Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Sea

Well we have been away this weekend to visit my family on the Lincolnshire coast.  I've talked about my home town before - if I squint and suspend disbelief  I can pretend it's Asbury Park.  The weather was glorious and I love this photo I took through the open door of the beach hut

Irene, my sister -in -law, thinks we are the biggest Springsteen fans in the world but then we are the only Springsteen fans she knows.  She saves every article and snippet she finds and this week she handed over the Sunday Times Magazine from November last year.  We were in Dublin at The Gaslight Anthem gig the weekend this came out and missed it.  I was really disappointed at the time so getting hold of the article after all these months is great.

I haven't had chance to read it all but I notice Bruce says he's been for 'swim in the ocean'.  Now Sutton-on-Sea may look quite idyllic in the photo but I certainly won't be going for a swim in that ocean any time soon!!

Nick Rufford who interviewed Bruce and wrote the article says that he shouted out to Bruce after the Roundhay Park gig in 1985  'You didn't play 'No Surrender''.  A couple of weeks ago we were listening to a radio programme during which the DJ was asking people to text in to say what they would do if they had their time again or perhaps it was what you regretted not doing.  Either way Mike immediately said he would've gone to Roundhay Park.  We didn't live in Leeds at the time ourselves but all Mike's family were here so a bed for the night wouldn't have been a problem.

As I've touched on before it never even crossed our minds in those days to go to a live concert of any sort.    Anyway this struck a chord with me because he may not have played 'No Surrender' that day but I reckon he's played it at every gig we've been to since!!.  Well that's a bit of an exaggeration but we've heard it a lot and I'm happy to keep on hearing it.

From time to time on Greasy Lake someone poses a question along the lines of which song do you not want to hear live again (at least not for a long time)?  I expect 'No Surrender' would be some peep's choice but for me it has to be 'Because The Night' probably because it's so familiar to me from listening to the Patti Smith version in my youth.  This choice changes though.  If I had asked myself this during 2008 the answer would've been 'Mary's Place'.

As promised I've been working on my Bruce doll this week.  The dolls I've attempted so far have been copied, more or less exactly, from a book.  They were all female dolls and all had flat faces.

I've now progressed to sculptured faces - basically they have noses.  So again my first head was an exact copy.  For my second I tried to get more masculine features and the third is my first go at Bruce.  Those of you with a nervous disposition should look away now!

And finally for this week

Cover Me

I lived the first 18 years of my life by the sea.  Sutton-on-Sea to be precise – a small town on the Lincolnshire coast about 4 miles from Mablethorpe to the north and 15 miles from Skegness to the south. This has skewed my opinion of the seaside somewhat.  When I go home I have an irresistible compulsion to go to see the sea but suggest I get in the car on a sunny Sunday and drive to Scarborough or Blackpool and I would be horrified.  You see the seaside was my prison when I was a teenager.

Sutton was, and still is, a sleepy little place.  All the excitement,if you could call it that, was to be had in Mablethorpe (Skegness being an expensive and long bus ride away).  Here during the summer the amusement arcades opened and there was a funfair.

As teenagers it was expected that we would get summer jobs waitressing or selling ice creams, rock and candyfloss but during the evenings and on days off we would hang around the fair.

This was way back in the days before video games had even been thought of so our 'pleasure machines' were penny slots, table football or pinball.  There was a carousel, waltzer, twister and big wheel and we had our very own Madame Marie, although she was called Gypsy Rose Lee or some such..



There wasn't a boardwalk instead a concrete promenade lined with a few shops, cafes and beach huts.

A bit off topic you might be saying but as you know all roads lead to Springsteen (or in this case they lead from Bruce and back round to him again) and I was prompted to tell you this after I pulled out our copy of Light of Day – A tribute to Bruce Springsteen. 


The cover depicts probably the first picture I had seen of the Asbury Park boardwalk and I was struck by how similar it is to my home.  It's not that it looks the same it's just a feeling:something about the atmosphere of the place. Maybe it's just the sea.

Anyway I escaped my seaside town at about the same age as Bruce landed in his but in an odd way his affection for the place made me appreciate my own home a bit more.

So Light of Day was the first covers album we actually bought.  We had two albums given away free with Uncut magazine which Mike had played over and over.  He is a champion of the cover really.  In fact there are some occasions when he would choose to listen to the cover over Bruce's original.  On the other hand I know there are many tramps who can't even bear to listen to any version other than Bruce's.

I fall somewhere between the two.  I have nothing against covers.  Some I like, some I don't like and some are just so different that it makes me listen to Bruce's version in a new light.  On the whole though I don't think I would ever prefer someone else's interpretation of a Springsteen song more than his own.  At least I'd never admit it not even to myself.  Or would I ?... I'm not a Tom Joad fan but I like this






That version of 'Sinaloa Cowboys' is on the albums (it's a double) along with some other unusual covers.  I would recommend it to any Bruce fan just for the experience of hearing a new interpretation of an old, familiar and ,in some cases, much loved song.  I can't pick out a truly bad track.  There are artists we have never heard of, some we didn't know at the time but have familiarised ourselves with since and one who we have met a couple of times – you know who you are Mr Wright.

The first version of 'The Promise' we heard was a cover from the album by an Italian – Graziano Romani. During a holiday in Italy a few years back we went into every record shop trying to find something by him but to no avail. 

Anyway Mike's fascination with the cover means we also have One Step Up Two Steps Back – The songs of Bruce Springsteen. Another great double album.  More dubiously we own If I Were The Boss – The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen which includes such gems as 'Growin Up' by Alvin Stardust and 'Fire' by Shakin' Stevens.  The weirdest album? - it has to be The String Quartet Tribute to Springsteen.

Back in the days when we were just getting into ripping and burning, these many versions of the same song inspired Mike to make up two CDs of our own featuring only the one song in it's many guises. Atlantic City because it's his favourite and Thunder Road for me.

Well guys to be honest I can't find much Bruce news for you this week.  There's this DVD which is apparently being released in February.  For the intellectual among you this blog compares Steve Jobs with Bruce.

And finally this week to go back to the covers theme here's a medley for you to consider.  There is only a snippet of each so if there's something you hate it'll soon pass!