Fact #91687
When:
Short story:
Bruce Springsteen's first British visit opens with a depressing show at Hammersmith Odeon, London, where he is so enraged by posters proclaiming 'Finally London is ready for Bruce Springsteen' that he tears them from the walls. UK critics are not impressed by the shows, with one hammering him as, "No more than a second or even third rate Dylan". Full article:
Bruce Springsteen : At the time of the first London shows I had such a psychic weight on my head – just dealing with myself every day – to get through. I had battles with myself every day.
Tony Bramwell (publisher) : I had been working with Bruce for a while when he came over to England to do the Hammersmith Odeon gigs. We went down to Hammersmith, and all that CBS shit was plastered everywhere, and he just tore it all down. He cut his fingers. It was a good gig, but he was in pain the whole time.
Mike Appleton (producer, The Old Grey Whistle Test) : When Bruce came in to Britain for the first time, we had planned to film him for the BBC at the Shepherd’s Bush theatre, but that fell through, so we filmed him at Hammersmith Odeon for Whistle Test, but he thought the show had been a failure, because the audience didn’t react the way American audiences do.
I spoke to him immediately after the show and neither he nor his manager understood that we’re more reserved at concerts. They thought the audience hadn’t really enjoyed it. They didn’t realize that we listen to the music and then applaud in between the songs.
But we filmed it for Whistle Test and then the sound went in one direction and the film went in another. For years and years I tried to get them to do something with the footage but they never would, not until they brought out the four album set, and I got them to have a look at the footage and they realized that, yes, it was actually a good gig, and this music which had been lying submerged for ten years or so suddenly saw the light of day. (Source : interview with Johnny Black, December 2008)
Bruce Springsteen : The first show I did there, I think, was one of the worst shows I’ve ever done in my life. Matter of fact, I know I stunk the first show there. I thought I stunk and I don’t think anyone in the band will disagree with me.
Allan Jones (journalist, Melody Maker) : At the first show he didn't live up to the legend that we'd been asked to buy into, unquestioningly. By the end of the show, there was a real sense of deflation. You could tell he wasn't happy, that it had been an awful anti-climax. People who had written him up as a musical saviour were a bit chastened.
I don't think a lot of people who were at the first gig went back for the second show, a week later. (Source : Uncut magazine, December 2000)
Tony Bramwell : After the gig he insisted on going back to my house, despite the fact that all these CBS people were there from all over the world, waiting to take him out for some dinner at the Portland Hotel. He just refused to go, so we went back to my house because he was so pissed off with them. We had to catch an off-licence on the way and we just loaded up with some booze and got unbelievably drunk.
Bruce just sat there drinking milk the whole night. The rest of us were getting outrageously drunk, watching a video I had of David Puttnam’s film about James Dean. It was a documentary that had been shown on tv the week before, and I had one of those old Phillips VCRs, so I taped it and it was a lovely little film. Bruce sat there and watched it about five times during the night because he wanted to cool down after the temper of the awful Hammersmith gig.
Bruce Springsteen : It was nothing to do with the place. It was me. It was the inside world. It’s hard to explain but I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in those days, especially on that particular night.
Tony Bramwell : Whistle Test filmed the whole thing and, about a month later, I was in New York with Bruce and in the corner of the flat there was this mountain of reels of film. It was all the Whistle Test footage that had been sent over for his approval, but he just didn't want to know about it. I don't think it has ever been shown, its just been dumped down.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black, 2009)
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Tony Bramwell (publisher) : I had been working with Bruce for a while when he came over to England to do the Hammersmith Odeon gigs. We went down to Hammersmith, and all that CBS shit was plastered everywhere, and he just tore it all down. He cut his fingers. It was a good gig, but he was in pain the whole time.
Mike Appleton (producer, The Old Grey Whistle Test) : When Bruce came in to Britain for the first time, we had planned to film him for the BBC at the Shepherd’s Bush theatre, but that fell through, so we filmed him at Hammersmith Odeon for Whistle Test, but he thought the show had been a failure, because the audience didn’t react the way American audiences do.
I spoke to him immediately after the show and neither he nor his manager understood that we’re more reserved at concerts. They thought the audience hadn’t really enjoyed it. They didn’t realize that we listen to the music and then applaud in between the songs.
But we filmed it for Whistle Test and then the sound went in one direction and the film went in another. For years and years I tried to get them to do something with the footage but they never would, not until they brought out the four album set, and I got them to have a look at the footage and they realized that, yes, it was actually a good gig, and this music which had been lying submerged for ten years or so suddenly saw the light of day. (Source : interview with Johnny Black, December 2008)
Bruce Springsteen : The first show I did there, I think, was one of the worst shows I’ve ever done in my life. Matter of fact, I know I stunk the first show there. I thought I stunk and I don’t think anyone in the band will disagree with me.
Allan Jones (journalist, Melody Maker) : At the first show he didn't live up to the legend that we'd been asked to buy into, unquestioningly. By the end of the show, there was a real sense of deflation. You could tell he wasn't happy, that it had been an awful anti-climax. People who had written him up as a musical saviour were a bit chastened.
I don't think a lot of people who were at the first gig went back for the second show, a week later. (Source : Uncut magazine, December 2000)
Tony Bramwell : After the gig he insisted on going back to my house, despite the fact that all these CBS people were there from all over the world, waiting to take him out for some dinner at the Portland Hotel. He just refused to go, so we went back to my house because he was so pissed off with them. We had to catch an off-licence on the way and we just loaded up with some booze and got unbelievably drunk.
Bruce just sat there drinking milk the whole night. The rest of us were getting outrageously drunk, watching a video I had of David Puttnam’s film about James Dean. It was a documentary that had been shown on tv the week before, and I had one of those old Phillips VCRs, so I taped it and it was a lovely little film. Bruce sat there and watched it about five times during the night because he wanted to cool down after the temper of the awful Hammersmith gig.
Bruce Springsteen : It was nothing to do with the place. It was me. It was the inside world. It’s hard to explain but I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in those days, especially on that particular night.
Tony Bramwell : Whistle Test filmed the whole thing and, about a month later, I was in New York with Bruce and in the corner of the flat there was this mountain of reels of film. It was all the Whistle Test footage that had been sent over for his approval, but he just didn't want to know about it. I don't think it has ever been shown, its just been dumped down.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black, 2009)