As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Favorite Musical Artists: Bruce Springsteen


I guess in some ways it’s appropriate that I post this just a few days after The Boss announced the upcoming release of his 19th studio album, and dropped its first “single”, “Hello Sunshine”. I like the song, but it’s not nearly as upbeat as the title might suggest. Rich Russo played it on his syndicated radio show this weekend, immediately followed by the Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine”, and the contrast was pretty striking. (What it REALLY reminds me of is Danny O’Keefe’s 1972 hit “Goodtime Charlie’s Got The Blues.”)
 
Although I do own all 18 of Bruce’s previous studio recordings, plus some (but not all) of his live and/or previously-unreleased stuff (yes, I have the four-disc Tracks set), I’ve been a relative slacker compared to the true diehards in terms of seeing him live, with a modest total of five shows to my credit:
 
October 20, 1974 – Dickinson College (Carlisle PA)
November 11, 2007 – Verizon Center
September 14, 2012 – Nationals Park
April 20, 2016 – Royal Farms Arena (Baltimore)
September 1, 2016 – Nationals Park
 
I decided to see if I could find out a little more about Jon Landau’s legendary “rock and roll future” comment. A slightly longer excerpt is below; you can find the entire (lengthy) column from which it was taken here.
 
But tonight there is someone I can write of the way I used to write, without reservations of any kind. Last Thursday, at the Harvard Square theatre, I saw my rock'n'roll past flash before my eyes. And I saw something else: I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.
 
Favorite songs:
 
Thunder Road
Jungleland
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Hungry Heart
The Price You Pay
 
My City Of Ruins
Jersey Girl
4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Dancing In The Dark
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
 
Blinded By The Light
Stolen Car
Born To Run
Pink Cadillac
Shut Out The Light
 
Kitty's Back
The Promised Land
Spirit In The Night
Wrecking Ball
One Step Up
 
And of course there’s his classic cover of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town”
 
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3 comments:

  1. JFMay 2, 2019 at 7:01 PM

    In addition to our shared trip to Dickinson College to see Bruce, I saw him twice at Convention Hall in Asbury Park (Christmas Show and the Seeger songs), and once at Giants Stadium.

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  2. JFMay 2, 2019 at 7:07 PM

    Rosalita
    Jersey Girl
    Jungleland
    Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
    Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street

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    Replies
    1. Mike RhoadsMay 3, 2019 at 8:19 AM

      When I started this project, I decided to limit myself to 20 "favorite" songs per artist (plus a possible "bonus track"). In every case, I've had some I regretted leaving out, but none more so than this month. "County Fair" was originally the final song on the list, until I realized at the last minute that I had forgotten "Kitty's Back". Among the others I wish I had included: No Surrender, Janey Don't You Lose Heart, If I Should Fall Behind, Last To Die, Streets Of Philadelphia, Land Of Hope And Dreams.

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