Hype (noun): Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion.
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When a celebrity reaches a level of fame where they are seemingly everywhere, they become bigger than just a singer or an actor. On October 27, 1975, Bruce Springsteen reached a saturation point. Time and Newsweek magazines presented the rocker on their covers while his album Born to Run raced up the charts.
It’s strange to imagine a time when he wasn’t a superstar. But, in the early ’70s, Springsteen was anything but a household name. The singer had his share of believers and seemed poised to be the “next big thing.” Springsteen auditioned for producer Mike Appel in 1971. Appel told the singer to return when he had written more songs. Springsteen returned a year later, and Appel signed him to a production deal and secured an audition for producer John Hammond at Columbia Records. With a record deal in place and a producer, everything seemed lined up for easy success.
Critics hailed his first two albums, and Springsteen hit the road, building up the reputation of the mighty E Street Band as a powerhouse live unit. The albums just didn’t sell.
Born to Run
Appel was managing Springsteen as well as producing. He believed in his artist and was feeling the pressure from the record label to produce a hit. Work began on Born to Run in May 1974. The album took 14 months to record, with six of those dedicated to the title track alone. During the process, Jon Landau was brought in to help produce. He would later take over both production and management from Appel. (This would lead to a lengthy court battle.)
When the album was finished, it quickly raced up the charts. Columbia Records spent $250,000 on marketing the project using the Landau quote, “I have seen rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” Appel struck a deal with Time. He offered an interview with the singer on the condition he be featured on the cover. They took the bait. Appel extended the same offer to Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Newsweek. Only Newsweek accepted. Both major news magazines publishing their cover stories on the same day added to the hype.
The Time article celebrated Springsteen, while the Newsweek article was more cynical and concentrated more on the hype surrounding the large marketing campaign surrounding the release of the album. The last time the same entertainer appeared on the cover of those two publications was February 28, 1972, when Liza Minelli was featured for her appearance in Cabaret.
Springsteen talked about it shortly after in an interview “It’s crazy. It doesn’t make too much sense, and I don’t attach too much distinction to being on the cover. It’s a magazine. It goes all ’round the world, but really … It doesn’t have that much to do with what I’m doing. I don’t think so.
“The main reason I went through with it, you see, one of the things I did want, I wanted ‘Born to Run’ to be a hit single,” he continued. “Not for the bucks but because I really believed in the song a whole lot, and I just wanted to hear it on the radio, you know. On AM. Across the country. For me, that’s where a song should be. And they said, ‘Well, if you get your picture on Time or sumpin, program directors may think twice before they drop it or throw it out.’ So the only physical reason I was on that thing was for that reason specifically, you know. Otherwise, man, I’ll probably regret it, you know?”
During a concert at Michigan State University on April 4, 1976, Springsteen changed the lyrics to “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” to reflect the situation.
Tell him now it’s his last chance, Rosie
Tell him I ain’t no freak
Cause I got my picture
On the cover of Time and Newsweek
The lawsuit with Appel dragged on and kept Springsteen and his band from earning money. E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent shared his memory of that time in 2019 on Backstage with Joe Chambers, “In ’78, there was a band playing up the street from where I lived in Sea Bright, New Jersey, which was a tribute band to Bruce Springsteen, and they were pulling in, you know, pretty good dough. While I was down the street, basically, I would have gone for unemployment, but that was frowned upon because we were afraid that maybe Rolling Stone would find out or something.”
“So the tribute band was making big bucks?” Chambers asked.
“Oh yeah, they were killing it,” Tallent replied, “It kind of pissed me off, I have to admit.”
Springsteen discussed that time in the 2010 documentary The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story, “Ultimately, a settlement was reached, separation papers were drawn up, and one quiet night in a dimmed midtown office building, Mike and I finalized our divorce. … I would have some dealings with Mike in the future, some good, some cheesy, but once the war was over and time—a good deal of it—passed, the fondness and connection remained. … We had come to cross purposes—this is the world—but I can never hate Mike; I can only love him.”
Appel and Springsteen settled out of court, and Darkness on the Edge of Town was able to be released in 1978. Landau produced the album with Springsteen and Little Steven Van Zandt.
Springsteen’s career has been full of ups and downs. The River, Nebraska, Born In the U.S.A., Tunnel of Love, Chimes of Freedom, Human Touch, Lucky Town, etc. There has always been a certain amount of hype surrounding his every move, and he seems to take it all in stride, avoiding the backlash. Rock on, Boss.
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Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
