Yes, that's the question one could ask after last week's poll. "Because the Night" was so merciless to the other options that it was hardly even worth it. I don't think in the Greasy Lake poll's history that there has been such an undisputed winner. Here's the final result:

Which of these officially released song collaborations is your favorite?
Because the Night (co-written by Patti Smith) - 67.6%
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? (co-written by Blind Alfred Reed) - 13.4%
Roll of the Dice (co-written by Roy Bittan) - 7.5%
Code of Silence (co-written by Joe Grushecky) - 7.1%
Real World (co-written by Roy Bittan) - 4.4%

Total votes: 589

The coming week's poll should prove a little more even, hopefully. In the Eighties and early Nineties Bruce would generously include otherwise unreleased tracks on his singles. And not just live versions of known songs like he might still do today, but songs that had actually not been heard before in any shape. Those days are long gone (also because Bruce hardly even releases singles anymore), but here's a selection of the studio songs that were released as bonus tracks on 7" singles or CD singles. Go to the poll on the front page and make your pick.

I wrote the other day that Bruce was laying low. I apologize for that since it's so obviously not true at all. Three performances in a couple of weeks is not exactly laying low. And the one last night at the Carnegie Hall must be candidate for most surreal Springsteen performance ever. The occassion was Sting's annual Rainforest Benefit, which Bruce also took part in back in 1995. That was all good and well. But the lineup.... oh boy, the lineup. Elton John, Sting, Debbie Harry, Shirley Bassey, Lady Gaga on high-toe'd pumps that resembled stilts, and last but not least a dozen male dancers in tight shorts. And there was Bruce in his usual black shirt and golden guitar, looking like the superintendant at an asylum in all his normality. All of this happened as part of the grand finale where all of the night's stars were together on stage for a version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Before that Bruce had performed a couple of songs on his own. A reworked version of "Dancing in the Dark" and a cover of Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like a Knife".

Oh and if you think I'm on crack, see the video below for yourself.

At least among the voters of last week's poll. Dylan won the poll among Bruce's musical influences with a fairly big margin to the Beatles on the second spot and Elvis on the third. Question is, of those artists who has actually influenced Bruce the most? Is it Bob Dylan with his emphasis on lyrics, or is it the stage show of James Brown? Or perhaps the whole rock 'n' roll attitude of an early Elvis Presley? The poll doesn't answer that, but it's something you can think about if you have nothing better to do.

Bob Dylan	32.2%
The Beatles	22.6%
Elvis Presley	17.9%
Roy Orbison	13.4%
Woody Guthrie	5.6%
James Brown	3.8%
Hank Williams	2.8%
The Byrds	1.7%

This week's poll is about a rare phenomenon. Songs that Bruce co-wrote with others. There are very few of them. The released songs with co-writer credits can be counted on two hands. But some of them are classics, and the ones represented in the poll are all - to these ears - quality song writing. So which one is it? Let the voting begin.

.... the book, that is. Yes, you know which one we're talking about. The first Bruce book by Lawrence Kirsch where fans talk about their Bruce experience. It's actually sold out and goes for high prices on eBay, but one copy can be yours for free. Well, not quite for free, because in order to enter the contest you need to donate money to the Montreal Heart Institute. You can read all about it on Lawrence's site. Please consider it, for the sake of heart patients everywhere and for your own sake, because this is a Bruce book that should be owned by all serious fans.

For those of you who can't get enough of the coolest guy in the world, Little Steven, legendary music magazine Crawdaddy put an interview with him on their website. If you didn't already know, Little Steven is a busy man. These days, apart from doing his Underground Garage radio show, he's involved in a rock 'n' roll high school, a record company, and trying to put rock 'n' roll back on the TV screens. If this man doesn't get one of the biggest suites in rock 'n' roll heaven (many years from now), there's no justice in the world. Read the interview.

For someone who's laying low, Bruce has been mighty busy this last week. First he attended the New Jersey Hall of Fame and on Thursday he was at the Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey to read poems by Robert Pinsky and sing a few songs. His performance, which was done in collaboration with Pinsky and old friend John Wesley Harding, was part of the Word and Music Festival (WAMFEST) and was an officially announced appearance. Bruce, with an acoustic guitar, read poems by Pinsky and interspersed with his own songs such as "The River", "Born to Run" and "Nebraska". 400 people were in attendance in the university auditorium, and they witnessed something truly unique and by all accounts both powerful and entertaining. See the setlist.

Bruce is laying pretty low these days, but even so, he couldn't help showing up at the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremony on May 2 where he handled the induction of his friend and fan of his actor Danny DeVito and performed "Glory Days" for good measure. He also posed for a few pictures, including the one below with Rusty Paul (left), son of legendary guitar maker Les Paul, and music producer and promotor Sid Bernstein (who brought the Stones and the Beatles among others to America). The picture was taken by NJ Hall of Fame photographer Gary Gellman.

Our friends from the Springsteen cover band Tramps Like US recently re-enacted the famous Capitol Theater show from September 19, 1978. They now follow up on the success by doing another one of those shows that helped shape Bruce's live legend. Here's what they have to say about the event:

"It's the 35 year anniversary of Springsteen's 5 day-10 show marathon run at The Bottom Line in New York City. On Saturday May 15 at BB Kings in Times Square NYC Tramps Like Us is set to re-create one of the most historic Springsteen concerts ever... the August 15th 1975 show which was broadcast live on the radio and widely bootlegged around the world. Rolling Stone included this concert on their list of: "The 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock & Roll." It was our coming-out party," Springsteen said. "And some sort of transformation occurred over those five nights. We walked out of that there in a different place."

With a special introduction and Q&A session by Mike Appel to set up the scene - Springsteen's former manager & producer, Tramps Like Us will then perform all songs and versions in order as was done that night. This is the second time ever that an entire Bruce Springsteen concert has been recreated... both times by Tramps Like Us. The first concert re-creation was the legendary September 19th, 1978 concert at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. That show was met with rave reviews and was a COMPLETE SELL-OUT at BB King's in NYC.
A SPECIAL NIGHT, SPECIAL GUESTS, AND A SPECIAL OFFER FOR A GREAT CAUSE. Thanks to Bruce, Clarence, Eric Meola, Mike Appel & Tramps Like Us! When originally offered in late 2006, the limited edition of Eric Meola's photography book, Born  to  Run: The Unseen Photos, sold out quickly. Now, the LAST TWO of  these photographic gems are in the process of being signed on the title page especially for this event by both Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons and are being offered in an auction. Auction takes place prior to Tramps Like Us re-creation of The 1975 Bottom Line Concert at BB Kings in NYC on May 15, 2010. All proceeds go to support the The NJ Food Bank."

• Complete details on this event here
• More Info on the auction here
• Buy tickets on-line here

Last week I did predict that the Born to Run album cover is the most popular among fans, but I would not have guessed that it would gain almost 50% of the vote. However, probably the most notable thing about the poll result is that, among the 16 choices, the top 8 is made up of album covers from 1973 to 1987, and the bottom 8 consists of album covers from 1992 to 2009. Traditionally, this is probably roughly what a poll about the music would show. The older albums are more popular. That's often the case, not just for Bruce but for most artists of his stature. But I had been naive enough to think - hell, I had hoped a little bit - that despite what people think of the music, maybe a poll about the artwork would show a different pattern.

Sure, within the pattern of older versus newer, there are differencies between what a musical poll would have shown and what this poll show. For instance, I've never seen a "best album poll" where Greetings came in second as is the case here (except maybe if the poll was conducted in 1974 :-)), and The River usually fares better than number 8, but still.  While album artwork is usually not Bruce's strongest side (in my opinion) I think some of the recent albums deserve much better than what they got here. I personally voted for the Seeger Sessions album cover. I think it's beautiful and exquisite! And Devils & Dust.... one of my least favorite albums... has very powerful artwork in my opinion. But like last week, since you could only vote for one, and since the Born to Run album cover is undeniably a masterful statement, there's just no way you can do all the albums justice.

Complete result:

Born to Run       45.2%
Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ     9.1%
Darkness on the Edge of Town     9.0%
Born in the USA     7.8%
Nebraska     6.3%
Tunnel of Love     4.4%
The Wild, the Innocent....     3.4%
The River     3.1%
Magic     2.8%
Working on a Dream     1.6%
Devils & Dust     1.5%
The Rising     1.3%
Seeger Sessions     1.3%
The Ghost of Tom Joad     1.2%
Human Touch     1.2%
Lucky Town     0.9%

This week Born to Run is definitely not going to win, because now we'll look at Bruce's musical influences. You can always discuss who are the most important influences. The ones I've chosen as options represent influences to several different Bruce styles, and are mostly artists that Bruce himself has mentioned several times as influences. But I'm sure you could think of dozens of other names that deserved to be included.

The Danny Federici Fun that supports research to find a cure for melanoma cancer, can win a $250,000 grand if they get enough votes in a contest conducted by the Refresh Project. All you need to do is go follow this link and cast your vote. If you have a Facebook account you don't even need to register. And remember, you can vote every day, so make it part of your daily routine. Do it for Danny!