Creem Readers say Springsteen's The River is the Best of 1980

Bruce Springsteen : Point Blank

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Bruce Springsteen's The River beat out AC/DC's Back in Black to be named the top album of 1980. The list is a good reflection fo what white American music buyers were hearing on FM radio. Ask a young white dude in Nebraska his favorite R&B album and he probably would name something by The Rolling Stones. That's just the way it was in an era of segregated radio. Another point of interest is The Doors Greatest Hits album winning top reissue. There was a full blown Doors resurgence going on. So much so that one of my high school friends had his senior portrait taken next to a Jim Morrison poster. I haven't asked him if he regrets it because almost all of us regret our senior portraits in one way or another.

CREEM MAGAZINE 1980 READER POLL RESULTS 

 

Top Albums 

1. Bruce Springteen- The River 

2. AC/DC- Back In Black 

3. Rolling Stones- Emotional Rescue 

4. Clash- London Calling 

5. Pretenders 

6. Van Halen- Women & Children First 

7. Queen- The Game 

8. Pete Townshend- Empty Glass 

9. B-52's- Wild Planet 

10. Pat Benatar- Crimes Of Passion 

11. Cheap Trick- All Shook Up 

12. Cars- Panorama 

13. Devo- Freedom Of Choice 

14. David Bowie- Scary Monsters 

15. Elvis Costello- Get Happy!! 

16. Police- Zenyatta Mondatta 

17. Black Sabbath- Heaven & Hell 

18. Kinks- One For The Road 

19. Bob Seger- Against The Wind 

20. Talking Heads- Remain In Light 

21. Rush- Permanent Waves 

22. Judas Priest- British Steel 

23. Ramones- End Of The Century 

24. Heart- Bebe Le Strange 

25. Public Image Ltd.- Second Edition 

 Top Singles 

1. Devo- Whip It 

2. Queen- Another One Bites The Dust 

3. AC/DC- You Shook Me All Night Long 

4. Bruce Springsteen- Hungry Heart 

5. Rolling Stones- She's So Cold 

6. Clash- Train In Vain 

7. Vapors- Turning Japanese 

8. Rolling Stones- Emotional Rescue 

9. David Bowie- Ashes To Ashes 

10. B-52's- Private Idaho 

11. Blondie- Call Me 

12. Pretenders- Brass In Pocket 

13. Clash- London Calling 

14. Pete Townshend- Rough Boys 

15. Van Halen- And The Cradle Will Rock 

 Best R&B Single 

1. Rolling Stones- Emotional Rescue 

2. Rolling Stones- She's So Cold 

3. Blues Brothers- Gimme Some Lovin' 

4. Diana Ross- Upside Down 

5. Donna Summer- The Wanderer 

6. Stevie Wonder- Master Blaster 

 Best R&B Album 

 1. Rolling Stones- Emotional Rescue 

2. Blues Brothers- Blues Brothers Soundtrack 

3. J. Geils- Love Stinks 

4. Talking Heads- Remain In Light 

5. More George Thorogood & The Destroyers 

6. Graham Parker- The Up Escalator 

7. Diana Ross- Diana 

8. Stevie Wonder- Hotter Than July 

9. Michael Jackson- Off The Wall 

10. George Benson- Give Me The Night 

11. Elvis Costello- Get Happy!! 

 Best Reissue 

 1. The Doors' Greatest Hits 

2. Elvis Costello- Taking Liberties 

3. Cheap Trick- Found All The Parts 

4. Kinks- One For The Road 

5. Beatles- Rarities 

6. Deep Purple- Deepest Purple 

7. Heart- Greatest Hits 

8. The Shaggs- Philosophy Of The World 

9. Clash- Blackmarket Clash 

10. Aerosmith's Greatest Hits 

 Best Jazz Album 

1. Jeff Beck- There And Beck 

2. George Benson- Give Me The Night 

3. Chicago- XIV 

4. Joni Mitchell- Shadows & Light 

5. Jean Luc Ponty- Civilized Evil 

6. Chuck Mangione- Fun & Games 

7. Crusaders- Live Sides 

8. Stanley Clarke- Rock, Pebbles & Sand 

9. Herb Alpert- Beyond 

10. Al DiMeola- Splendido Hotel 

 LP Cover Of The Year 

 1. London Calling (Clash) 

2. Emotional Rescue (Rolling Stones) 

3. Panorama (Cars) 

4. All Shook Up (Cheap Trick) 

5. Scary Monsters (David Bowie) 

6. Remain In Light (Talking Heads) 

7. Get Happy!! (Elvis Costello) 

8. Women & Children First (Van Halen) 

9. Heaven & Hell (Black Sabbath) 

10. Empty Glass (Pete Townshend) 

 The following categories all had at least a top 10 listed, but I'm only typing in the top 3: 

 Top Group: 1) The Clash 2) Led Zeppelin 3) Rolling Stones 

Top Live Group: 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) The Who 3) Van Halen 

Best Male Singer: 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) Robert Plant 3) Robin Zander 

Best Female Singer: 1) Pat Benatar 2) Chrissie Hynde 3) Deborah Harry 

Best R&B Singer: 1) Mick Jagger 2) Graham Parker 3) Donna Summer 

Best R&B Group: 1) Rolling Stones 2) Blues Brothers 3) Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes 

Best Guitarist: 1) Edward Van Halen 2) Jimmy Page 3) Pete Townshend 

Best Keyboard: 1) John Paul Jones 2) Greg Hawkes 3) Kate Pierson 

Best Horn Player: 1) Clarence Clemons 2) Chuck Mangione 3) John Entwistle 

Best Bassist: 1) John Entwistle 2) John Paul Jones 3) Tom Petersson 

Best Drummer: 1) John Bonham 2) Bun E. Carlos 3) Charlie Watts 

Most Valuable Player: 1) Jimmy Page 2) Pete Townshend 3) Rick Nielsen 

Best Producer: 1) Nick Lowe 2) Roy Thomas Baker 3) Jimmy Page 

Worst Group: 1) Kiss 2) Van Halen 3) B-52's 

Best Songwriter: 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) Pete Townshend 3) Elvis Costello 

Best New Group: 1) Pretenders 2) Def Leppard 3) Gang Of Four 

Best Instrumentalist: 1) Ian anderson 2) Eno 3) Magic Dick 

Biggest Disappointment: 1) Lennon's death 2) Bonham's death 3) The Election 

Drug Of The Year: 1) Marijuana 2) Alcohol 3) Cocaine 

Hero(ine) Of The Year: 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) Chrissie Hynde 3) Pete Townshend 

Rip Off Of The Year: 1) LP prices 2) Concert prices 3) CREEM 

Comeback Of The Year: 1) John Lennon 2) Bruce Springsteen 3) AC/DC 

Most Pathetic Of The Year: 1) David Lee Roth 2)Kiss 3) Clash 

Rock Critic Of The Year: 1) Rick Johnson 2) Rober Christgau 3) Richard Riegel 

Rock Photographer Of The Year: 1) Lynn Goldsmith 2) Bob Matheau 3) Neal Preston 

Fad Of The Year: 1) Punk/New Wave music 2) The Urban Cowboy look 3) Ska 

Fashion Plate Of The Year: 1) Rick Nielsen 2) Deborah Harry 3) Chrissie Hynde 

Sex Object Of The Year: 1) Pat Benatar 2) Deborah Harry 3) David Lee Roth 

Best Rock & Roll Movie: 1) Times Square 2) Roadie 3) Rude Boy 

Best Tour Of The Year: 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) Van Halen 3) AC/DC 

Couple Of The Year: 1) John Lennon & Yoko Ono 2) Chris Stein & Deborah Harry 3) Stiv Bators & Bebe Buell 

Punk Of The Year: 1) Iggy Pop 2) Chrissie Hynde 3) Joe Strummer 

 

 

 

Springsteen released his #1 album The River and hits the road on a sold-out tour

Bruce Springsteen : The Ties That Bind

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On October 17 1980 Bruce Springsteen released  the double album The River, a #1 LP that would sell more than 2 million copies. The first single, "Hungry Heart", would be Springsteen's first Top 10 hit. If Born To Run was an album for dreamers hitting the highway, The River is for those who stayed home and resigned themselves to lives of quiet despair. Or maybe it's not so quiet. The album kicks off with four straight rockers, including the Byrdsy "The Ties That Bind", which may be my favorite song on The River.

Work began on the album in April of 1979 and went on for a year and a half, during which Springsteen appeared on stage only twice. It was at this time that Dave Marsh released his book Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story so the legend of The Boss was firmly established when Springsteen finally hit the road again on The River Tour that crisscrossed the United States twice. The band also played 20 dates in Europe. Every show as a marathon lasting between 3 to 5 hours. The band tried out something new on the tour. Springsteen would invite a female member of the audience to come on stage and dance with him during "Sherry Darling", track two from the new album. (Wouldn't you know it doesn't happen on the live version I found).

Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone called The River a rock n roll version of The Grapes of Wrath, writing:

What makes The River really special is Bruce Springsteen’s epic exploration of the second acts of American lives. Because he realizes that most of our todays are the tragicomic sum of a scattered series of yesterdays that had once hoped to become better tomorrows, he can fuse past and present, desire and destiny, laughter and longing, and have death or glory emerge as more than just another story. By utilizing the vast cast of characters he’s already established on the earlier LPs – and by putting a spin on the time span – Springsteen forces his heroes and heroines into seeing themselves at different and crucial periods in their lives. The connections are infinite (and, some would say, repetitious).

David Hepworth scored the album a 9.5 out of 10 writing 

The E Street Band couldn't put a foot wrong if they tried and Springsteen has rarely sung better, approaching each composition as if it were his last --an object lesson in drama, conviction and involvement. Soul? Everybody talks about it but Springsteen's got it. 

From Robert Christgau a grade of A-:

These are the wages of young romantic love among those who get paid by the hour, and even if he's only giving forth with so many short fast ones because the circles of frustration and escape seem tighter now, the condensed songcraft makes this double album a model of condensation--upbeat enough for a revery there, he elaborates a myth about the fate of the guys he grew up with that hits a lot of people where they live.

As a special bonus here's Howard Kaylan of Flo and Eddie talking to me about "Hungry Heart":

We had been recruited to sing with Bruce Springsteen on stage the first day we met him in Cleveland Ohio. He brought us up to sing with Ronnie Spector and we sang "Baby I Love You" and "Walking in the Rain" . We had a great time. He remembered that blend--Mark and me --when we sing together have this specific sound. He brought us into the studio with Jon Landau. We recorded the song "Hungry Heart". It was the only song on The River that we sang on. And when we left the studio, Mark and I looked at each other and went "This is not going to work" This is the most anti-Springsteen song we'd ever heard. There's no Thunder, . There's no Night. There's no Cars. There's no Screen Door Slamming. It doesn't sound like Bruce. What does he mean "every body's got a hungry heart" What does that even mean? 

 And then we heard from Max Weinberg: "I think its going to make the album" and then we heard its definitely on the album. And then we heard it was coming out as the first single and we went "Oh no Oh no . We're gonna be responsible for the end of Bruce Springsteen, and then it was a #5 record! I still don't hear it to be quite honest with you compared to every other brilliant thing Bruce has run past these ears.

 

I still listen to that song and I don't hear it. To me its like the #3 hit "She'd Rather Be With Me" for the Turtles. I understand it was a hit. I understand it was a bigger international hit than "Happy Together" even but i don't hear it. I didn't hear it when we cut it and I don't hear it 47 years later I don't hear it and "Hungry Heart" is one of those songs. I will take the gold records. we went on tour with this guy all over the world for the better part of a year trying to get a good live version of it in Amsterdam and in London and in New York and in LA. So we had a great time but I don't get it.

 

The single that vaulted The dB's to power-pop glory

The dB's: Black and White

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On January 24, 1980 The dB's released their single "Black and White" b/w "Soul Kiss" on New York's Shake Records. The disc earned NME's "Single of the Week" title with editors praising: "This is the sort of single that could make people want to grow up and form a group". 

Originally from Winston-Salem, NC, home of Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio, The dB's had already become pop favorites in their new hometown of New York City. Holsapple's "Black and White" is a multi-faceted, jangly power pop masterpiece

The B side is Chris Stamey's take on the kind of 60's psychedelia found on the Nuggets compilation. Stamey was earning a philosophy degree from NYU at the time. In his entertaining and very smart memoir, A Spy in the House of Loud, Stamey explains the lyrics:

“Soul Kiss” was a kind of reverse sexual innuendo—I knew that the term was used for French kissing, but after having spent many collegiate hours debating Aquinas, Socrates, Plato, et al., I was thinking more of a connection that was soul to soul, essence to essence. I can’t claim that this is clearly presented in the lyrics, but that’s the skinny. 

London's Albion Records liked what they heard and signed the dB's to a UK recording contract that would lead to the critically acclaimed 1981 debut album Stands for deciBels. A few tracks were recorded at Power Station in NY down the hall from where Bruce Springsteen was making The River. Half the tracks were recorded with Easter at his studio in Winston-Salem. 

I played a lot of dB's on my college radio station and met the Stamey-less dB's during their Like This tour. Always been a fan and always will be.