40 Years of "Born In The USA"
It is the 40th anniversary of Born In The USA next month and so he is releasing...the exact same record, but on red vinyl.
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Well, here we are. It is the 40th anniversary of Born In The USA next month and to commemorate the album that turned Bruce Springsteen into a global superstar, he is releasing...the exact same record, but on red vinyl. With liner notes. And a fancy picture.
When I wrote about the recent-released Best Of compilation, I quoted the statistic that 50% of the people who buy vinyl don't own turntables. Those people are buying it as an act of participatory fandom, and because it's a more attractive form factor than a CD (and also, no one buys CDs any more). This release is for those people, and also for the fans who weren't old enough when BITUSA came out and want a copy of Springsteen's most indelible public image.
You used to be able to buy a used copy on vinyl for, like, $.50, because there were just SO MANY OF THEM. It went Platinum 17 times in the US. And then vinyl became A Thing; you can find a decent copy on Discogs for about $15 including shipping, but you'll probably pay at least $20-30 in a used record store. But anyone who would do that has already done it. This release is for everyone else.
The cover of Born In The USA isn't Springsteen's most distinctive image; that honor goes to Born To Run, with Darkness On The Edge of Town a close second. But people don't go to concerts dressed up as Scooter and the Big Man from the BTR cover, while outside every stadium in Europe right now at least one enterprising individual has a table set up selling American flags and bandannas. I know this because I've seen it everywhere from Dublin to Vienna. Annie Leibovitz' photograph of Bruce's ass has become the enduring image that represents BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN to the universe.
Also, again, this record sold a bananas amount, across the globe. 25 million copies! There is popular and then there is Popular. This record is Popular. They are releasing it again because people will buy it. I am not mad that they are doing this. This is Born In The USA we are talking about, people, one of the biggest records in the history of rock and roll. Be mad about something else.
On a serious note, one also recognizes the lost opportunity, because everyone from Chuck Plotkin to Bruce himself has thrown around statements that there were anywhere from 70-80 songs recorded over the two years and multiple sessions that resulted in the record we all know today, and the studio logs support it. But people's memories and the studio logs cannot tell us what the quality of that output was, and if it's material that Bruce is willing to release or if it is at a standard that would make it sufficiently commercial for the audience that wants to buy studio outtakes.
The percentage of people who like listening to unedited raw studio outtakes is so low as to be negligible. You know it and I know it, so let's stop acting like there are 80 songs in pristine listenable condition that we are being deprived of. I know we all dream of the infamous "Electric Nebraska" but I am pretty sure at this point that if it existed in any form worth releasing we would already have it. (And if it does and we do not, what the actual fuck?!)
That said, we've passed the 30th and 35th year and seen nothing. I don't think there's as much as people (who don't have access to the tapes, hence my skepticism) insist there is, but I do think it's long past time that we got a proper revisitation to that era. You can't just neglect this era of your history and for two guys super-concerned about shaping Bruce Springsteen's legacy, the lack of focus on this particular era seems odd. There are so many things you could do with this story. I am not going to tell you what I think you could do unless you are going to hire me to do it. But just bullshitting with a fellow obsessive via text over an hour or two proved that there's no shortage of solid concepts.
But there is a middle ground that could have been easily achieved that makes this announcement laughable. There is absolutely sufficient material to have put together something in-between the massive box set that everyone wants and this performative commemoration. There are b-sides! There are outtakes that have been released! There were adorable picture discs! Hell, release the Arthur Baker 12" remixes!! They have held up. I used to sit up at night listening to WBLS hoping they'd play one of them so I could get it on tape.
(If you think I wrote this whole thing just so I could post these Arthur Baker remixes, you're half right. Hope you had a great weekend!)
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