Internet radio run from the US is under a lot of pressure these days. The Copyright Royalty Board is in the process of making internet broadcasting so expensive for the broadcasters that it will be virtually impossible for anyone but big corporations to run an internet based radio stations. This will hurt hundreds of broadcasters including well-established stations like Pandora.com. In the end it will also hurt music and possibly even music sales. I mean, if you are like me much of your inspiration to buy new CDs comes from radio. Where is that inspiration going to come from to those millions of people who refuse to listen to the big commercial radio stations? Well, a number of the threatened stations have gone together and created www.savenetradio.org. They have a petition that you should consider signing. But remember, this is only if you live in the US. Even if you listen to the affected radio stations from outside the US, you may in fact hurt the cause by signing, because you are actually not supposed to listen to radio stations covered by US copyright laws, and signing from outside the US can actually give the Copyright Royalty Board another argument for the increased royalty fees. So, US residents only. Read more

   

Lately I have heard a lot of talk of Bruce being cool again. I kind of shrugged it off. Sure, a number of younger bands have mentioned Bruce as one of their inspirations, but are Jesse Malin and the Hold Steady really the kind of artists that define "cool" today? Maybe not. At least not here in Europe. Yet. But how about the Arcade Fire? It doesn't get a whole lot cooler than that, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, then today an article in The Independent proved that there may in fact be something to the rumor. In a long feature article they sure make a good case that Bruce is more relevant today than in a long, long time. They mention the Devils & Dust albums and The Seeger Sessions as two of the reasons, which can seem odd since, as far as I know, they weren't exactly multi-platinum in the States. The Seeger Sessions has even alienated a significant number of particularly American fans even more than the Vote For Change Tour managed to do. But maybe they are now being replaced by a younger, cooler segment of music listeners who see Bruce as a "Godfather of Rock" or maybe just as a reminder of what we used to love about America... and proof that it's still there.

Whatever the case, if an E Street album will indeed be released this year, as everything points to, it will be extremely exciting to see how it will be received. Look out, tickets may again be hard to come by on the next tour, but this time the competitors may be a lot younger and swifter than what we're used to! Read more

   

One of the first memories I have of Bruce Springsteen happened in 1985 at the peak of his popularity. A friend of mine went across the Øresund (the water that separates Denmark and Sweden) to witness one of only two concerts in Scandinavia on the Born in the USA Tour: Gothenburg. I don't know if he went to the first or the second of the Gothenburg shows and that's not important. The important thing is that when he returned he talked about the show as if he'd witnessed the Second Coming.

At the time, I didn't know much about Bruce. I was aware of songs like "Dancing in the Dark" and "Born in the USA". And during a recess in school someone had written "We learned more from a 3-minute record than we ever learned in school. - Bruce Springsteen" on the blackboard. But I had no real concept of who Bruce was or what he stood for.

My friend's account was one of several things that little by little increased my interest in Bruce. Another thing was when someone wrote a review of the same Gothenburg show in my brother's high school newsletter. Again, I was left with the impression that here was something truly unique, something completely extraordinary that didn't fit with the usual trivial context that music was normally put in. Flashy teenage magazines, silly after-school radio shows, etc. This was new and big... and dangerous.

While I have since heard countless of bootlegs from that tour, including the now legendary Gothenburg shows, and I have watched whatever video footage has emerged, it wasn't until I recently watched the newly surfaced Paris DVD - Breathless in Paris - that I truly felt I knew what it must have been like to those lucky people who had gone. It starts out slow, but little by little the intensity builts up until the incredible climax where Bruce kneels on the stage and roars his "prisoner of rock 'n' roll" confession into the dark Paris sky. Over the cause of the show, he goes from being just another figure on a huge stage bathed in daylight, to being an unstoppable natural force driving the crowd into a frenzy out there in the warm summer night. Back in the summer of 1985 Bruce may have been extremely popular thanks to radio airplay and the "Dancing in the Dark" video, but few people in that crowd, and other European crowds, probably had much of an idea what they were in for. That he was much more than a cool looking dude with a toothpaste smile and a nice butt.

After that night, and after all the other nights of the European tour, everything he has done since has been and always will be measured in the light of what happened that summer. The expectations to a Bruce Springsteen show will never again be anything less than gigantic. And though he often lives up the expectations he can no longer exceed them by the same margin he could back then. The Paris DVD documents that last innocence when there were no two opinions as to who was the greatest performer ever. And although we all wish it could continue to be like that (as long as we could still get the tickets we need), the laws of nature simply dictate that no one is entitled to that status for more than a brief moment in time.

Of course, we all know better. Read more

   

Anyone remember Maria McKee? Lead singer of Lone Justice followed by a promising solo career until the record company practically dumped her for no apparent reason. After a long break outside the public eye she returned a few years ago with a new album, High Dive, which has since become two when Peddlin' Dreams was released in 2005. Both albums have been virtually ignored by the mainstream media, so her career is far from what it was in the late Eighties, early Nineties. She tours small places and probably finances everything more or less herself.

Well, what does this have to do with Bruce Springsteen? you may ask. Apart from the fact that Little Steven produced Lone Justice, Maria has always been known to be a Springsteen fan. She was supposed to contribute a cover version of "Candy's Room" on the One Step Up tribute album a few years ago, but for some reason it didn't materialize. Instead she covered it on her High Dive tour to great effect among the few people witnessing it. And recently she released a new acoustic live album with a wonderful cover of "Backstreets" as the closer. The whole album ends with Maria exclaiming "God bless Bruce Springsteen!" Altogether, Maria McKee deserves a lot more attention than she's getting. Not just because she covers Bruce, but because she's just one of many struggling artists who makes a lot better music than 90% of what you hear on the radio and yet gets no credit for it. So whether you remember her from days of yore or never heard of her, do yourself a favor and check her out. You can find more information on www.mariamckee.com and get her new live album from Amazon. Read more

   

Sorry about the long absence. I'm actually pretty busy working on a new version of Greasy Lake that I hope will be ready to launch within the next few months.
Anyway, while we're waiting for news about a new release, the trading world is busy making older recordings available to the public. Last year the so-called "uber trader" campaign was launched. The idea was to make recordings available that for some reason or another had only been available to a limited number of people.... the uber traders. I'm not sure anyone believed there would be any significant result coming from this, but time has shown that the efforts have paid off.
One of the best things coming from this campaign is the A Gentleman in Verona DVD. The two-disc set features a show from Verona in 1993. Bruce had just returned to Europe for a more extensive tour with his new band, supporting the Human Touch and Lucky Town albums. The whole tour has since been cause of much criticism and even ridicule from hardcore fans. The band seemed like a discount version of the E Street Band with the addition of a bunch of female backup singers (and one male) who often seemed uncomfortable and out-of-place. And throughout the year-long tour Bruce himself seemed to struggle with his own role and how to mix the setlist with the right amount of new and old music.
The Verona 93 DVD, despite the fact that it only includes the last two thirds of the show, is probably the best document to emerge from the tour. With its 100% professional picture and audio quality, it reveals the problems with the band and the music with brutal clarity, but more importantly, it shows that the tour wasn't as bad as some of us have perhaps made it out to be. Only five minutes into the set, we get a majestic version of "Because the Night" that beats most of the post E Street Band reunion versions I've heard. Bruce's guitar work is loud and clear and simply breathtaking. And the sequence from "Who'll Stop the Rain?" to "Light of Day" is Bruce at his best as both entertainer and serious rock 'n' roll artist. Those songs alone is more than enough to forgive the slow tempo on "Prove It All Night", the always embarrassing emergence of Crystal Taliefero's sax solo during "Born to Run" and Zack Alford's blunders on the drums.
Altogether the set is a gem, both for entertainment reasons (for better or worse)  and as a historic document and is highly recommendable.
So how does one go about getting a copy? Well, if you're not aware of it already, bootlegs are and should be virtually free. There are hundreds of traders out there who won't mind burning a copy for you in return for either blank discs or a mere "thank you". Start at the trading section of Greasy Lake's message board or go to one of the other trading communities on the Internet and ask if anyone can help you out. Read more

   

Does it seem like a long time since there's been some real juicy Bruce news? I guess there hasn't really been any since the Seeger Sessions Tour ended in November. That's almost three months ago. And in these days of instant gratification three months seems like an eternity. Well, then try three years! That's how long it was after the Human Rights Now Tour ended in 1988 until we got some real solid news again about a new album and tour. In between we got the announcement that the E Street Band had been dumped, and we got two Christic Institute benefit shows with a strangely insecure, vulnerable and unrecognizable Bruce. But other than that those three years were a nightmare of endless waiting.
Of course, there were rumors all the time. The new album would be announced very soon. Arenas had been booked for a major tour. But none of it ever materialized. Instead we were drooling over just about anything else that had the slightest Bruce involvement. When Nils Lofgren released the "Valentine" single with Bruce on background vocals, it was received like a major release. When Bruce contributed the very forgettable "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips" to a children's benefit album, it was bought on release day. and played on repeat. Not to mention "Viva Las Vegas", which was the first real indication of what the new album would sound like, there were pages and pages of analysis in Backstreets.
Altogether I dare say things are better these days. If Bruce doesn't have a new studio album ready, we are swamped with compilations, live albums, live DVDs., not to mention if we need a little Bruce fix we can just download a bootleg DVD in professional quality and kill a few hours watching that. We hardly even notice when he sings backup on the new Jerry Lee Lewis album or makes a guest performance somewhere in New Jersey.
Still, that doesn't change the fact that what we really, really want is a brand new studio album with brand new songs in brand new artwork. Songs that reflect where Bruce and we all are today. Hopefully Bruce won't leave us starving for too long, but if another six months or a year pass before we hear anything, we can always pull out "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips" and tell our younger fellow fans about the old days when being  a Bruce follower was indeed a true trial. Read more

   

If you came via the Greasy Lake main page you may have noticed a flashing image on the right hand side. And no, it's not that I suddenly took a liking to advertisements. Don't worry. But if you click it, it will take you to the New Jersey Hall of Fame voting area where you can decide who should be in the 2007 Hall of Fame class. The New Jersey Hall of Fame celebrates famous New Jersians, and this year's candidates includes our boy in the arts & entertainment category, Bruce Springsteen. That's why I agreed to let the banner appear on Greasy Lake, to give you a chance to make sure Bruce gets the honor he deserves. It looks like anyone can vote, but you have to submit an email address.

Happy voting! Read more

   

There's been a lot of focus on David Bowie in the last week when he turned 60 years old. I watched a whole feature evening on one of our TV channels the other day, including a conversation with three hardcore Bowie fans. They had become fans at different times, but they all pretty much agreed Bowie had lost it as early as the very early Eighties when "Let's Dance" came out. One of the things missing, one of them said, was "passion" and "urgency". Bowie no longer seemed like someone who made music because he had to, but only because that's what he did.

The conversation was followed up by a 30-minute live recording from 2002, and after watching that I could only agree with them: even the old classic songs were delivered with very little soul and urgency. To be fair, this looked like a very staged performance, made more for the TV cameras than the live audience, much like Bruce's 1992 Plugged, which is also, to these eyes, strangely liveless and sterile. So maybe that was just it. Maybe Bowie's real live concerts are killer. I can't tell since I've never been to one.

Whatever the case, I found many similarities between how many Springsteen fans perceive today's Bruce and how Bowie fans perceive today's Bowie... Only the Bowie fans were even harsher in their criticism. To many fans, Bruce hasn't been truly great since the first half of the Eighties. Sure, he's had his moments and some songs here and there that lived up to past glory, but overall he's just a shadow of himself.

Naturally, this is up to each of us individually to decide. I'm pretty sure a new fan going to a show for the first time today, is just as blown away as someone who saw his or her first show in 1978. At least, my first show in 1988 (which old-time fans certainly don't regard as one of Bruce's vintage years in terms of live performance) blew me away to the extent that here I am today, almost 20 years later, running a website about Bruce and posting on a blog about Bruce and still centering parts of my life around Bruce.

When all that is said, of course there's no denying that Bruce is not as passionate and doesn't commit himself to music to the extent he did in the Seventies. To some, that lack of passion is audible in the music and Bruce's live presence, and that's too bad. I'm just saying, show me an artist who displays the same amount of passion and urgency today that they did 20-30 years ago and I'm ready to bet they have been dead for about the same amount of time. It's simply not possible. Had Bruce continued sacrificing his whole life to music like he did in his twenties, he would no longer be here, or he would have been a long-forgotten wreck.

Passionate or not, we should be pleased we still have legends like both Bowie and Springsteen among us who can remind us what real music legends are and who, for the most part, do what they can to stay true to themselves while still pleasing a few of us fans. Read more

   

Well, time to get back in business. Work and Christmas have kept me extremely busy in the last month. Bruce and this website have been pretty far from my mind, I must admit. But if this blog is the only place you get your Bruce information from (yeah right!) you really didn't miss much. The whole Bruce world seems to be laying low. The good news is that it's probably quiet before the storm. 2007 looks like it could be an amazing year. New E Street album, new E Street tour, and who knows what other releases are in store for us. Another Tracks box? A 1978 live DVD? However, the prelude to all of this Bruce wellness may not even be an official release. A complete professionally recorded show from Paris in 1985 is surfacing among traders and is expected to be out within the next few weeks. You can find a clip on www.brucevideos.com and it's amazing!

Well, just wanted to say hello again. I will try to be a bit more consistent from now on, but right now I gotta go fix my dinner. Read more

   

By Magnus Lauglo

This fall, being the true Bruce geek that I am, I took on a substantial “listening project.” I decided to listen to all of Bruce’s albums, some studio outtakes and a bunch of live shows in chronological order. I started a month or so ago, with some choice Steel Mill boots, and worked my way to Greetings and Wild & Innocent, by way of bootleg favorites like “Forgotten Songs” and “Smalltown Boy.” Listening to a couple of shows per tour (I treated myself to three 78 shows) is giving me an even greater appreciation of Bruce’s development over time. Starting last week I worked my way though the post-River ’80s, with Nebraska, some club show from ’83, the BUSA album and outtakes, Kansas City Night and the last BUSA show of 85, the Bridge benefit of 86, and then on to the ToL album and tour. Yesterday afternoon I found myself listening to an Amnesty show from ’88 for the first time in years. Overall, it has been an interesting way to listen to the music, and it is an impetus to rediscover stuff I usually pass over when scanning my cd shelf for something to play.

Today I listened to one of the Christic ’90 shows for the first time in a long time, and I was completely and utterly blown away. I’ve never been a big fan of these shows - to me they’ve always seemed musically uninteresting, full of songs that sounded better elsewhere (yes, IMO even including “Real World,” and incidently, I still stand by that). As solo acoustic performances they always fell beneath the shadows cast by the extensive Joad and Devils & Dust tours. But today, Christic sounded completely different to my ears - fresh and vibrant and new and exciting. I’m guessing it has to do the fact that I’ve basically been listening to the development of the E Street band live show from ’73 to ’88 for about a month straight, and therefore the newness and artistic risks taken with the Christic shows are finally striking me with some of the impact they must have had for the fans sixteen years ago.

Sixteen years is a long time, and in that time Bruce has kept busier than ever, playing with various bands, playing solo, getting back with the ESB, going political, and all that other stuff that we as fans tend to either love or hate. In fact, the Christic shows took place only shortly after I discovered Bruce myself, although I was quite unware of them at the time. By the time I learned about them, first by reading about the shows, and eventually by getting a bootleg of one of them, they were considered important shows, but there was nothing new about them. But back when they happened they were fresh-sounding and offered a sneak peak at the kinds of things that Bruce would be writing about and the kinds of shows he would put on as he navigated his way, artistically and personally, down from the mountain of superstardom.

If “Born to Run” posed the questions that Bruce would continue ask himself as he grew older, if Darkness on the Edge of Town indicated the thematic direction that all Bruce's subsequent albums would take, if the Vietnam Vets ’81 show was a precursor to Bruce's political engagement in the ’80s and beyond, then the Christic shows serve as an introduction to much of what Bruce went on to do since he broke up the E Street Brotherhood in 1989. This may have become increasingly obvious evident to lots of fans over the past 16 years, but today, after listening to the Christic show in chronological context, me it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

Bruce was just beginning to figure what he wanted to do with himself and his music after being the biggest rock star on the planet. Compared to some of his recent efforts, the Christic shows seem slightly flawed, or at least prototypical, and I think this is why for the longest time they never stood out as great shows to me. But if we think of all the ways that Bruce has developed since then, pretty much all the ingredients were right there those two nights in 1990.

So a flashback to 1990 - Bruce has climbed to the top of the rock n roll mountain, he has just fired his famed and loved band, and he hasn’t played a show in over a year. He has married Patti, become a father, and even moved to California. What kind of show would did fans expect him to put on?

He brings out six new songs in two nights. They are mainly about where he is in life now, and in terms of theme, overall mood, and perhaps also quality, they’re are a real mixed bag – “Real World”, “The Wish”, “Soul Driver”, “57 Channels”, “When the Lights Go Out”, and “Red Headed Woman.” For the first time we see a new side to Bruce - the occasionally grumpy performer, who gruffly delivers an awkward STFU speech. But he’s also relaxed and comfortable talking and singing about his personal life with an intimacy never known before. He talks about the newest big thing in his life - fatherhood. He tells us that he's been dealing with the ghosts of his childhood in therapy - and the version of “My Father's House” that follows is all the more powerful for it. He even hints at some unspoken revived chemistry between himself and Bonnie Raitt - right before playing a new song about oral sex that makes “Pink Cadillac” seem tame by comparison. Prior to ’90 had he ever performed a song as unashamedly sexual as “Red Headed Woman”, anywhere as self deprecating as “57 Channels”? Had we ever heard Bruce really talk about his fame and fortune? He had written songs about his dad before, but at the Christic shows he brings out new songs about his mother, his wife, his newborn kid.

If you judge a setlist by the WOW factor (at the time it was performed) this show must be up there with Main Point ’75, and is the equal of any show played since. Remember, all those Nebraska songs haven't been played in five years or more, and the classic live staple “Darkness on the Edge of Town” is recast almost beyond recognition. Bruce brings out “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” - a long lost gem that hasn’t been played since before he graced the covers of Time and Newsweek, and his piano rendition of “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” is as surprising and it is charming. That's right, he’s sitting down at the piano for several songs and he’s branching out from that guitar and harmonica that have been synonymous with his image for so long now. The versions of “Brilliant Disguise” and “Darkness” that open the show are as chilling as anything you’ll find years later on Joad or Devils & Dust. Bruce doesn’t talk politics the way he will begin to following the election of Bush in 2000, but the show is a benefit for the Christic Institute.

In short, what we see at the Christic shows is Bruce beginning to break free of all the expectations that his fans, new and old have developed over the years. In 1984 fans were shocked, some even outraged when “Born to Run” replaced “Rosalita” to close a main set at an E Street band show. By ’88, Bruce was feeling the itch for change and considered touring for ToL without the ESB. He ended up going with the band, but insisted on shuffling band members around, away from their usual spots on the stage. These things may have seemed like big changes at the time but in the grand scheme of things, they’re comparatively insignificant. By ’90 Bruce has come along way artistically as well as personally. At the Christic shows, Springsteen demonstrates that he can - that he has to - put on a very different concert without the tried and tested veteran ESB behind him. And what a concert it is!

No longer satisfied with being a just a prisoner of Rock n Roll, Bruce is showing the world, and discovering within himself, what it really means to be the Boss. Read more