''E Street'' is an Australian television soap opera created by Forrest Redlich and produced by the Ten Network from 1989 to 1993.

Whereas ''Neighbours'' is set in a middle-class suburb, ''Home and Away'' in a seaside town, and ''Richmond Hill'' a semi-rural ordinary community, ''E Street'' was set in a tough inner-city district called Westside and stories revolved around the local community there.

The moderately successful and sedately-paced Grundy serial ''Richmond Hill'' was cancelled by Ten to make way for ''E Street''. ''Richmond Hill'' had also been successfully sold to ITV in the UK, and was rating in the high-20's in Australia, so it was a huge gamble by Ten to axe it and replace it with the untried ''E Street''. Indeed, it would take 3 years for a UK broadcaster to pick up the soap and ''E Street'' initially rated somewhat lower than ''Richmond Hill'' in Australia, but audience research indicated that it attracted a significant proportion of the 14-35 audience and a large male viewership - a demographic highly prized by advertisers. Later, with racier storylines, the ratings climbed, eventually eclipsing the figures that ''Richmond Hill'' had attracted. ''E Street'' ran for 404 one-hour episodes. Like many Australian soap operas before it, ''E Street'' was broadcast as two one-hour episodes each week and until the premiere of (unsuccessful) ''HeadLand'' in November 2005, it had been the last Australian soap opera to screen its episodes in this format.

About E Street

''E Street'' was modelled on ''A Country Practice'' (Forrest Redlich had worked as a writer on ''A Country Practice'') and could initially be seen as an 'urban' version of that soap, tackling human interest, issue-led stories over two weekly hour-long episodes, with longer-running soapier elements provided by a small ensemble cast. There were further parallels: both soaps featured a police station, a local pub and a doctor's surgery. Whereas'' A Country Practice'' featured a veterinary surgery, in ''E Street'', this was replaced with a legal centre. A more obvious comparison with ''A Country Practice'' was with the addition of Penny Cook as ''E Street''s' anchor character, Dr Elly Fielding. Penny Cook had previously had a tremendously popular run as vet Vicky Dean in ''A Country Practice'' from 1981–85 and she was the first of several well-known actors to cross over to ''E Street'' during its 4 year run, including Kate Raison, Joan Sydney, Anne Tenney and Josephine Mitchell. Another popular member of the original cast was Tony Martin as trendy Reverend Bob Brown and his blossoming relationship with Dr Elly spanned much of the entire run of the series. Other regulars from the beginning included publican Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney) and his teenage son, Chris (Paul Kelman). He was romancing feisty barmaid Lisa Bennett, played by Alyssa-Jane Cook who became one of the soap's most popular stars. Sarah McKillop (Katrina Sedgewick) arrived in Westside to re-open the Legal Centre at the beginning of the series, and newlyweds Paul (Warren Jones) and Rhonda Berry (Melanie Saloman) were also settling into life on Eden Street when it began.

But what started out as a grittier version of its immediate contemporaries, ''E Street'' did not perform well in Australia when it launched in January 1989 and this led to many changes in direction. As early as 6 months in, the series underwent a revamp and, at first, the original issue-based social commentary storylines were replaced by more upbeat plots, episode titles were ditched and comedy characters were added, brightening up the whole feel and look of ''E Street''. However, the violent demise of two original cast members - one was shot dead in a siege, the other raped and strangled to death - set the extreme and darkened tone of what was to come. By the end of 1989, the programme had an entire new look, redesigned titles, an upbeat and jazzier theme tune plus an expanded cast of more likable and younger characters. Comedy and colour was now a large part of ''E Street'', and the younger cast featured dashing airline pilot Daniel Windsor (Chris Orchard) and his young family moving to ''E Street'' as Daniel romanced Dr Elly. His eldest daughter, Toni (Toni Pearen) became particularly popular, and other new characters, such as "Wheels" (Marcus Graham), 'Harley' Brown (Malcolm Kennard) and Alice Sullivan (Marianne Howard) all helped the soap become more and more popular and continue to develop a huge following.

During the 1990 season, ''E Street''s viewing figures began to rapidly climb and the arrival of deranged, drug-addicted Sonny Bennett (Richard Huggett) sent ratings soaring. This character, Lisa Bennett's brother and hell-bent on revenge, signalled another shake up of the cast and no less than five established characters were disposed of during this period - three members of the Patchett family perished in a highly shocking car-bomb explosion - but it was these scenes that shook up the audience figures and the show was soon nearing the top of the ratings and became the most talked about series on Australian television. A super-bitch with shoulder-pads, Sheridan Sturgess arrived, taking over the local TV station WTV8, and the role was given to Kate Raison, another actress famous for her 4-year run in ''A Country Practice'' (as Cathy Hayden). Sheridan became central to ''E Street''s next big storyline; the arrival of the notorious serial killer Stephen Richardson, a.k.a 'Mr Bad' (Vince Martin). The 1991 season was dominated by this long and convoluted plot which cleverly affected every cast member over an entire year. More high-profile contract-cast were killed off during this grisly but utterly compelling storyline, leaving viewers wondering who was going to be killed-off next. The audience lapped up Sheridan's Technicolor nightmare sequences revealing the murder of a little girl called Becky Campbell by a man with his face painted half black and half silver. That person was of course Stephen Richardson, the charming Karate teacher of Claire Fielding, and as Sheridan grew more fearful of Stephen, Mr Bad's reign of terror began with the shocking murder of Dr Virginia Travis (Julieanne Newbould) followed soon after by Sheridan's brother Michael (Graham Harvey). ''E Street'' had undoubtedly moved on from its well-meaning inception; the opening title sequence was eventually dropped, the pace and melodrama breathlessly increased and cast turnover became exceptionally high, however, the soap continued to develop its audience and ''E Street'' finally topped the Australian ratings for the first time during 1991. Viewers had seemingly accepted the drug abuse, religious cults and crazy stalkers - plus the problematic re-cast of the leading character Dr Elly Fielding when Penny Cook quit and was replaced by Diane Craig - because, all along, the show did not take itself seriously and this made the relentless and sensational plots somewhat enjoyable as a form of escapism. Indeed, during the rest of 1991 and most of 1992, ''E Street'' was the most popular serial in Australia.

As the series established its own identity, several music videos and musical performances were incorporated into episodes to promote music released on the offshoot ''Westside Records'' music label, whilst some of the actresses, namely Melissa Tkautz and Toni Pearen, released singles which were massive hits in Australia. Melissa Tkautz had the biggest selling single of 1991 with her #1 dance hit "Read My Lips" and the follow-up, "Sexy (Is The Word)", made #3 the same year, all thanks to their inclusion on ''E Street''. Hugely popular pin-up star Bruce Samazan even released a single, a rap record called "One of a Kind", and artists such as the Maybe Dolls and Euphoria also had big hits thanks to ''E Street''. The show had developed an unprecedented look and sound all of its own, surpassing both ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' in the ratings and popularity. At the 1992 Australian Logies, ''E Street'' won the coveted "Most Popular Serial" category, sealing the success of the series in its home territory.

Ironically however, ''E Street''s' popularity peaked in 1992 with the conclusion of the 'Mr Bad' storyline. Indeed, it was this long-running plot that kept the show at the top of the Australian ratings and even after the departure of Vince Martin, who originally played the sadistic serial-killer, and Kate Raison as victim Sheriden Sturgess, the 'Mr Bad' plot continued with a new actor playing the part - and new characters for him to torment. However, once Stephen Richardson and his murderous alter-ego were finally dead and buried, the writers struggled to keep the momentum as several high-profile characters departed and new storylines seemed lame compared to what had happened before. A big loss was Marcus Graham who completed 3 separate stints in the show as Stanley "Wheels" Kovac. Early in the series, he used a wheelchair, hence his nickname, although he was fully upright when he left ''E Street'' for good in episode 302, taking with him the hugely popular character, Sheridan Sturgess. Original favourite Lisa Bennett (Alyssa-Jane Cook) and long-running Alice Sullivan (Marianne Howard) had also left the series by this point and many others were to leave soon after. The solution was a raft of fresh faces; lovable nerd Jamie Newman (Scott McRae) arrived during the 'Mr Bad' revenge plot along with new Police Constable Sam Farrell (Simon Baker); a new bad-boy appeared - Reverend Bob's long-lost gangster brother, Jack Brown, played by Andrew Williams, poached from ''Neighbours'' where he'd spent 8 months playing Lou Carpenter's son, Guy. Melissa Bell, also ex-''Neighbours'', joined the cast as Bonnie Tate and fresh from her role in ''Home and Away'', Josephine Mitchell arrived as Penny O'Brien. These characters were met with limited success, however, and Jack Brown's uninspired gangster storylines were considered a low point of ''E Street''s final few months, as was a dream sequence involving Max turning into a werewolf, which seemed a desperate attempt by the writers to hold on to a hastily dwindling audience.

UK launch

In the UK, Sky Television bought the rights to the series in early 1992, some three years after its Australian debut and while the show was still a huge success on its home network. The entertainment channel Sky One had already screened long-running Aussie serials ''A Country Practice'', ''The Young Doctors'' and ''The Sullivans'' in the 1980s and was screening Nine Network's flop 'adult' drama ''Chances'' the week ''E Street'' launched on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm.

Sky Television aired ''E Street'' in a 30-minute format, stripped Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm-7pm, with a repeat the following afternoon at 1pm. This format had also been used in the UK when broadcasting hour-long drama ''A Country Practice'' on ITV in the early 1990s. ''E Street'' launched on Sunday, 5 April 1992 and following the 2 hour pilot, Sky picked up the story from Episode 47 on Monday, 6 April, completely abandoning the opening 46 episodes that had achieved poor ratings in Australia.

Sky heavily publicised the launch of their new Australian soap, and promoted it with the taglines "''Meet Your New Neighbours on E Street''" and ''"Your New Neighbours are moving in"'', clearly using the popularity of the BBC's ''Neighbours'' to lure viewers. This slogan could be seen across the country on double decker buses, billboards and teen magazine advertisements. The actors Tony Martin (Bob), Alyssa-Jane Cook (Lisa), Marcus Graham (Wheels), Leslie Dayman (George), Cecily Polsen (Martha) and Vic Rooney (Ernie) all flew to Britain to appear in advertisements promoting the launch of the soap. ''The Sun'' newspaper ran competitions based on the show, with first prize being a holiday to Sydney, Australia; runners-up received satellite dishes so they could watch Sky - ''E Street'' had well-and-truly arrived in Britain. Indeed, during the first 12 months it aired in the UK, ''E Street'' became one of the highest rated programmes on Sky One averaging around 750,000-1 million viewers an episode. This was at a time when there was an available audience of only around 2.5 million, due to Sky only being available via the Astra satellite and selected cable areas.

During the hard-hitting storyline involving extreme character Sonny Bennett (Richard Huggett), he killed three characters in a shocking car-bomb explosion (episodes 170-171). In the UK, where ''E Street'' aired in an earlier timeslot, these episodes were broadcast on 23–24 March 1993 and were preceded by a warning to viewers that the episode contained scenes that some may find upsetting. The 12.30pm repeat the following day was dropped entirely and replaced by ''The Simpsons''. Similarly, heavy cuts were made during the "Mr Bad" storyline, particularly the murders of Virginia Travis and Michael Sturgess which were edited for UK screenings.

The end

Despite winning "Most Popular Serial" in the 1992 Australian Logies, plus actors Bruce Samazan and Simon Baker (then known as Simon Baker-Denny) both winning their respective categories in 1992 and 1993, it came as a blow to cast and crew that ''E Street'' had been cancelled by Network 10 early 1993. It was revealed by creator and Executive Producer Forrest Redlich on the recent DVD release ''The Best of Mr Bad Part 2'' that the cancellation was more due to creative differences and the direction Network 10 wanted to take the show, than actual falling viewing figures. High-profile cast departures also damaged the show's reputation, with long-running and popular characters Wheels, Sheridan Sturgess, Stephen Richardson, Joey Valentine, Claire Fielding, Toni Windsor and Craig "C.J" Jones all exiting during the show's last 12 months. Viewer favourite and pivotal character from the start Reverend Bob Brown was then dramatically killed off when Tony Martin quit the show, and it was announced soon after that ''E Street'' had been axed. In the final episodes (403 and 404), the remaining cast were placed in life-threatening or cliff-hanger situations: Jo-Jo (Kelley Abbey) battled the attentions of a sleazy loan-shark, several characters were trapped inside the burning Patchetts Pacific pub and Max and Alice were lost in the outback as Bonnie relapsed and slipped into a coma. When the final episode began, time had moved on seven weeks and gradually it was revealed that all the characters are alive and well having survived the previous episodes' various cliff-hangers. The cast gathered around comatose Bonnie's hospital bedside and each read a line from a poem Max had found in recently deceased Rev Bob's prayer book. As the last line was read out by Max, Bonnie finally opened her eyes and said; "Max!". A final 10-minute montage of ''E Street'''s greatest moments was then played out to the closing credits, with Elly tearfully laying a single red rose on Rev Bob's grave as ''E Street's'' final scene, thus suitably signifying the end of the four-year series.

The final episode aired in Australia Thursday, 13 May 1993, with the UK run ending nearly two years later on Tuesday, 28 February 1995. A repeat run of the 1989 and 1990 seasons commenced on Ten in 2000, and was cancelled at the end of 2003. In the UK ''E Street'' has never been repeated.

Several cast members immediately went onto to star in other Australian soap operas and drama serials:

Penny Cook is now in a recurring role in ''Neighbours'' as Prue Brown.

Bruce Samazan became a huge star through his role as Max Simmons in ''E Street''. He immediately went onto to star in ''Neighbours'' as Mark Gottlieb until 1995, when his character famously jilted Annalise Hartman (played by Kimberley Davies) at the altar to become a priest. In 1996, he joined ''Home and Away'' for a six-month stint as Brad Cooper.

Josephine Mitchell immediately joined the cast of ''Neighbours'' as Katerina Torrelli, who stalked Bruce Samazan's character Mark Gottlieb.

Tony Martin was immediately cast in gritty high-school drama ''Heartbreak High'' as pushy science teacher Bill Southgate, between 1994-95.

Diane Craig followed former co-star Tony Martin to Hartley High School, where she spent two years as Principal June Dyson between 1995-96.

Adrian Lee, Kate Raison, Melissa Tkautz, Malcolm Kennard and Virginia Hey all starred in cult mid-90s soap ''Pacific Drive''. This soap also had a long-running serial-killer storyline – the first victim ironically being Kate Raison's character, Georgina Ellis.

Melissa Tkautz enjoyed huge popularity during her time on ''E Street'' and even left the soap to concentrate on touring and promoting her album which had spawned three hit singles. She was even voted 'Hottest female on Earth' by a teen music magazine. She returned for the last few months of ''E Street'' in 1993. After E street Melissa went on to roles in Paradise Beach, Pacific Drive, Echo Point, Medivac and All Saints. In 2005 she released new music and has since appeared in ''The Couriers'' on SBS.

Toni Pearen released an album featuring two Top 10 hit singles in the early 90s, later worked on film and television in the US and most recently has found success as a TV presenter hosting ''Australia's Funniest Home Videos'' for five years from 2003 to 2008. She later appeared in the 8th series of Australia's ''Dancing With The Stars'' (Sept 2008).

Briony Behets immediately followed her guest stint in ''E Street'' as Margaret Bennett with a three-year run in UK-based soap ''Families'', playing Diana Stevens between 1990 and 1993.

After ''E Street'', Joan Sydney returned to Wandin Valley as Matron Maggie Sloane in the ill-fated Network 10 version of ''A Country Practice'' in 1994. These days, she has been in the recurring role of Valda Sheergold in ''Neighbours'' since 2002.

Richard Huggett's character Sonny Bennett killed four ''E Street'' favourites and then himself. He subsequently played the thoroughly decent character Glen Donnelly in ''Neighbours'', the long-lost son of Jim Robinson. Huggett also appeared in a few episodes of ''Blue Heelers'' as a boyfriend of Constable Maggie Doyle (played by Lisa McCune). Huggett is currently starring as DC Jeremy Piper in the BBC series ''Out Of The Blue''.

Melissa Bell spoke the final word in ''E Street'', when she opened her eyes after several weeks in a coma, she looked up and said "Max!" as the rest of the cast looked on around her hospital bedside. She then immediately returned to her previous role as Lucy Robinson in ''Neighbours''.

Serge Lazareff went on to become a script-writer on ''E Street'', and later, as a writer on ''Heartbreak High'', ''All Saints'' and ''Home and Away''. He also worked as script editor at ''Neighbours''.

Cast

Original Cast

Dr Elly Fielding #1 (Penny Cook) 1989-91 (''pilot, episodes 1-209'') (Diane Craig) (''252-404'')

Reverend Bob Brown (Tony Martin) 1989-93 (''pilot-384'')

Sarah McKillop (Katrina Sedgewick) 1989 (''1-50'')

Lisa Bennett (Alyssa-Jane Cook) 1989-92 (''pilot-290'')

Chris Patchett (Paul Kelman) 1989-91 (''pilot-171'')

Sergeant George Sullivan (Leslie Dayman) 1989-93 (''pilot-404'')

Martha O'Dare (Cecily Polson) 1989-93 (''pilot-404'')

Rhonda Berry (Melanie Solamon) 1989 (''pilot-40'')

PC Paul Berry (Warren Jones) 1989-91 (''pilot-198'')

Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney) 1989-90, 1991-93 (''pilot-200, 276-404'')

Claire Fielding (Brooke "Mikey" Anderson) 1989-91, 1991-92 (''pilot-209, 235-320'') †

Further Cast 1989-1993

David Fielding (Noel Hodda) 1989-91 (''pilot-209, recurring until ep 90'')

Miki Fallon (Peta Toppano) 1989-90 (''1-51'')

Margaret Bennett (Briony Behets) 1989-90 (''11-66'')

Sam Bulmer (Serge Lazareff) 1989-90 (''11-62'')

Daniel Windsor (Chris Orchard) 1989-90 (''50-106'')

Toni Windsor (Toni Pearen) 1989-92 (''52-368'')

Tom Windsor (Andrew Ferguson) 1989-90 (''52-106, 150-155'')

Simon Windsor (Trent Newman) 1989-90 (''52-106'')

Sally Windsor (Emma Scanlon) 1989-90 (''52-106'')

Jennifer St. James (Virginia Hey) 1989-90 (''54-105'')

Stanley "Wheels" Kovak (Marcus Graham) 1989 (''55-86''), 1991-92 (''235-302'')

Alice Sullivan (Marianne Howard) 1989-1992 (''58-290''), 1993 (''400-404'')

Megan Patchett (née Bromley) (Lisbeth Kennally) 1989-90 (''66-171'')

JoJo (Kelley Abbey) 1989 (''74-86''), 1991-93 (''254-404'')

Harley Brown (Malcolm Kennard) 1989-92 (''82-236'')

Abby Rossiter (Chelsea Brown) 1989-90 (''89-171'')

Auntie Vi Patchett (Bunney Brooke) 1990-91 (''98-220'')

Sonny Bennett (Richard Huggett) 1989-90 (''109-172'')

Kim Talbot (Rebecca Saunders) 1990 (''109-166'')

PC Max Simmons (Bruce Samazan) 1990-93 (''114-404'')

Nikki Spencer (Melissa Tkautz) 1990-93 (''160-404'')

Zac Spencer (Daniel Knight) 1990-91 (''160-272'')

Michael Sturgess (Graham Harvey) 1990 (''141-148''), 1990-91 (''171-262'')

Dr Susan Franklin (Anne Tenney) 1990 (''171-176'')

Sheridan Sturgess (Kate Raison) 1990-92 (''178-302'')

Craig "C.J." Jones (Adrian Lee) 1990-92 (''186-368'')

Dr Virginia Travis (Julieanne Newbould) 1991 (''203-254'')

Joey Valentine (Lorry D'er Cole) 1991-92

Mary Patchett (Joan Sydney) 1991-92 (''224-276'')

Stephen Richardson #1 (Vince Martin) 1991-92 (''248-290'', Olav Evensen ''from episode 299-318'')

Sergeant Roy Harrison (John Clayton) 1991 (''265-270'')

Jamie Newman (Scott McRae) 1992-93 (''277-396'')

Penny O'Brien (Josephine Mitchell) 1992-93 (''284-404'')

Charlie O'Brien (Prue McGuire) 1992-93 (''286-404'')

PC Sam Farrell (Simon Baker) 1992-93 (''293-404'')

Amy Preston (Rebecca Rigg) 1992 (''299-320'')

Jack Brown (Andrew Williams) 1992-93 (''321-404'')

Bonnie Tate (Melissa Bell) 1992-93 (''347-404'') ††

Sally McKinnon (Joanna Lockwood) 1992-93 (''369-404'')

Laura Fielding (Antoinette Byron) 1993 (''361-404'')

† credited as Brooke 'Mikey' Anderson. †† Melissa Bell also played a minor character called Janine in 1989, before joining ''Neighbours''.

Broadcast History

Australia Network Ten Tuesday 24 January 1989 - Thursday 13 May 1993Tuesdays and Thursdays 19.30Repeated the first 184 episodes (1989 and 1990 seasons) during 2000 to 2001 at 05.00.

United KingdomSky OnePilot episode screened Sunday 5 April 1992 at 14.00 and 20.00.From Monday 6 April 1992, ''E Street'' commenced with episode 47 and screened Monday to Friday at 18.30-19.00 with a repeat the following afternoon at 1pm.11 September 1993, episode 252, ''E Street'' was moved to weekend daytime slots and was shown in hour-long episodes on Saturdays 18.00-19.00 and Sundays 13.00-14.00. This was briefly to accommodate ''Paradise Beach'' in the 18.30 weekday slot but ultimately became an extremely unpopular scheduling decision.On Tuesday, 4 January 1994, ''E Street'' returned to the 18.30 timeslot with the afternoon repeat now at 12.30p.m, thus creating an 'Aussie Soap Hour' with ''Paradise Beach'' which aired 12.00/18.00.''E Street'' remained popular in the UK, despite its cancellation in Australia. During September 1994, a year and a half ''after'' it last aired Down Under, ''E Street'' was moved to the primetime 19.00 slot and the final episode 404 screened on Monday 27th-Tuesday 28 February 1995 as 2 half-hour episodes.Sky One did not transmit Episodes 1 to 46 of ''E Street''. Subsequent episodes were customised and heavily edited for transmission on Sky One. This included heavy soundtrack changes, major cuts of violent and unsuitable scenes (Episodes 170, 254 and 260 are examples) and a different closing sequence, removing advertising and music credits.''E Street'' has never been repeated in the UK.

Theme and Titles

The original episodes of ''E Street'' had a lengthy opening title sequence made up of clips from the pilot and first episodes and was accompanied by a slow, jazzy theme tune. However, when the series relaunched 6 months later at Episode 47, the entire sequence, including the ''E Street'' logo, was replaced by a specially compiled montage of the contract cast, cleverly linked together with a paint-brush wipe effect. Episode 51 introduced a more upbeat and funky theme tune, replacing the previous soulless version. These changes perfectly encapsulated the new image the programme was trying to convey and attract a wider audience.

This design of opening titles and music lasted until Episode 134, featuring only minor alterations as characters came and went. From Episode 135, however, the opening title sequence was dropped and replaced with a re-cap of the previous episode, an aerial view of Eden Street with the ''E Street'' logo forming, followed by establishing shots of the area with writer and producer credits. Sometimes, the previous episode cliffhanger would be played ''after'' the short sequence and continue uninterrupted into the episode. This practice was common with Network Ten stable-mate ''Neighbours'', which similarly dropped its opening credits in 1990 in favour of a short re-cap, brief titles accompanied by a music sting. This opening to ''E Street'' remained until its final episodes, although ''Neighbours'' reinstated an opening sequence in 1992. More recently, ''Home and Away'' now frequently open episodes with a re-cap, brief title screen and 5 second music sting, much like ''E Street'' in the early 1990s.

The end title sequence remained unchanged, with credits rolling over an aerial shot of Westside during nighttime. The original theme for the closing credits was 2 minutes in duration, and was changed from Episode 51 to the updated version, an extended mix of the music now used for the opening titles.

On the original Australian credits, there were several sponsorship credits that were removed from UK broadcasts. A different music soundtrack was also used on the international version of ''E Street'', but can be heard uncut on the recent DVD release of the series.

Awards

E Street and the cast have won and been nominated for several Logies during the shows four year run.

Logies won:

Most Popular Series (in 1992)

Most Popular Actor (to Bruce Samazan in 1992)

Most Popular New Talent (to Richard Huggett in 1991 and Simon Baker in 1993)

Logies Nominated:

Most Popular Actor (to Marcus Graham in 1992)

Most Popular Actress (to Kate Raison]] in 1992)

Most Popular New Talent (to Melissa Tkautz in 1992)

Reunion

On 20 August 2006, several cast members were reunited on the Australian TV series ''Where Are They Now'', broadcast on Seven Network. The cast members that appeared on the programme were Marcus Graham (Wheels), Alyssa-Jane Cook (Lisa Bennett), Melissa Tkautz (Nikki Spencer), Bruce Samazan (Max Simmons), Melissa Bell (Bonnie Tate) and Brooke Anderson (Claire Fielding). The studio guests were joined via a satellite link-up to Vince Martin who starred as the show's most memorable character, Mr Bad.

DVD release

In August 2007, ''E Street'' was finally released on DVD, through Umbrella Entertainment, who have also released celebratory DVD sets of other Australian soap operas, ''The Young Doctors'' and ''Sons and Daughters''. The first boxset called ''"The Best of Mr Bad Volume 1"'' is a 5-disc set and, unusually for this kind of release, features 20 ''consecutive'' episodes from 253 to 272, that originally aired in 1991 (1993-94 in the UK). The set tells the beginning of the notorious Mr Bad storyline which achieved massive viewing figures when they originally aired. Commentaries on episode 272 are provided by Bruce Samazan (Max) and Melissa Tkautz (Nikki) with Australian soap expert Andrew Mercado.

A second 5-disc DVD set, ''"The Best of Mr Bad Part 2"'' was released on 3 December 2007, and once again, contained consecutive episodes from 273 to 292, which continued the long-running Stephen Richardson/Mr Bad storyline. Episode 288 features revealing commentary provided by ''E Street'' creator and executive Producer, Forrest Redlich.

External links

E Street - The Tribute. Comprehensive site. Complete episode guide for episodes aired in the UK, extensive photo gallery, up to date DVD information and links to clips of the series on YouTube.

Aussie Soap Archive: E Street. A detailed feature documenting the ''E Street'' journey on and off screen.

E Street at the National Film and Sound Archive

Category:Australian television soap operas Category:Network Ten shows Category:Television shows set in New South Wales Category:1989 Australian television series debuts Category:1993 Australian television series endings

background	solo_singer
alias	The Boss
born	September 23, 1949Long Branch, New Jersey,United States
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
genre	Rock, folk rock, heartland rock, hard rock, roots rock
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter
years active	1972–present
label	Columbia
associated acts	E Street Band, Steel Mill, Miami Horns, The Sessions Band, U2
website	www.BruceSpringsteen.net
notable instruments	Fender TelecasterFender EsquireTakamine GuitarsHohner Marine Band Harmonica }}

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey), nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey.

Springsteen's recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, ''Born in the U.S.A.'' and ''Born to Run'', showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide and he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He is widely regarded by many as one of the most influential songwriters of the twentieth century, and in 2004, ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' ranked him as the 23rd greatest artist of all time in its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list.

Early life

Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Borough. He lived on South Street in Freehold Borough and attended Freehold Borough High School. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, was of Dutch and Irish ancestry and worked, among other vocations, as a bus driver; his surname is Dutch for ''jump stone''. His mother, Adele Ann (née Zirilli), was a legal secretary and was of Italian ancestry. Overall, his heritage is 50% Italian, 37% Irish and 13% Dutch. His maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense, a city near Naples. He has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela. Pamela had a brief film career, but left acting to pursue still photography full time; she took photos for the ''Human Touch'' and ''Lucky Town'' albums.

Raised a Roman Catholic, Springsteen attended the St. Rose of Lima Catholic school in Freehold Borough, where he was at odds with the nuns and rejected the strictures imposed upon him, even though some of his later music reflects a Catholic ethos and included a few rock-influenced, traditional Irish-Catholic hymns.

In ninth grade, he transferred to the public Freehold Regional High School, but did not fit in there, either. Old teachers have said he was a "loner, who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar." He completed high school, but felt so uncomfortable that he skipped his own graduation ceremony. He briefly attended Ocean County College, but dropped out.

Career history

1962–1972: Early years

Springsteen had been inspired to take up music at the age of seven after seeing Elvis Presley on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. At 13, his mother bought him his first guitar for $18; later, she took out a loan to buy the 16-year-old Springsteen a $60 Kent guitar, as he later memorialized in his song "The Wish".

In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become lead guitarist and subsequently the lead singer of The Castiles. The Castiles recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township and played a variety of venues, including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. Marion Vinyard said that she believed the young Springsteen when he promised he would make it big.

Called for induction when he was 18, Springsteen failed his physical examination and did not serve in Vietnam. In an interview in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 1984, he said, "When I got on the bus to go take my physical, I thought one thing: I ain't goin'." He had suffered a concussion in a motorcycle accident when he was 17, and this together with his "crazy" behaviour at induction and not taking the tests, was enough to get him a 4F.

In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a power trio known as Earth, playing in clubs in New Jersey. Springsteen acquired the nickname "The Boss" during this period as when he played club gigs with a band he took on the task of collecting the band's nightly pay and distributing it amongst his bandmates. Springsteen is not fond of this nickname, due to his dislike of bosses, but seems to have since given it a tacit acceptance. Previously he had the nickname "Doctor". From 1969 through early 1971, Springsteen performed with Steel Mill, which also featured Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, Vinnie Roslin and later Steve Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson. They went on to play the mid-Atlantic college circuit, and also briefly in California. In January 1970 well-known ''San Francisco Examiner'' music critic Philip Elwood gave Springsteen credibility in his glowing assessment of Steel Mill: "I have never been so overwhelmed by totally unknown talent." Elwood went on to praise their "cohesive musicality" and, in particular, singled out Springsteen as "a most impressive composer." During this time Springsteen also performed regularly at small clubs in Canton, Massachusetts, Richmond, Virginia, Asbury Park and along the Jersey Shore, quickly gathering a cult following. Other acts followed over the next two years, as Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style: Dr Zoom & the Sonic Boom (early–mid 1971), Sundance Blues Band (mid 1971), and The Bruce Springsteen Band (mid 1971–mid 1972). With the addition of pianist David Sancious, the core of what would later become the E Street Band was formed, with occasional temporary additions such as horn sections, "The Zoomettes" (a group of female backing vocalists for "Dr. Zoom") and Southside Johnny Lyon on harmonica. Musical genres explored included blues, R&B;, jazz, church music, early rock'n'roll, and soul. His prolific songwriting ability, with "More words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums", as his future record label would describe it in early publicity campaigns, brought his skill to the attention of several people who were about to change his life: new managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, and legendary Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, who, under Appel's pressure, auditioned Springsteen in May 1972.

Even after Springsteen gained international acclaim, his New Jersey roots showed through in his music, and he often praised "the great state of New Jersey" in his live shows. Drawing on his extensive local appeal, he routinely sold out consecutive nights in major New Jersey and Philadelphia venues. He also made many surprise appearances at The Stone Pony and other shore nightclubs over the years, becoming the foremost exponent of the Jersey Shore sound.

1972–1974: Initial struggle for success

Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1972, with the help of John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to the same label a decade earlier. Springsteen brought many of his New Jersey–based colleagues into the studio with him, thus forming the E Street Band (although it would not be formally named as such for several more years). His debut album, ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'', released in January 1973, established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Because of Springsteen's lyrical poeticism and folk rock–rooted music exemplified on tracks like "Blinded by the Light", (which would later be a hit for Manfred Mann and go to number one, making it the only time Springsteen had a number one single as a songwriter), and "For You", as well as the Columbia and Hammond connections, critics initially compared Springsteen to Bob Dylan. "He sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone,'" wrote ''Crawdaddy'' magazine editor Peter Knobler in Springsteen's first interview/profile, in March 1973. ''Crawdaddy'' discovered Springsteen in the rock press and was his earliest champion. (Springsteen and the E Street Band acknowledged by giving a private performance at the ''Crawdaddy'' 10th Anniversary Party in New York City in June 1976.) Music critic Lester Bangs wrote in ''Creem'' in 1975 that when Springsteen's first album was released "... many of us dismissed it: he wrote like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, sang like Van Morrison and Robbie Robertson, and led a band that sounded like Van Morrison's." The track "Spirit in the Night" especially showed Morrison's influence, while "Lost in the Flood" was the first of many portraits of Vietnam veterans and "Growin' Up", his first take on the recurring theme of adolescence.

In September 1973 his second album, ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,'' was released, again to critical acclaim but no commercial success. Springsteen's songs became grander in form and scope, with the E Street Band providing a less folky, more R&B; vibe and the lyrics often romanticized teenage street life. "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" and "Incident on 57th Street" would become fan favorites, and the long, rousing "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" continues to rank among Springsteen's most beloved concert numbers.

In the May 22, 1974, issue of Boston's ''The Real Paper'', music critic Jon Landau wrote after seeing a performance at the Harvard Square Theater, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau subsequently became Springsteen's manager and producer, helping to finish the epic new album, ''Born to Run''. Given an enormous budget in a last-ditch effort at a commercially viable record, Springsteen became bogged down in the recording process while striving for a wall of sound production. But, fed by the release of an early mix of "Born to Run" to progressive rock radio, anticipation built toward the album's release. All in all the album took more than 14 months to record, with six months alone spent on the song "Born To Run" During this time Springsteen battled with anger and frustration over the album, saying he heard "sounds in [his] head" that he could not explain to the others in the studio. It was during these recording sessions that "Miami" Steve Van Zandt would stumble into the studio just in time to help Springsteen organize the horn section on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (it is his only written contribution to the album), and eventually led to his joining the E Street Band. Van Zandt had been a long-time friend of Springsteen, as well as a collaborator on earlier musical projects, and understood where he was coming from, which helped him to translate some of the sounds Springsteen was hearing. Still, by the end of the grueling recording sessions, Springsteen was not satisfied, and, upon first hearing the finished album, threw the record into the alley and told Jon Landau he would rather just cut the album live at The Bottom Line, a place he often played.

1975–1983: Breakthrough

On August 13, 1975, Springsteen and the E Street Band began a five-night, 10-show stand at New York's Bottom Line club. The engagement attracted major media attention, was broadcast live on WNEW-FM, and convinced many skeptics that Springsteen was for real. (Decades later, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine would name the stand as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll.) With the release of ''Born to Run'' on August 25, 1975, Springsteen finally found success. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, and while there were no hit singles, "Born to Run" (Billboard #23), "Thunder Road", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (Billboard #83), and "Jungleland" all received massive album-oriented rock airplay and remain perennial favorites on many classic rock stations. The songwriting and recording was more disciplined than before, while still maintaining an epic feel. With its panoramic imagery, thundering production and desperate optimism, ''Born to Run'' is considered by some fans to be among the best rock and roll albums of all time and Springsteen's finest work. It established him as a sincere and dynamic rock and roll personality who spoke for and in the voice of a large part of the rock audience. To cap off the triumph, Springsteen appeared on the covers of both ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'' in the same week, on October 27 of that year. So great did the wave of publicity become that Springsteen eventually rebelled against it during his first venture overseas, tearing down promotional posters before a concert appearance in London.

A legal battle with former manager Mike Appel kept Springsteen out of the studio for nearly a year, during which time he kept the E Street Band together through extensive touring across the U.S. Despite the optimistic fervor with which he often performed, his new songs had taken a more somber tone than much of his previous work. Reaching settlement with Appel in 1977, Springsteen returned to the studio, and the subsequent sessions produced ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' (1978). Musically, this album was a turning point in Springsteen's career. Gone were the raw, rapid-fire lyrics, outsized characters and long, multi-part musical compositions of the first two albums; now the songs were leaner and more carefully drawn and began to reflect Springsteen's growing intellectual and political awareness. The cross-country 1978 tour to promote the album would become legendary for the intensity and length of its shows. By the late 1970s, Springsteen had earned a reputation in the pop world as a songwriter whose material could provide hits for other bands. Manfred Mann's Earth Band had achieved a U.S. number one pop hit with a heavily rearranged version of ''Greetings''' "Blinded by the Light" in early 1977. Patti Smith reached number 13 with her take on Springsteen's unreleased "Because the Night" (with revised lyrics by Smith) in 1978, while The Pointer Sisters hit number two in 1979 with Springsteen's also unreleased "Fire".

In September 1979, Springsteen and the E Street Band joined the Musicians United for Safe Energy anti-nuclear power collective at Madison Square Garden for two nights, playing an abbreviated set while premiering two songs from his upcoming album. The subsequent ''No Nukes'' live album, as well as the following summer's ''No Nukes'' documentary film, represented the first official recordings and footage of Springsteen's fabled live act, as well as Springsteen's first tentative dip into political involvement.

Springsteen continued to consolidate his thematic focus on working-class life with the 20-song double album ''The River'' in 1980, which included an intentionally paradoxical range of material from good-time party rockers to emotionally intense ballads, and finally yielded his first hit Top Ten single as a performer, "Hungry Heart". This album marked a shift in Springsteen's music toward a pop-rock sound that was all but missing from any of his earlier work. This is apparent in the stylistic adoption of certain eighties pop-rock hallmarks like the reverberating-tenor drums, very basic percussion/guitar and repetitive lyrics apparent in many of the tracks. The title song pointed to Springsteen's intellectual direction, while a couple of the lesser-known tracks presaged his musical direction. The album sold well, becoming his first topper on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, and a long tour in 1980 and 1981 followed, featuring Springsteen's first extended playing of Europe and ending with a series of multi-night arena stands in major cities in the U.S.

''The River'' was followed in 1982 by the stark solo acoustic ''Nebraska''. Recording sessions had been held to expand on a demo tape Springsteen had made at his home on a simple, low-tech four-track tape deck. However during the recording process Springsteen and producer Landau realized the songs worked better as solo acoustic numbers than full band renditions and the original demo tape was released as the album. Although the recordings of the E Street Band were shelved, other songs from these sessions would later be released, including "Born in the U.S.A." and "Glory Days". According to the Marsh biographies, Springsteen was in a depressed state when he wrote this material, and the result is a brutal depiction of American life. While ''Nebraska'' did not sell as well as Springsteen's two previous albums, it garnered widespread critical praise (including being named "Album of the Year" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's critics) and influenced later significant works by other major artists, including U2's album ''The Joshua Tree''. It helped inspire the musical genre known as lo-fi music, becoming a cult favorite among indie-rockers. Springsteen did not tour in conjunction with ''Nebraska'''s release.

1984–1991: Commercial and popular phenomenon

Springsteen probably is best known for his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' (1984), which sold 15 million copies in the U.S. and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with seven singles hitting the Top 10, and the massively successful world tour that followed it. The title track was a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans, some of whom were Springsteen's friends and bandmates. The lyrics in the verses were entirely unambiguous when listened to, but the anthemic music and the title of the song made it hard for many, from politicians to the common person, to get the lyrics—except those in the chorus, which could be read many ways. The song was widely misinterpreted as jingoistic, and in connection with the 1984 presidential campaign became the subject of considerable folklore. Springsteen also turned down several million dollars offered by the Chrysler Corporation to use the song in a car commercial. (In later years, to eliminate the bombast and make the song's original meaning more explicitly clear, Springsteen performed the song accompanied only by acoustic guitar. An acoustic version also appeared on ''Tracks'', a later album.) "Dancing in the Dark" was the biggest of seven hit singles from ''Born in the U.S.A.'', peaking at number 2 on the Billboard music charts. The music video for the song featured a young Courteney Cox dancing on stage with Springsteen, an appearance which helped kickstart the actress's career. The song "Cover Me" was written by Springsteen for Donna Summer, but his record company persuaded him to keep it for the new album. A big fan of Summer's work, Springsteen wrote another song for her, "Protection". Videos for the album were made by noted film directors Brian De Palma and John Sayles. Springsteen was featured on the "We Are the World" song and album in 1985. His live single "Trapped" from that album received moderate airplay on U.S. Top 40 stations as well as reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Tracks chart.

During the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Springsteen met actress Julianne Phillips, whom he would marry in 1985.

The ''Born in the U.S.A.'' period represented the height of Springsteen's visibility in popular culture and the broadest audience demographic he would ever reach (aided by the release of Arthur Baker's dance mixes of three of the singles). ''Live/1975–85'', a five-record box set (also on three cassettes or three CDs), was released near the end of 1986 and became the first box set to debut at number 1 on the U.S. album charts. It is one of the most commercially successful live albums of all time, ultimately selling 13 million units in the U.S. ''Live/1975–85'' summed up Springsteen's career to that point and displayed some of the elements that made his shows so powerful to his fans: the switching from mournful dirges to party rockers and back; the communal sense of purpose between artist and audience; the long, intense spoken passages before songs, including those describing Springsteen's difficult relationship with his father; and the instrumental prowess of the E Street Band, such as in the long coda to "Racing in the Street". Despite its popularity, some fans and critics felt the album's song selection could have been better. Springsteen concerts are the subjects of frequent bootleg recording and trading among fans.

During the 1980s, several Springsteen fanzines were launched, including ''Backstreets'' magazine, which started in Seattle and continues today as a glossy publication, now in communication with Springsteen's management and official website.

After this commercial peak, Springsteen released the much more sedate and contemplative ''Tunnel of Love'' album (1987), a mature reflection on the many faces of love found, lost and squandered, which only selectively used the E Street Band. It presaged the breakup of his marriage to Julianne Phillips and described some of his unhappinesses in the relationship. Reflecting the challenges of love in "Brilliant Disguise", Springsteen sang:

The subsequent Tunnel of Love Express tour shook up fans with changes to the stage layout, favorites dropped from the set list, and horn-based arrangements. During the European leg in 1988, Springsteen's relationship with backup singer Patti Scialfa became public and Phillips and Springsteen filed for divorce in 1988. Later in 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International. In the fall of 1989 he dissolved the E Street Band, and he and Scialfa relocated to California, marrying in 1991.

1992–2001: Artistic and commercial ups and downs

In 1992, after risking charges of "going Hollywood" by moving to Los Angeles (a radical move for someone so linked to the blue-collar life of the Jersey Shore) and working with session musicians, Springsteen released two albums at once. ''Human Touch'' and ''Lucky Town'' were even more introspective than any of his previous work and displayed a newly revealed confidence. As opposed to his first two albums, which dreamed of happiness, and his next four, which showed him growing to fear it, at points during the ''Lucky Town'' album, Springsteen actually claims happiness for himself.

An electric band appearance on the acoustic ''MTV Unplugged'' television program (later released as ''In Concert/MTV Plugged'') was poorly received and further cemented fan dissatisfaction. Springsteen seemed to realize this a few years hence when he spoke humorously of his late father during his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech: }}

A multiple Grammy Award winner, Springsteen also won an Academy Award in 1994 for his song "Streets of Philadelphia", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''Philadelphia''. The song, along with the film, was applauded by many for its sympathetic portrayal of a gay man dying of AIDS. The music video for the song shows Springsteen's actual vocal performance, recorded using a hidden microphone, to a prerecorded instrumental track. This technique was developed on the "Brilliant Disguise" video.

In 1995, after temporarily re-organizing the E Street Band for a few new songs recorded for his first ''Greatest Hits'' album (a recording session that was chronicled in the documentary ''Blood Brothers''), he released his second (mostly) solo guitar album, ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'', inspired by John Steinbeck's ''The Grapes of Wrath'' and by ''Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass'', a book by Pulitzer Prize-winners author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson. This was generally less well-received than the similar ''Nebraska'', due to the minimal melody, twangy vocals, and political nature of most of the songs, although some praised it for giving voice to immigrants and others who rarely have one in American culture. The lengthy, worldwide, small-venue solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour that followed successfully featured many of his older songs in drastically reshaped acoustic form, although Springsteen had to explicitly remind his audiences to be quiet and not to clap during the performances.

Following the tour, Springsteen moved back to New Jersey with his family. In 1998, Springsteen released the sprawling, four-disc box set of out-takes, ''Tracks''. Subsequently, Springsteen would acknowledge that the 1990s were a "lost period" for him: "I didn't do a lot of work. Some people would say I didn't do my best work."

Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Bono of U2, a favor he returned in 2005.

In 1999, Springsteen and the E Street Band officially came together again and went on the extensive Reunion Tour, lasting over a year. Highlights included a record sold-out, 15-show run at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and a ten-night, sold-out engagement at New York City's Madison Square Garden which ended the tour. The final two shows were recorded for an HBO Concert, with corresponding DVD and album releases as ''Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in New York City''. A new song, "American Skin (41 Shots)", about the police shooting of Amadou Diallo which was played at these shows proved controversial.

In November 2000, Springsteen filed legal action against Jeff Burgar which accused him of registering the domain brucespringsteen.com (along with several other celebrity domains) in bad faith to funnel web users to his Celebrity 1000 portal site. Once the legal complaint was filed, Burgar pointed the domain to a Springsteen biography and message board. In February 2001, Springsteen lost his dispute with Burgar. A WIPO panel ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Burgar.

On Labor day 2001 Bruce Springsteen played at Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright NJ surprising a local cover band named Brian Kirk and the Jerks and performed Rosalita with them showing his support and love.

2002–2007: Return to success

In 2002, Springsteen released his first studio effort with the full band in 18 years, ''The Rising'', produced by Brendan O'Brien. The album, mostly a reflection on the September 11 attacks, was a critical and popular success. (Many of the songs were influenced by phone conversations Springsteen had with family members of victims of the attacks who in their obituaries had mentioned how his music touched their lives.) The title track gained airplay in several radio formats, and the record became Springsteen's best-selling album of new material in 15 years. Kicked off by an early-morning Asbury Park appearance on ''The Today Show'', The Rising Tour commenced, barnstorming through a series of single-night arena stands in the U.S. and Europe to promote the album in 2002, then returning for large-scale, multiple-night stadium shows in 2003. While Springsteen had maintained a loyal hardcore fan base everywhere (and particularly in Europe), his general popularity had dipped over the years in some southern and midwestern regions of the U.S. But it was still strong in Europe and along the U.S. coasts, and he played an unprecedented 10 nights in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, a ticket-selling feat to which no other musical act has come close. During these shows Springsteen thanked those fans who were attending multiple shows and those who were coming from long distances or another country; the advent of robust Bruce-oriented online communities had made such practices more common. The Rising Tour came to a final conclusion with three nights in Shea Stadium, highlighted by renewed controversy over "American Skin" and a guest appearance by Bob Dylan.

During the early 2000s, Springsteen became a visible advocate for the revitalization of Asbury Park, and played an annual series of winter holiday concerts there to benefit various local businesses, organizations, and causes. These shows were explicitly intended for the devoted fans, featuring numbers such as the ''E Street Shuffle'' outtake "Thundercrack", a rollicking group-participation song that would mystify casual Springsteen fans. He also frequently rehearses for tours in Asbury Park; some of his most devoted followers even go so far as to stand outside the building to hear what fragments they can of the upcoming shows. The song "My City of Ruins" was originally written about Asbury Park, in honor of the attempts to revitalize the city. Looking for an appropriate song for a post-Sept. 11 benefit concert honoring New York City, he selected "My City of Ruins", which was immediately recognized as an emotional highlight of the concert, with its gospel themes and its heartfelt exhortations to "Rise up!" The song became associated with post-9/11 New York, and he chose it to close ''The Rising'' album and as an encore on the subsequent tour.

At the Grammy Awards of 2003, Springsteen performed The Clash's "London Calling" along with Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, and E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and No Doubt's bassist, Tony Kanal, in tribute to Joe Strummer; Springsteen and the Clash had once been considered multiple-album-dueling rivals at the time of the double ''The River'' and the triple ''Sandinista!''. In 2004, Springsteen and the E Street Band participated in the "Vote for Change" tour, along with John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bright Eyes, the Dave Matthews Band, Jackson Browne, and other musicians. All concerts were to be held in swing states, to benefit the liberalism political organization group America Coming Together and to encourage people to register and vote. A finale was held in Washington, D.C., bringing many of the artists together. Several days later, Springsteen held one more such concert in New Jersey, when polls showed that state surprisingly close. While in past years Springsteen had played benefits for causes in which he believed – against nuclear energy, for Vietnam veterans, Amnesty International, and the Christic Institute – he had always refrained from explicitly endorsing candidates for political office (indeed he had rejected the efforts of Walter Mondale to attract an endorsement during the 1984 Reagan "Born in the U.S.A." flap). This new stance led to criticism and praise from the expected partisan sources. Springsteen's "No Surrender" became the main campaign theme song for John Kerry's unsuccessful presidential campaign; in the last days of the campaign, he performed acoustic versions of the song and some of his other old songs at Kerry rallies.

''Devils & Dust'' was released on April 26, 2005, and was recorded without the E Street Band. It is a low-key, mostly acoustic album, in the same vein as ''Nebraska'' and ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' although with a little more instrumentation. Some of the material was written almost 10 years earlier during, or shortly after, the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, a couple of them being performed then but never released. The title track concerns an ordinary soldier's feelings and fears during the Iraq War. Starbucks rejected a co-branding deal for the album, due in part to some sexually explicit content but also because of Springsteen's anti-corporate politics. The album entered the album charts at No. 1 in 10 countries (United States, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland). Springsteen began the solo Devils & Dust Tour at the same time as the album's release, playing both small and large venues. Attendance was disappointing in a few regions, and everywhere (other than in Europe) tickets were easier to get than in the past. Unlike his mid-1990s solo tour, he performed on piano, electric piano, pump organ, autoharp, ukulele, banjo, electric guitar, and stomping board, as well as acoustic guitar and harmonica, adding variety to the solo sound. (Offstage synthesizer, guitar, and percussion were also used for some songs.) Unearthly renditions of "Reason to Believe", "The Promised Land", and Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream" jolted audiences to attention, while rarities, frequent set list changes, and a willingness to keep trying even through audible piano mistakes kept most of his loyal audiences happy.

In November 2005, Sirius Satellite Radio started a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week radio station on Channel 10 called E Street Radio. This channel featured commercial-free Bruce Springsteen music, including rare tracks, interviews, and daily concerts of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recorded throughout their career.

In April 2006, Springsteen released ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'', an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger. It was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians including only Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and The Miami Horns from past efforts. In contrast to previous albums, this was recorded in only three one-day sessions, and frequently one can hear Springsteen calling out key changes live as the band explores its way through the tracks. The Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour began the same month, featuring the 18-strong ensemble of musicians dubbed The Seeger Sessions Band (and later shortened to The Sessions Band). ''Seeger Sessions'' material was heavily featured, as well as a handful of (usually drastically rearranged) Springsteen numbers. The tour proved very popular in Europe, selling out everywhere and receiving some excellent reviews, but newspapers reported that a number of U.S. shows suffered from sparse attendance. By the end of 2006, the Seeger Sessions tour toured Europe twice and toured America for only a short span. ''Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin'', containing selections from three nights of November 2006 shows at The Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, was released the following June.

Springsteen's next album, titled ''Magic'', was released on October 2, 2007. Recorded with the E Street Band, it featured 10 new Springsteen songs plus "Long Walk Home", performed once with the Sessions band, and a hidden track (the first included on a Springsteen studio release), "Terry's Song", a tribute to Springsteen's long-time assistant Terry Magovern, who died on July 30, 2007. The first single, "Radio Nowhere", was made available for a free download on August 28. On October 7, ''Magic'' debuted at number 1 in Ireland and the UK. ''Greatest Hits'' reentered the Irish charts at number 57, and ''Live in Dublin'' almost cracked the top 20 in Norway again. Sirius Satellite Radio also restarted E Street Radio on Channel 10 on September 27, 2007, in anticipation of ''Magic''. Radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications was alleged to have sent an edict to its classic rock stations to not play any songs from the new album, while continuing to play older Springsteen material. However, Clear Channel Adult Alternative (or "AAA") station KBCO did play tracks from the album, undermining the allegations of a corporate blackout. The Springsteen and E Street Band Magic Tour began at the Hartford Civic Center with the album's release and was routed through North America and Europe. Springsteen and the band performed live on NBC's ''Today Show'' in advance of the opener. Longtime E Street Band organist Danny Federici left the tour in November 2007 to pursue treatment for melanoma from which he would die in 2008

2008–present: Recent events

Springsteen supported Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, announcing his endorsement in April 2008 and going on to appear at several Obama rallies as well as performing several solo acoustic performances in support of Obama's campaign throughout 2008, culminating with a November 2 rally where he debuted "Working On A Dream" in a duet with Scialfa. At an Ohio rally, Springsteen discussed the importance of "truth, transparency and integrity in government, the right of every American to have a job, a living wage, to be educated in a decent school, and a life filled with the dignity of work, the promise and the sanctity of home...But today those freedoms have been damaged and curtailed by eight years of a thoughtless, reckless and morally-adrift administration."

Following Obama's electoral victory on November 4, Springsteen's song "The Rising" was the first song played over the loudspeakers after Obama's victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park. Springsteen was the musical opener for the Obama Inaugural Celebration on January 18, 2009 which was attended by over 400,000. He performed "The Rising" with an all-female choir. Later he performed Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" with Pete Seeger.

On June 18, 2008, Springsteen appeared live from Europe at the Tim Russert tribute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to play one of Russert's favorite songs, "Thunder Road". Springsteen dedicated the song to Russert, who was "one of Springsteen's biggest fans."

On January 11, 2009, Springsteen won the Golden Globe Award for Best Song for "The Wrestler", from the Mickey Rourke film by the same name. After receiving a heartfelt letter from Mickey Rourke, Springsteen supplied the song for the film for free.

Springsteen performed at the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, agreeing to do it after many previous offers A few days before the game, Springsteen gave a rare press conference, where he promised a "twelve-minute party." His 12:45 set, with the E Street Band and the Miami Horns, included abbreviated renditions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"", "Born to Run", "Working on a Dream, and "Glory Days", the latter complete with football references. The set of appearances and promotional activities led Springsteen to say, "This has probably been the busiest month of my life."

Springsteen's ''Working on a Dream'' album was released in late January 2009 and the supporting Working on a Dream Tour ran from April 2009 until November 2009. The tour featured few songs from the new album, with instead set lists dominated by classics and selections reflecting the ongoing late-2000s recession. The tour also featured Springsteen playing songs requested by audience members holding up signs as on the final stages of the Magic Tour. Drummer Max Weinberg was replaced for some shows by his 18-year-old son Jay Weinberg, so that the former could serve his role as bandleader on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien''. During this tour, Springsteen and the band made their first real foray in the world of music festivals, headlining nights at the Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands, Festival des Vieilles Charrues in France, the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the United States and the Glastonbury Festival in the UK and Hard Rock Calling in the UK. Several shows on the tour featured full album presentations of ''Born to Run'', ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', or ''Born in the U.S.A.'' The band performed a stretch of five final shows at his homestate Giants Stadium, opening with a new song highlighting the historic stadium, and his Jersey roots, named "Wrecking Ball". The tour ended as scheduled in Buffalo, NY in November 2009 amid speculation that it was the last performance ever by the E Street Band, but during the show Springsteen said it was goodbye “for a little while.” A DVD from the Working of a Dream Tour entitled ''London Calling: Live in Hyde Park'' was released in 2010.

In addition to his own touring, Springsteen made a number of appearances at tribute and benefit concerts during 2009, including The Clearwater Concert, a celebration of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary benefit concert, a benefit for the charity Autism Speaks at Carnegie Hall. On January 22, 2010, he joined many well-known artists to perform on ''Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief‎'', organized by George Clooney to raise money to help the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In 2009, Springsteen performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".

Springsteen was among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual award to figures from the world of arts for their contribution to American culture, in December 2009. President Obama gave a speech in which he talked about how Springsteen has incorporated the life of regular Americans in his expansive pallette of songs and how his concerts are beyond the typical rock-and-roll concerts, how, apart from being high-energy concerts, they are "communions". He ended the remark "while I am the president, he is The Boss". Tributes were paid by several well-known celebrities including Jon Stewart (who described Springsteen's "unprecedented combination of lyrical eloquence, musical mastery and sheer unbridled, unadulterated joy"). A musical tribute featured John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and Jennifer Nettles, Melissa Etheridge, Eddie Vedder and Sting.

The 2000s ended with Springsteen being named one of eight Artists of the Decade by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine and with Springsteen's tours ranking him fourth among artists in total concert grosses for the decade.

In September 2010, a documentary about the making of his 1978 album "Darkness on The Edge of Town" was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, ''The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town'', was included in a box set reissue of the album, entitled ''The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story'', released in November 2010. Also airing on HBO, the documentary explored Springsteen's making of the acclaimed album, and his role in the production and development of the tracks.

Springsteen is working on his next studio album with Ron Aniello, who also co-produced the 2007 album "Play It As It Lays", by Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa. Ron Aniello also produced "Children's Song" early in 2011, a duet with Bruce and Patti, which was done for a charity project.

Musical style

Bruce Springsteen draws on many musical influences from the reservoir of traditional American popular music, folk, blues and country. From the beginning, rock and roll has been the dominant influence. On his debut album, ''Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey'', the folk-influence is clear to hear. An example of the influence of this music genre to Springsteen's music is his song "This Hard Land" which demonstrates a clear influence of the style of Woody Guthrie.

He expanded the range of his musical compositions on his second album, ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle''. Elements of Latin American music, jazz, soul, and funk influences can be heard; the song "New York City Serenade" is even reminiscent of the music of George Gershwin. These two records prominently featured pianist David Sancious, who left the band shortly into the recording of Springsteen's third album, ''Born To Run''. This album, however, also emphasized the piano, the responsibility now of Roy Bittan.

Earlier in his career, Springsteen has focused more on the rock elements of his music. He initially compressed the sound and developed ''Darkness On The Edge Of Town'' just as straightforward as concise musical idiom, for the simple riffs and clearly recognizable song structures are dominant. His music has been categorized as heartland rock, a style typified by Springsteen, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and John Mellencamp. This music has a lyrical reference to the U.S. everyday and the music is kept rather simple and straightforward. This development culminated with Springsteen's hit album ''Born in the U.S.A.'', the title song of which has a constantly repeating, fanfare-like keyboard riff and a pounding drum beat. These sounds fit with Springsteen's voice: it cries to the listener the unsentimental story of a disenchanted angry figure. Even songs that can be argued to be album tracks proved to be singles that enjoyed some chart success, such as "My Hometown" and "I'm on Fire", in which the drum line is formed from subtle hi-hat and rim-clicks-shock (shock at the edge of the snare drum).

In recent years, Springsteen has changed his music further. There are more folk elements up to the gospel to be heard. His last solo album, ''Devils and Dust'', drew rave reviews not only for Springsteen's complex songwriting, but also for his expressive and sensitive singing.

On the album ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' Springsteen performs folk classics with a folk band, rather than his usual E Street Band. On his ensuing tour he also interpreted some of his own rock songs in a folk style.

The 2007 album ''Magic'' was a reflection on the old stadium rock attitude and with its lush arrangements was almost designed to be performed at large stadiums, which also succeeded on the corresponding tour.

Lyrical themes

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Often described as cinematographic in their scope, Springsteen's lyrics frequently explore highly personal themes such as individual commitment, dissatisfaction and dismay with life in a context of every day situations.

It has been recognized that there was a shift in his lyrical approach starting with the album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', in which he focused on the emotional struggles of working class life.

Politics and activism

Springsteen's music has often contained political themes, and he has publicly campaigned for several causes, including his opposition to the Iraq War and support for Democratic presidential campaigns, including Senator John Kerry and President Barack Obama. He is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11 attacks in 2001, on which his album ''The Rising'' reflects.

In 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International.

Springsteen has been associated with various local food banks, particularly with the New Jersey Food bank for many years. During concerts, he usually breaks the routine to announce his support and later matches the total collection during the concert with his own money. During his Charlotte, North Carolina concert on November 3, 2009, he started with a $10,000 donation for the local food bank to start the collections process – which he again matched later.

He has made substantial financial contributions to various workers' unions both in America and in Europe.

Personal life

Springsteen had a short marriage to Julianne Phillips (born May 6, 1960) from May 13, 1985 to May 1988, when they separated. The two were opposites in background and his traveling took its toll on their relationship. The final blow came when Bruce began an affair with Patti Scialfa (born July 29, 1953), whom he had dated briefly in 1984 shortly after she joined the band. Phillips and Springsteen separated in the spring of 1988, and on August 30, 1988, Julianne filed for divorce. The Springsteen/Phillips divorce was finalized on March 1, 1989.

After the separation in 1988 Bruce began living with Scialfa. Springsteen received press criticism for the hastiness in which he and Scialfa took up their relationship. In a 1995 interview with The Advocate, Springsteen spoke about the negative publicity the couple subsequently received. "It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't. But the truth is, I basically ignored the entire thing as much as I could. I said, 'Well, all I know is, this feels real, and maybe I have got a mess going here in some fashion, but that's life.'" He also noted that, "I went through a divorce, and it was really difficult and painful and I was very frightened about getting married again. So part of me said, 'Hey, what does it matter?' But it does matter. It's very different than just living together. First of all, stepping up publicly- which is what you do: You get your license, you do all the social rituals- is a part of your place in society and in some way part of society's acceptance of you...Patti and I both found that it did mean something."

On July 25, 1990 Scialfa gave birth to the couple's first child, Evan James Springsteen. On June 8, 1991 Springsteen and Scialfa married at their Beverly Hills home. Their second child, Jessica Rae Springsteen, was born on December 30, 1991; and their third child, Samuel Ryan Springsteen, was born on January 5, 1994. The family owns and lives on a horse farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey. They also own homes in Wellington, Florida, a wealthy horse community near West Palm Beach, Los Angeles and Rumson, New Jersey. Their eldest son, Evan, attends Boston College. Their daughter Jessica is a nationally ranked champion equestrian, and attends Duke University.

Since 1991, Springsteen has led a relatively quiet life for a well-known popular performer and artist. He moved from Los Angeles to New Jersey in the early 1990s specifically to raise a family in a non-paparazzi environment. It has been reported that the press conference regarding the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII half-time show was his first press conference for more than 25 years. However, he has appeared in a few radio interviews, most notably on NPR and BBC. 60 minutes aired his last extensive interview on TV before his tour to support his album, ''Magic''.

Bands

Bruce Springsteen has been a member of, or has been backed by, several bands during his career, most notably The E Street Band.

His earliest known band is The Castiles.

Prior to signing his first record deal in 1972, Springsteen was a member of several bands including Steel Mill. In October 1972 he formed a new band for the recording of his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., which became known as The E Street Band, although the name was not officially introduced until September 1974. The E Street Band performed on all of Springsteen's recorded works from his debut until 1982's ''Nebraska'', a solo album on which Springsteen himself played all the instruments. The full band returned for the next album ''Born in the USA'', but there then followed a period from 1988 to 1999 in which albums were recorded with session musicians. The E Street band were briefly reunited in 1995 for new contributions to the ''Greatest Hits'' compilation, and on a more permanent basis from 1999, since which time they have recorded 3 albums together (''The Rising'', ''Magic'' and ''Working on a Dream'') and performed a number of high profile tours.

The 2005 album ''Devils & Dust'' was largely a solo recording, with some contribution from session musicians and the 2006 folk rock ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' album was recorded and toured with another band, known as The Sessions Band.

Earlier Bands: The Castiles, Earth, Child, Steel Mill, Sundance Blues Band, Dr Zoom and the Sonic Boom, Bruce Springsteen Band.

E Street Band

Current members:

Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, harmonica, piano

Patti Scialfa – backing and duet vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion

Max Weinberg – drums, percussion

Garry Tallent – bass guitar, tuba

Roy Bittan – piano, keyboards

Steven Van Zandt – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, mandolin

Nils Lofgren – lead and rhythm guitar, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals

With: Soozie Tyrell – violin, acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals Charles Giordano – organ, accordion, glockenspiel

Former Members:

1973–2011 Clarence Clemons (deceased) – tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, backing vocals, percussion

1973–2008 Danny Federici (deceased) – organ, accordion, backing vocals

Film

Music used in films

Springsteen's music has been used in many films and he has also written and performed several works specifically for films, examples include ''Philadelphia'', ''Dead Man Walking'', Jerry Maguire, and ''The Wrestler''.

1983 1983 1987 1989 1992 1992 1993 1995 1995 1996 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2002 2003 2004 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2009

Film !! Year of film release !! Song(s) !! Notes
''Dead End Street''	1982	"Point Blank", "Hungry Heart" and "Jungleland"
''Risky Business''	|	Hungry Heart
''Baby, It's You (film)	Baby, It's You''	|	"It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City", "The E Street Shuffle", "She's The One" and "Adam Raised A Cain"	Film directed by John Sayles who later directed music videos for songs from ''Born in the U.S.A.'' and ''Tunnel of Love''.
''Light of Day''	|	"(Just Around the Corner to the) Light of Day"	Song written for the film.
''In Country''	|	"I'm On Fire"	Film also contained many Springsteen references.
''Thunderheart''	|	"Badlands" (instrumental version)
''Honeymoon in Vegas''	|	Viva Las Vegas (song)>Viva Las Vegas"	A 1964 song recorded by Elvis Presley.
Philadelphia (film)	Philadelphia	|	"Streets of Philadelphia"	Song written for film. Won an Oscar.
''Dead Man Walking (film)	Dead Man Walking''	|	"Dead Man Walkin'"	Song written for film. Nominated for a Oscar.
''The Crossing Guard''	|	"Missing"	Song was later released in 2003 on ''The Essential Bruce Springsteen''.
''Jerry Maguire''	|	Secret Garden (Bruce Springsteen song)>Secret Garden"
''Cop Land''	|	Stolen Car (Bruce Springsteen song)>Stolen Car"	Sylvester Stallone's character plays the songs on his turntable.
''The Wedding Singer''	|	"Hungry Heart"
''A Night at the Roxbury''	|	"Secret Garden"
''Big Daddy (film)	Big Daddy''	|	"Growin' Up"	Played over a montage near the end of the film.
''Limbo (film)	Limbo''	|	"Lift Me Up"	Another John Sayles film.
''High Fidelity (film)	High Fidelity''	|	"The River" and Blues Guitar Riff	Blues riff played by Springsteen, on-screen during his cameo appearance. "The River" played from vinyl on turntable.
''The Perfect Storm (film)	The Perfect Storm''	|	"Hungry Heart"
''25th Hour''	|	"The Fuse"
''Grand Theft Parsons''	|	"Blood Brothers"
''Jersey Girl''	|	"Jersey Girl"	Cover of the Tom Waits version
''Reign Over Me''	|	"Drive All Night" and "Out In The Street"	The River (album)>The River'' was also well mentioned in the movie.
''In the Land of Women''	|	"Iceman"
''The Heartbreak Kid (2007 film)	The Heartbreak Kid''	|	"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
''Lucky You (film)	Lucky You''	|	"Lucky Town"
''The Wrestler (2008 film)	The Wrestler''	|	The Wrestler (song)>The Wrestler"	Written for the film. The song was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and nominated for the MTV Movie Award as "Best Song From a Movie".
''Food, Inc.''	|	"This Land Is Your Land"	Live version, Bruce Springsteen's performance of the Woody Guthrie song.

Films inspired by music

In turn, films have been inspired by his music, including ''The Indian Runner'', written and directed by Sean Penn, which Penn has specifically noted as being inspired by Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman".

In September 2010, a documentary about the making of his 1978 album "Darkness on The Edge of Town" was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Kevin Smith is an admitted "big fan" of fellow New Jersey native Springsteen and named his film ''Jersey Girl'' after the Tom Waits song which Springsteen made famous. The song was also used on the soundtrack.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant said Springsteen's "Thunder Road" to have been a heavy influence on their 2010 film "Cemetery Junction," employing the song's themes of escape and optimism into their story of 1970s England.

In 2011, Springsteen appears in an independent film made by a local musician Chris Vaughn from New Jersey entitled "Jerseyboy Hero" where the songwriter/filmmaker documents his journey to get his music out to the world by attempting to reach one of his two local New Jersey legends, Bruce Springsteen or Jon Bon Jovi.

Acting

Springsteen made his first on-screen appearance in a brief cameo as himself in ''High Fidelity'' in 2000 and it was voted "Best Cameo in a Movie" at the MTV Movie Awards.

Discography

Major studio albums (along with their chart positions in the U.S. Billboard 200 at the time of release):

1973: ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' (#60)

1973: ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'' (#59)

1975: ''Born to Run'' (#3)

1978: ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' (#5)

1980: ''The River'' (#1)

1982: ''Nebraska'' (#3)

1984: ''Born in the U.S.A.'' (#1)

1987: ''Tunnel of Love'' (#1)

1992: ''Human Touch'' (#2)

1992: ''Lucky Town'' (#3)

1995: ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' (#11)

1998: ''Tracks'' (#64)

2002: ''The Rising'' (#1)

2005: ''Devils & Dust'' (#1)

2006: ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' (#3)

2007: ''Magic'' (#1)

2009: ''Working on a Dream'' (#1)

2010: ''The Promise'' (#16)

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

:Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards, as follows (years shown are the year the award was given ''for'', not the year in which the ceremony was held):

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, 1984, "Dancing in the Dark"

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, 1987, "Tunnel of Love"

Song of the Year, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Rock Song, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Contemporary Folk Album, 1996, ''The Ghost of Tom Joad''

Best Rock Album, 2002, ''The Rising''

Best Rock Song, 2002, "The Rising"

Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, 2002, "The Rising"

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, 2003, "Disorder in the House" (with Warren Zevon)

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2004, "Code of Silence"

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2005, "Devils & Dust"

Best Traditional Folk Album, 2006, ''The Seeger Sessions: We Shall Overcome''

Best Long Form Music Video, 2006, ''Wings For Wheels: The Making Of Born to Run''

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2007, "Radio Nowhere"

Best Rock Song, 2007, "Radio Nowhere"

Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 2007, "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Best Rock Song, 2008, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes"

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2009, "Working on a Dream"

Only one of these awards has been one of the cross-genre "major" ones (Song, Record, or Album of the Year); he has been nominated a number of other times for the majors, but failed to win.

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "Streets of Philadelphia" in 1994. Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "The Wrestler" in 2009.

Academy Awards

Academy Award for Best Original Song, 1993, "Streets of Philadelphia" from ''Philadelphia''.

Emmy Awards

The ''Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live In New York City'' HBO special won two technical Emmy Awards in 2001.

Other recognition

October 27, 1975: Bruce Springsteen appears simultaneously on the covers of 'Newsweek' and 'Time'

Polar Music Prize in 1997. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1999. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1999. Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, 2007. "Born to Run" named "The unofficial youth anthem of New Jersey" by the New Jersey state legislature; something Springsteen always found to be ironic, considering that the song "is about leaving New Jersey". The minor planet 23990, discovered Sept. 4, 1999, by I. P. Griffin at Auckland, New Zealand, was officially named in his honor. Ranked #23 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazines 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Ranked #36 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazines 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time. Made ''Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People Of The Year 2008 list. Won Critic's Choice Award for Best Song with "The Wrestler" in 2009.

Performed at the Super Bowl XLIII half time show.

Kennedy Center Honors, 2009.

Rolling Stone magazine also ranked 8 out of 16 Springsteen's studio albums in their 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Born to Run and Thunder Road in its 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list, in 21st and 86th, respectively.

Forbes ranked him 6th in The Celebrity 100 in 2009

John Steinbeck Award

Influence

In addition to his noted influence on music in his native New Jersey, Springsteen is also cited as an influence by , Bon Jovi, Arcade Fire, The Gaslight Anthem, The Constantines, The Hold Steady, The National, Kings of Leon, The Killers, U2, Willy DeVille, Johnny Cash',Lady Gaga in his later recordings, and countless others. His songs have been covered by diverse artists such as David Bowie, The Pointer Sisters, John Mayer, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Melissa Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Automatic 7, Vampire Weekend, McFly, Tegan and Sara, Damien Jurado, Free Energy, Aimee Mann, Dropkick Murphys, Social Distortion, Rage Against The Machine, Ben Harper, Eric Bachmann, Josh Ritter, Frank Turner, Hank Williams III, Roger_Meddows-Taylor (covered "Racing In The Streets" on Strange Frontier), Madrugada. For Springsteen's influence on academic writers, see "Library of Hope and Dreams":a comprehensive annotated bibliography of published Springsteen scholarship in English. Note, bibliography is indexed by song, album, author and subject keywords.

See also

List of best selling music artists

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart

Notes

References

Sources

Alterman, Eric. ''It Ain't No Sin To Be Glad You're Alive : The Promise of Bruce Springsteen''. Little Brown, 1999. ISBN 0-316-03885-7.

Coles, Robert. ''Bruce Springsteen's America: The People Listening, a Poet Singing''. Random House, 2005. ISBN 0-375-50559-8.

Cross, Charles R. ''Backstreets: Springsteen – the man and his music'' Harmony Books, New York 1989/1992. ISBN 0-517-58929-X. Contains 15+ interviews and a complete list of all Springsteen songs including unreleased compositions. Complete lising of all concerts 1965–1990 – most of them with tracklists. Hundreds of previously unreleased high quality color pictures.

Cullen, Jim. ''Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition''. 1997; Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. New edition of 1997 study book places Springsteen's work in the broader context of American history and culture. ISBN 0-8195-6761-2

Eliot, Marc with Appel, Mike. ''Down Thunder Road''. Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-671-86898-5.

Graff, Gary. ''The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z''. Visible Ink, 2005. ISBN 1-57859-151-1.

Guterman, Jimmy. ''Runaway American Dream: Listening to Bruce Springsteen''. Da Capo, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81397-1.

Hilburn, Robert. ''Springsteen''. Rolling Stone Press, 1985. ISBN 0-684-18456-7.

Knobler, Peter with special assistance from Greg Mitchell. "Who Is Bruce Springsteen and Why Are We Saying All These Wonderful Things About Him?", ''Crawdaddy'', March 1973.

Marsh, Dave. ''Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts : The Definitive Biography, 1972–2003''. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-96928-X. (Consolidation of two previous Marsh biographies, ''Born to Run'' (1981) and ''Glory Days'' (1987).)

Wolff, Daniel. ''July 4, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land''. Bloomsbury, 2005. ISBN 1-58234-509-0.

Further reading

''Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band''. Chronicle Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8118-5348-9.

''Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen''. Billboard Books, 2003. ISBN 0-8230-8387-X.

''Racing in the Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader''. Penguin, 2004. ISBN 0-14-200354-9.

''Runaway American Dream: Listening to Bruce Springsteen''. Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81397-1.

''The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z''. Visible Ink Press, 2005. ISBN 1-57859-157-0.

''Bruce Springsteen: "Talking"''. Omnibus Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84449-403-9.

''The Songs of Bruce Springsteen : 1965-2010"''. by Steve Rowland. printondemand.co.uk, 2011.

''For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans''. LKC Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9784156-0-0.

''Bruce Springsteen on Tour: 1968–2005''. by Dave Marsh Bloomsbury USA, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59691-282-3.

''The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Redemption from Asbury Park to Magic''. by Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-664-23169-9.

''Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen'' by Rob Kirkpatrick. St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. ISBN 0-312-53380-2.

''Land of Hope and Dreams: Celebrating 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen In Ireland'' by Greg Lewis and Moira Sharkey. Magic Rat Books. ISBN 978-0-9562722-0-1

External links

Bruce Springsteen – official website

Bruce Springsteen at ''Idiomag'' 21 12 10

in 2005

Highlights of Springsteen at Glastonbury 2009.

Bruce Springsteen at NPR Music

"Library of Hope and Dreams":bibliography of published Springsteen scholarship in English.

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:American baritones Category:American folk singers Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:Jersey Shore musicians Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:New Jersey Democrats Category:People from Colts Neck Township, New Jersey Category:People from Rumson, New Jersey Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:The E Street Band members Category:Songwriters from New Jersey

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Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on ''The Daily Show'' and for his Comedy Central show ''Important Things with Demetri Martin''.

Early life

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, a Greek Orthodox priest. Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship. In 1996 Martin interned for the Domestic Policy Council at the Clinton White House, then after completing his second year of law school he dropped out.

Career

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase ''Premium Blend''. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show ''If I...''. The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In 2004, Martin had his own ''Comedy Central Presents'' stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on ''The Daily Show'', on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace. On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on ''The Daily Show'', talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled ''These Are Jokes'', which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features ''Saturday Night Live'' member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to ''The Daily Show'' on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the new Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series ''Flight of the Conchords''. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.

He also had a part in the movie ''The Rocker'' (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called ''Important Things With Demetri Martin'' on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season. The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that ''Important Things'' will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film ''Taking Woodstock'' (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled ''This Is a Book''.

Future plans

Martin sold his movie concept ''Will'' to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role. He will play the lead in the film ''Moon People'', a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.

''If I''

''If I'' is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.

Comedic style

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses extensive wordplay (particularly paraprosdokians), one-liners, and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once. He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.

Personal life

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast , Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage/going through divorce when his stand-up career began .

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.

Discography

''Invite Them Up'' (2005)

''These Are Jokes'' (2006)

''Demetri Martin. Person.'' (2007)

Filmography and television work

''If I'' ''12:21'' ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' "''Someone to Love (Fountains of Wayne song) ''Flight of the Conchords (TV series) ''The Rocker (film) ''Paper Heart'' ''Post Grad'' ''Moon People'' ''Taking Woodstock'' ''Important Things with Demetri Martin'' ''Take Me Home Tonight (film) ''Contagion (film) ''Conan''

Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''Analyze That''	Personal Assistant
2003	|	Himself	British television special, also writer
2004	|	Himself	short film, also writer
2004	|	Himself	1 episode, series writer
2007	Someone to Love''" ||	Seth Shapiro	''Fountains of Wayne'' music video
2007	Flight of the Conchords'' ||	Demetri	Season 1, Episode 12
2008	The Rocker'' ||	Kip (a music video producer)
2009	|	Himself
2009	|	Ad Exec
2009	|		lead role and writer
2009	|	Elliot Tiber	lead role
2009–2010	|	Himself / Various	lead role, writer, series creator, executive producer, and composer
2011	Take Me Home Tonight'' ||	Goldman Sachs Employee	supporting role
2011	Contagion'' ||
2011	|	Himself	guest

Written works

''This Is a Book'', April 2011, .

Awards and nominations

AwardPerrier Comedy AwardEmmy Awards Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Writers Guild of America Award Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Barry Award (for comedy)

Year	|	For	Category	Result	Other notes
2003	|	''If I''		Won	At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2004	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program	Nominated	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2005	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series	Won	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2006	Barry Award ||	''Dr. Earnest Parrot Presents Demetri Martin''		Won	Award for best show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

References

External links

Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club

Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia

Article, in ''The Scotsman''

Article, in ''Gelf Magazine''

Interview by Brian M. Palmer

MP3 Audio Interview on ''The Sound of Young America'' public radio show and podcast

Interview Believer Mag

New Jersey Monthly Magazine

Fresh Air, NPR.org

Category:1973 births Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American comedy musicians Category:American comedy writers Category:American film actors Category:American humorists Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:Writers from New York City Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:Yale University alumni

cs:Demetri Martin da:Demetri Martin de:Demetri Martin fr:Demetri Martin gl:Demetri Martin it:Demetri Martin simple:Demitri Martin fi:Demetri Martin sv:Demetri Martin

name	Bruce Samazan
birth date	November 13, 1970
occupation	Television actor
website	}}

Bruce Samazan (born 13 November 1970) is an Australian actor who appeared in several soap operas and drama series on Australian television, the only actor to have played regular roles in Australia's "Big Three" soap operas of the 1990s (''E Street'', ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'').

''E Street''

Samazan was a brickie's labourer, until 1989 when he accompanied his girlfriend to an audition for a part in the Network Ten soap ''E Street''. The series had debuted six months earlier and had received a lukewarm reception from audience and critics alike and a major cast and crew re-shuffle was imminent. His girlfriend didn't get the part, but the casting director liked Bruce so much they offered him the part of a new character called Max Simmons, a new recruit at the community police station. Debuting eight months into the show's run, his role was primarily comic relief, but with the addition of ruthless killer Sonny Bennett to proceedings, ''E Street'''s storylines got darker and the character of Max became a more central and balanced. By 1992, Samazan was at the height of his fame, and won the 1992 Silver Logie as the Most Popular Actor on Australian television.

By the beginning of 1993, ''E Street'''s popularity had dwindled and the producers became more and more desperate to lure viewers. This resulted in one of the soap's more outrageous plots which involved Samazan's character Max turning into a werewolf. Although this scene being part of a dream sequence, it was at this point that the tabloid media began to speculate that ''E Street'' had "jumped the shark", and the series was axed in May 1993. Bruce stayed with the show until the final episode where his character fell in love with Bonnie Tate (Melissa Bell) who awoke from a coma just in time to see the final credits sequence.

In mid-1993, Samazan released a rap music single on the Westside Records label called "One of a Kind", and filmed a music video for the song with Kellie Hoggart of Teen Queens and Hi-5. The song peaked at No. 80 on the ARIA Charts. Samazan's ''Neighbours'' co-star Scott Michaelson (who played Brad Willis) went on record during a 2003 court case saying Samazan had been lucky his song did not get too much airplay because it was "particularly bad".

''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away''

After the demise of ''E Street'', Bruce was immediately cast in Network Ten's other major soap series, ''Neighbours''. He played Mark Gottlieb, brother of established character Stephen.

From ''Neighbours'', he went straight into the Seven Network's ''Home and Away'' for a six month guest stint as the psychotic Brad Cooper who raped Chloe Richards.

Post-acting career

After giving up acting in 2000, Samazan worked as a real estate agent in Wollongong for four years. He has worked for Real Estate Australia as a sales consultant. He reportedly spent four years at PRDnationwide Helensburgh finishing up in 2006.

He made a part-time return to acting, appearing in guest roles in ''Big Sky'' and ''Head Start''.

Samazan Pty Ltd, a company registered in 1991 which was directed by Bruce Samazan, was deregistered in late 2008.

References

External links

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Australian television actors

birth date	October 11, 1963
birth place	Perth, Australia
occupation	Film actor,Stage actor,Television actor
yearsactive	1987 - present
website	}}

Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including ''Mulholland Drive'' and ''Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap ''E Street'' as the character "Wheels". His father Ron Graham is also a well known character actor.

2006 saw Graham win Australian Film Institute award for a guest role on the Channel 7 drama, ''Blue Heelers''. Other television credits include ''Good Guys, Bad Guys'', ''All Saints'', ''The Secret Life of Us'', and most recently in ABC comedy ''Stupid, Stupid Man''. Stage credits include ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'', ''The Blue Room'' opposite Sigrid Thornton and ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' for the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Bell Shakespeare Company's production of ''Pericles'' (2009). Graham also starred in the Australian drama series ''Underbelly''.

Graham has played two Melbourne underworld figures in Australian television dramas - Alan Williams in 1995's ''Blue Murder'', and Lewis Caine in 2008's ''Underbelly''.

References

External links

Marcus Graham's MySpace

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian television actors