E Street Records is planning to release three new titles with previously uncirculated live and studio material. The underground record company doesn't want to fall short of Sony when it comes to releasing sensational Springsteen material. This time they allegedly got their hands on everything from Nebraska outtakes to the 1995 performance at Tramps where Bruce shot the "Murder Incorporated" video. The latter show has never circulated on tape, but now we may get the chance to hear "Prove It All Night" with a guitar intro a la 1978 or the only E Street Band version of "Backstreets" since 1988. We can also look forward to a glimpse into the album that wasn't released in 1994. It had the working title Waiting for the End of the World and we will get to hear the title track among others. Altogether we will have three new titles, one of which is a triple. It will be released in September if everything goes as planned. For more information check out the Wanted homepage. It's really their story. Read more

   

The titles for the individual discs of the box have leaked out, and they look reliable enough to be true. Also rumors of promotional shows in the fall... According to the rumors, the box has definitely been reduced to four CDs. They look like this: Disc One: The Early Years to Darkness Disc Two: The River period Disc Three: Born In The USA - Tunnel Of Love Disc Four: The 90's through to Tom Joad As it was the case with the Live box from 1986, it seems Bruce's early career is being overlooked a little bit with only one disc for the first six years of his recording career. But this could be more for technical reasons than anything else. It has earlier been reported that early tapes were in a very bad shape, and Bruce may have decided it wasn't worth the trouble putting them through the process of digitalizing them. This may also explain the sudden reduction of the number of CDs from six to four. While more and more details about the box itself are leaking out, things have also started to rumble when it comes to possible shows in support of the box. So far the strongest rumors evolve around promotional shows similar to those performed for Greatest Hits, the main purpose being to shoot some footage for various TV purposes. However, there are also rumors of actual benefit shows in US arenas, or perhaps even theaters, around Christmas. If any of these rumors are true, Bruce would most likely be backed by the E Street Band. Still, these are only rumors. The situation is very similar to that of three years ago when ticket brokers were collecting deposits for tickets to E Street Band shows that never happened, even though they were more or less regarded as a fact. Read more

   

A Swedish newspaper quotes a local Sony executive that the upcoming box set will only consist of four CDs rather than the six that have hitherto been reported Even with only four CDs there will still be room for upwards 80 songs according to the Swedish source. A little calculation confirms this. With room for about 77 minutes of music on each CD, four CDs with 80 songs should give an average of 3,8 minutes per song, which sounds likely for Bruce. Still, let's hope this source is wrong and that we will get the six CDs we already saved up for. Speaking of the box, rumors say that it will get the title Tracks and thus be closely connected with the big book of lyrics also due this fall which will be called Songs. May we suggest a set of five home videos called Shows. If you're waiting for news about a possible E Street Band tour, every music news source worthy of the name, printed or online (plus Howard Stern!), has mentioned it, but it seems they got the information from fan-based sources like this one. Other sources have taken on the roles of spoilsports by suggesting that the various members of the E Street Band might not even be interested. Let's not listen to those. Read more

   

Rumors are circulating in the Bob Dylan fan comunity that His Bobness will induct Bruce into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. If the rumors are true that we'll see Bob Dylan holding the speech at Bruce's inauguration into the Hall of Fame, it will be a return-favor to Bruce who, in 1988, did the same for Bob Dylan. The rumors say that Dylan have been asked by the Hall of Fame committee to prepare a speech if Bruce should be elected. However, the normal pattern is that the task of inducting someone into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is carried out by someone younger than the inductee, so a more likely bet would be that the speech will be held by Bob's son Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers. Jakob Dylan is known to have been influenced more by Springsteen than by his own father, and Bruce and Jakob have performed together on several occasions. But any speculations at this point are rather premature. It's not even official that Bruce will be elected, although it would be a minor sensation if he wasn't. After all, Jon Landau is in the committee. Read more

   

The Palace Amusements in Asbury Park has allegedly been condemned by the City of Asbury Park and could be torn down within the week The building which more than any other has become a symbol of Asbury Park and the musical era which created Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven, Southside Johnny and others, is in danger of being torn down. The building has long been in a sad shape, and there's little doubt that without some serious renovation, it would sooner or later have fallen apart by itself. Still, it's a big shame that no one has wanted to put money in a renovation. In the early Nineties there were rumors that Michael Jackson, of all people, would create a museum for himself in the building, but thank God that wasn't to be. Unfortunately, no one has offered to turn the place into a Bruce Springsteen museum either, so it seems that the Palace Amusements will follow the same destiny as the Ferris Wheel and other Asbury Park sights. So even though there is no official confirmation that the building will be torn down immediately, it may be a good idea to go see it now one last time. Read more

   

The movie by Ed Burns from earlier this year featured Jon Bon Jovi in a leading role and the music of Bruce Springsteen. And for a good reason: the story was set in a New Jersey working class environment. The video is now available for rent at video stores in the US. Read more

   

Los Angeles Times reported two days ago that negotiations were taking place between the cable channel HBO and Springsteen's management concerning turning some of the songs on The Ghost of Tom Joad into TV films... Three songs were mentioned in the article: "The Line", "Balboa Park" and "Sinaloa Cowboys", but at the moment there are probably no concrete plans. No time frame, directors or actors have been mentioned. While many of the songs on Bruce's 1995 album certainly are very cinematic in their approach, it would still be a surprising move for Bruce to allow them to be filmed. He usually believes in letting the lyrics speak for themselves. Which is why, in the past, he has also been reluctant to make music videos. And from an artistic point of view such a project is indeed questionable. The danger is that without a quality director and writer, the films will be pale, superficial diddys that don't do the songs any justice. In 1991 Sean Penn directed a movie based on Bruce's song "Highway Patrolman" called The Indian Runner. While not a bad movie, it lost more than it gained compared to the song. Read more

   

As usual when Joe Grushecky is scheduled for a show in New Jersey, his old pal Bruce Springsteen is rumored to appear. Grushecky's July 17 show at Tradewinds is no exception.Whether the rumors of Bruce's appearance at Tradewinds on the 17th of July are other than pure speculation is not known to us. It would be natural for him to appear. Maybe too natural and predictable. Because, although Bruce has performed with Grushecky at Tradewinds before, he is known to stay away when he is most expected. At any rate, if you live in the neighborhood and are considering going, don't be disappointed if Bruce doesn't show up. Joe Grushecky is well- worth the price of admission even without Bruce. If Bruce does hit the stage, see it as an extra bonus and enjoy the guitar attack you are probably going to witness. The last time Bruce appeared with Grushecky was on March 2 this year in Pittsburgh when the show turned into a two-hour rock 'n' roll extravaganza with Bruce playing guitar like a maniac. Read more

   

Springsteen fans can expect an expensive fall this year. Not only will we probably get the long- awaited box set. Now there are no less than three new books scheduled for publication. In August Frank Moriaty's book Bruce Springsteen should be available. No word on what this will contain, but the author has earlier written books about Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash, plus another one about stock-car racing. The secondbook, Tramps Like Us : Music and Meaning Among Springsteen Fans, has been scheduled for a while, but doesn't have a release date. The title sounds promising. It was written by Daniel Cavicchi who seems to have been in contact with actual Springsteen fans! Finally, there is the much talked about "big book of lyrics" which will probably see the light of day around the same time as the box set. It will include Bruce's own comments about his songs. Read more

   

Avon Books has now entered the upcoming book of lyrics in their catalogue along with a detailed description of what it will contain, and it sounds promising to say the least. The time of release is listed as December 1998. The lyrics book, which was confirmed a couple of months ago, will contain lyrics of all Bruce's released songs along with his own comments and lots of photos. Online book stores such as Amazon.com still don't take orders on it, but that will probably happen very soon. Here is what Avon Books has to say about it in their cataloque: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: SONGS by Bruce Springsteen, writer. U.S. $50.00/CAN $65.00 December, 1998 ISBN: 0-380-97619-6 Category: Non-Fiction Subject: Celebrities Commemorating Bruce Springsteen's twenty-five years as a recording artist, here is a panoramic view of his career in a form never seen before. This is the complete collection of Bruce Springsteen's recorded lyrics, illustrated with hundreds of never-before-published images from some of rock & roll journalism's greatest photographers, including Annie Leibovitz, David Gahr, Lynn Goldsmith, Bruce Weber, and many others. From Jim Marchese's informal backstage shots during the European leg of the 1980 The River tour to Neal Preston's amazing documentation of the Born in the U.S.A. days to Pam Springsteen's portraits showing a side of the musician rarely seen by the public, this is the most intimate look at Bruce Springsteen ever published. The photos and lyrics are accompanied by original commentary by Springsteen, in which he reflects on the songs, the performances, and the quarter-century career that for many defines the American dream. In words and in pictures, here is the one book no Bruce Springsteen fan can afford to be without. Read more