course, there are detractors that say “Oh this wasn’t the Deep Purple of 70’s.” No, it was the Deep Purple of the 80’s. They had all gone on to different projects. Ian Gillan formed his own solo band simply known as Gillan and eventually replaced Ronnie James Dio in Black Sabbath after a drunken agreement with Sabbath’s Tony Iommi.  Ritchie Blackmore had formed his band Rainbow that introduced Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner as lead singers for that band. Bassist Roger Glover had returned to playing with Blackmore in  Rainbow during the early 80’s. Paice and Lord went on to play with David Coverdale in Whitesnake in the late 70’s. Paice even played with guitar great Gary Moore in his time between Whitesnake and the reformed Purple. So, they had taken all the experiences that had and brought them to the table in that 1984 reunion.
My love for record stores was in full swing at this time. I think I made a point to stop at the local record on my way to work (almost) every day. I would pick up my rock magazines and I remember seeing a layout in Circus magazine where a bunch of current rock drummers talked about their drumming influences and a couple of those drummers (like Alex Van Halen and Bobby Blotzer of Ratt) listed Ian Paice as a drumming influence. This only validated that this was a drummer I wanted to know more of and (of course) I did.
This cassette always seemed to be with me. I loved it from point A to point B. In fact, in my Senior English class we were assigned to write a bit of poetry and I went to the lyrics for the song Wasted Sunsets. The opening line says:

The day is gone when the angels come to stay

By the Winter of 85, I knew that this school year was almost over and the “Day would be gone” and I wouldn’t see many of these people ever again. So, I took that first line and used it as an inspiration. I may have used “The Day is gone” as the opening line of the poem. In fact, this may be confession that I used the song lyric as an inspiration. I didn’t see a lot of those people ever again because I loaded up my car and moved the day after graduation that day in late May of 1985.  I still remember some of those last days between Senior classes and the Graduation ceremony hanging out with friends and I had turned on a couple of friends to the sounds of Deep Purple. Years later, when I would fill out one of those silly profiles on a classmates website or another social website, the question would be asked “What group/album reminds you of your Senior year of High School?” This is the first one that always comes to mind and yet it never appears on the list of multiple choices.

Somewhere down the line, I ended up obtaining a promo poster for Perfect Strangers.  I proudly hung it in my new room at the new house in Hastings and I have a few pictures of myself sitting behind my drums and my DP poster displayed proudly behind me.  I would follow Deep Purple and even years later I bought a Video cassette of the videos from this era including songs from their 1987 album House of Blue Light.  One of the videos that was included on this tape was a live version of the song Nobody’s Home.  I’m not sure if I had ever seen the video broadcast on MTV back in the day.

But, it would prompt me to pull out this album once again and relive so many of the memories I’ve written about in this blog. I eventually bought an LP and 2 CD copies of this album.  The album was remastered in the late 90’s and the sound quality was much better than the CD quality I had purchased in the early 90’s. I dial up this album very often on my MP3 player and throw some earphones on and take it all in again and again as the memories come flooding back.
In the Fall of 2013, Eagle Rock video released Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers Live on DVD with a live show from that tour in Sydney Australia. I quickly found the DVD and the video quality is excellent and the playing is top notch as well.  This was the era of Deep Purple that snagged me up and reeled me in. As the lyrics of the title track say:

Can you remember …Remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold spirits of ice
All my life
I AM THE ECHO OF YOUR PAST

So, it’s been 30 years since I first experienced this album. It has flown through my life and and it is definitely the echo of my past. But, the echoes and memories are ones that will stay with me forever in the music.