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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="Author" content="Tom Mandel"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.73C-CCK-MCD VerizonDSL (Macintosh; U; PPC) [Netscape]"> <title>mybookch19.html</title> </head> <body text="#F8F5FF" bgcolor="#F00F00" link="#0000FF" vlink="#67FBE5" alink="#00003F"> <b><font color="#B3BEFF"><font size=+1>I LEARN TO LOVE THE BOSS</font></font></b> <p><font size=+1>Lately, I've been forced to defend my ambivalent attitude towards Bruce</font> <br><font size=+1>Springsteen. My wife loves him. Her brother looks up to him. (Great bro-in-</font> <br><font size=+1>law that I am, I introduced them at a party on the Lower West Side after a</font> <br><font size=+1>Sting show. On our way out, I asked Bruce why his chick was crying in the</font> <br><font size=+1>song, Racing In the Streets, on my favorite of his albums, Darkness At the</font> <br><font size=+1>Edge of Town. She's just sitting on their porch crying, some time after</font> <br><font size=+1>he's stolen her away from another guy with a slower car. As cliche'd as</font> <br><font size=+1>the imagery may be, it still haunts me. So Bruce just laughed, I guess I'd</font> <br><font size=+1>caught him by surprise, or it was too many beers into the night. He laughed</font> <br><font size=+1>and said, "Oh man, it's too late for that now!" I let him off the hook. I had</font> <br><font size=+1>the suspicion that if I didn't, things would have turned ugly, or I woulda</font> <br><font size=+1>gotten beaned. Maybe that's what I don't like about Bruce Springsteen. Call</font> <br><font size=+1>it paranoia, deficient testosterone, whatever. He's too much MAN for me...)</font> <br><font size=+1> When I was working as an equipment humper and setter-upper at SIR</font> <br><font size=+1>Rehearsal Studios, when they opened in NYC in '75 or so, I actually tried</font> <br><font size=+1>out for Bruce's band. He had open auditions, you just signed your name in</font> <br><font size=+1>this book, and got your turn. Man of the People. The set went ok, alot of ups</font> <br><font size=+1>and downs dynamically, but the drummer was auditioning too, and I didn't</font> <br><font size=+1>know some of the material. Enough excuses? Roy Bittan, who got the gig to</font> <br><font size=+1>replace David Sancious, Bruce�s earlier and perhaps too musically</font> <br><font size=+1>adventurous piano player, has set a whole style of playing. He is widely emulated</font> <br><font size=+1>and easily identifiable, but while I admire him, it's a bit too perfect after a while. (He</font> <br><font size=+1>played and arranged on Ian Hunter's Schizophrenic album, BTW.) Mike Garson, by contrast,</font> <br><font size=+1>another pianistic genius, who played with David Bowie, stretches ones mind and ears.</font> <br><font size=+1> My final Bruce story: when we were recording "Cuts Like a Knife," Bryan</font> <br><font size=+1>Adams' third album, but 2nd with Clearmountain, us and the Power Station</font> <br><font size=+1>behind it, Bruce came by to say hello. Maybe Bob had invited him, or else he</font> <br><font size=+1>wanted to meet this young guy that people were talking about in the same</font> <br><font size=+1>breath as him. (He had also dropped in on a Robert Gordon session that I</font> <br><font size=+1>was on in the Power Station another year.) It was great having him there,</font> <br><font size=+1>because, after all, he�s done some very cool shit. So then as he�s leaving, I</font> <br><font size=+1>decide to do a good turn for a friend. I followed after him, out of the</font> <br><font size=+1>Studio A lounge, and caught him near the reception desk.</font> <br><font size=+1> "Bruce," I said, and he turned around, his eyes mere slants, taking me in</font> <br><font size=+1>askance, with a "This better be good, boy," glare.</font> <br><font size=+1> Unfazed, but surprised, I went on. "I heard some scuttlebutt that you</font> <br><font size=+1>might be looking for a rhythm guitarist..." (Little Steven was rumored to be</font> <br><font size=+1>setting out on his own at that point.) I had prepared a card with my</font> <br><font size=+1>buddy's name and phone number on it, and I handed it to Bruce.</font> <br><font size=+1> "This guy sings and plays rhythm guitar great, and he�s a real team</font> <br><font size=+1>player," I said. He took the card.</font> <br><font size=+1>"You might know him, he comes from Linden," I nonsensically added, since</font> <br><font size=+1>my pal was originally from Staten Island (home of so many rockers, from</font> <br><font size=+1>David Johansen, (now called Buster Pointdexter,) to Kasim (Utopia bassist</font> <br><font size=+1>and vocals) Sulton, to Thommy (Billy Idol drums) Price, to this particular</font> <br><font size=+1>pal,Tommy Morrongiello, who's played with me in Hunter/Ronson, and</font> <br><font size=+1>without me for Carlos Alomar and Jimmy Destri, Cherry Vanilla and</font> <br><font size=+1>Imaginos* (a Blue Oyster Cult spinnoff), and is now Bob Dylan�s guitar</font> <br><font size=+1>technician.)</font> <br><font size=+1> I bought Bruce's 1st album, Greetings from Asbury Park, when it</font> <br><font size=+1>came out. He had something pure in there. And, as I said, Darkness... is</font> <br><font size=+1>chock full of incredible stuff. The sax/piano solo on Jungleland, off of</font> <br><font size=+1>Born to Run, still gives me the chills. I love "Secret Garden" and "Born In the USA".</font> <br><font size=+1> But I worry about Bruce. Like that he'd run for president or something, and we'd all have to wear blue jeans and eat hot dogs. Maybe YOU can explain it to ME. I'm in the book.</font> <p><font color="#A8C4FF"><b>(*Imaginos</b> was the solo project of <b>Albert Bouchard</b>, the drummer of <b>BOC</b>. Due to Women in Rock complications, he found himself on his own. So he combined legends of historical Pirates, Tyrants, and Time Travel into a Paranoic Saga whose chilling weltanschauung was warmed only by the fires of his metal riffs. Now he and his (new) Woman in Rock, Debbie Frost, are in the <a href="http://www.cellsum.com/">BrainSurgeons</a>. Catch em on tour, or at CBGB.)</font> <br><font color="#A8C4FF">Sandy Perlman cowrote Imaginos, which finally appeared as a Blue Oyster Cult album after the jack-booted, militia minded Perlman had ripped it away from gentle trusting Albert.</font> <br> <p><font size=+1><u>addendum:</u> Now I really like Bruce. He hosted a sad gathering that I attended,</font> <br><font size=+1>with grace and generosity. As I was leaving, he stood with me until they</font> <br><font size=+1>brought my car up for me to go home. Perhapsm NJ boy he is, he wanted to</font> <br><font size=+1>see what I was driving. Hope the Maroon Wood Panel'89 Buick Century Wagon</font> <br><font size=+1>didn't disappoint you, my brother...</font> <br> <hr WIDTH="100%"> <br><font size=+2> <a href="http://www.users.interport.net/~tmandel/famous.html/table.html">table of contents</a></font> <br><font size=+2> <a href="http://www.tommymandel.com"> back home</a></font> </body> </html>