Bruce Springsteen Hungry Heart/ Held Up Without A Gun (CBS, BA 222748, 1980)
The Springsteen section of my vinyl singles collection starts with stuff prior to the Born In The U.S.A. blockbuster in 1984.
While Born To Run (the song blasted out of my radio in 1975) was my first point of contact, I didn't buy any Springsteen singles until this bootleg featuring material from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions.
My prized triple bootleg album Piece de Resistance set (Sept 19, 1978 at Passaic, New Jersey) and double Live at The Roxy, Hollywood (July 7, 1978) were also bought about the same time as this single.
I've already done an entry a few posts ago on Because The Night- not one of my favourite Smith or Springsteen moments.
Hungry Heart was a strong single in 1980. Apparently Bruce intended it as a gift to The Ramones but his manager got him to change his mind. Hard to hear it as a Ramones song.
Parent album The River was a sprawling double and Hungry Heart, despite the dour fatalistic subject matter (father abandons his family for goodness sake!) it's a bright and bouncy song; a good choice for a single.
Hidden gems: The reason I bought Hungry Heart was for the B side - a song that didn't appear on The River. Weighing it at 1 min and change - it's a fast blast of Bruce branded energetic thrash.
The Promise is now available on the CD package (also called The Promise) which collects a vast amount on previously unreleased material from those sessions.
[A word about the video - I tried to find a good version with the E Street Band but sadly the sound quality is superior on this version - Bruce proving he's human with this mid career dalliance with non E-streeters]
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