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The Essential Recordings From Bruce Springsteen’s Live Archive

Bruce Springsteen ’s studio output between 1973 and 1987 marks one of the most celebrated runs from the classic rock era, but it only tells part of his story. Coupled with his enormous catalog of unreleased songs and albums, bootlegs of Springsteen’s live shows tell another crucial part of the tale. And while collections like Tracks and The Promise gave official homes to long-traded studio rarities, most of his greatest live recordings have remained unreleased.

This all ended last year when Springsteen announced an officially sanctioned live archive series , releasing full shows from throughout his career. For diehards, the opening of the vault feels like a dream come true: these are all excellent quality recordings of legendary performances. For newcomers, each of these shows could serve as a potential gateway to Springsteen, as essential as any of his studio releases. They are precisely the thing that’ll upgrade casual fans into obsessives.

Date: 12/31/1975 Venue: Tower Theater – Upper Darby, PA Tour: Born to Run Why it matters: A previously released Hammersmith Odeon concert from the Born to Run tour marked Springsteen’s first European performance: a turning point in his career, where he converted the entire crowd into Springsteen fanatics. The Philadelphia audience gathered here, however, needed no convincing. This was already prime Springsteen territory. Accordingly, Springsteen sounds comfortable and confident, but he still works for your love, even when he knows he’s already earned it. Highlights: Understated performances like the slowed-down "Tenth Avenue Freezeout" and a quiet, stately rendition of "Thunder Road" provide the set’s most transcendent moments, forecasting the darker material to come. Bonus points: Bruce casually references his infamous appearances on the cover of both Time and Newsweek at the beginning of "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street" with equal amounts of pride and disbelief.

Date: 8/9/1978 Venue: The Agora – Cleveland, OH Tour: Darkness on the Edge of Town Why it matters: In the three years between Born to Run and Darkness –what felt like an eternity amid the album-a-year pacing for rock artists in the '70s–Springsteen was fighting for the right to record his own music while also writing the darkest, heaviest material of his career. This show–performed a mere two months after the album’s release–feels like making up for lost time. The setlist is structured like one long howl, with even the more subdued tracks like "Factory" feeling like fist-pumping declarations of power. Highlights: Here you will find the definitive version of Born to Run ’s "Backstreets", dedicated to two ardent fans who had been following Springsteen on tour since '76, mirroring the song’s friendship-over-all-else desperation. Bonus points: A quick snippet of the Village People’s "Macho Man" is woven into "Rosalita" during the band introductions, providing Clarence "Big Man" Clemons with his very own theme music.

Date: 12/31/1980 Venue: Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, NY Tour: The River Why it matters: One of Springsteen’s superpowers as a live performer is simply a matter of endurance: he can go forever. This night of the River tour stands among the most bootleged concerts of his career; it’s also among the longest. Running just under four hours, this 38-track New Year’s Eve performance spans from the newly released "Hungry Heart" to rarities ("Rendezvous", "Held Up Without a Gun") to "Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town". One of the truly mandatory non-album recordings of Springsteen. Highlights:  "Racing in the Street" into "The River" forms the dark centerpiece of the show as Roy Bittan’s exquisite piano playing binds the two tracks together into a haunting 15-minute elegy. Bonus points: The "Night" trilogy ("Night", "Prove It All Night", "Spirit in the Night") to open the show is a small window into Springsteen’s thematic consistency.

Date: 8/5/1984 Venue: Brendan Byrne Arena – East Rutherford, NJ Tour: Born in the U.S.A. Why it matters: The end of the River tour marked the end of the small shed Springsteen show—he’d graduated to stadiums and arenas as Born in the U.S.A. took Springsteen to Top 40 ubiquity. The E Street Band had been beefed up to fill the space, with prominent synths and more guitar solos (courtesy of new recruit Nils Lofgren). Playing the biggest hits of his career to the largest audiences yet, Springsteen sounds like he’s been preparing for this moment his whole career: the eternal employee of the month finally got his promotion. Highlights: This set contains one of the most blistering E Street Band versions of "Atlantic City", hinting at what the mythical, unreleased full band version of Nebraska would have sounded like. Bonus points: Springsteen’s mom and dad are in the audience at this homecoming show (as are his lawyer and physician, apparently), adding some extra resonance to familially-linked tracks like "Used Cars" and "My Hometown".

Date: 4/23/1988 Venue: LA Sports Arena – Los Angeles, CA Tour: Tunnel of Love Why it matters: For the Tunnel of Love Express Tour, previous set staples were either completely absent or entirely re-imagined; "Born to Run" is transformed from the show’s climax into a ruminative, acoustic ballad. "Wouldn’t have wrote this without you, so…" Springsteen sighs as he introduces the song, as if he’s only playing it out of obligation to his audience. Shortly after this tour, Springsteen would divorce his wife Julianne Philips, break-up the E Street Band, move to L.A., and take five years off from his career. This show is cast with a shadow, confusion and darkness that makes this era of his career so fascinating. Highlights: The biggest takeaway here is the strength of the Tunnel of Love tracks–songs like "Tougher Than the Rest" and "One Step Up"–which rank among the most thoughtful, beautiful work of his career. If any of his albums are due for a critical reassessment, it’s this one. Bonus points: This release has easily the best Springsteen album art in at least two decades.

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Covering Springsteen and the E Street Band shows, with a film review every now and then, too.

Kieran's Thoughts, Previews & Reviews

A Guide to Springsteen’s Archive Series [Part 1]

Back in 2014, Bruce Springsteen okayed the idea for his live shows performed over the years to be released, something that fans had been clamouring for him to do for a long time. Live releases had been a rarity for Springsteen, with less than twenty live performances officially released between 1986 and 2013. Since the Archive Series was introduced there have been 93 shows officially released (not to forget the 150 + from 2014 , 2016/17 and 2023 , too), with plenty more still to come. The purpose of this guide is to let you know about the shows released so far, and to highlight the positive and negative aspects of them, to give a definitive idea of what you need to listen to, and what you can give a miss. I’ll be looking at the releases in chronological order from the year they were performed, and in this first part of the guide, I’ll be talking about the releases from 1975 – 1985.

18 th October, 1975 – West Hollywood, C A – The Roxy

The first release of a show from 1975 since February 2015 gives listeners a perfect blend of Springsteen’s earliest hits, Born to Run  classics and sublime covers that can be heard in the finest of audio quality thanks to John Altschiller’s perfect mix. Springsteen and The E Street Band are on top form with great performances of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and a slower “The E Street Shuffle” – the latter having Sam Cooke’s “Havin’ a Party” interpolated. While I can understand the trepidation from some fans about this one being under two hours and having only fourteen songs played, that concern proves to be trivial as this is essentially a must-have based on the covers of Carole King’s “Goin’ Back” and Jackie DeShannon’s “When You Walk in the Room” alone. When comparing this alongside Upper Darby below and the famed Hammersmith Odeon show, this is the one to have.

For a more detailed review of this show .

Rating: 9.75/10

24 th November, 1975 – London, UK – Hammersmith Odeon

Fourteen years after the famed first night in Hammersmith Odeon (and the show that opened to the door to a potential Archive Series) was released, Bruce Springsteen’s most stressful night finally gets the second half of its story. And it’s an all-timer. Without the pressures that came with night one, Springsteen and The E Street Band play much looser and with more freedom, and it has great results. A longer show – especially for 1975 – with twenty-two songs coming in at two and a half hours, this one features perfect performances of “Lost in the Flood”, “Pretty Flamingo” and “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” amongst many others, highlighting a man and his band who hadn’t even come close to their peak yet, playing like they’d hit it years ago.

You can read a full review of this show here .

Rating: 10/10

1 2 th December, 1975 – Greenvale, NY – C.W. Post Dome

As far as this blog is concerned, I may have made it difficult for the next 1975 release to follow Hammersmith due to every song being a recommended stand out, and while I can’t say the same for this show, it very well stands up as an outstanding follow-up release. Yes, the setlist appears to be similar, but Greenvale 1975 is so much more. Providing a fascinating look at the continuing evolution of Springsteen and the E Street Band on a landmark tour, their growing confidence in every show is evident for the entirety of this night’s two hours and nineteen minutes; from those we’ve heard previously in The Roxy and Hammersmith, to the setlist debuts and newer additions in “It’s My Life” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (the latter you’ve been hearing for years on the radio!). It’s apt that this one opens with that intimate “Thunder Road”, because this is really a show about taking risks, and that’s stressed even in performances such as “For You” that see Bruce altering his vocal approach simply to see what works and what doesn’t.

You can read a review of this entire show here .

31 st  December, 1975 – Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre

As great as The Roxy and Hammersmith are, that doesn’t negate the quality of the New Year’s Eve show that also sounds like it was recorded yesterday, thanks to the work of Toby Scott and Adam Ayan. This is an excellent show that gives the listener a perfect glimpse into the  Born to Run era, filled with the youthful hopes and dreams – as evident in the performances of “She’s the One”, “Born to Run” and “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City” – that made the album and tour such a success. This show also benefits from the storytelling aspect, with haunting and hilarious tales woven into covers of The Animals’ “It’s My Life” and Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo”, and they’re a great example of what sets E Street Band shows so far apart from many others.

Read about this show in more detail here . 

Rating: 8/10

  7 th  February, 1977 – Albany, NY (Palace Theatre) & 8 th  February, 1977 – Rochester, NY (Auditorium Theatre)

Acquired from soundboard recordings, these two “never before heard” releases from the obscure 1977 “Lawsuit Tour” provides an insight as to what The E Street Band were up to in-between the famed  Born to Run and  Darkness tours, with glimpses of what was to come in the next year through an early performance of “Something in the Night” alongside Darkness  outtakes, “The Promise”, “Rendezvous” and “Action in the Streets”, the first ever performance of the latter. Unfortunately, the quality of these two shows is affected by the sound issues coming from cuts in specific songs: Albany features incomplete versions of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Born to Run”, while Rochester suffers with incomplete performances of “Something in the Night”, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “The Promise.” The silver lining here, of course, is that while these performances are incomplete on one show, you can hear the full performances on the other. I’d suggest if you’re torn between downloading one or the other, go for Albany, as  “Rosie” and “Born to Run” are available on many other archive releases, whereas there aren’t many versions of “Something in the Night” and “The Promise.”

You can read my complete write-up of these two concerts here .

• Albany Rating: 6.75/10
• Rochester Rating: 6.5/10

1 st July, 1978 – Berkeley, CA – Berkeley Community Theatre

After Nugs released the final anticipated Darkness radio broadcast from Atlanta in October 2020, fans began wondering what would be next from Springsteen’s most revered tour, and if there’d be any surprises to come. The first ’78 release to follow was certainly a surprise. The second night from Berkeley had been circulating in impressive quality for many years, unfortunately it was a only a small soundboard portion of the show, and what was missing from it nobody knew for certain, as for forty-three years the complete setlist of the show was unknown. Now released in full, July 1st, 1978 may appear to be a typical night of the tour, but no Darkness show, no Springsteen show is ever truly identical, and this reiterates that in the little moments, such as “The Promised Land” lacking an extended harmonica intro, and the big moments, particularity the performance of “The Promise”, which is gorgeous if not bleak and highlighted by an additional verse never played again after July 1978. This isn’t the best show from the tour, but it’s a Darkness show, and that’s all that matters.

You can read an extended review of this show here .

7 th July, 1978 – West Hollywood, CA – The Roxy

The twenty-ninth release from the series to mark the fortieth anniversary of the show, the release of The Roxy ’78 makes the famed bootleg recording of the legendary KMET radio broadcast redundant, and provides an excellent three hour listening experience of one of the many celebrated Darkness  tour shows, where alongside the drum-pounding and guitar-shredding music, the best example of Springsteen the storyteller is now evident on a ’78 show release. The show’s audio quality is stunning, and in contrast to previous recordings this actually allows you to feel like a member of the audience. It’s one of best sounding ’78 releases, though not quite on the level of Passaic. The only downside is that there are a couple of moments where you can hear microphone feedback – this is nothing that will ruin the show, but it’s worth being wary of if you’re listening to the release loudly through earphones. The Roxy show is perfectly balanced in regards to songs played, with plenty from the Darkness  album. Highlights include the album’s title track and “Racing in the Street”, alongside a plethora of covers such as Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” and Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel”, which is a notable improvement from the bootleg. Classics from the first three Springsteen albums, and some debuts from the yet-to-be-released River  album, also feature, with the now definitive, complete version of “Backstreets” featuring the “Sad Eyes” interlude finally available after the infamous editing on the Live 75 – 85 box-set. If you’re a diehard Springsteen fan or someone wanting an idea why the ’78 shows are so famed, this is a show you need to hear.

For more about this show, read here .

Rating: 9.5/10

9 th  August, 1978 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora

The famously revered Agora show of the summer of 1978 was a long-awaited Holy Grail of releases from Springsteen fans, and fittingly, it was one of the first shows released from the Archive back in 2014. The show epitomizes the Darkness tour, with outstanding performances of Darkness  tour classics such as “Factory”, “Racing in the Street”, “Growin’ Up” and “Backstreets”. The only downside to this one is that the audio quality is hardly different from that on the radio broadcast bootlegs fans had been listening to for years whilst awaiting an official release. This show is obviously worth downloading for the historical value, but if you’re hoping to experience Springsteen’s greatest tour in the finest audio quality possible, you’re better off giving this a miss in favour of Passaic ’78.

Read about this concert in more detail here . 

Rating: 7/10

19 th  September, 1978 – Passaic, NJ – Capitol Theatre

When I wrote the piece for the second show of the three night stand in the Capitol Theatre, that you can read below, in June 2018, I didn’t have it in mind that it would be bettered just over a year later. Now, I’m not going to criticise the 20 th  September show, because as you can see beneath it’s truly fantastic. It’s just not the Pièce De Résistance of Springsteen’s live career . What the 19 th  September, 1978 show offers is the finest first set you’ll ever hear as a Springsteen fan, the most magical versions of “Racing in the Street” from 1978 and of “Thunder Road” in general. Including more  Darkness tracks such as the rare “Streets of Fire” and the  Darkness Tour staple “Prove It All Night”, they show just how amazing the guitar, piano and organ playing was in ’78 and along with the sublime versions of “She’s The One” and “Backstreets”, there was no doubt in my mind about breaking my rating scale for it after listening, as for as great as the rest of the Archive Series releases are, they don’t touch this one.

FOR MORE ON SPRINGSTEEN’S GREATEST LIVE SHOW

Rating: 10.25

20 th  September, 1978 – Passaic, NJ – Capitol Theatre

In stark contrast to The Agora show, the audio quality on this release of another of Springsteen’s greatest shows is arguably the measuring stick to which all other archive releases will be compared. Similarly to the 1975 Upper Darby release, this show sounds like it was recorded yesterday. It perfectly conveys everything needed to admire and appreciate the  Darkness  tour the way it deserves to be listened to. The quality of the audio would be redundant if it wasn’t for the quality of the actual show. The second of three nights in the Capitol Theatre is Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at their very best, three hours of arguably the best 22 song set you’re ever likely to hear. Many of the core  Darkness tour songs featured on the Agora release are present here alongside outstanding renditions of songs from Springsteen’s first three albums – the trifecta from WIESS of “Kitty’s Back”, “Incident on 57th Street” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” steal the show – as well as two songs that would find themselves on  The River album two years later in “Independence Day” and “Point Blank.” The show is filled with highlights, with the only shame being that  Darkness  tour favourites “Racing in the Street” and “Backstreets” weren’t performed on the night, but their absence isn’t enough to bring this show down. This is a must-have for any Springsteen fan.

TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS SHOW

21 st September, 1978 – Passaic, NJ – Capitol Theatre

December 2017 saw the release of Bob Clearmountain’s measuring stick mix of September 20th; September 2019 saw the rating scale-breaking release of the Pièce De Résistance, September 19th; and now in March 2024 the 1978 Passaic trilogy is complete. Having had those two shows on rotation for the last several years, it can be safely said that September 21st speaks for itself, but if you’re curious, this show that bears a setlist similar to its two predecessors is most certainly not identical. Adding four more songs to the thirty that had been played across the previous two nights, the performances of “High School Confidential,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “The Fever” and “Quarter to Three” more than make up for a small lyrical stumble in “Racing in the Street” – which admittedly thrives afterward – and that’s not to forget the songs that had already featured. With more shining versions of “Prove It All Night,” “Because the Night,” “Incident on 57th Street” and “Born to Run,” while this show doesn’t see a performance better than the Piéce De Résistance, or a mix superior to Jon Altschiller’s for night two, it delights as an essential addition to the Live Archive Series. 

You can read my review of night three in the Capitol Theatre here .

Rating: 9/10

30 th  September, 1978 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre

The fifth and final radio broadcast from the Darkness Tour brings a great sense of completion, as well as a mighty feeling of excitement given what this show has to offer. Highlighted by arguably the greatest ever performances of “Prove It All Night” and “Backstreets”, Atlanta also gifts us an Archive Series first in an instrumental cover of James Brown’s “Night Train” – which nicely connects this release to the first Archive Series release: Apollo 2012. Standing out in addition to these are brilliant versions of “Racing in the Street” and “She’s The One” – the latter preceded by “Not Fade Away” and “Gloria”, and all of it can be heard in stunning audio quality, a much needed upgrade to the weather affected bootlegs fans had been playing over the last forty-two years.

You can read about this show in full here !

Rating: 9.7/10

1 st October, 1978 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre

Where Atlanta night one was hindered by weather interference until its release with crystal clear audio in the Archive Series, Atlanta night two – a show many were unsure was even recorded – suffered from never being available to enjoy in full. While fans could listen to its release and hear masterful readings of The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” The Animals’ “It’s My Life” and Springsteen own songs: “Badlands,” “Prove It All Night” and “Jungleland” to name a few, what followed the latter was a mystery. Now thanks to the Archive Series we can enjoy the first set and the second half, in particular a stunning WIESS trio of “Kitty’s Back,” “Incident on 57th Street” and “Rosalita,” an otherworldly “Because the Night,” and two rip-roaring renditions of the “Detroit Medley” and “Quarter to Three,” which end the initially scheduled final show of ’78 in sublime fashion. A rare gem, this is what fans from the Archive Series from the very start.

You can read an extended review of this release here .

8 th  December, 1978 – Houston, TX – The Summit

Released to raise funds for the MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund following Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, this show that had been previously released on DVD gives fans a chance to focus more so on the music itself without the ‘distractions’ of what Springsteen and The E Street Band are doing onstage. While it pales in comparison to the aforementioned Passaic shows, both audio and performance-wise, this night in The Summit is sequenced excellently with two unique themes being explored in the first and second sets. Additionally, this one offers amazing performances of “Prove It All Night”, “The Fever” and “Because The Night”, alongside unique, early performances of “Independence Day”, “The Ties That Bind” and “Point Blank”, which would find themselves on The River two years later. It’s not perfect, but it’s Springsteen and The E Street Band in 1978 – what else could we ask for?

Check out my full review of the show h ere !

  Rating: 7.4/10

15 th  December, 1978 – San Fransisco, CA – Winterland

Another  Darkness Tour  radio broadcast, another all-time great Springsteen show. Winterland is one that fans have been wanting to be released for forty-one years now and many have considered it to be the Holy Grail of live Springsteen. It can’t be disputed that it’s in the conversation either. While the setlist isn’t too dissimilar to other  Darkness shows, the performance level from Springsteen and The E Street Band in this one, for my money, comes close to the  Piece De Resistance that is Passaic night one, with “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, “Prove It All Night” and “Backstreets” standing out as possible Archive Series bests.

READ AN EXTENDED WRITE-UP OF WINTERLAND NIGHT ONE  HERE .

16 th  December, 1978 – San Fransisco, CA – Winterland

This one might not have been on the radio, but it’s another Darkness Tour show that has Springsteen and The E Street Band playing like they’ve (still) got something to prove. Likewise with the show above, there’s twenty-five songs played, and while there’s only four changes – “Good Rocking Tonight” opening, “Rendezvous” played instead of “Streets of Fire”, “Independence Day” in the “Factory” slot and “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City” opening the second set in favour of “The Ties That Bind” – there’s plenty to love and “Saint” is the pick of that particular bunch. This one’s also got a peculiar “Backstreets” for the tour with no lengthy interlude in the middle, which might be just for you if you’re just wanting songs the way they were originally penned, and a “Racing in the Street” that both suffers and flourishes because of Bruce momentarily forgetting the words to the chorus. Moments like that and an all round performance that isn’t quite to the standards of the previous night stop it from being as good, but when you hear Bruce’s singing on songs such as “The Promised Land” and “Born to Run”, you’ll be having the time of your life regardless.

CHECK OUT MY REVIEW OF THE FULL SHOW HERE .

Rating: 8.5/10

21 st September 1979 + 22 nd September 1979, New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

As of July 2021, No Nukes 1979 is no longer available to download on Bruce’s Live site, but you can read my review of The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts live album here and check out my review of the film here .

Released as the 2018 Christmas special, the two performances from Madison Square Garden for the No Nukes concert presented by the Musicians United for Safe Energy (M.U.S.E) not only gives fans an opportunity to experience Springsteen and The E Street Band post  Darkness  and pre- River , but a chance to hear a rare combination of rousing  Darkness tracks, Springsteen’s live warhorses and early previews of River album material. In particular, the first two live performances of “The River”. Additionally this features splendid covers of “Stay” featuring additional vocals from Jackson Browne, Rosemary Butler and Tom Petty, “Detroit Medley” showcasing The E Street Band at a time when they were arguably on their finest form and a performance of “Quarter to Three” that has been revered for over forty years. While these two shows are very similar in setlist and last for less than ninety minutes, they’re really worth checking out.

To read an extended review of No Nukes 1979, check out my New from the Springsteen archive post .

Rating: 8.75/10

5 th  November, 1980 – Tempe, AZ – ASU Activity Center

Unlike the rest of the shows available on  http://live.brucespringsteen.net , this doesn’t really qualify as a true archive release due to the fact there are only 10 songs featured in comparison to the 32 songs performed on the night of the show. These 10 songs are the performances not recorded and included on the official DVD release included in  The Ties That Bind: The River Collection. Initially a free download, this sample of the great Tempe show now costs $7.95, so my suggestion would be to hesitate from buying in the event of the full show being released in the future. There’s nothing wrong with any of the songs included here, but out of context they fail to truly captivate the listener.

For a review of the full show from Tempe, check out my retro review .

Rating: N/A

28 th December, 1980 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

The final piece of the Nassau Coliseum jigsaw puzzle, night one has been labelled as “the other night”, but if it isn’t a stupendous showcase of Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt and the rest of the E Street Band. Often overshadowed by the two that followed it and under-appreciated because of a misstep at the start of the opening song that is now removed, this is the Magnificent Seven playing on top form and it feels grand. We’re inclined to look at this as part one of a trilogy, and consequently will understate the  River  defining feel akin to Tempe that it exudes, but after being stunned by terrific versions of “Prove It All Night”, “Who’ll Stop The Rain?” and “Point Blank” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”, it’s easy enough for us to forget about what show is better than which and just get lost in the magic of Bruce and the Band at the top of their game on  The River Tour .

You can read a full review of this concert here .

29 th December, 1980 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseu m

While it might have three songs less and run at 3hrs34 in comparison to the show below’s 3hrs42, the second show from the Nassau stand is a jewel in the crown of Springsteen fans invested in the Archive Series. Highlighted by the quintessential “Incident on 57th Street” into “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”, this marathon show has just about everything a Springsteen fan could desire from one of his greatest tours. Featuring thirteen tracks from  The River album, including sublime versions of “Hungry Heart”, “Point Blank”, “The Ties That Bind” and “The River” – with an intro where Roy Bittan plays Ennio Morricone’s theme for “ Once Upon a Time in the West ” – as well as back-catalogue live staples and rarities, I’d strongly advise checking this one out.

To read about this show in more detail, click here .

Rating: 9.25/10

31 st  December, 1980 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

At one point the longest show of Springsteen’s career, the New Year’s Eve show from Nassau (like above) contains everything you need to hear from The River Tour of 1980. Lively River era rockers such as “Out in the Street”, “Two Hearts” and “Ramrod” are complemented and contrasted by the album’s bleak material such as “Fade Away”, “Wreck on the Highway” and the stunning changed version of “The Price You Pay.” With material spanning the last ten years scattered throughout, powerful performances of “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “This Land is Your Land” are a great indicator of Springsteen’s mindset at the time and a glimpse of the political themes he would explore in the future. Around two and a half hours into the show is the New Year’s countdown where River  outtake “Held Up Without a Gun”, covers “In the Midnight Hour” and “Auld Lang Syne” bring the audience, and the listener into 1981 for the final portion of the show, which lasts over an hour. With 38 songs totalling up to a near-four hour-long show, there is plenty here to enjoy. It’s a classic show that all hardcore fans need to hear, and a perfect introduction for new fans to a multitude of songs in the Springsteen catalogue.

This show was remixed and re-released in July 2019, meaning this show that I initially had no issues with the audio of can now be heard with sound quality that the initial release pales in comparison to. This fresher sound brings performances of “Racing in the Street”, “This Land is Your Land”, “The Price You Pay” and more to life with vibrancy they simply didn’t have for the last four years. Though I had no qualms with the sound, I always felt the show wasn’t as special as it’s been made out to be, despite the thirty-eight songs and 3hr40min run-time, so I felt a rating of 8.75/10 was fair. I’ve decided to revise this show’s rating to 9.25/10, and while this is the same rating as the December 29 th  show, I truly feel that by themselves they only tell half a story, and that they need to be heard back-to-back for a greater listening experience.

You can read my full review of the remixed marathon show here .

4 th June, 1981 – London, UK – Wembley Arena

Taking a similar shape to June 5th below where it concerns several of the songs featured, as the eightieth unique concert released in the Archive Series it serves as an additional reminder that no Springsteen concert is truly identical. Whether it was in the songs played, the vocals and instrumentals within them or the structuring of the setlist, every night of the Wembley 1981 stand had something unique to it – that’s without considering the quality of performance either – and that is very apparent on June 4th; a concert that shines thanks to great versions of “Jackson Cage”, “Badlands”, “Sherry Darling” and “Racing in the Street”, and these are just four songs elevated by incredible vocals, harmonies, added instrumentals and expressions. A contrast to the following night with Bruce full of energy, it’s rather that fitting he jokingly cites exhaustion and calls for a doctor in a brilliant “Detroit Medley” to end of the show, as this was surely his reality over the next couple of days, such is the effort put into giving Wembley Arena everything he has!

You can read an extended review of this concert here .

5 th June, 1981 – London, UK – Wembley Arena

The first official release from 1981 and the thirtieth release from the Archive is an excellent example of Springsteen and The E Street Band at their very best. There’s a fantastic blend of famed Springsteen tracks from the first six years of his career, twelve  River  album tracks and a plethora of covers all brilliantly performed, leaving you questioning why this relatively unknown show isn’t as famed as The Roxy and Passaic. For a show recorded in 1981, you’ll be amazed at just how great this sounds on the ears, as everything from Bruce’s vocals to the intricacies of instrumentals from The E Street Band members can be heard in the finest of audio quality. Each and every one of Springsteen and his Band members shine over the course of this near-three hour show. There are few downsides amongst many highlights. While some may be critical of the decision to fill in the unrecorded last ninety-five seconds of “Detroit Medley” with audio from a fan’s bootleg recording, others may be thankful that this section of the show has been included to provide a full version of one of Springsteen’s greatest live songs, and also optimistic that this move has increased the chances of many other not fully recorded shows being released in all their glory. Additionally, the biggest lowlight of the show for me is the version of “Follow That Dream” that is much changed from the perfect cover Springsteen would perform from 1984-onwards, but what is a downside to me may be nirvana for others. Regarding the feeling of nirvana, that’s something you’re likely to experience when listening to the rest of this thirty-one song set; classics like “The Promised Land”, “The River” and “Thunder Road” are stunning, while covers such as “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “Jole Blon” leave you thinking they’re the definitive versions. This is a show that should be listened to as soon as possible.

For a more in-depth review of what’s great about this show, check out my  New  from the Springsteen Archive review.

9 th July, 1981 – East Rutherford, NJ – Brendan Byrne Arena

Returning from a massive European Tour as homecoming heroes, Springsteen and The E Street Band deliver one of the finest shows of the entire  River Tour . Featuring sublime versions of “Trapped”, “The Ties That Bind” and a “Jersey Girl” that’s so good, Springsteen selected it to end his legendary Live 1975-85 box set. While there are drawbacks in how “Racing in the Street” sounds off and Danny Federici’s organ is often distant in mix, don’t let that turn you away from this stellar release where Springsteen continues to explore his changing worldview with Elvis Presley inspired performances of “Follow That Dream” and “Johnny Bye-Bye” and Vietnam driven renditions of “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “Badlands”.

To read about this concert in more detail, you can check out my extended review here !

Rating: 8.8/10

5 th August, 1984 – East Rutherford, NJ – Brendan Byrne Arena

The first show to be released from the 1984-85  Born in the USA World Tour took many fans by surprise. Never deemed to be an all-time great, the first of ten consecutive shows at the Brendan Byrne Arena combines stunning performances of  Nebraska and BITUSA album tracks alongside an array of songs befitting Springsteen’s return to New Jersey. What stands out here are the excellent vocals of Patti Scialfa during “Out in the Street”, the greatest performance of “Highway Patrolman”, and the homecoming theme that is notable through emotional performances of “Used Cars”, “My Hometown”, “Bobby Jean”, the incredible cover of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl”, and further emphasised with fun stories from Springsteen about his youth in “Glory Days” and “Growin’ Up.” The only downside to this particular release is that it bears many similarities to the next show to be released from 1984, and in regards to emotional resonance and historical context, it pales in comparison.

You can read about the full show here.

Rating: 8.25/10

6 th August, 1984 – East Rutherford, N J – Brendan Byrne Arena

Unsurprisingly similar in setlist to the opening night above – and also the final night below- there are more than enough unique tracks featured on this one to make it a fresh listening experience in comparison. Whether it’s the riveting renditions of “Open All Night”, “I’m a Rocker” and “Street Fighting Man”, or the staggeringly great and powerful “Racing in the Street”. For a year where Springsteen and The E Street Band played well over one hundred gigs, another release from a stand where we’ve already had two releases can be frustrating. Unfortunately, it’s been said that there were only four shows from this year recorded in multi-track and they all happened to be from the Brendan Byrne Arena, and while that doesn’t rule out Bruce Inc. having soundboard recordings in that vault, at the moment this is the only chance we’ll get to hear the likes of “Open All Night”, “Racing in the Street” and “Street Fighting Man” from this tour in the best possible quality.

You can read about this full show here .

Rating: 9.1/10

19 th August, 1984 – East Rutherford, NJ – Brendan Byrne Arena

Seven years after August 5th, 1984 was released, the Live Archive Series concludes its look back at the Meadowlands stand in the summer of 1984 – and the year outright, wrapping it up by showing us how quickly Springsteen and the E Street Band found their footing after August 5th and 6th, before the “Last Great Show” twenty-four hours later. Blending brand new  Born in the U.S.A.  favourites with a wide variety of setlist staples and back catalogue essentials, there’s something for every fan across these three hours, fifteen minutes, enough to leave you unconcerned about how similar the setlist is to previous 1984 releases. It isn’t entirely the same, of course, thanks to great readings of “Reason to Believe,” “My Father’s House” and “Racing in the Street” that stand out most, with the likes of “Growin’ Up,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Cadillac Ranch” not far behind them. Each song is highlighted by the remarkable vocals, instrumentals and chemistry of Bruce and the Band at their highest point.

You can read my full review of night nine in the Brendan Byrne in August 1984 here .

20 th  August, 1984 – East Rutherford, NJ – Brendan Byrne Arena

When Bruce Springsteen opens a show claiming “ Tonight’s the night! “, it’s a clear indication that there’s something special ahead, and this night is the epitome of special. With the theme of brotherhood prevalent throughout, from Bruce’s story about his band mates during “Glory Days” to his monologue about New Jersey preceding “My Hometown”, it’s blatantly apparent after an hour in that this is a show full of emotion. The contributions of the Miami Horns during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” increase the jovial tone that follows an excellent “Cadillac Ranch”, but “Tenth’s” context of being about Clarence Clemons and The E Street Band becomes interesting with a heart-rending, but at the same time, jubilant “No Surrender” being performed next, dedicated to Little Steven who had left The E Street Band prior to the  BITUSA World Tour beginning, but would return for this very night to perform two songs with Bruce: “Two Hearts” and “Drift Away”. The first says it all, that “ two hearts are better than one “, while the second – one of the greatest moments in Springsteen’s career – is triumphant, with the Miami Horns again adding to that jovial feeling while Bruce and Stevie pour their hearts out to one another. Words can do this show little justice. It’s one for the ages, and thanks to the Archive Series it can finally be heard the way it was performed on that summer night in 1984.

More can be read about this show here.

22 nd August, 1985 – East Rutherford, NJ – Giants Stadium

The fourth night of six in the home of the Dallas Cowboys sees Springsteen and the E Street Band continue their titan tour in celebratory fashion to an eager New Jersey audience. Featuring fantastic versions of ten songs from Born in the U.S.A. , this night highlights the heavy hitters such as the title track and “Downbound Train”, the liberating thrills like “I’m Goin’ Down” and “Working on the Highway”, and the emotional gut-punchers, “Bobby Jean” and “My Hometown”. It doesn’t stop there either, as a variety of career spanning songs add to the joyous feel, with seven tracks from The River emphasising exactly what an E Street Band should feel like. That makes the special guest appearance of Little Stevie Van Zandt for six encore delights all the more significant, and Stevie contributes heartily to inspired renditions of “Two Hearts”, “Jersey Girl” and “Sherry Darling”. This night may appear similar in setlist to the one below, but no show is ever truly the same, and the unique nuances in “Ramrod” and “Sherry” exemplify that.

You can read my full review of this concert release here .

27 th  September, 1985 – Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Showcasing Springsteen and The E Street Band at the greatest height of their popularity, this Nils Lofgren inspired show is the first of a final four-show stand on the  Born in the U.S.A. World Tour . Featuring ten of the twelve songs from the tour’s respective album – “I’m Goin’ Down” and “Downbound Train” stand out – as well as a couple of studio outtakes in the form of “Seeds”, “Stand On It” and “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart”, there’s plenty of  BITUSA to delve into on this one. Alongside those are tremendous covers of “Trapped”, “This Land is Your Land” and Springsteen’s live debut of “War” following an excellent and emotional extended version of “The River”. When comparing this to the two  BITUSA World Tour shows above, I have no reservations in saying this one blows them out of the water.

READ ABOUT THIS SHOW IN MORE DETAIL

All of these shows can be found on  http://live.brucespringsteen.net  if you’re interested in listening to them.

Part 2 available here.

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9 thoughts on “ a guide to springsteen’s archive series [part 1] ”.

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love the forum many thanks but have to disagree about acoustic BORN IN THE USA from NYC 2000.ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! all respect

Like Liked by 1 person

Thanks for reading!

I think the fact we both have contrasting opinions on “BITUSA” from NYC 2000 says a lot about how good Springsteen’s music is. He can write and alter his songs in a way that has a different impact on all of us, “one man’s is another man’s treasure”, for example. The best thing is, though, that there’s so many different versions of “Born in the U.S.A.” to where it doesn’t really matter if you’re not overly keen on one. There’s something for everyone.

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Springsteen Archives Move On Up gospel sing-off a hit with choirs: 'An amazing day'

2 minute read.

These folks were born to praise the Lord.  

Rev. Dale Ciceron and Psalms of Praise won the inaugural Move On Up gospel sing-off on June 8, presented by Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

“Listen, God is good, God is amazing,” Ciceron said. “This was an amazing day, more so that we got to come together in fellowship. It wasn't really about the competition. It was about the fellowship and friendship, and the celebration of gospel music and keeping gospel choir music alive.”

The Newark-based Ciceron and Psalms of Praise performed “Spirit Of The Living God” in front of the packed audience at the university's Anacon Hall. They won $10,000. Runner-up  Encounter Christ Praise Team of Neptune won $5,000.

“We serve an enthusiast God, we serve an amazing God, and he also told us make a joyful noise for him,” Ciceron said.

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Only choirs and teams from the Asbury Park and Newark area participated on Saturday. Organizers will look to expand the sing-off next year, and move it into the larger Pollak Theatre, also on the campus.

More: Springsteen Archives honors John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples and Dion

More: Bruce Springsteen health update: Gives message to fans from 'wildlands' of New Jersey

“The hope was to set the foundation for an annual event, and with the enthusiasm and passion of everybody who participated, plus the incredible high quality of gospel music today, this puts us on the right path,” said Bob Santelli, the director of the Springsteen Archives, from the stage.

Springsteen's songs have had a spiritual thread throughout his career, and he's been associated with several gospel choirs over the decades. The E Street Band's tour is scheduled to resume Wednesday, June 12, in Madrid after the postponement of several shows due to Springsteen's vocal issues.

“We're praying for you,” said Ciceron of Springsteen. “We pray for you that your body will be restored. Much blessing to you on your tour, and thank you so much for this opportunity to recognize gospel music on this day and every day. We thank you for that.”

Layonne Holmes, who has performed with Springsteen several times over the years, was one of the judges.

“I knew it was going to be wonderful but I didn't know we were going to church today,” Holmes said. “This is definitely something they started, and they started something really good.”

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].

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Bruce Springsteen Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

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Bruce Springsteen at Heinz von Heiden Arena, Hanover, Germany

• Lonesome Day
• Candy's Room
• Adam Raised a Cain
• My Love Will Not Let You Down
• Prove It All Night
• The E Street Shuffle
• Into the Fire
• The Promised Land
• Janey Needs a Shooter
• Darlington County
• Working on the Highway
• Spirit in the Night
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Bruce Springsteen at Festivalpark, Werchter, Belgium

• No Surrender
• Darkness on the Edge of Town
• Reason to Believe
• My Hometown

Bruce Springsteen at Goffertpark, Nijmegen, Netherlands

• Death to My Hometown
• Letter to You
• Waitin' on a Sunny Day
• Hungry Heart
• Light of Day
• If I Was the Priest
• Cadillac Ranch
• Sherry Darling

Bruce Springsteen at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain

• Radio Nowhere
• Atlantic City
• The Power of Prayer

Bruce Springsteen at Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain

• Something in the Night
• The Ties That Bind
• Frankie Fell in Love
• Rockin' All Over the World

Bruce Springsteen at Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England

• Thunder Road

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Most played songs

• Born to Run ( 1839 )
• Thunder Road ( 1545 )
• The Promised Land ( 1500 )
• Badlands ( 1302 )
• Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out ( 1206 )

More Bruce Springsteen statistics

100 gecs 3 Mile Island 3JS The 413s 4onthefloor The 4onthefloor 8TRACK BAND 9sundays A-Meezing Coverband Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties Jennie Abrahamson AC/TC Adamantium Bryan Adams Ryan Adams ADDA Band Advance Base Afterhours Afterpartees Manuel Agnelli The Airborne Toxic Event Airi's Tim Akkerman Laith Al-Deen Alabama Shakes Gli Alberi Jason Aldean Art Alexakis Shane Alexander Alien Clouds Alkaline Trio Nicholas Allbrook John Allen Nathan Allen Peter Allen Will Allinson The Allman Betts Band Devon Allman Band Altameda The Altered Hours AM Taxi The Amazons American Aquarium American Babies Vanessa Amorosi Tori Amos Amsterdam Ana Carolina Matt Andersen Jason Anderson

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Artists covered

? and the Mysterians [traditional] The A’s AC/DC The Ad Libs Bryan Adams Thomas S. Allen The Animals Arcade Fire The Archies Artists United Against Apartheid Burt Bacharach Bentley Ball Hank Ballard and the Midnighters The Band Dave Bartholomew The Beach Boys The Beatles Bee Gees Irving Berlin Chuck Berry Big Maybelle Bill Deal & The Rhondels Bon Jovi Gary “U.S.” Bonds Mars Bonfire Booker T. & the MG’s David Bowie The Box Tops John Henry ‘Perry’ Bradford Brinsley Schwarz James Brown Les Brown and His Orchestra Roy Brown Harry C. Browne Jackson Browne Boudleaux Bryant Tim Buckley Solomon Burke Robert Burns The Byrds Glen Campbell Johnny Cash The Champs Harry Chapin Ray Charles Los Chimberos Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers Claudine Clark The Clash

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Gigs seen live by

23,088 people have seen Bruce Springsteen live.

CWconcerts matzesbook02 Pinki TanjaB jacsi13 Berghutzen MarcBosschaert IngoBronco Libikaer TheRiverMand harveyrspecter Jcantor97 Papamat LangerBS guitarbrother MarineOne Montenaco hoodiecraft konzertily ThickOnion grossefreiheit Eisbaer Tompetty909 LarsK forestroads FromHolland orph23 RWeise Bernhard mightyfraz zwirnie Mensler Marvingalaxy Schattenmann romasb maehnmrk mikerabbit dennisjung Halkaer mstichling Hanseator nullkommadrei nightbird Niklas20 Hans2001 Bad_Scooter Svenmax01 Hildegunst Lta212 Breogan67

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“All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of, ‘Jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things’”: Steven Van Zandt reflects on leaving Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band just before their breakthrough

During his initial tenure in the E Street band, Van Zandt was partially responsible for the iconic Born to Run guitar riff

From being the lead guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band to becoming an activist, accomplished actor, and songwriter, it’s safe to say that Steven Van Zandt has enjoyed a remarkably colorful career.

However, when Van Zandt decided to leave the E Street Band in 1984, he was at a crossroads in his career, and this pivotal decision would forever change the trajectory of his personal and professional life.

“All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful? I realized when I analyzed it that is ridiculous and that wouldn’t have happened,” he admits in a new interview with The Guardian while promoting his upcoming documentary, Disciple .

“By staying in the band, there wouldn’t have probably been any solo records, there wouldn’t have been the Sun City record [a 1985 protest song that opposed South Africa’s apartheid policy], there wouldn’t have been The Sopranos [an American crime drama series] or Lilyhammer [a crime comedy-drama that was one of Netflix’s first original series]. Everything that Bill found a way to get into this film probably wouldn’t exist.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I would have perhaps produced a few things and who knows where I would have went? But if I’d continued to dedicate my life to Bruce Springsteen’s vision I would never have realized my potential. I still haven’t, obviously, but I got a few things done and I think they wouldn’t have gotten done if I’d stayed.”

Van Zandt met Springsteen around 1966 and they played together in several bands in the Jersey Shore music scene. In 1975, Van Zandt joined Springsteen's E Street Band after arranging the horns on Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out .

During his tenure in the band, he was partially responsible for the iconic Born to Run guitar riff , which Springsteen called “arguably Steve's greatest contribution to my music” in the Wings For Wheels documentary .

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He was also the lead guitarist for the Born to Run (1975-1977), Darkness (1978-1979), and The River (1980-1981) tours, as documented on the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition concert film.

In addition, he also shared production credits on Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), The River (1980), and Born in the U.S.A. (1984). He officially departed the band in 1984, just as Springsteen achieved immense global success.

After establishing his solo career, he returned to the E Street band in 1995 and from 1999 onward, he shared guitar duties with Nils Lofgren and Springsteen.

Van Zandt's career takes center stage in his new HBO documentary, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple , now available on Max.

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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN .

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Bruce Springsteen is on new Zach Bryan album 'The Great American Bar Scene,' out July 4

1 minute read.

Set 'em up, Bruce Springsteen is on the new Zach Bryan album.

"The Great American Bar Scene" drops Thursday, July 4. The new album has an air of mystery at this point, but the country star shared late Tuesday, July 2, what appears to be the liner notes. They state that Springsteen and John Mayer are guests on the work.

The song is “Sandpaper,” a smoldering country burner about desire and the passing of time that recalls the Springsteen classic, “I’m on Fire.” Listen to it below.

“Grab your beers through tears and fears, the Great American Bar Scene,” writes Bryan in the notes.

More: Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band soaked in new 'Waitin' on a Sunny Day' video: Watch

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The Boss joined Bryan, 27, on stage March 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they performed “Sandpaper” with Bryan's band.

They were then joined by Maggie Rogers for the Bryan hit “Revival,” and the Boss, 74, played a guitar solo.

Bryan, an Oklahoma native and a Navy vet, was wearing a Springsteen tour T-shirt.

Bryan’s The Quittin’ Time Tour was a hit in New Jersey. Two shows at Prudential Center in Newark broke that venue's attendance record, with 18,641 fans on March 14 and 19,151 fans on March 15.

As a preview for the album, 23 bars across the United States played selected tracks from “The Great American Bar Scene” starting on June 24. One of the bars was Barnacle Bill's in Rumson. A single from the album, a rustic ballad called “Pink Skies,” was released May 24.

Springsteen and the E Street Band are currently touring Europe. The next show is Friday, July 5, in Hannover, Germany.

More: Bruce Springsteen flies nearly 3,000 miles to join Zach Bryan on stage in Brooklyn

More: Jessica Springsteen jumping for a spot on Paris Olympics U.S. Equestrian team

This story has been updated. Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].    

Books | 40 years later, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born…

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Books | 40 years later, bruce springsteen’s ‘born in the u.s.a.’ still sounds like peak boss, the album gets a fresh look in steven hyden's latest book, 'there was nothing you could do: bruce springsteen’s born in the usa and the end of the heartland.'.

As towering and ubiquitous a figure as the Boss has been, it’s actually been 40 years since he hit peak popularity. In June 1984, the “ Born in the U.S.A.” flag was planted and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band went from a beloved rock band to a global pop phenomenon. It’s far and away the band’s most successful album – roughly 30 million sold and counting – and featured seven Top Ten hits, including their highest-charting single “Dancing in the Dark,” which reached No. 2 . 

Steven Hyden, who was only six that summer, was so captivated by the cover and then the sonic boom and full-throated cry of the title track , that he would go on to become one of the most astute and entertaining music and pop culture critics around. His latest book, “ There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and the End of the Heartland ” looks at the album from a number of angles, asking the central question if Bruce’s America – where no matter our differences, we share common values and have each other’s backs – still remains today. Or if it ever did at all…

Bruce Springsteen plays his guitar while singing his hit song “Born in the U.S.A.” as he completed his world tour at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Sept. 1985. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)

Steven Hyden is the author of “There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and the End of the Heartland.” (Courtesy of Hachette)

East German-born fans of U.S. rock star Bruce Springsteen uphold a self-made Stars and Stripes reading “Born in the USA,” the title of a famous song of Springsteen he also played during his East Berlin concert, Tuesday, July 19, 1988. About 150,000 people attended. (AP Photo/Andreas Schoelzel)

Bruce Springsteen performs during his sold-out concert, Monday, Aug. 5, 1985, at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart)

Bruce Springsteen performs at his second concert at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on Sept. 30, 1985,in support of “Born In The U.S.A.” album. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)

(For an appetizer, here’s Hyden’s rankings of the 12 songs that make up Born in the U.S.A . I won’t stand for his “Cover Me” erasure.)

Q: You’re someone who has to stay on top of recent music as a critic, but you’re able to pull up the Springsteen deep cuts in this book. Was that challenging?

Writing a book allows me to align my professional listening with my recreational listening. I’ve been a Bruce guy since I was six and Dad played his Born in the U.S.A. cassette in the car; it profoundly shaped what I want to come from rock n’ roll. I’m always thinking about Bruce and the album’s legacy anyway, but getting a book contract to write about something I love lets me know the hours spent going through the print archives and revisiting Bruce’s albums, bootlegs, concerts, documentaries, and videos was not a waste of time. 

Q: Can you set the 1984 music scene and where “ Born in the U.S.A .” fits among massive hits “ Thriller ,” “ Purple Rain ,” “ Can’t Slow Down ,” “ Like A Virgin ,” etc.?

For lack of a better way of putting it, he’s the White male rock star of the equation. There are obviously other examples, but as a singular figure it was Bruce. “ Born in the U.S.A.” became bigger in part of that specific American year, getting released in June and starting a tour shortly before the Los Angeles Olympics and Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign, where he famously praised Springsteen at a stop in New Jersey by misinterpreting the lyrics. 

What people tend to overlook is by that time, Bruce wasn’t just a rock guy anymore. The buff cover of “ Born in the U.S.A. ” is much different than the stark scruffy close-up of “ The River .” On stage, he doesn’t look the same – he’s jacked. The band became a staple of Top 40 radio and MTV and in that era, following the Thriller template and releasing seven singles off of “ Born in the U.S.A .,” all of which reached the top ten. 

In 2024, Taylor Swift has reached the same level of fame and ubiquity as Bruce, Prince , Madonna, but she got to where she was by releasing so much music over the last few years. The biggest albums of the ‘80s remained at the center of the pop culture universe for much longer, which was a place where rock star Bruce Springsteen had never been. 

Q: A lot of Bruce fans think the “real” version of the song “Born in the U.S.A.” is the stripped-down acoustic version Bruce began playing years later, but you make a strong case for the famous one, why do you prefer it?

“Hungry Heart,” a song about a deadbeat dad, was Bruce’s first big hit, reaching No. 5 on the charts in 1980 and provided the “ Born in the U.S.A.” formula of “making sad songs sound happy.” My favorite kind of music always has a little bit of art school and a little bit of the state fair. There isn’t a duality in the bluesy dirge “Born in the U.S.A.,” it’s a downbeat straight-forward song about a Vietnam vet who can’t get ahead, but I think putting these dark lyrics behind anthemic and exuberant music says something more complicated and interesting. The veteran in the album version is broken, but defiant. He’s not going anywhere and won’t be ignored. There’s pride in that. In claiming his citizenship, he’s calling out America for not living up to his promise. I think there is a lot more going on in the synthesizer-and-big-drums version. The opening was my Big Bang moment as a music writer.

Q: The “making sad songs sound happy” formula certainly worked for the biggest hit ( and goofiest video starring future “Friends” star Courteney Cox) of Bruce’s career, “Dancing in the Dark…”

It’s big bold brassy pop and it’s all about self-loathing! Bruce smuggles “I want to change my hair, my clothes, my face,” in a song about a depressed man that gets entire arenas on their feet dancing. “Glory Days” also gets pretty bleak, a crowd favorite sing-a-long about a guy whose best days were in high school and who won’t shut up about it at the local bar. Bruce didn’t invent the formula, but he’s definitely one of the masters. 

Q: It’s been a long run with the E Street Band since they got back together for the ‘99 reunion tour after a decade apart, how important are they to Bruce’s career overall? 

There’s no question that E Street is vitally important to Bruce the artist and Bruce the man. The idea of community on stage and with the audience is a huge part of the live shows. When Bruce is solo or with other musicians, I can feel the missing elements that really bring the entire presentation home. In the arena, you want to see Little Steven, Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons – before he died, his son Jake now – all those people up there who we’ve known for so long. It’s been the simple throughline since the beginning. At the heart of it, Bruce and E Street are a great live band who love playing with one another. 

Q: One of the melancholic explorations in your book is the notion of the “End of the Heartland.” Is it possible in 2024 to believe in Bruce’s music uniting people in a divided America? No doubt that plenty of his Boomer fans who wore out “ Born in the USA” no longer align with his politics…

In the 1970s-80s, there was a type of hard-hat progressives who worked in factories, belonged to unions and voted Democrat that Bruce spoke to, but I think that type of person has fallen by the wayside. Maybe they never existed to any major degree, but I do think it was how people viewed Middle Americans, in that classic blue-collar sense. Bruce has a song on “ The Ghost of Tom Joad” called “ Youngstown ,” which was inspired by a local guy, Joe Marshall Jr., featured in the 1985 book “ Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass .” Marshall’s father worked at the steel mill, and so did Joe Jr., until it was shuttered. 

In 2016, the New York Times caught up with Joe Jr. and he was a proud Donald Trump supporter. That is a direct line to the political and cultural changes that have happened since “ Born in the U.S.A.”  

Q: You attended a 2023 show and wrestled with the ideas of the community in the arena and the realities outside of it, does Bruce Springsteen still evoke something deeper to you than simply a great concert?

When I was very young, Bruce put an idea in my head that there is a dream America, one that believes in core ideals that unite us. That if we just get beyond the noise, we can find a way to work together, but in the modern world that view of America feels increasingly irrelevant. Was it ever true or was it a romanticized notion that Bruce implanted in me? I’m not blind to the realities of the Heartland today, but I hold onto part of that dream as something worth believing in. 

There is a heartbreaking lyric in “ The River,” where Bruce asks “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is it something worse?” To me, something worse is not having a dream at all. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and a Bruce Springsteen show provides it. Those experiences truly mean something. Does it mean more than a great concert? I don’t know the answer to that. Sometimes it does, sometimes it’s just a killer show, but that also matters. Either way, Bruce delivers.

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Inside 40 years of Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' with 'All Songs Considered'

T o mark its 40th anniversary, NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast reanalyzed Bruce Springsteen ’s album, Born In The USA . Turns out, we’ve been forgetting the most important part.

LISTEN NOW: All Songs Considered | 'Born In The U.S.A.' at 40

It’s no surprise that you’ll find the 1984 hit single ‘Born in The USA’ on every barbeque playlist this Fourth of July week. And while it’s easiest to scream-sing the title line and imitate Springsteen ’s classic raspiness, NPR writer and host Robin Hilton took to his All Songs Considered podcast to remind us what the song is really about. “The refrain makes it feel like a celebration of America,” he acknowledges, “Yet there's more to ‘Born in the USA’ than celebration. Listen to the lyrics and you hear a protest against the treatment of a Vietnam veteran.”

And it’s true -- the song’s verses follow the story of a young American man who was down on his luck before going off to war. Perhaps the most tragic section comes in verse 4: “I had a brother at Khe Sanh / Fightin' off them Viet Cong / They're still there, he's all gone / He had a woman he loved in Saigon / I got a picture of him in her arms, now.”

While Springsteen is not a Vietnam veteran himself, he often surrounded himself with veterans. “He did a big benefit in the summer of 81 for Vietnam veterans in Los Angeles and met with vets,” says Lauren Anke of NPR Music. “And after that tour ends, there's a number of places where he's trying to write about the Vietnam veteran experience.” The song’s drafts included a story about veterans being left without jobs or connection to the very country they served. Thus, "Born in The USA" was originally written as a song called "Vietnam."

But don’t feel bad if you didn’t know the song’s true meaning. Even with its chart-topping success, most people didn’t know about the song’s complexity back then either! “Plenty of people didn't get what it was about, including the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan ,” host Steve Inskeep recalled. In a 1984 speech while running for reelection, President Ronald Reagan referenced the song, and Springsteen, as a positive note on patriotism - something Springsteen has since distanced himself from . “By playing on the hope,” the podcast continued, “Reagan seemed to overlook the despair.”

The question then becomes: How can a rallying cry of pride in being "Born in the USA" exist at the same time as the song’s solemn backstory? Inskeep then goes directly to the source for an answer -- Bruce. “In my songs, the spiritual part, the hope part, is in the choruses. The blues and your daily realities are in the details of the verses” Springsteen told NPR at the time.

Listen to Bruce Springsteen Radio and more on the free Audacy app

As the years have gone on, the native New Jerseyan has shifted some lyrics and meanings- but the overall message of reality versus hope has endured. In just one song, Springsteen manages to convey the seemingly opposing forces of patriotism and a call for change and betterment -- and it has yet to grow old.

To hear more about the entire album, including its controversial dance remixes, tune into the All Songs Considered podcast with Audacy above.

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The nearly forgotten story of the 'Born in the U.S.A.' remixes

In 1984, Born in the U.S.A. made Bruce Springsteen the biggest rock star in the world. Along the way, one chapter of the album's legacy has nearly vanished from official history: club remixes of three of the album's biggest singles. Illustration by Jackie Lay. Photos by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis and SGranitz/WireImage (Getty Images) hide caption

In the service of creating his landmark 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A. , it had taken Bruce Springsteen two years, multiple studio sessions, several alternate track listings and close to 100 songs to get to the point where he felt that he had a record that was ready to release. “I finally stopped doing my hesitation shuffle,” he confessed in his 2016 autobiography, Born to Run . In the spring of 1984, he signed off on the final song list and the label brass were invited to hear the finished product.

American Anthem

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Springsteen had been on Columbia Records since he was signed by John Hammond — the same producer who’d discovered Bob Dylan — in 1972, and they’d stood by him through the previous six albums. That included two early records that didn’t sell well, a lawsuit by his former manager that prevented him from recording for two years and a habit of giving away songs that other artists then made into hits (“Because the Night,” his co-write with Patti Smith and “Fire” by The Pointer Sisters , for example), while still elusively chasing his own. But with his seventh record, Springsteen was finally ready to get out of his own way and make a bid for the higher echelons of success.

The record company was ecstatic. Al Teller, at the time the label’s highest ranking executive, told Springsteen and manager Jon Landau that he predicted that the album would sell 10 million copies in the U.S. (it ended up selling 17 million) and that he saw at least five hit singles (there were seven), and put together a two-year promotional plan in order to make that happen.

For his part, Springsteen pitched in with an international tour, but was also more willing to engage in other sales efforts than he had been previously. So while he hadn’t wanted any part of appearing in a video to support 1982’s Nebraska , he enlisted Brian DePalma and danced onstage with a then-unknown Courteney Cox in a video for “Dancing in the Dark” that MTV showed at the top of every hour.

When Columbia suggested enlisting a producer to create a 12” dance remix of “Dancing in the Dark,” Springsteen agreed and was given a list of names to choose from. The idea of something disco-adjacent was still, at this point, uncharted territory for an artist so deeply rooted in rock and roll, but it was absolutely a destination of choice and not a random decision on the part of the label to which the artist had no input.

The dance remix — often an extended version of a song with the balance shifted toward the beat, rebuilt to be played in dance clubs — already had become currency for electronic and pop-adjacent bands, and would soon become standard for a record’s release plan. It was a harbinger of the way rock and pop and soul and dance would intermingle in the mid-'80s, a melding of genres that widened the horizon for artists and music fans. That vista seemed to vanish a year or two later, and with it, the kind of broad acceptance and understanding of cross-genre pollination that made the presence of a Springsteen song on the dance chart feel different , sure, but also cool as hell. But once that horizon closed, even the very existence of the remixes as part of Springsteen’s history seemed to vanish.

Arthur Baker was the name that Springsteen chose from that list of potential remixers. Baker grew up as a rock and roll kid in Boston — he’d even seen early Springsteen shows there — and after studying record production and working as a DJ, had made a name for himself as a producer and remixer in hip-hop. His work in 1982 on Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force’s “ Planet Rock ” was genuinely groundbreaking, its liberal borrow of Kraftwerk transformed into a different shape, echoing everywhere on dance floors and in what felt like the very air of New York City. The next year, Baker would perform the same trick with the bouncy keyboard riff of “ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun ,” taking it out of an AOR (album-oriented rock) cubicle and elevating it further afield, one of many facets that helped Cyndi Lauper become a household name in the early ‘80s.

The “Girls” remix is what got Baker the nod for “Dancing in the Dark.” Born in the U.S.A. co-producer Chuck Plotkin told Billboard in 1985 that what Team Springsteen had liked about it was, “It was adventuresome enough to constitute something new, but also kept in mind the meaning of the original.” Speaking to NPR this spring, Baker says that when it came to the Springsteen assignment, he didn’t want to rob the remixes of their origins as rock and roll songs. “I use[d] his guitar solo on it, it sounds amazing," he says of "Dancing in the Dark." "To me, it doesn’t sound like a dance mix. I didn’t put a house beat underneath it or anything, I did try to stay organic with it.” Springsteen was actually in the studio with Baker, watching him work during the “Dancing in the Dark” remix sessions, and Baker tells the story of Bruce going out for a beer run when they temporarily lost power.

If you heard it in the summer of 1984, or if you can track it down now (one hint: look on YouTube), the first thing you’d notice in Baker's “Dancing in the Dark” remix is how the rhythm track completely envelops you before you get any clues as to what the song is. The keyboard intro hits later, with the delay making the first few lines more impactful. The remix makes the song larger; it’s not just a bright pop tune any more, and it’s just barely hugging the border with rock and roll — it’s still on the edges, but could make a break for it at any second. And Springsteen’s vocals in the original beautifully convey frustration and exasperation up front, but you physically, tangibly feel the distance in the remix. Baker engineered the feeling of a larger room, a more vast expanse — which, for a song that’s about isolation and alienation, is an essential reading.

But not everyone agreed with this new direction, especially within the core fanbase Springsteen had been building for over a decade. In the fall of 1984, Backstreets Magazine , the professional-grade fan publication devoted to the Boss, declared, “The 12” remix version of ‘Dancing in the Dark’ is unequivocally the biggest piece of s*** ever to be pressed onto vinyl and adorned with Bruce Springsteen’s name … Simply put, I can’t believe Springsteen actually released this monster canine of a record.”

That opinion wasn’t an outlier — rock radio wasn’t particularly inclined toward the project either. The remix was released at the same time that the single was No. 2 on the Hot 100 (it would lose out to the No. 1 spot because of Prince ’s “When Doves Cry,” a worthy opponent) and right as the album hit No. 1. Baker told NPR, “I woke up one morning and I heard [on the radio], ‘That was a controversial Arthur Baker remix.’ That's how I woke up. And they were taking phone calls and some guy said ‘Someone should kill that guy.’ ” There was also a theme, Baker recalls, of, “I’m sure Bruce had nothing to do with this. He would never let this happen!”

These weren’t the only voices, but it was a sentiment voiced by many fans who had been there since Springsteen’s earliest days, and it feels like this might be one of the reasons that, to this day, the remix has never been released on CD and has not made its way onto streaming services, despite the fact that it was successful by any widely accepted metric. “Dancing In The Dark” went to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart — it was on the chart for three and a half months — and was the best-selling 12” of the year. In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau called the remix “one of the all-time Phil Spector tributes and about as disco as, I don't know, John Mellencamp gone Motown.”

The existence of the 12” remix didn’t eliminate the album version, which was still right there , and in constant rotation on both AM and FM radio. It was just something new, something else. Springsteen took a chance releasing this particular set of songs. It was, in many ways, a brave and bold move. Baker’s contribution matched Springsteen’s, and then amplified it: The remix was an improv-level “yes, and” to what the Boss had already accomplished. Springsteen had decided he was ready to further test the edges of his abilities, and Arthur Baker said, “Great, I’ll drive.” Baker got the assignment to remix the next two singles as well.

“Cover Me,” the album’s second single, was the next song handed to Baker. The track was originally written for Donna Summer , but either Springsteen or manager Jon Landau recognized that he should hold onto it. Here, Baker opens with the keyboard riff, rightly zeroing in on it as the beating heart of the song. That melody line captures the feeling of passionate longing; it is the first thing you hear in the “Undercover Mix” version, the first of four separate versions, including Dub I, Dub II and the ubiquitous shorter Radio Edit.

Baker’s work on “Cover Me” represents the most drastic departure from the original of his three Born in the U.S.A. remixes, but as with “Dancing in the Dark,” Baker doesn’t jettison the rock and roll, he just deploys the focus differently. The guitar licks go in and out, but they’re still very much a presence. The wonder in this version is dance powerhouse Jocelyn Brown’s incredible backing vocals that echo and accompany the main melody line, adding to the intended heat of the composition. Her vocals are not a Baker addition — her track was on the master tapes that were handed over to him, which means that this was an approach considered at some point during the recording of this song. (Baker clarified to NPR that he can’t say whether Bruce himself did, just that they were on the master tapes.)

Baker tells NPR that he was told that Springsteen was struggling with the live arrangement of “Cover Me": “They said, 'He doesn’t want to play the song live, and we want to put it out as a single, can you do something with it?' ” Listening now to Springsteen’s live version from that era (you can hear a recording from the Meadowlands in 1984 thanks to his official live archive series), the link between the two is clear: echo and reverb on the vocals, keyboards leveled up high in the mix, Patti Scialfa reprising the Jocelyn Brown harmonies. In concert, “Cover Me” swung with purpose as opposed to the straight-ahead rock and roll of the studio version. There would always be some flaming hot guitar work, too, before going back to the themes of the intro, the echo of “Cover me, baby … the whole world is out there … just trying to score … I’ve seen enough … I’ve seen enough …. ” It made the girls swoon.

The "Cover Me" Dub versions — Dub I vs Dub II — adhere to more strict definitions of the terminology. Dub mixes in reggae traditionally jettisoned the vocals, boosted the rhythm section and added echo or reverb. Dub I opens with congas and vocals, while Dub II goes deeper, remaining percussion-heavy while leaning hard on the organ riff, Springsteen’s vocals emerging in snippets, both solo and paired with Jocelyn Brown’s harmonies. The guitar solo gets its space, floating in and catching you by surprise, carrying most of the space of the chorus and into the next verse, popping up again just when you think it’s done. The Dub versions are sexier; they identify the song’s intention and enliven it. They have more depth; they offer a moment to take a breath in the corner of the club, but you still want to keep moving.

“That’s my favorite of the three, because that one I easily can play out now in a cool club, and people will really dig it, and I really like it,” Baker says. “It had the vibe to me, a Jamaican reggae, the vocal, you could have Black Uhuru cover that, you could have a reggae artist cover that, with that bass line.” “Cover Me” got as high as No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and hung around on the chart for about three months.

The last of Baker’s remixes on this project was for the title track, the album’s third single. Unlike the previous singles, “Born in the U.S.A.” was a straight-ahead rock anthem, better suited to fist-pumping singalongs rather than sharp dance floor moves. And what Baker created was less a remix than a deconstruction: He took the recording and amplified every distinct element of it. Max Weinberg ’s elegantly martial drumming and Garry Tallent’s rolling bass were pushed up front or at least equal to the vocals, with the keyboards running behind, playing support. The delicate chimes of the glockenspiel kept things from getting too heavy, especially as he let the track build to the song’s climax — and then stripped it all back down to the basics on the bridge, before one last glorious surge. The Freedom Dub is even more drastic, with its focus on what sounds like just the kick drum track before introducing a lusher version of the melody.

Billboard approvingly noted at the time that "the dub suggests that anything in 4/4 time could be a hip-hop, and is Baker’s most liberal re-interpretation to date of another producer’s work,” but the “Born in the U.S.A.” remix didn’t chart or gain the critical accolades of the others. It’s less a dance number than a sound sculpture. That’s what makes it the most interesting of the three, and an antidote to the sadly misunderstood anthem the song had become , thanks to everyone from Ronald Reagan to Walter Mondale trying to claim it (and by extension, the star who made it) to their benefit in an election year.

The fanbase’s disapproval of the remixes at the time was definitely a symptom of the tail end of the “Disco Sucks” phenomenon, where anything that smacked of dancing was seen as off-limits in a rock and roll context. Speaking with NPR, Baker said, “I don’t want to say that it was racist; it was, you know, anti-dance.” But later, talking about writing “Cover Me” for Donna Summer, Springsteen himself commented, “I disliked the veiled racism of the anti-disco movement.” And at a basic level, it was a symptom of Springsteen’s fans feeling a sense of loss (or at least annoyance — the new influx of fans made it even harder to get what was already a tough ticket) in having to share their guy with a wider, broader audience.

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When trying to parse why the remixes have been relegated to the dustbin of history, the fan reaction back in the day might offer some clues, or at least context. But it’s still an unfortunate omission. Born in the U.S.A. was a watershed moment for Bruce Springsteen. It’s the album most identifiable with him on an international scale, and everything from the b-sides to videos, the artwork to the band’s onstage regalia are important elements of the story. It’s probably worth noting that there has been no Born in the U.S.A. box set, the kind of expected retrospective offering from an artist at his level that rounds up outtakes and almost-rans never before released to the public. The remixes were, and they are absolutely part of the story, and yet they have been out of circulation for decades.

Springsteen has spoken at length about how he made a deliberate choice with Born in the U.S.A. to reach for the masses. “There was value in trying to connect with a large audience. It was a direct way you affected culture. It let you know how powerful and how durable your music might be,” he said in 1998. And the reality was — and still is — what Springsteen told Kurt Loder in Rolling Stone in the middle of it all back in 1985, “I was always so protective of my music that I was hesitant to do much with it at all. Now I feel my stuff isn’t as fragile as I thought." (NPR asked Springsteen to talk about the remixes for this article, but through a spokesperson, he declined, citing his tour schedule and other commitments.)

Despite the fact that the only way you can hear the remixes these days is if you own the vinyl or find a carefully digitized upload from a dance music historian , you can still hear their influence today, particularly in the way “Dancing in the Dark” has evolved over the last 40 years: The way audiences (especially in Europe, where the remixes were even more popular) have been fond of singing back the “whoa-oo-ooo’s” after every line of the verse is a direct lift from Baker’s “Blaster” remix. And if you listen to any versions of the song from the 2024 tour, the current live version of “Dancing In The Dark” is as close to the remix as it’s ever been. The horn section, especially, adds the same kind of sweetness, dimension and texture Baker first isolated in his production.

No wonder Baker’s view on the project is that they were successful: “I’m really proud of [the remixes] because they were all three really different types of mixes and songs. And I think they all did what they were meant to do. He was happy with them. And they still sound good.”

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