Bruce Springsteen "Badlands"

I heard about Clarence Clemons' passing on Saturday, and thought, instead of posting on Sunday, I'd take a day and think about what I really wanted to say about him.

It was pretty amazing to check my newsfeed on Facebook and see the various friends and mvyradio listeners who felt the need to post the sad news. There were friends who I know are big Springsteen fans, but there were also lots of folks who's love of the E Street Band was previously unknown to me. It was impressive to see the musical lives that The Big Man had touched.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I got around to watching "The Promise," a documentary about the making of Springsteen's 1978 record "Darkness On The Edge Of Town." Springsteen kept talking about how he wanted to make the record more "stripped down" and "leaner and meaner." And that meant fewer instruments, fewer solos. Less Clarence.

But here's the funny thing, and Springsteen is the one to point this out.

With "Badlands" as (lyrically) the clearest statement of purpose in that record, the saxophone solo that Clemons nailed is so strong, is so present, is so important to the album, that when you've listened to "Darkness" from beginning to end, it feels like Clemons is all over the record, even though he's not.

It reminds me of the movie "A Few Good Men." You think of that as a movie starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, but in reality, Nicholson is only in the movie for 4 scenes. Yet his performance is so powerful, and so integral to the film, that he won an Academy Award.

Clemons didn't play on every Springsteen song. He didn't need to. You hear his instrument, his voice, in your head when you think of "Bruce Springsteen."

They called him The Big Man, and this is why.


A live version

See the video on Youtube.

The album version

See the video on Youtube.

Reeve Carney "Rise Above"

If I say, "Tell me what you know about the Spiderman musical on Broadway," the one bit of knowledge that you likely have about it, is that the production has been troubled. Some might say disastrous.

If I say, "Tell me how you feel about U2," you're likely to give me a pretty strong opinion. The fans are long-time fans. The haters can't stand the band.

When I'm listening to the new music that comes into the station, it's best to listen with unbiased ears.

It shouldn't matter if I have previously liked the band or not, the new song should be judged on its merits.

It shouldn't matter if the song doesn't meet previous expectations of the artist (i.e. if Eddie Vedder does a ukulele album, it shouldn't be dismissed because it doesn't sound like Pearl Jam), it should be judged on its merits.

It shouldn't matter even if I like the song. What's important is if I think the mvyradio listeners will like the song, and it should be judged on those merits.

This song comes with a lot of baggage. It comes with built in prejudices against Broadway musical music, which can be corny and doesn't really have a place on Rock radio. It comes with built in prejudices against this particular musical, in that the show is mostly known for the accidents and retooling and director-firing, all while getting a Ho-Hum from the critics. And it comes with built in prejudices against/for U2, in that you can't help but judge this song against previous U2 songs.

So how to you listen, without prejudice?

And more importantly, should you (listen without prejudice)?

Because listeners aren't going to take a moment to set aside their prejudices while listening to the song, are they?

It's a tricky balance, trying to judge a song on its own merits, judge a song in context of its history and pedigree, and judge how others are going to judge the song (and what criteria they might use to do so), and then repeat this process for each and every song you consider.

So, play Program Director. What do you think? If you knew nothing about the singer or the song, would you like "Rise Above"? Does the story elevate or deflate the tune? How about the players?

Here are 3 versions, with varying degrees of context. What do you think?



See the song performed on Letterman, on Youtube.


Hear the version with Bono & The Edge, on Youtube.


And the version from American Idol, on Youtube.

Frank Black "Headache"

There are only so many ways you can introduce a song on the radio, but you do have to be careful.

You could say, "Here's Ben Harper, 'Burn One Down'" and there's no problem.

But use that same format (Artists, Song Title) for another song, and it just won't work:

"Here's Lyle Lovett. 'Why, I don't know.'"

"Why, I don't know" sounds like a blase commentary on what you're doing, when it's really the song title.

And this can be confusing for the listener.

Back when "Headache" came out (when I was hosting a Modern Rock show at my former radio gig), I would introduce this song with a Album Title, Artist, Song Title Format.

Which would work fine if I were saying:

"From 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town,' here's Bruce Springsteen with 'Candy's Room.'"

But it didn't work for the former-Pixies leader's new solo song, when I said:

"From 'The Teenager Of The Year' here's Frank Black with 'Headache.'"

I had more than a couple of listeners ask me how old Frank Black was, and how he could have possibly won such a title, even though he would have to be in his 30s.


Frank Black plays at the Wellfleet Beachcomber tonight.

Bruce Springsteen "Save My Love"

I think the first album I got with a special bonus track was R.E.M's "Eponymous" Best Of collection, which didn't have the version of "Radio Free Europe" that we were all used to. It had the "original Hib-Tone" single mix---a kind of lost, alternate version. It was an interesting artifact.

In the years since, the interesting artifacts have taken over. Now, any album of any renown eventually gets remastered and reissued, with a host of (sometimes dubious) bonus material.

In fact, this year, R.E.M. reissued "Fables Of The Reconstruction." The remastered original album sounds great! But am I really ever going to listen to that second disc, which contains the not-quite-realized demo versions of all the songs on the record? Nah.

But we do have a thirst for this stuff. Our "Behind The Music" desires must be satiated.

So when a truly BIG album gets reissued, it doesn't just come with a remixed track, or even a bonus disc. It comes with a live concert and a whole dern movie!

The making of "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" was a pretty tumultuous time for Bruce Springsteen, and it was at an interesting crux in his career.

So this Fall, he's getting the full treatment. A documentary! 2 concert DVDs! 21 unreleased songs! Never! Before! Seen! Footage!

Bruce has never been known for keeping it short, has he?

The package isn't out until later this fall (though you can pre-order it from Amazon), but one of the Never! Before! Released! tracks is available for streaming.

Check it out. Does it merit the hoopla? Or is it just a relic from the attic?