First official album?

The information revealed in this thread would lead me to believe that YOU, sir, are a virtual newbie...if, of course, the above information is correct.

I am a relative newbie to Bruce (as mentioned in my original post, I didn't become a fan until the end of the Reunion tour). There's nothing wrong with that is there?

Of course not. You seem quite promising. You should make lots of good European chums around here. Welcome!

Thanks!

Wow, I've gotten two title changes in two days. Is that some kind of record?

I had a BTR 8-track

The first record I got was The River, which I got from my brother & from there on I guess my soul was sold to Bruce.

At the tender age of 14, I went to my local record shop, plopped down $10 earned mowing lawns, and bought Born in the USA - it hasn't been the same since.

Could tell almost the same story, and am proud to report it was the first LP by any artist I bought!! ( Now I've just got to forget that "Rock me Amadeus" maxi single..)

Got into Bruce during late 1979 and went into record shop and bought the four albums in one go

Mine was Born in the USA. It had not been released in Uruguay yet, when my Dad had to go to Buenos Aires for business, so I begged him to get me the album. I remember I had to write in a piece of paper with big letters BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, so he wouldn't make the mistake of bringing me Rick Springfield, who was also quite big in those days (my Dad was completely clueless when it came to pop culture. Didn't even know who the Beatles were!). He bought me the tape, not the record, but I was happy enough to play it over and over and over! That tape spent at least 6 months non-stop in my crapy walkman. The inlay card had the names of the songs in Spanish!

I still have it, my first treasured Bruce possesion!

Darkness on the Edge of Town. Go figure.

The River. Yee haw!

Born in the U.S.A. and I was 14.

My Dad gave me the rest of the money to buy it, because I only had half of the price the record costs.

I was very proud of it and remember to play it a hundred times each day and trying to translate the lyrics with a small dictionary.

I still have this LP, too.

Man....it?s great to remember these good old times !!!

If Hitler had a favorite Springsteen album, it would be BIUSA.

That's a bit harsh. I still like BIUSA (In fact, some of my favorite songs are from that album).

Well, sometimes the truth hurts.

My first Bruce record was The River, but the next thing I bought was Darkness, which I considered quite the upgrade. Still do.

Seriously, the misinterpretation of the title track and false patriotism, the attempt to reach masses, the cult following, the media attack, it's all there. I don't believe Hitler would have liked Nebraska.

Born in the USA... (at the record store I was in serious doubt and finally choose ZZ Top's Eliminator, after I'd been paid for my summerjob the next week it was Born in the USA, followed by Born to run & The river later that summer)

Born To Run. But about a year and a half late.

Nebraska was in a stack of albums I got from a buddy that moved abroad, as was Darkness. I played the first over and over, the songs on the second didn't grasp me until I saw Springsteen live.

Can I play too?....It was WIESS for me in late 74.

Greetings. A good friend had moved to Jersey and told me that I really had to hear this Springsteen guy. He said the album wasn't anywhere near as good as Springsteen was live, but I should get it. The local Discount Records store had this deal where if you bought in any album, regardless of condition, you'd get $2 off any new album. I lugged in a couple of throwaways and walked out with Greetings and another album I no longer remember. I was hooked by the end of Lost In the Flood.

Nebraska. And probably still my favourite album.

My 1st was The River.

What the hell.

One evening, many moons ago, when I was working at the Place I had to Quit Before I Got Fired For Sexual Harassment, I got snared into a conversation by a supervisor and a fellow employee about what was being said in the song ?Blinded by the Light?. Fellow employee was saying that the singer was singing ?Cut loose like a douche,? and I said, ?No, Fellow Employee, you?re a one-toothed, meth cooking, wife-whoring inbred cumstain.? And he said, ?He?s saying douche.?

So I called, right there from the front lanes, the only radio station at the time that that didn?t suck (it does now) and asked the DJ to use her awe inspiring talent to find me that lyric. The conversation went like this:

?Blinded by the Light. I?ve got one from Bruce Springsteen, one from Manfred Mann.?

?Uh, I don?t think this is a Springsteen song.?

?Yep, written by Springsteen for Greeting From Asbury Park, covered by Mann. The lyric is, ?cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night?.?

?? Really? Springsteen??

?Look, you wanna make a request or what??

Vindicated, I told Fellow Employee the actual lyric. Fellow Employee said, ?Liar! I?m a a one-toothed, meth cooking, wife-whoring inbred cumstain. I?m gonna go outside and smoke and successfully try and loose my last remaining front tooth!?

A few days later I was at Best Buy for something, remembered that this utterly ridiculous song was written by Springsteen, wanted to know what his version sounded like, and bought Greetings. I remember getting home and looking through the CD booklet and thinking, ?Wow. Look at all the words. Some musicians go their entire careers without using this many words. I don?t think the bible has this many words. Mary, Queen of Arkansas looks like it will suck absolute monkey balls.? And so it began. A month or so later I bought Nebraska.

Years afterward I would find out that Fellow Employee was right, and that Mann is saying ?douche?. I didn?t try to find him and apologize though, as I had hoped he was dead.

That's a very touching inspirational tale, chance, I'm quite moved.

My first exposure was at a park in broad dayligh....er, my then girlfriend, now wife, brought a bunch of her albums over to my apartment in 1979, I thought they were all horrible in that the binding ends of every one were scratched to shit by her bitch cats. I began listening to BTR, Greetings, WIESS and Darkness as I sat home smoking pot and abusing myself while she was out making a living. I liked what I heard and felt.

The River for me. Another late arrival ...

John

BIUSA for me, too.

I was 15 at the time.

BTW, does this thread really belong in OAN ?

June 1978, was 13.

Rode my bike down to the Sam Goody record store, and bought Darkness on vinyl.

I remember noticing that they misspelled 'Camaro' ('Camero') on the lyric sheet to 'Racing in the Street'.

Isn't there a error on every album ?

It wouldn't be Bruce if there weren't an error.

Born to Run, Vinyl. Summer 1976. My friends and I wore out the grooves on that album. We thought it was the greatest thing ever created.

Although a vague recollection of Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody being debated as nearly equal (or is the timing not right?).

When I bought my first cd player in 1989 I got a free cd and I chose for Born to Run. But I already had tape copies of Live box, BITUSA, TOL etc. First album i listened to was BITUSA and LIVE7585 but dont recall which order, I was 14... 20 years ago....

January, 1984. I talked my parents into letting join one of those record clubs that give you 11 albums for a penny. Actually, I think it was BMG and it was 6 albums. All the selections were on postage stamps and I saw The River. I knew vaguely about Born to Run and figured what the hell, I'll give this Springsteen guy a chance.

I ended up buying the whole catalog that year.

I am not sure if it was 1984 or 1985, but when Dancing In The Dark became a hit, I heard it the radio and wanted the record. So Born In The USA was my first one. A couple of months later I bought The River and damn, it felt it to be even better.

After that live box came and it was actually a disappointment. I live in Finland and I was only 15-16 so I had had not chance to see Bruce shows, but something just wasn't right in that box. Well, afterwards I realized and it was just a punch of (sometimes badly edited) songs in some strange order. Then TOL came out and later HT/LT and I lost my last hope.

Bruce finally came to Finland at first time in 2003 and after that show I bought all his albums in a month And few months after that I started to collect and listen bootlegs, which I found to be the best way to listen to Bruce.

I knew most of Greetings from the airplay WMMR was giving it. I didn't buy it though. I bought WIESS first then went back and got Greetings. I was disappointed that The Fever wasn't on that album since it was in heavy rotation. One of the first things that hooked me about Springsteen was that song, particularly the first time I heard the whole band sing, "But he can't keep his mind on the show." I sat up and thought who the hell is this?

See, that's why I'm not playing.

Why, you don't want people to know you're as old as me?

No, I don't want people to know you're my dad.