Lucky Touch

I don't really 'do' Twitter.  I post my blog and look at what's trending but that's about it

Today, through one of my Facebook friends, I came into a conversation (if that's what you call it when tweets are sent to @ this and @ that) something along the lines of any of Bruce's albums could persuade a non believer except perhaps 'Human Touch' or 'Lucky Town'.

I know one of my readers who, I think, got into Bruce because of these two albums - only one person.  Perhaps, after all this time, I know you well enough to come out of the closet and admit I also like both albums - yes I really do!!  There are only a couple of tracks on each that I really don't like.

I didn't actually get into Bruce because of those albums exactly, more because the World Tour with the 'other band' was the first show we went to. I really do fit the adage

There are two types of people in the world - those who love Bruce Springsteen and those who have never seen him live


I really didn't love him until I saw him live.

Of course I didn't have The E Street Band to compare the 'other band' with and almost no other concerts to compare with a live show. I thought the gig was amazing. Better Days, Lucky Town, Leap Of Faith, Mans Job, Souls Of The Departed, My Beautiful Reward. I like them all.  57 Channels not so much and I'm sure some of you die hards must have almost cried in shame when Bruce and co started kicking dice about the stage. At least that's how I remember it. The You Tube video I'm going to treat you to features a number of fluffy dice but none being kicked about - I don't think.  At 10 minutes long even I skipped some bits. You have to have some stamina to sit all the way through it!  Looking back on it now Bruce does look slightly ridiculous but I still love the albums.

Anyway back to what started this post. 'Human Touch' and 'Lucky Town' aren't Bruce's best.  Most of you would say that they're not good either musically or lyrically. I think, for a non Bruce fan, there are  tracks on both albums that are easy to listen to and might persuade someone to go out and buy one of the 'classics'.

And back to our first concert - Sheffield 1993. Here is the full set list taken from Brucebase


SEEDS / ADAM RAISED A CAIN / THIS HARD LAND / BETTER DAYS / LUCKY TOWN / 57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN' ON) / ATLANTIC CITY / BADLANDS / MANY RIVERS TO CROSS / MY HOMETOWN / LEAP OF FAITH / MAN'S JOB / ROLL OF THE DICE / BORN IN THE U.S.A. / I'M ON FIRE / BECAUSE THE NIGHT / HUMAN TOUCH / THE RIVER / WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN? / SOULS OF THE DEPARTED / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / LIGHT OF DAY / GLORY DAYS / THUNDER ROAD / BORN TO RUN / MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD / WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY


“Born In The U.S.A.” is an acoustic version. First ever performances in England of "This Hard Land" and "Many Rivers To Cross". 

I'm Going Down To Lucky Town

Music is always in my life.  If you are a regular reader you will know I have my iPod with me wherever I go: I listen to the radio quite a lot, mostly, but not always BBC radio 2: my colleagues and I can often be heard humming along to ourselves whilst tapping away on the keyboard and sometimes I even wake up with a song already in my head.  Yes music is with me all the time but usually in the background.

The only time we really settle down to listen to an album is when a new Bruce album comes out.  This is an event in our house.  We sit down together probably with a glass of something and really pay attention.  We might not speak at all during the first play through but then discuss our initial impressions before listening again.  The album will then follow us around for a week or two. It'll be on in the kitchen whilst I'm cooking, it'll be on in the car, it'll get loaded up to iTunes and the iPods.  It will be played in isolation and in order.  Then it's likely to be put away on the shelf and I'll only hear a track if it comes up during my IPod shuffle.

Someone on Greasy Lake said they like to be in control of their music so shuffle isn't an option for them.  I'm the opposite.  I don't like to know what is coming up next.  I think that's why I still find the radio so interesting.  I like to hear new songs, artists I've never heard of and I like to hear an old song that I'd forgotten about.  If a Springsteen song comes on the radio it absolutely makes my day!

We have a radio or CD player in every room in our house but only two TVs. Perhaps if we had a TV in the kitchen I might watch that but as it is we have a radio/CD player. The radio goes on as soon as I get downstairs in the morning and often at night whilst I'm cooking tea. The exception to this might be if we have a new album by somebody other than Bruce.  This, of course, doesn't require as much attention as a new Springsteen release so it's usually a background thing.

I mention all this because this week I suddenly deviated from the norm and got an old Bruce album out of the CD rack to play in the kitchen. This really is unusual and what's even stranger is that I chose Lucky Town.  Now I have a soft spot for both Lucky Town and Human Touch.  They weren't the first albums we bought - that predictably was BITUSA - but significantly the HT/LT tour was the first live show we saw.  As we all know once you see the man live you are hooked for life.

Well I bopped around and sang along and really enjoyed hearing this for the first time in it's entirety  since... well it must be fifteen years!  I gave myself a telling off for bowing to what I perceive to be pressure from the Bruce community to dislike this album.  OK so it's not the E Street Band - in fact according to the sleeve it's mainly Bruce.  It's a great, uplifting, hopeful album and - yes - I like it.

I haven't played Human Touch but Man's Job is a guilty pleasure and Human Touch (the track itself) includes one of my favourite lines - You can't shut off the risk and the pain without losin' the love that remains.

There aren't many songs from these albums that we hear live nowadays.  Human Touch pops up from time to time and I think Bruce gives us Living Proof on occasion.  If I Should Fall Behind crops up a fair bit and I was surprised to find that the recorded version sounded sort of unfamiliar.  Bruce has obviously changed the rhythm and emphasis of the song over the years.  I've probably become accustomed to The Live in NYC version.

I remember someone saying once that their favourite version of Thunder Road was the original recording because they didn't like the way Bruce changed the emphasis of the words.  Is it called the cadence?  I had the same problem with the acoustic version of The Rising. I couldn't get to grips with the melody at all.

Last week Sting was 60 and we all know that our man did a bit of a turn.



Now his voice is great and I must say I really like it but he's certainly changed the lilting melody of the original.  Here's Sting's version for comparison.




Here in the UK we have had a bit of excitement this week because Jessica Springsteen is riding at The Horse Of The Year Show.  Sadly we have felt compelled to watch the TV coverage on the off chance we might catch a glimpse of dad and to cheer on Jessica - not very patriotic of us!

I have an excuse as I used to follow show jumping when I was younger.  I've actually enjoyed catching up with the sport and I think Mike is getting quite into it now.

... So off to watch Jessica in The Leading Show Jumper Of The Year competition.

My Bruce Journey - Part 5

‘You can’t shut off the risk and the pain without losin’ the love that remains‘


1992 was a big year for us. We moved to Leeds - Mike’s home town, we got married and Leeds United won the last ever League Division One before the Premiership was formed.  There’s a great article reflecting on this here http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/17/leedsunited

We still live in the same house 18 years later - the longest I have lived in one place and the house where we have had the happiest times.

We also bought 'Human Touch' and 'Lucky Town' and I liked both albums.  For me they were better than any other Bruce album I already owned except for 'Born in the USA'.  At the time I had no idea how much they were hated by the fans and I had no E Street Band history to colour my judgement.  Listening again this week I still like his voice which some think is twangy and I love the guitar sound which is definitely twangy.

‘Human Touch’ is a great song and, although I have no children of my own, I can’t believe that any parent doesn’t think ‘Living Proof’ isn’t beautiful.  I have to confess that ‘Man’s Job’ was a favourite but now? - well we all make mistakes. It’s still a good singalong but a favourite - perhaps not.

‘If I should fall behind’ is lovely - in Mike’s top ten - but I know the controversy is all about the sound rather than the lyrics.

I know nothing about production, mixes, drum machines etc etc - it sounds just fine to me.

But my album of the year (released in June) was ‘Change Everything’ Del Amitri.  I played this to death and to Mike’s distraction for months.  I had a portable CD player at the time and this album was my constant companion whenever I was outside the house.  This was one of those occasions when I bought their next album, played it once, didn’t like it and never played it again.  Didn’t buy another and although there has been no official announcement of a band break up they haven’t released anything for a while.

Other album purchases were Michael Bolton ‘Timeless’ and Charles and Eddie ‘Duophonic’ both of which we still have and neither of which we play at all.  We fell out with Michael Bolton a couple of years after this. A story that might crop up later.

My nomination for worst song of the year has to be Whitney Houston’s ‘I will Always Love You’.  This is one of my all time favourite songs and she just ruined it.  I can’t bear to think that people only know her version and don’t know that the wonderful Dolly Parton wrote it…and performs it with so much more restrained emotion.  There’s more to singing than just belting out a tune.



Oddly for a city as big as Leeds there is no concert venue.  We need to travel to Sheffield about 32 miles away down the M1 or Manchester which is about 40 miles across the M62.

So on 15th April 1993 we found ourselves heading to Sheffield Arena to see Bruce for the first time…