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Bruce Superbowl halftime


seattlesteve

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During the Beatles' performances back in 1964, they didn't even mic the drum kit. Technology has come a long way.

The Beatles never played "live" in a stadium at the age of 60. Paul did, and he sounded fine, too.

Comparing The Beatles to Bruce is apples to oranges. Different styles completely.

Besides, The Beatles were a once in a lifetime convergence of charisma, songwriting, producing, the baby boom, the technological revolution of the recording studio and on and on...

We'll never see anything like that again. The planets lined up for them and our generation got to enjoy the result.

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True...But they were 21 year old kids, performing in front of 72 million people on the Ed Sullivan show, without modern technology to back them up and drown out/cover up their mistakes and they pulled it off...Shouldnt we expect a singer with 30 plus years experience and a ton of back-up singers to deliver the song on key?...If the guitars were out of key, no one would let that slide, would they?...

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I'm gonna surporise you Lew.

Bobby Vee's voice is not the same warm instrument it once was...and my hairline is not the flowing mane it once was...but I love the guy...the nicest man you'd ever wanna meet...and we've both grown since his teen- idol years and my teen-teen years...as has Bruce.

"Growing Up" (shameful "Bruce" song plug!) is a good thing...Don'tcha think?

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`One thing I don't get....Why the anger even if to one's ears...not mine...an artist wasn't A-One one night. Does that make him a fraud,or a has-been?

I don't watch artists and ask..."What have you done for me lately"?

I'll leave that to the George Steinbrenners and Jerry Jones's of the world.

Heck I'd pay a few shekels just to see Bruce slide like that.-Ira.

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Eric...How does that revised saying go?..."Those that can't do...criticize".

I gotta get back to the piece I'm doing for the Pulitzer Prize winning "Edison N.J. Bugle" titled..."Steven Spielberg...He Ain't No Hitchcock"-Ira.

Maybe I cant sing, but I can hear...Shouldnt we expect a singer to sing on key?
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`One thing I don't get....Why the anger even if to one's ears...not mine...an artist wasn't A-One one night.

Not a case of "What have you done for me lately"...He's never done it for me and he proved it again tonight...The biggest audience he's ever had and he was off key and all you "fans" cant even pony up and see it...
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A therapist friend of mine long ago suggested that when a person's reaction to something is very very negative and strong...perhaps that person is in fact bringing his own history to the situation...rather than the situation actually being so distasteful as that person is experiencing it.

Hmmm...Food for thought..

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Lew when I wrote the story on Raspberries for the Springsteen publication "Backstreets", I indicated that there was a similarity between the two artists in the sense that for both of them you either 'got' them, or you didn't. I can play Raspberries for people today who still don't see what I see in the band. You are certainly not alone - many people don't 'get' Springsteen. For those of us who have understood since the beginning, his songs continue inspire.

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I really don't think it's unfair of me to say that Bruce Springsteen's music has just never resonated with me. Vocally, I always thought he sounded "strained" and much of the music sounds as if it's droning. And I've never bought into this whole "working man's hero" image. Yeah, I'm sure lots of Teamsters live in Malibu. I feel the same way about Bono, who preaches "responsibility" and bad mouths me for not caring about African debt relief and for not giving my five bucks to his charities, then he goes out and buys himself a Maserati Quattroporte (Richard Hammond on Top Gear let that little gem slip) and private jets. As if he's saying "It's not about my money it's about YOUR money. Now pay no attention to the $130,000 Italian made sports car behind me". It seems that activism doesn't pay as well as being a rock star. But I digress...

Lew does have a point. Born In The USA is heralded as a patriotic anthem, when in reality it's about a young man who's life starts out bad, then he goes to Vietnam and it gets a whole lot worse. It goes to show you that many people really don't pay attention to the lyrics. And those lyrics have a significantly lesser impact on me than something like "Let the Bad Times Roll" by Paul Westerberg or "Voices" by Cheap Trick. Eric, even your song "Let's Pretend" for that matter and this is in no way a suck up. Why? Because they are written from a more personal point of view. I've never been a Vietnam vet or a factory worker, so I don't know what it's like to experience coming back from a war or having the mill close down. But I have been a starry eyed kid in love with the girl of my dreams who never seems to find the right words to say when she's right in front me (some say I still am that starry eye kid). To me that's more relatable than the all the well meaning "ode to the working man" songs.

Even when I perform stand up the more personal the material is the funnier it tends to be. Which is why I do a lot of material on dating. We're all inherently bad at it, and you know the old saying; it's funny because it's true.

I really don't have an ending for this so I'll leave it here.

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If a pitcher gets bombed in a the biggest game of their career...you dont dont kiss his ass...You yell for them to get him out of there...If you cheer a guy when he does well, you can boo him when he dosent...The guy got paid a ton of money tonite and he sang off key...He dosent deserve a free pass...

Some people dont have it in big spots and "The Boss" proved it tonite...In his biggest gig, he sang off key...There's no looking past it...Choke...The A-Rod of singing...

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He is not the Ray Charles/Jose Feliciano type like you guys...Springsteen choked at the biggest performance of his life...I have never been happier...

Geez Lew, why so bitter? You don't like Springsteen, we get it. Some of us do like him, don't knock us for that.
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It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darned good, even great. I love the humor Springsteen injected, and I loved the energy. Everyone who's under 30 and in a rock'n'roll band should be inspired by the boundless energy and fire on that stage....

I'm not sure about the "off-key" thing, Lew, but I do think Bruce's voice sounded a tad tired and maybe strained. Remember, though, that it was kind of a fire drill of a gig -- Bruce and band seemed to be trying to pack their usual three hours into 12 minutes! So... I give 'em an A for effort, an A for song selection, and a very solid B for performance. I put it up there, in Super Bowl halftime shows, close to McCartney's and Petty's, and a little higher than the Rolling Stones.

Halftime shows have come a long way since "Up With People" in 1986!

Here's an insightful NY Times review of Springsteen's 12 minutes:

NY Times on Bruce

(And yes, I did notice the missing verses in the three older songs, all done in the name of brevity....)

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Ok, from a chick's point of view...

Bruce sooooooooooooooo rocked tonight! After all, he sang...that's right, sang my name tonight in front of more than a bazillion people. Yeah, do the math, it's more than enough people to make this "Wendy"...spin! spin

"The Boss" gets a WORD! with a kiss! LuvLove for Born to Run...

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