number 5

Who's your Bruce?

I've had the title of this entry for awhile - it was just a matter of setting down and writing it.  My thanks to Heather and Janet for nag, I mean inspiring me to get going.

I was 13 in the summer of 1979, and was remotely familiar with the song "Born to Run" by some dude with a weird last name.  I was browsing in the record store(!) and picked up an album called "Darkness on the Edge of Town", by this Springsteen dude.  It didn't include "Born to Run", and the guy on the cover looked a little sketchy, but I decided to give it a shot.  For those of you who've known me a long time, would it surprise you to find out that I didn't like it?  I ended up trading with my brother for J. Geils "Greatest Hits."  The album, however, didn't give up on me.  Within six months, whatever I hadn't heard the first time, I began to notice.  My brother and I traded back, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Bruce Springsteen's music (and the integrity with which he performs it), became hugely important in my life.

For me music is not a pleasant, little diversion - it is something that feeds my soul.  Although I listen to all types, for the most part I'm listening to rock n' roll.  I think I was supposed to grow out of this stage at some point, but it still hasn't happened and I've given up worrying about it.  Someday I'll probably be asked to leave the retirement home for playing Iron Maiden too loudly.

Some of my favorites include the Who, the Beatles, Dire Straits, Ian Hunter (and Mott the Hoople), the Michael Stanley Band, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Lou Reed, Warren Zevon and Van Morrison.  In my opinion,  Buddy Holly's birthday should be a national holiday.  I love silly pop songs, I love metal, I love southern rock, but it's the music of Springsteen that has resonated in my life the most.  It seems to fit whatever my mood might be, and there have been times in my life when it's felt like the only friend I've had.

Which leads us to the title of this entry.  Knowing what the man and his music have meant to me, it is my hope that all of you have your own personal "Bruce".  A person (or group) whose music makes your life better.  Goodness knows we all deserve that.  Please share your thoughts in the "comments" section.

Happy New Year