mixed bag

jukeboxgraduate dot com is an at-least weekly newsletter about rock and roll, written by Caryn Rose. the newsletter is free, but paid subscriptions help me prioritize this work. if you can't afford to subscribe or put money in the tip jar, tell a friend about the newsletter & why you like reading it!

Hello! It’s been an intense couple of weeks writing-wise, combined with international travel, so this week’s newsletter will be a compilation of quick takes. Later this month will be updates to both Pilgrimage and Three Minute Record so perhaps consider subscribing if you haven't already so both arrive in your email inbox!

FREE THE REMIXES

I was trying to come up with a take on the 40th anniversary of Born in the USA that was different and interesting, and after talking about them in this post I decided to do a deep dive on the Arthur Baker remixes, especially once I realized they were nowhere to be found online and had never been released digitally. Thanks to NPR Music for giving me the space to go long on this. I was able to speak with Arthur Baker, who was completely a mensch about the whole thing, and was hopeful I’d maybe get a comment from the Boss himself but alas, it was not to be. 

The foot stomping tantrums of fans back in the day still both infuriate and amuse me, as are the ones who still insist that there is some malevolent force that makes Bruce Springsteen do things he does not want to do. 

As part of the piece, I also talked to Robin Hilton for his All Songs Considered program which includes archival footage of Dave Marsh talking about the record when it first came out and Lauren Onkey discussing the record’s legacy, back in her NPR days. (I’m at the end of the broadcast.)

WE ARE LADY PARTS, SEASON 2

What’s that, you say?  You didn’t know there was a second season of the Peacock series about the London-based all-Muslim, all-female punk rock band? Well, there is, and it is still excellent. I love it because it is a window into a world I am not part of and because it is about a world that I am aligned with and understand (punk rock), I love the characters and root for them and care about them. I think I liked the first season better, and that there was more depth of character development, but this was still an excellent watch. They write a song about Malala Yousafzai and -- spoiler alert -- get her to appear on the show! 

I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME: The Oral History of the Stone Pony

bookshop dot org | amazon dot com

This book was an impulse purchase when I needed something light and easy to read while I was trying to get my head around Ann Powers’ Joni Mitchell book. It was both of those things but I also found myself absolutely riveted, reading the book until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. This is what you want in an oral history!

I was super hopeful that the existence of this book would mean that I could stop having to correct people who would say things about how Bruce Springsteen “got his start” at the Stone Pony, and it does that for several chapters, lulling me into a comfort zone – only to then completely blow it up later with un-fact-checked quotes like this one from Tom Morello:

[Mike McCready from Pearl Jam says something similar but McCready wasn’t 1) a subscriber to Backstreets and 2) didn’t play in the fucking E Street Band!]

I am always grateful beyond belief when a book fills in empty holes in my knowledge, and in this case it was the early days of the Pony and the Bruce-Showing-Up-On-Sunday nights eras. I was old enough and -- generally around -- but I lived in Connecticut and didn’t own a car, which severely limited my ability to go to the Pony on a Sunday night and wait around just in case. 

I was absolutely thrilled to learn that Chris Christie went to the Pony twice and didn’t see Bruce either time, and that those quotes went into the book. I was also thrilled to know that my reasons for hating Domenic Santana in those years were accurate, lol. 

I appreciated that the author did not skimp on the latter-day punk revival of Asbury and the community around the Bouncing Souls. It's a story that I knew existed, but did not have any insight into. It deserves just as much attention as the Southside/Bruce/Cats years and I’m glad it got the spotlight. 

This is a fun, enjoyable book that I consider to be required reading for Springsteen fans from any generation. I am now sure after saying that that a dozen people are going to show up and tell me everything that was wrong/wasn’t in the book, but I feel like that is always going to happen with an oral history. People remember things imperfectly! We all do!

I CAN’T REMEMBER IF I CRIED

For folks in the Detroit metro area, I’ll be joining Lori Tucker-Sullivan in conversation at an event at Schuler Books in West Bloomfield on Tuesday, July 23rd at 6:30pm. Her book, I CAN’T REMEMBER IF I CRIED, is “part music history, part memoir, based around interviews with rock widows conducted by Lori Tucker-Sullivan--who herself lost her husband in 2010.” In the book, she talks to Judy VanZant, Sandy Chapin, Crystal Zevon, Jamie Weiland, and many others. I’m looking forward to our chat and hope you will consider joining us! The event is free but a RSVP is appreciated.