{"id":2353,"date":"2018-04-11T10:50:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T14:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2022-06-13T08:52:02","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T12:52:02","slug":"rock-relics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/rock-relics\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock Relics"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Monmouth University announced plans for its collaborative partnership to establish The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music<\/a>, global interest in the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

A portion of the collection, composed of Springsteen\u2019s written works, photographs, periodicals, and artifacts, had been on loan to Monmouth since 2011. Last fall, it was formally gifted to the university for inclusion in the Archives by The Friends of the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection Inc., a nonprofit organization established to help preserve the history of the singer and his music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Bob Crane and I started this collection more than 15 years ago, we imagined something big: something impressive, permanent, and unique, an unparalleled resource of use to fans, students, and scholars around the world,\u201d said Christopher Phillips, publisher and editor of the Springsteen fanzine, Backstreets Magazine<\/em>, and former president of the Friends, which formally disbanded in January 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the importance of Bruce Springsteen\u2019s work in our own lives, we wanted to preserve and consolidate all this material before it faded away. But I don\u2019t think either of us imagined how much the collection would grow\u2014thanks to the dedication, labor, and generosity of fans worldwide\u2014and that we\u2019d eventually find such a perfect home. As a founder, I couldn\u2019t be more pleased to have discovered a partner in Monmouth University to preserve and expand the collection for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The collection originated in 2001 when Backstreets organized a fan-to-fan campaign to collect and organize essential documents from each phase of Springsteen\u2019s career, ensuring that the historic record would be publicly accessible to all. Originally housed in the Asbury Park Public Library, the collection today contains more than 35,000 items from 47 countries. And it\u2019s still growing, as fans\u2014and the Boss himself\u2014continue to donate to it. We asked Eileen Chapman, who oversees the collection for Monmouth, to give us a peek at what\u2019s inside.<\/p>\n

\"Clockwise
Clockwise from top left:<\/strong>\n
    \n
  • A collaboration between Springsteen, photographer Danny Clinch, and skater Mike Vallely, the limited-edition skateboard was produced for charity in 2016. <\/li>\n
  • A postcard for \u201cCover Me,\u201d the second single off of 1984\u2019s Born in the U.S.A.<\/i>\u00a0<\/li>\n
  • A 45-rpm picture disc for \u201cDancing in the Dark\u201d in the shape of the single\u2019s B-side, \u201cPink Cadillac.\u201d <\/li>\n
  • One of the badges that got fans into the \u201cMeadowlands Boardwalk\u201d area outside Giants Stadium during the summer 2003 tour.<\/li>\n
  • Letter - In 1984, Andre\u00e9 Rathemacher wrote Springsteen to request an interview for a school project she was working on. Several months later, she got this response in the mail. \u201c[It\u2019s] a good illustration of how [he] always tried hard to be a \u2018normal guy,\u2019\u2014he took the time to answer a letter from a kid in school,\u201d says Rathemacher, who\u2019s now a librarian at the University of Rhode Island. <\/li>\n
  • Live show recordings on cassette.<\/li>\n
  • Promotional pins from various eras of Bruce\u2019s career.<\/li>\n
  • Two of the dozens of Bruce-related comics in the collection: \u201cHey Boss!\u201d and \u201cTransformers,\u201d which includes the story, \u201cThe Adventures of Brick Springhorn and the Tenth Avenue Band.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div>
    \"An
    An itinerary, lapel pin, backstage passes, and ticket from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band\u2019s 1978 Darkness Tour. <\/div><\/div>
    \"There\u2019s
    There\u2019s in\u2014and then there\u2019s in. Lucky fans might score a backstage pass, but only tour staffers received itinerary books (center left), which list hotels, local amenities, timetables, and contact info for each stop on that leg of the tour. The collection also includes five decades\u2019 worth of tickets sent in from around the world (right). <\/div><\/div>
    \"Springsteen
    Springsteen met several future members of the E Street Band while playing at the Upstage Club, a now defunct music venue and coffeehouse (Green Mermaid Caf\u00e9) that was located in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The piano behind the sign belonged to Southside Johnny, another frequent Upstage performer.<\/div><\/div>
    \"A
    A limited-edition \u201cInterview with Bruce Springsteen\u201d vinyl picture disc from the U.K. <\/div><\/div>
    \"Steel
    Steel Mill, a band that featured Springsteen and several future E Street Band members, played numerous shows at what was then Monmouth College. This poster is from the band\u2019s May 10, 1970, performance on campus. <\/div><\/div>
    \"A
    A bandana produced by Minneapolis radio station KTCZ-FM \u201cCities 97\u201d for 1999\u2019s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour; a prototype jacket produced for 1988\u2019s Tunnel of Love Express Tour (it\u2019s one of only two that were made, says Eileen Chapman, who oversees the Special Collection); and a T-shirt from a 2002 fan-led campaign to get Springsteen to run for the U.S. Senate (the singer declined).<\/div><\/div>
    \"Clockwise
    Clockwise from top left:<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • A 45-rpm single of 1985\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Goin\u2019 Down\u201d from Japan.<\/li>\n
    • An undated set list in Springsteen\u2019s handwriting.<\/li>\n
    • A drumstick, signed by Max Weinberg, that was among the items donated by the estate of Obediah \u201cObie\u201d Dziedzic, Springsteen\u2019s former assistant (it reads: \u201c1st Day John Eddie Albany, July 22 1985, For Obie with all my love, Max\u201d).<\/li>\n
    • A puzzle based on the 1950 book, Brave Cowboy Bill<\/i>, which in part inspired Springsteen to write the 2014 children\u2019s book, Outlaw Pete<\/i>.<\/li>\n
    • The single \u201cBorn to Run\u201d featuring The Hollies\u2019 Allan Clarke on vocals (Clarke was the first to record Springsteen\u2019s anthem, but the Springsteen version was released first).<\/li>\n
    • WNEW-FM used to play a morning block of Springsteen music which the station called the \u201cBruce Juice\u201d segment.<\/li>\n
    • A T-shirt from the Born in the U.S.A. Tour.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div>
      \"The
      The collection includes several scrapbooks that Bruce\u2019s mother, Adele Ann Springsteen, compiled during her son\u2019s rise to stardom, one of which includes original copies of Time and Newsweek from October 1975, when Bruce became the first musician in history to simultaneously appear on the covers of both magazines. <\/div><\/div>
      \"Personal
      Personal scrapbook of Bruce\u2019s mother, Adele Ann Springsteen. <\/div><\/div>
      \"Personal
      Personal scrapbook of Bruce\u2019s mother, Adele Ann Springsteen. <\/div><\/div>
      \"One
      One of several alternate photos considered for the Born in the U.S.A. album cover. The now-iconic red hat that\u2019s shoved into Bruce\u2019s back pocket on the actual cover is also part of the Special Collection. <\/div><\/div><\/div>

       <\/p><\/div>\n

      Celebrating 40 Years of “Darkness”<\/h2>\n

      The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music will hold its inaugural academic conference, Bruce Springsteen\u2019s Darkness on the Edge of Town: An International Symposium, from April 12 to 15 at Monmouth University.<\/p>\n

      The event, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of Springsteen\u2019s 1978 album, will include keynote lectures by Peter Ames Carlin, author of the 2012 biography Bruce; photographer Frank Stefanko, whose work graces the album covers of Darkness and The River; Dick Wingate, a music industry and digital entertainment executive, who product-managed Darkness for Columbia Records; and Thom Zimny, a Grammy- and Emmy-Award-winning director who has served as Springsteen\u2019s film and video archivist and collaborator since 2001. Smaller breakout sessions will explore the roles gender, depression, dreams, religion, spirituality, psychology, politics, economics, and many other themes play in Springsteen\u2019s work. The conference will also include several musical performances, as well as a bus and walking tour of Bruce-related sites in Asbury Park and Freehold led by Jean Mikle and Stan Goldstein, authors of Rock & Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore.<\/p>\n

      A number of ticketing options are available. Visit the symposium homepage for a complete schedule of events as well as registration information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection is like the Promised Land for fans of the Boss. And it\u2019s got a new permanent home at Monmouth University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":2454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":53,\"y\":38}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Features","issue":"Spring 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15975,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions\/15975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}