Music Thread


I remember when this came out. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

To this day, it stands as #1 IMO as a grand event for getting that sort of talent in one room. The only invited entertainer who didn't show up was Prince.

To nitpick, too much Springsteen and not enough Perry and Lauper. But goodness, what a cast.

Can you imagine trying to get this done today? No way.
 
Seth53 said:

I remember when this came out. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

To this day, it stands as #1 IMO as a grand event for getting that sort of talent in one room. The only invited entertainer who didn't show up was Prince.

To nitpick, too much Springsteen and not enough Perry and Lauper. But goodness, what a cast.

Can you imagine trying to get this done today? No way.
Click to expand...
Springsteen was at the absolute Apex of his career in 1984-85. The most famous rock star in the world.

Let's talk about the Boss for a minute. He was inspired by equal parts Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Roy Orbison. When he got started, the business wanted to pigeonhole him as a member of the burgeoning early seventies singer-songwriter movement because the biz was still trying to get their heads around the Beatles breakup and, frankly, didn't know which direction to go. (Like we talked about with Peter Frampton, if they knew what was about to happen with the baby boomer phenomenon and millions of boomers about to reach the 16-24 age demographic, they would have known how to market music better, but this was 1972).

Back to Bruce, he wanted to use his full band for his "Greetings" debut. The record company balked. They wanted more songs like "The Angel" and "Mary Queen of Arkansas". They basically wanted Nebraska right off the bat. Bruce had to fight like hell to get a truncated version of his band to make the modestly rocking songs that did make the album and became more famous for being covered by Greg Kihn and Manfred Mann. But he was still Bruce. Some of his career highlights are on those first two records-"Lost in The Flood" "Incident on 57th Street" etc.

Springsteen is one of those rare talents who can rock a football stadium one night and put on just as stunning a show the next while playing a Greenwich Village coffee house in front of eighty people. He overcame managers who didn't know how to harness his talent, former managers who tried to hold him up in litigation and stall his career, FM radio not playing his hits west of I-95, lables trying to rush him in the studio, hacks trying to play partially completed songs on the radio (he relented and let Patti Smith finish "Because The Night"). Before The River and "Hungry Heart" other artists like the Pointer Sisters ("Fire") were making his songs more famous than he was.

No way would Springsteen make it if he got started today. The business would drop him and move on to something else. It's a shame that there are Springsteens out there today trapped in small clubs and coffee shops with little or no hope of getting their big break.
 
Northside Hawk said:
does he still tour? I would see him in a heartbeat. I describe his music as Queen meets Led Zeppelin.
Click to expand...

From https://www.billysquier.com/index2.html

Billy is extending his collaboration with guitarist GE Smith for a handful of dates this Spring:

BillySpringShows.png
 
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