I’m always interested in learning what bands rock stars listen to. Nick Hornby’s interview with his musical hero Bruce Springsteen gives us some insight as to what’s rocking the Boss’ iPod these days.
HORNBY: What have you been listening to the past couple of years?SPRINGSTEEN: I listen to all kinds of things, you know? Take your choice. [He reaches into a bag and pulls out a whole heap of home-made CDs.] I’ve made all this music for walking … A lot of this is a little acoustic-oriented but I hear everything. I hear all the Britpop stuff, the Stone Roses and Oasis, and I go on to Suede and Pulp. I’m generally interested in almost everything.
HORNBY: For the benefit of the tape I’m looking at CDs which feature Dylan and Sleater Kinney and the Beach Boys and Jimmy Cliff and Sam Cooke and Bobby Bland and Joe Strummer; pretty much the whole history of recorded music.
SPRINGSTEEN: I left a lot of my more rock things off, because this is my walking music. But I listen to old music; some Louis Armstrong stuff recently. And then I’ll listen to, I don’t know, Four Tet or something. I do a lot of curiosity buying; I buy it if I like the album cover, I buy it if I like the name of the band, anything that sparks my imagination. I still like to go to record stores, I like to just wander around and I’ll buy whatever catches my attention … Maybe I’ll read a good review of something or even an interesting review. But then I go through long periods where I don’t listen to things, usually when I’m working. In between the records and in between the writing I suck up books and music and movies and anything I can find.
Here‘s a list of the “Walk In” music Bruce has chosen for the Devils & Dust tour. Sure enough, there’s some Sleater-Kinney, My Morning Jacket, and Antony & The Johnsons mixed in with the oldies. The last song listed is Four Tet’s “Slow Burn.” I think he means “Slow Jam.” And perhaps Boss told Hornby “this is my ‘walk-in’ music,” not “walking.” Either way, nice choice.
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first post! the boss rules…
dumb question – walking music = some kind of musical term, or just what he listens to when he goes for walks, what? and if it actually is walk-in music, what does THAT mean? just a gal from the sticks here…
stab in the dark, but the music you hear when you come in before a live show starts?
What are the songs that play between the bands called? I think I’ve heard The Clash- Train in Vain between bands at 90% of the shows I’ve been to.
u2′s walk-in music is the arcade fire, BTW.
> I think I’ve heard The Clash- Train in Vain
> between bands at 90% of the shows I’ve been
> to.
So true.
I bet he really does mean “walking” music. Can’t you just see the boss, going out for long walks in NYC, wearing some sort of disguise ?
I walk around all over the city I live in … and me and the Boss, where one and the same.
I’m guessing he actually said Walkman, which was of course the generic term for all portable devices in the 80′s. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Boss still refers to his portable CD player / ipod / whatever as a “walkman.” Hornby, who is British of course, may have misunderstood in part due to Springsteen’s Jersey accent. Mystery solved, bitches!
The only other possibility is that he said “Walken music,” which is of course music you listen to to freak the shit out of people a la Christopher Walken.
He has one of his wife’s songs on Volume Two, Disc One. I would make a “So he’s the one that bought that album” joke but he probably got it for free (and I think her music is decent).
Oasis, Blur, Suede AND Pulp???
Well, smell you, Miss 1995!
He said Walk-In music. It’s the music that plays before he comes on stage in his most recent Devils & Dust acoustical tour.
please, for for the love of christ, stop using the expression “rocking the ipod.”
i just love the fact that he listens to The National. Bruce is really cool.
All his “walk-in” music:
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/live/walkinmusic.html
Shonen Knife is his Wok In music.
WALK IN music ….music you hear while you are walking in to the show
where do we get copies of these 9 CD’S