http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Knobler
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:24 (eleven years ago) link
yeah LL your cute face in the reflection makes me love it 1000 times more than I already did :)
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:24 (eleven years ago) link
i'm trying to work out why a bruce springsteen ad in 1973 would direct people to tune in to the grammy awards.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:24 (eleven years ago) link
cross-marketing! Columbia Records (CBS) was actually related to Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
― inste grammophon (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:27 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i guess that makes sense. it's just weird to see on an ad for an artist who the grammys aren't going to notice for another decade or so.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:33 (eleven years ago) link
best new artist winner that year, by the way, was america (over the eagles and john prine). best new artist the following year, when springsteen presumably would have been eligible, was bette midler (over barry white).
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:36 (eleven years ago) link
i dunno why that plastic frame is so reflective -- i couldn't get a picture without me in it, so i figured i should try to smile
these results are satisfactory so far btw. i thought maybe i had stopped caring, but nope.
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:50 (eleven years ago) link
bruce is a mirror... to your face
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:51 (eleven years ago) link
LL's expression in the picture is hilarious
― luaka boppa flame (some dude), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:07 (eleven years ago) link
gonna wait to talk about "Downbound Train" until it places but yeah that's one of the best on the album! & the car wash line is one of the reasons why, so fucking clever
I didn't vote for any River ballads but I'm glad they're placing, feel like they're the next phase in my Bruce fandom
― Euler, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
Of these so far, I only voted for "Wreck on the Highway," which I love for how it strips down the Roy Acuff song to (almost literal) bare bones. The closing verse is just crushing. But very happy to see "Highway Patrolman" and "Independence Day" in particular, both also crushing in their own way.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 02:54 (eleven years ago) link
voted for Stolen Car and Blinded by the Light. I was debating between Stolen Car and The River, but the line about Bruce being afraid he'll disappear clinched it for the former. Maybe the eeriest of his blue collar regret ballads
― Josh and D.A.M. (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 06:41 (eleven years ago) link
LL's ad - it's kind of weird how modest the tagline is. Shouldn't it be something like: '...packs more genius into every second than Albert Einstein managed in his whole life'?
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 07:49 (eleven years ago) link
Haven't voted for anything so far. Afraid my ballot - as someone who's only embraced Springsteen in the last seven or eight years – was not heavy on the deep cuts.
― Trans-Europe Stopping Train (ithappens), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 10:47 (eleven years ago) link
51. Something In The Night from Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)90 points, 3 votes including 1 first place vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5QDOJNyLNM
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:40 (eleven years ago) link
oops - that's number 50 of course, not 51
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
yesssss, weinberg's turn in the spotlight
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:45 (eleven years ago) link
well really darkness is p much max's record front to back but it's never so apparent as it is here
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:47 (eleven years ago) link
49. Glory Days from Born In The USA (1984)90 points drawing with number 50, 4 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
Of all the big BITUSA singles, that's the one that, for me, has suffered the most for overfamiliarity. Didn't make my ballot. (And for those critiquing lyrics, "speedball" instead of "fastball" always drove me nuts, too.) I do love Little Steven and his Little Mandolin in the video, though.
― ARE YOU HIRING A NANNY OR A SHAMAN (Phil D.), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 16:56 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i really can't handle Glory Days, def my least favourite track on the album. seems to fulfill every rubbish cliche that people think Bruce is about and yet usually isn't
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:00 (eleven years ago) link
I've always hated "Glory Days"
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:04 (eleven years ago) link
So I guess my #1 vote for Something In The Night helped get it into the countdown at least
I love that song so much you guys. The way the guitar comes in all bright and Byrds like...Bruces whoaaaaa's...the way Max's drums sound like thunder rolls... it's so fucking great.
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:08 (eleven years ago) link
seems to fulfill every rubbish cliche that people think Bruce is about and yet usually isn't
Yeah, I'm not a big fan. It does have a good kicker: "Time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of ..." But it tips over into sentimentality -- an ever-present danger with Bruce, but one he avoids more often than not.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:12 (eleven years ago) link
glory days is good. the "speedball" thing is loltypical.
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:14 (eleven years ago) link
it doesn't tip over into sentimentality! the whole thing is sentimentality
― iatee, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:16 (eleven years ago) link
I kinda like it but I didn't always
48. My Hometown from Born In The USA (1984)91 points, 5 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gKSp8WoRg
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:22 (eleven years ago) link
I know I am a sucker for these sentimental Bruce songs but this one makes me a little sad
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:23 (eleven years ago) link
This one I like, even though I didn't vote for it. The bit at the end where he drives his kid around town as they're getting ready to leave it -- hokey, but it works.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
I think it's more complicated -- it's sort of an indictment of sentimentality as a useless bulwark against a disappointing life. But the chorus is so enthusiastic that it drowns the whole thing in syrup.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:26 (eleven years ago) link
I think he's kinda going for the same effect of dressing up some really lonesome and brutal sentiments in a contrastingly joyous arrangement as "Hungry Heart," but misses the mark just a little bit.
― ARE YOU HIRING A NANNY OR A SHAMAN (Phil D.), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:27 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah -- "Hungry Heart" works for me, "Glory Days" doesn't.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:33 (eleven years ago) link
agreed.
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:34 (eleven years ago) link
Will someone pleeeeeease gif that part of the GD video where lil steven makes that gross face and holds his guitar vertically? That has made me laugh for the better part of 30 yrs! I deserve it.
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:35 (eleven years ago) link
amazing that "My Hometown" hit the top ten.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
I love "Glory Days", & as we've noted before, the extra verse he cut out in the final version makes the song more of a piece with "My Hometown"
― Euler, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
Kinda wish I'd put this on my ballot now.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
I think the worst thing to happen to "Glory Days" is that it became Classic Rock radio's go-to track from BitUSA when playlists got cut down in recent years.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:11 (eleven years ago) link
second biggest BIUTSA chart hit.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:16 (eleven years ago) link
Holy crap, "Glory Days" was released more than a year after "Dancing in the Dark" (and three years after it was recorded).
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:20 (eleven years ago) link
Little Steven used to joke about how he left E-Street early on in the sessions, and that when the record finally came 2+ years later, he was still on all but one or two of the songs.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
disappointed this wasn't higher...
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:42 (eleven years ago) link
47. Point Blank from The River (1980)96 points, 4 votes including one first place vote (mine!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpzN_BEE-8
Heard "Glory Days" on the radio this morning, was awesome.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:46 (eleven years ago) link
Long '78 versions of "Point Blank" are awesome.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:48 (eleven years ago) link
never liked point blank, but disc 2 of the river still hasn't really gelled for me yet.
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 18:57 (eleven years ago) link
I'm still waiting for him to buy me those fucking shoes he promised.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, February 27, 2013 12:00 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this comment's stuck in my craw, and i think it's because bruce IS about every one of those cliches. bruce is a lot of things! it's not the side of myth that speaks to me, but still my favorite thing in the world is going to diners in jersey where the walls are covered with framed photos of bruce (and of course one photo of him visiting the place, always). that's what i think of when i think of "glory days".
― This is called money bags. (zachlyon), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
xpost He's still driving for them--keeps missing the exit for that outlet mall.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 19:02 (eleven years ago) link