Word: bruces
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...days. Intimacy is lost incrementally as venues and audiences get larger, of course, and Boss fanatics of long standing will have to do a little adjusting to their dreams. Playing music on a ball field may never be ideal, but with state-of-the-art stadium sound by Engineer Bruce Jackson and with Springsteen onstage, bearing down hard on Cadillac Ranch, this is as good as it gets. The Springsteen concerts are the fulfillment of one of pop's dearest ideals: sensationally popular music that is also great rock 'n' roll...
Bumper stickers and stadium banners proclaim BRUCE--THE RAMBO OF ROCK! "In the midst of a lot of music about love, he's a spokesman for patriotism," says Larry Berger, program director of New York City's powerful WPLJ-FM. "He's the Ronald Reagan of rock 'n' roll." In fact, the only thing Springsteen has in common with Stallone's marauding murder machine is a bandanna around the forehead; and the one time the President tried to cut himself in on Boss territory ("America's future rests ... in the message of hope in songs of ... New Jersey...
Politicians still keep running for a rumble seat on the Springsteen bandwagon, however. New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley has written about the Boss for USA Today and, declaring himself "an old rock and roller," told the CBS Morning News that Bruce was "part Elvis, he's part Chuck Berry, he's part Buddy Holiday." The old rocker must have meant Buddy Holly, but, even with facts straight and names neatly in place, a professional politician is not likely to get an endorsement from Springsteen, who now seeks out small organizations in each town he plays, then makes a donation...
...America Local 1397 in Homestead, Pa., was one of the first organizations to receive a Springsteen contribution, almost a year ago. "He worries about the underfed and the underprivileged." Says Robert Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America: "We would not exist if it were not for Bruce Springsteen." Back in 1981, when, as Muller says, "nobody wanted to hear about the Viet Nam War," a Springsteen concert raised about $100,000 for the V.V.A. "That was the beginning of Bruce's political involvement," Muller thinks. "My hope is ten years down the road, he'll run for President...
...farthest seats, look down toward the field. Springsteen, on the bright, distant stage, looks as if he were singing in the engine room of the Close Encounters spaceship. But the sound is buoyant, even this high, enhanced by people all around, dancing, singing along. You can just about see Bruce below, but you can hear him everywhere, and, even at this distance, you recognize him. He is the promise that has not eroded, the best part of every single person there to hear him. --By Jay Cocks. Reported by Cathy Booth/New York