Boiling Frogs - Tenth Avenue Sell-Out

[Luis Gonzalez]

Boiling Frogs - Tenth Avenue Sell-Out
Bruce Springsteen and the price of abandoning the audience that built him

Boiling Frogs

The Boss, The Myth, and the Slow Sellout

There was a time when Springsteen stood for something real—working class grit, resistance, and cultural honesty.

But over time, something shifted.

Was it him… or the system that absorbed him?

A new piece explores how “authenticity” gets redefined once culture is fully monetized.

Did Springsteen change—or did the industry?

— Gonzo

Read at: Boiling Frogs Blog

[Cyber Liberty]

You know more about the dynamics of the E Street Band than I ever did.  I didn't like Springsteen from the get-go, because the Time Magazine hype left me cold as a young teenager.  But with the DJs I worked with calling him "The Boss" it was clear that something I was not a part of was going on.

That he would take a sharp left turn was not surprising, and his major loss of fan base even less surprising and was totally predictable.  I don't feel the least bit sad for him, I only feel bad for the folks that believed in the image the hype built of him and the E Street Band.

He is The Boss no more!  And he did it to himself by becoming the musical equivalent of Jimmy Kimmel.  He failed his most important task: Reading the Room.

[Hoodat]

Can't sing.  Can't compose.  Can't play guitar.  Bruce Springsteen sucks.  Always has regardless of politics.

[DB]

He and his music always sucked.

[andy58-in-nh]

Over time, I have found that politics has roughly the same effect on artists that oxygen does on iron. It erodes their essential qualities and turns them to rust.

Art though, still endures.

When Bruce Springsteen first burst onto the stage in the late 70's, he was a fresh (if sand-graveled) voice fueled by youthful energy, surrounded by superior musicians, and aided by the craftsmanship of studio production wizards.

I saw two of his concerts, one in 1978 and the other in 1980. They still stand among the greatest shows I have ever seen, owing in no small measure to the kinetic force of the crowds that fed on the E Street Band's own power to move audiences to emotional heights and crashing depths.   

In truth: I thought that Springsteen's acoustic album Nebraska was the last great work that he created, with his songwriting and effort declining slowly from that point, becoming formulaic, trite and commercially-focused.

The political infusion that followed, gradually but perhaps inevitably, began to eat away at the body and soul of his efforts, corroding his work's value even as the artist himself grew fabulously wealthy.

Sadly, that is a very old story that an old man on the Boardwalk might be overheard to tell. 

But great lyrics endure, even if their progenitor loses his way along the street:

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again 

[Idiot]

Can't sing.  Can't compose.  Can't play guitar.  Bruce Springsteen sucks.  Always has regardless of politics.

[Luis Gonzalez]

 

Over time, I have found that politics has roughly the same effect on artists that oxygen does on iron. It erodes their essential qualities and turns them to rust.

Art though, still endures.

When Bruce Springsteen first burst onto the stage in the late 70's, he was a fresh (if sand-graveled) voice fueled by youthful energy, surrounded by superior musicians, and aided by the craftsmanship of studio production wizards.

I saw two of his concerts, one in 1978 and the other in 1980. They still stand among the greatest shows I have ever seen, owing in no small measure to the kinetic force of the crowds that fed on the E Street Band's own power to move audiences to emotional heights and crashing depths.   

In truth: I thought that Springsteen's acoustic album Nebraska was the last great work that he created, with his songwriting and effort declining slowly from that point, becoming formulaic, trite and commercially-focused.

The political infusion that followed, gradually but perhaps inevitably, began to eat away at the body and soul of his efforts, corroding his work's value even as the artist himself grew fabulously wealthy.

Sadly, that is a very old story that an old man on the Boardwalk might be overheard to tell. 

But great lyrics endure, even if their progenitor loses his way along the street:

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again

 

[Bigun]

Can't sing.  Can't compose.  Can't play guitar.  Bruce Springsteen sucks.  Always has regardless of politics.

 

[Bigun]

Over time, I have found that politics has roughly the same effect on artists that oxygen does on iron. It erodes their essential qualities and turns them to rust.

Art though, still endures.

When Bruce Springsteen first burst onto the stage in the late 70's, he was a fresh (if sand-graveled) voice fueled by youthful energy, surrounded by superior musicians, and aided by the craftsmanship of studio production wizards.

I saw two of his concerts, one in 1978 and the other in 1980. They still stand among the greatest shows I have ever seen, owing in no small measure to the kinetic force of the crowds that fed on the E Street Band's own power to move audiences to emotional heights and crashing depths.   

In truth: I thought that Springsteen's acoustic album Nebraska was the last great work that he created, with his songwriting and effort declining slowly from that point, becoming formulaic, trite and commercially-focused.

The political infusion that followed, gradually but perhaps inevitably, began to eat away at the body and soul of his efforts, corroding his work's value even as the artist himself grew fabulously wealthy.

Sadly, that is a very old story that an old man on the Boardwalk might be overheard to tell. 

But great lyrics endure, even if their progenitor loses his way along the street:

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again

I'm sure everyone knows that Springsteen got his start singing backup in Roy Orbison's band.

[andy58-in-nh]

I'm sure everyone knows that Springsteen got his start singing backup in Roy Orbison's band.

He did not, actually.

Bruce did play guitar as an accompanying musician on Roy’s 1987 concert film, Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black & White Night. He was clearly influenced though by Orbison's other-worldly voice, style and compositions while growing up in New Jersey. Hence his tribute to the great Orbison in the song Thunder Road.

I myself have played guitar for over half a century, and both men have influenced my style and my musical tastes in different respects. 

I was in high school when Springsteen first emerged as an artist (1974-76), and although I knew of and had heard Roy Orbison, his heyday was about ten years before that time. It was Bruce's casual reference that caused me to actively seek out Orbison's music, but quite a bit later in the 1980's, at a time when I was lost, uncertain, lonely and vulnerable.

Which, as it happens almost perfectly describes the mood of so many of Roy's wonderful songs.  Orbison's music was at that moment, a virtual map of my own heart, which Springsteen - in some measure - had also touched. 

And that is why I refuse to reflexively reject artists simply because I don't like their politics, even if they piss me off. Politics is not the point. Art is.

[Bigun]

He did not, actually.

Bruce did play guitar as an accompanying musician on Roy’s 1987 concert film, Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black & White Night. He was clearly influenced though by Orbison's other-worldly voice, style and compositions while growing up in New Jersey. Hence his tribute to the great Orbison in the song Thunder Road.

I myself have played guitar for over half a century, and both men have influenced my style and my musical tastes in different respects. 

I was in high school when Springsteen first emerged as an artist (1974-76), and although I knew of and had heard Roy Orbison, his heyday was about ten years before that time. It was Bruce's casual reference that caused me to actively seek out Orbison's music, but quite a bit later in the 1980's, at a time when I was lost, uncertain, lonely and vulnerable.

Which, as it happens almost perfectly describes the mood of so many of Roy's wonderful songs.  Orbison's music was at that moment, a virtual map of my own heart, which Springsteen - in some measure - had also touched. 

And that is why I refuse to reflexively reject artists simply because I don't like their politics, even if they piss me off. Politics is not the point. Art is.

OK @andy58-in-nh I stand corrected. Never heard of Springsteen before he appeared with Orbison as you describe above and just so you know, I have every piece of music Orbison ever recorded and a few that never were.

I agree with Elvis!

"Roy Orbison is the greatest singer who ever lived!"
Elvis Pressley

Edit to add; To this day I have no idea as to Orbison's political views.

[andy58-in-nh]

OK @andy58-in-nh I stand corrected. Never heard of Springsteen before he appeared with Orbison as you describe above and just so you know, I have every piece of music Orbison ever recorded and a few that never were.

I agree with Elvis!

"Roy Orbison is the greatest singer who ever lived!"
Elvis Presley

Edit to add; To this day I have no idea as to Orbison's political views.

@Bigun

I'll tell you what, Chief: Elvis did in fact say that about Roy Orbison, and I think the same thing now that I did when I first heard it: he just might be right.

Roy Orbison's voice was positively transcendental; it was a natural phenomenon of cosmic origin.   

He was a natural baritone but was unlimited by range. He would easily move to a powerful tenor and then, two octaves later, suddenly explode into a falsetto ending that rocked you to your core.

A little story.

I recall a day, over 36 years ago now when I was forever moved by Roy's music because it so perfectly matched my thoughts and mood.

December was cold and bleak and dark. Light snow fell in windless, silent flakes, dusting the road outside the house that I was living in temporarily while deciding a few small things.

What the hell am I doing with my life? And, to the almost audible beating in my chest: "Oh God... will she call me back?"

I had met her in Boston, about a week before. We had a simple lunch at a pizza place on Boylston Street, about two blocks from where the Marathon bombing happened, years later.  It wasn't a date, but she'd been invited to tag along by my sister, who knew her from work.

Since I saw her, I had been unable to think of anyone or anything else. She was from the Midwest, a town that I actually knew from having lived near there once. She was beautiful and gentle and a bit shy, but as we talked, she seemed to take a genuine interest in me. I had lived in New York City for a couple of years and was just now running away from a city where I simply did not fit in. And, after having dated (well, let's use that word) quite a number of New York Women, she was an angel in my eyes.

I was smitten from the start, but also now at age 31, scared of what might happen. And more than a little lost. 

So, alone for hours on that snowy December day, I was listening to CD's and picked up one I had just bought a few weeks before  - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits. One song after another, with That Voice singing of longing and heartache and dreams that one dared not dream, lest they be crushed and turned to ash.

Just runnin' scared each place we go
So afraid that he might show
Yeah, runnin' scared, what would I do
If he came back and wanted you?

Just runnin' scared, feelin' low
Runnin' scared, you love him so
Just runnin' scared, afraid to lose
If he came back, which one would you choose?

Then all at once he was standing there
So sure of himself, his head in the air
My heart was breaking, which one would it be?
You turned around and walked away with me
 
The phone rang. It was her. She wanted to see me and when would I be back in Boston? 

True story. I married her in 1991.

Thanks, Roy.

[DCPatriot]

@Bigun

I'll tell you what, Chief: Elvis did in fact say that about Roy Orbison, and I think the same thing now that I did when I first heard it: he just might be right.

Roy Orbison's voice was positively transcendental; it was a natural phenomenon of cosmic origin.   

He was a natural baritone but was unlimited by range. He would easily move to a powerful tenor and then, two octaves later, suddenly explode into a falsetto ending that rocked you to your core.

A little story.

I recall a day, over 36 years ago now when I was forever moved by Roy's music because it so perfectly matched my thoughts and mood.

December was cold and bleak and dark. Light snow fell in windless, silent flakes, dusting the road outside the house that I was living in temporarily while deciding a few small things.

What the hell am I doing with my life? And, to the almost audible beating in my chest: "Oh God... will she call me back?"

I had met her in Boston, about a week before. We had a simple lunch at a pizza place on Boylston Street, about two blocks from where the Marathon bombing happened, years later.  It wasn't a date, but she'd been invited to tag along by my sister, who knew her from work.

Since I saw her, I had been unable to think of anyone or anything else. She was from the Midwest, a town that I actually knew from having lived near there once. She was beautiful and gentle and a bit shy, but as we talked, she seemed to take a genuine interest in me. I had lived in New York City for a couple of years and was just now running away from a city where I simply did not fit in. And, after having dated (well, let's use that word) quite a number of New York Women, she was an angel in my eyes.

I was smitten from the start, but also now at age 31, scared of what might happen. And more than a little lost. 

So, alone for hours on that snowy December day, I was listening to CD's and picked up one I had just bought a few weeks before  - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits. One song after another, with That Voice singing of longing and heartache and dreams that one dared not dream, lest they be crushed and turned to ash.

Just runnin' scared each place we go
So afraid that he might show
Yeah, runnin' scared, what would I do
If he came back and wanted you?

Just runnin' scared, feelin' low
Runnin' scared, you love him so
Just runnin' scared, afraid to lose
If he came back, which one would you choose?

Then all at once he was standing there
So sure of himself, his head in the air
My heart was breaking, which one would it be?
You turned around and walked away with me
 
The phone rang. It was her. She wanted to see me and when would I be back in Boston? 

True story. I married her in 1991.

Thanks, Roy.

That's just beautiful @andy58-in-nh

[andy58-in-nh]

That's just beautiful @andy58-in-nh

Thanks, @DCPatriot . 

[Bigun]

@Bigun

I'll tell you what, Chief: Elvis did in fact say that about Roy Orbison, and I think the same thing now that I did when I first heard it: he just might be right.

Roy Orbison's voice was positively transcendental; it was a natural phenomenon of cosmic origin.   

He was a natural baritone but was unlimited by range. He would easily move to a powerful tenor and then, two octaves later, suddenly explode into a falsetto ending that rocked you to your core.

A little story.

I recall a day, over 36 years ago now when I was forever moved by Roy's music because it so perfectly matched my thoughts and mood.

December was cold and bleak and dark. Light snow fell in windless, silent flakes, dusting the road outside the house that I was living in temporarily while deciding a few small things.

What the hell am I doing with my life? And, to the almost audible beating in my chest: "Oh God... will she call me back?"

I had met her in Boston, about a week before. We had a simple lunch at a pizza place on Boylston Street, about two blocks from where the Marathon bombing happened, years later.  It wasn't a date, but she'd been invited to tag along by my sister, who knew her from work.

Since I saw her, I had been unable to think of anyone or anything else. She was from the Midwest, a town that I actually knew from having lived near there once. She was beautiful and gentle and a bit shy, but as we talked, she seemed to take a genuine interest in me. I had lived in New York City for a couple of years and was just now running away from a city where I simply did not fit in. And, after having dated (well, let's use that word) quite a number of New York Women, she was an angel in my eyes.

I was smitten from the start, but also now at age 31, scared of what might happen. And more than a little lost. 

So, alone for hours on that snowy December day, I was listening to CD's and picked up one I had just bought a few weeks before  - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits. One song after another, with That Voice singing of longing and heartache and dreams that one dared not dream, lest they be crushed and turned to ash.

Just runnin' scared each place we go
So afraid that he might show
Yeah, runnin' scared, what would I do
If he came back and wanted you?

Just runnin' scared, feelin' low
Runnin' scared, you love him so
Just runnin' scared, afraid to lose
If he came back, which one would you choose?

Then all at once he was standing there
So sure of himself, his head in the air
My heart was breaking, which one would it be?
You turned around and walked away with me
 
The phone rang. It was her. She wanted to see me and when would I be back in Boston? 

True story. I married her in 1991.

Thanks, Roy.

That's a GREAT story my friend and I could not be happier for you two! I got extremely lucky and married my sweetheart 58+ years ago and we are still just as in love as we were back then. Don't know why the Lord has blessed me so but he surely has! @andy58-in-nh

Somewhere there may be Roy's equal but I have yet to hear that voice.

[Hoodat]

And that is why I refuse to reflexively reject artists simply because I don't like their politics, even if they piss me off. Politics is not the point. Art is.

Please understand this, @andy58-in-nh

I am not rejecting Bruce Springsteen because of his politics.  I am rejecting him because he sucks musically.  His 'Born in the USA' album is one of the worst albums to ever receive radio cover.  It is a montage of three note songs, all of which suck.

His 'Born to Run' album had a couple of good songs.  But the only reason that album ever got released is because someone got Springsteen the heck out of the way.  He was a disaster in the studio.  It took a year and a half to get that album through the recording studio.  Compare that with Lynyrd Skynyrd who spent a grand total of five weeks in a Doraville studio on their first album.  And that one album had more hits than Bruce Springsteen had in his career.

You want to talk politics?  Take Jackson Browne.  I made the mistake of seeing him in Concert back in the 80s.  He wouldn't shut up about politics.  Reagan this, and Reagan that.  I left early.  But musically, I like Jackson Browne.  There are three things that Browne can do that Springsteen can't - sing, play guitar, compose.

[Hoodat]

And as long as we're talking about Roy Orbison on this putrid Bruce Springsteen thread, here is some true class to offset it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSeIh9rmEUs

[Luis Gonzalez]

And as long as we're talking about Roy Orbison on this putrid Bruce Springsteen thread, here is some true class to offset it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSeIh9rmEUs

“Putrid”?

I know you didn’t read the article. Thanks for the “opinion”.

[Hoodat]

I read your article.  I vehemently disagree with your premise.  Besides, Springsteen completely sold out in the early 80s.  You just didn't notice because people like Clemmons, Van Zandt, and Federici were carrying him as they latched on to his commercialism success.

Don't take it personal.  You wrote an outstanding article.  I just don't agree with it.  Bruce Springsteen sucks.  He sucked in the 80s.  And he still sucks today.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I read your article.  I vehemently disagree with your premise.  Besides, Springsteen completely sold out in the early 80s.  You just didn't notice because people like Clemmons, Van Zandt, and Federici were carrying him as they latched on to his commercialism success.

Don't take it personal.  You wrote an outstanding article.  I just don't agree with it.  Bruce Springsteen sucks.  He sucked in the 80s.  And he still sucks today.

That’s what the article says. I don’t understand your commentary.

[andy58-in-nh]

Please understand this, @andy58-in-nh

I am not rejecting Bruce Springsteen because of his politics.  I am rejecting him because he sucks musically.  His 'Born in the USA' album is one of the worst albums to ever receive radio cover.  It is a montage of three note songs, all of which suck.

His 'Born to Run' album had a couple of good songs.  But the only reason that album ever got released is because someone got Springsteen the heck out of the way.  He was a disaster in the studio.  It took a year and a half to get that album through the recording studio.  Compare that with Lynyrd Skynyrd who spent a grand total of five weeks in a Doraville studio on their first album.  And that one album had more hits than Bruce Springsteen had in his career.

You want to talk politics?  Take Jackson Browne.  I made the mistake of seeing him in Concert back in the 80s.  He wouldn't shut up about politics.  Reagan this, and Reagan that.  I left early.  But musically, I like Jackson Browne.  There are three things that Browne can do that Springsteen can't - sing, play guitar, compose.

@Hoodat

I may agree with you a little more than you think about "The Boss", if only because most of his albums were not anywhere as good as their critical ratings and airplay would suggest.

Born to Run was a solid album though, perhaps his best, even if not quite up to the hype. The reason for the length of time spent in the studio was because of the meticulous (and expensive) production it received - the deep sound layers and rich instrumentation were astounding for a time of analog tape and mixing boards, and tube-based amplifiers (which sound better anyway, I always think). That said, the song "Born to Run" wasn't nearly the best song on the album. Jungleland was, followed by Thunder Road - in my opinion, of course. I'd listen to the album just for Clarence Clemon's sax, Max Weinberg's drums and Roy Bittan's keyboard work.

The River (1980) was awaited with frenzied anticipation by Springsteen fans, but in the fullness of time, it turned out to be a largely-forgettable double album affair - derivative, superficial, repetitive and shallow as a dry creek.   

Speaking of hype... Born in the U.S.A. was among the most anticipated FM radio album releases ever. When I heard it for the first time, my reaction was a literal shrug of the shoulders, and actual cringe for Dancin' In the Dark, which might as well have had its video released to MTV with a big Chyron overlaid on it that said: Commercialized Crap Warning! The best song (perhaps the only really good one) was I'm On Fire, which has since been covered by other artists (see Town Mountain's country/bluegrass version, which is excellent).

Sorry to go on at length here, dude, but I love and play music and have more opinions about it than I probably do about politics.  I do appreciate yours. As an aside: I also saw Jackson Browne in concert and liked him very much.   

[Luis Gonzalez]

You know more about the dynamics of the E Street Band than I ever did.  I didn't like Springsteen from the get-go, because the Time Magazine hype left me cold as a young teenager.  But with the DJs I worked with calling him "The Boss" it was clear that something I was not a part of was going on.

That he would take a sharp left turn was not surprising, and his major loss of fan base even less surprising and was totally predictable.  I don't feel the least bit sad for him, I only feel bad for the folks that believed in the image the hype built of him and the E Street Band.

He is The Boss no more!  And he did it to himself by becoming the musical equivalent of Jimmy Kimmel.  He failed his most important task: Reading the Room.

Exactly. I thought Darkness was a much better LP.

[Luis Gonzalez]

@Hoodat

I may agree with you a little more than you think about "The Boss", if only because most of his albums were not anywhere as good as their critical ratings and airplay would suggest.

Born to Run was a solid album though, perhaps his best, even if not quite up to the hype. The reason for the length of time spent in the studio was because of the meticulous (and expensive) production it received - the deep sound layers and rich instrumentation were astounding for a time of analog tape and mixing boards, and tube-based amplifiers (which sound better anyway, I always think). That said, the song "Born to Run" wasn't nearly the best song on the album. Jungleland was, followed by Thunder Road - in my opinion, of course. I'd listen to the album just for Clarence Clemon's sax, Max Weinberg's drums and Roy Bittan's keyboard work.

The River (1980) was awaited with frenzied anticipation by Springsteen fans, but in the fullness of time, it turned out to be a largely-forgettable double album affair - derivative, superficial, repetitive and shallow as a dry creek.   

Speaking of hype... Born in the U.S.A. was among the most anticipated FM radio album releases ever. When I heard it for the first time, my reaction was a literal shrug of the shoulders, and actual cringe for Dancin' In the Dark, which might as well have had its video released to MTV with a big Chyron overlaid on it that said: Commercialized Crap Warning! The best song (perhaps the only really good one) was I'm On Fire, which has since been covered by other artists (see Town Mountain's country/bluegrass version, which is excellent).

Sorry to go on at length here, dude, but I love and play music and have more opinions about it than I probably do about politics.  I do appreciate yours. As an aside: I also saw Jackson Browne in concert and liked him very much.   

Springsteen wanted the sound he wanted... period.

His producer had left early in '74 and a new one was working out the kinks. That, in and of itself, delayed the recording.

Bruce wanted a Spector Wall of Sound feel to it.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Springsteen's journey is an allegory for the decline of the Dem Party ... abandoning the audience that built it ... faithful, ethnic, working-class folks ... now the "deplorables" the Dems resent and despise.

Sometimes artists have to choose being faithful to their current audiences or leaving them behind in pursuit of "artistic growth".

Some bands look down upon their early successful works as "immature", "amateur", etc., in the middle of their careers.  Later, they re-embrace their Classic Catalog in the pursuit of money and relevance towards the ends of their careers.

Damn Boomers refuse to go out to pasture.

[Bigun]

@Hoodat

I may agree with you a little more than you think about "The Boss", if only because most of his albums were not anywhere as good as their critical ratings and airplay would suggest.

Born to Run was a solid album though, perhaps his best, even if not quite up to the hype. The reason for the length of time spent in the studio was because of the meticulous (and expensive) production it received - the deep sound layers and rich instrumentation were astounding for a time of analog tape and mixing boards, and tube-based amplifiers (which sound better anyway, I always think). That said, the song "Born to Run" wasn't nearly the best song on the album. Jungleland was, followed by Thunder Road - in my opinion, of course. I'd listen to the album just for Clarence Clemon's sax, Max Weinberg's drums and Roy Bittan's keyboard work.

The River (1980) was awaited with frenzied anticipation by Springsteen fans, but in the fullness of time, it turned out to be a largely-forgettable double album affair - derivative, superficial, repetitive and shallow as a dry creek.   

Speaking of hype... Born in the U.S.A. was among the most anticipated FM radio album releases ever. When I heard it for the first time, my reaction was a literal shrug of the shoulders, and actual cringe for Dancin' In the Dark, which might as well have had its video released to MTV with a big Chyron overlaid on it that said: Commercialized Crap Warning! The best song (perhaps the only really good one) was I'm On Fire, which has since been covered by other artists (see Town Mountain's country/bluegrass version, which is excellent).

Sorry to go on at length here, dude, but I love and play music and have more opinions about it than I probably do about politics.  I do appreciate yours. As an aside: I also saw Jackson Browne in concert and liked him very much.   

Amen brother! Tubes over transistors EVERY time!