Q Magazine: Songs of the Year, 1953-2013

Originally posted 4/15/2019.

Q is a British music magazine which has published numerous best-of lists over the years. Based on those lists (sources at bottom of page) and year-end lists, here are the best songs from each year.

• 2013: Arctic Monkeys “Do I Wanna Know?”
• 2012: Plan B “Ill Manors”
• 2011: Adele “Someone Like You”
• 2010: Plan B “Stay Too Long”

• 2009: Kasabian “Fire”
• 2008: The Fall “Senior Twilight Stock Replacer”
• 2007: Amy Winehouse “Rehab”
• 2006: Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
• 2005: Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
• 2004: Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out”
• 2003: OutKast “Hey Ya!”
• 2002: Coldplay “The Scientist”
• 2001: The Strokes “Last Nite”
• 2000: Eminem with Dido “Stan”

• 1999: Pharoahe Monch “Simon Says”
• 1998: Britney Spears “Baby One More Time”
• 1997: The Verve “Bittersweet Symphony”
• 1996: The Prodigy “Firestarter”
• 1995: Underworld “Born Slippy”
• 1994: Oasis “Live Forever”
• 1993: Nirvana “Heart-Shaped Box”
• 1992: Radiohead “Creep”
• 1991: Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy”
• 1990: The Charlatans “The Only One I Know”

• 1989: The Stone Roses “Fools Gold”
• 1988: The La’s “There She Goes”
• 1987: Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
• 1986: Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way”
• 1985: Madonna “Into the Groove”
• 1984: The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?”
• 1983: New Order “Blue Monday”
• 1982: The Jam “A Town Called Malice”
• 1981: The Specials “Ghost Town”
• 1980: Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

• 1979: The Specials “Gangsters”
• 1978: Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights”
• 1977: David Bowie “Heroes”
• 1976: Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.”
• 1975: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• 1974: Kraftwerk “Autobahn”
• 1973: Slade “Cum on Feel the Noize”
• 1972: Stevie Wonder “Superstition”
• 1971: John Lennon “Imagine”
• 1970: Black Sabbath “Paranoid”

• 1969: The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”
• 1968: The Beatles “Hey Jude”
• 1967: The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset”
• 1966: The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”
• 1965: Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone”
• 1964: The Kinks “You Really Got Me”
• 1963: The Beatles “She Loves You”
• 1962: The Tornadoes “Telstar”
• 1961: Ben E. King “Stand by Me”
• 1960: The Shadows “Apache”

• 1959: Ray Charles “What’d I Say”
• 1958: Cliff Richard & the Drifters “Move It”
• 1957: Wee Willie Harris “Rockin’ at the 2 I’s”
• 1956: Lonnie Donegan “Rock Island Line”
• 1955: Fats Domino “Ain’t That a Shame”
• 1954: Elvis Presley “That’s All Right, Mama”
• 1953: Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart”

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Q Magazine Lists:

• Readers’ poll (2/99). Top 100 songs of all-time according to Q readers.
• 1001 Best Songs Ever (1/04). Don’t know details of how list was compiled.
• The Music That Changed the World (2004). 3 special editions in January (covering 1954-69), February (covering 1970-1979), and March 2004 (covering 1980-2004). Each featured a top 20 album list and a top 20 song list.
• The 100 Greatest Songs Ever (10/06). Top 100 songs of all-time according to Q readers.
• Top 20 Albums and Singles of the Lifetime of Q Magazine (20 Years) (11/06; issue 244)
• 50 Years of Great British Music (3/08). Chronological listing with 10 tracks and 10 albums for each decade (no album list for the ‘50s).
• 50 Ultimate British Songs (4/11). Top 50 ranked list with commentary. As chosen by songwriters, singers, & readers.

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Bruce Springsteen The Promise released

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Released: November 16, 2010 Recorded: 1977-78, 2010 Peak: 16 US, 7 UK, 27 CN, 22 AU, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 0.85 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Click on a song titled for more details. Click for codes to charts. Racing in the Street (’78) Gotta Get That Feeling Outside Looking In Someday We’ll Be Together One Way Street Because the Night Wrong Side of the Street The Brokenhearted Rendezvous Candy’s Boy Tracks, Disc 2: Save My Love Ain’t Good Enough for You Fire Spanish Eyes It’s a Shame Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Talk to Me The Little Things My Baby Does Breakaway The Promise City of Night The Way Total Running Time: 88:05 The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer) Roy Bittan (piano) Clarence Clemons (saxophone, percussion) Danny Federici (organ, glockenspiel) Garry Tallent (bass) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, harmony vocals, horn arrangement) Max Weinberg (drums)

Rating: 3.733 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings) Quotable: “As compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits.” – BBC Music Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Following Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen was proclaimed the savior of rock & roll classicism; it was hype that threatened to derail his career. In a bitter lawsuit with his former manager, he was locked out of a studio for two years but continued writing songs at fever pitch and rehearsing them on a farm in rural New Jersey. Some of these tunes – composed during an economic recession – reflect the tension between following one’s dreams and her/his responsibilities. Still others reveal the deep influence of early rock & roll on Springsteen.” TJ “When he was finally able to record, he cut enough material for four albums, and then pared it down to one. Darkness on the Edge of Town proved that Springsteen was no mere revivalist. The album was assembled from more sparsely produced, claustrophobic, and desperate ‘sound picture’ songs, about lives broken by work, family and perceived societal obligations, and are haunted by questions of ‘what if?’ They were a world away from the epic, busting-out-for-freedom maximalist tracks found on Born to Run.” TJ As Springsteen said, “Darkness was my 'samurai' record…stripped to the frame and ready to rumble. But the music that got left behind was substantial.” AZ The Promise gathers a large chunk of that substantial music, offering up “21 unreleased songs written (and mostly) recorded between 1976 and 1978. They offer an aural view as to what might have been had Springsteen been able to record immediately after Born to Run.” TJ In fact, Springsteen confirms, that this material “perhaps could have/ should have been released after Born to Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became.” AZ “While some lyric themes here reflect the brokenness and hard choices found on Darkness, others are substantially more triumphant in their worldview; and musically, all the songs here contain more substantially production. These selections also lack the knife-edge, searing, angry guitar that saturates Darkness.” TJ “The Promise stands on its own as a great Bruce Springsteen record; it feels finished, focused, and above all, offers definitive proof that Springsteen was even at that early date, one of the greatest rock and pop songwriters America had to offer.” TJ As BBC Music said, the album “is as compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits; an indispensible portrait of an artist at the top of his game.” WK “According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, ‘There isn’t a weak card in this deck.’” AZ The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Gotta Get That Feeling Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/12/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 8/30/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “The galloping Gotta Get That Feeling summons Jack Nietszche’s production ears with its big mariachi brass.” TJ “This tune and numerous others contain open homages to Phil Spector’s ‘sha-na-na-na’ choruses. Clarence Clemons’ saxophone is much more prevalent on the songs of The Promise than it is on Darkness. His meat-and-potatoes tone adds heft and groove to these selections.” TJ

Outside Looking In Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/27/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Someday We’ll Be Together Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: September 29-30, 1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Someday We’ll Be Together” is a “supreme pop opus.” AZ

One Way Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 7/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Because the Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith Recorded: 9/27/197 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live: 12/28/1980 Released: The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) First Charted: 12/6/1986 Peak: 22 AR, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.2 video, 31.45 streaming Covered by: Patti Smith (1978 #13 BB, 10 CB, 17 HR, 19 RR, 4 CL, 3 CO, 5 UK, 7 DF), 10,000 Maniacs (1993, #11 BB, 9 CB, 7 RR, 9 AC, 7 MR, 65 UK, 12 DF) About the Song: “Included are his versions of singles farmed out to other artists – Because the Night (and while this version is terrific, it means something else in the end; Patti Smith’s version remains definitive).” TJ

Wrong Side of the Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Brokenhearted Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 11/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

Rendezvous Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: studio: 9/29/1977; live: 12/31/1980 at the Record Plant Mobile in Los Angeles, CA Released: studio: The Promise (1978/2010); live: Tracks (box set, 1998), 18 Tracks (1999) Covered by: Greg Kihn Band (1979), Gary “U.S.” Bonds (1982) About the Song: Bruce first recorded this song during the sessions for Darkness on the Edge of Town. It didn’t make the cut, but the Greg Kihn Band and Gary “U.S.” Bonds both covered the song. “Musically, it’s a Springsteen-style rock song, with a glockenspiel, a wall of guitars and a dash of pop.” MG-396

Candy’s Boy Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/3/1977, 6/6/1977, 6/27/1977, 8/24/1977 and 9/2/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “Candy’s Boy begins lyrically in the same place as ‘Candy’s Room,’ [which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town] but is a very different song melodically and thematically.” TJ

Save My Love Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1976 (written but not recorded), 7/22/2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: 11/1/2010 as a single, The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: In releasing The Promise (an extension of Darkness on the Edge of Town album), Springsteen relied on the vaults as a starting point but often did some rerecording of the songs to get them up to snuff. In the case of “Save My Love,” Springsteen wrote the song in 1976 but didn’t record it although there is video of the E Street Band rehearsing the song. It is a “musically finished but lyrically rough song.” ESS Thom Zinny found it “while scouring footage for the documentary that would accompany the anniversary box set for Darkness on the Edge of Town. Zimny loved the song, and Bruce was fascinated by it as well – enough to finish the lyrics and summon the E Street Band to his home studio to record it.” ESS They had to learn the song by watching the video. ESS The song recalls a time when “a handful of radio stations facilitated the only semblance of on-line community.” ESS The song is about a “long-distance Romeo [who] sends a silent message out to his girl, pledging and pleading for fidelity, relying on the power of radio to keep their emotional connection strong.” ESS

Ain’t Good Enough for You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/26/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The “hilarious” AZ “Ain't Good Enough for You is pure handclap, call-and-response, verse and chorus, approaching a doo wop celebration.” TJ

Fire Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live version: 12/16/1978 Released: January 1987 as a single (live version), The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) B-Side: “Incident on 57th Street” (live) Charted: 11/22/1986 as an album cut (live version) Peak: 46 BB, 36 GR, 14 AR, 54 UK, 42 CN, 82 AU, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.1 video, 25.94 streaming Covered by: the Pointer Sisters (1978 #2 BB, 2 CB, 2 R, 2 RR, 21 AC, 14 RB, 34 UK, 3 CN, 7 AU, 3 DF) About the Song: Bruce gave “the gritty, soulful Fire…to the Pointer Sisters who scored big with their classy version.” TJ It peaked at #2, making it the second-highest charting Bruce Springsteen-penned song – tied with “Dancing in the Dark” but just behind Manfred Mann’s chart-topping version of “Blinded by the Light.”

Spanish Eyes Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/30/1977, 7/13/1977, 8/13/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

It’s a Shame Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/14/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 12/9/1977 and 12/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Come On (Let's Go Tonight) is an early version of ‘Factory,’” TJ which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Talk to Me Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1077 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Little Things My Baby Does Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Records in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Breakaway Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/1/1977 (?) at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Breakaway” is “utterly haunting.” AZ

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/28/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; February 1999; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010), 18 Tracks (1999) About the Song: The “fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song,” AZ The Promise, “is the only cut that might have added something to Darkness that isn’t already there. Its sense of bewilderment, betrayal, uncertainty, and regret is total. That said, the addition of strings draws it outside Darkness’ skeletal purview, underscoring the fact that Darkness is perfect as it is.” TJ

City of Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Way Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Resources/References: AZ Amazon.com TJ AllMusic.com review by Thom Jurek ESS EStreetShuffle.com MG Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon (2020). Bruce Springsteen – All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Cassel (an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.): Great Britain. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/26/2011; last updated 8/1/2025.

 

Bruce Springsteen live box set debuted at #1

Live 1975/1985 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Released: November 10, 1986 Recorded: October 18, 1975 to September 30, 1985 Peak: 17 US, 4 UK, 17 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.1 UK, 12.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic heartland rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Click on a song titled for more details. Thunder Road (recorded 10/18/75) 3 Adam Raised a Cain (recorded 7/7/78) 4 Spirit in the Night (recorded 7/7/78) 1 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (recorded 12/31/80) 2 Paradise by the “C” (recorded 7/7/78) Fire (recorded 12/16/78) Growin’ Up (recorded 7/7/78) 1 It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City (recorded 7/7/78) 1 Backstreets (recorded 7/7/78) 3 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (recorded 7/7/78) 2 Raise Your Hand (recorded 7/7/78) Hungry Heart (recorded 12/28/80) 5 Two Hearts (recorded 7/8/81) 5 Tracks, Disc 2: Cadillac Ranch (recorded 7/6/81) 5 You Can Look But You Better Not Touch (recorded 12/29/80) 5 Independence Day (recorded 7/6/81) 5 Badlands (recorded 11/5/80) 4 Because the Night (recorded 12/28/80) Candy’s Room (recorded 7/8/81) 4 Darkness on the Edge of Town (recorded 12/29/80) 4 Racing in the Street (recorded 7/6/81) 4 This Land Is Your Land (recorded 12/28/80) Nebraska (recorded 8/6/84) 6 Johnny 99 (recorded 8/19/85) 6 Reason to Believe (recorded 8/19/84) 6 Born in the U.S.A. (recorded 9/30/85, released 6/23/84) 7 Seeds (recorded 9/30/85) Tracks, Disc 3: The River (recorded 9/30/85, released 6/13/81) 5 War (recorded 9/30/85) Darlington County (recorded 9/30/85) 7 Working on the Highway (recorded 8/19/85) 7 The Promised Land (recorded 9/30/85, released 10/78) 4 Cover Me (recorded 9/30/85, released 6/23/84) 7 I’m on Fire (recorded 8/19/85, released 2/16/85) 7 Bobby Jean (recorded 8/21/85, charted 6/23/84) 7 My Hometown (recorded 9/30/85) 7 Born to Run (recorded 8/19/85) 3 No Surrender (recorded 8/6/84) 7 Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (recorded 8/20/84) 3 Jersey Girl (recorded 7/9/81) Footnotes above indicate the original studio album on which the song was released (if relevant). 1 Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ (1973) 2 The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle (1973) 3 Born to Run (1975) 4 Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) 5 The River (1980) 6 Nebraska (1982) 7 Born in the U.S.A. (1984) Total Running Time: 216:13 The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica) Roy Bittan (piano, synthesizer, backing vocals) Clarence Clemons (saxophone, percussion, backing vocals) Danny Federici (organ, accordian, glockenspiel, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals) Nils Lofgren (guitar, backing vocals) Patti Scialfa (backing vocals, synthesizer) Garry Tallent (bass, backing vocals) Steve Van Zandt (guitar, backing vocals) Max Weinberg (drums)

Rating: 4.084 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

How to Follow a Blockbuster Following up a blockbuster album can be a tricky proposition. Fans want a sequel to the album they loved; critics demand new material that reflects an artist’s growth. The ‘80s are littered with classic albums with follow-ups that weren’t as well-received. Michael Jackson’s Thriller set him up for a lifetime of releases that were big sellers that were often well received, but they were simultaneously viewed as something less. Prince chose to soldier on as if Purple Rain hadn’t sold 25 million copies worldwide, releasing Around the World in a Day less than a year later. U2 didn’t seem to know what to do after The Joshua Tree, releasing the half-live, half-studio Rattle and Hum a year later. The Police flat out gave up after Synchronicity and never released another album. The Boss chose a different tactic. Why compete with your previous work? Instead, he chose to celebrate it – and capitalize on the very quality that made him a legendary performer. “Long before he sold substantial numbers of records, Bruce Springsteen began to earn a reputation as the best live act in rock & roll. Fans had been clamoring for a live album for a long time, and with Live/1975-85 they got what they wanted, at least in terms of bulk. His concerts were marathons, and this box set, including 40 tracks and running over three and a half hours, was about the average length of a show.” AM Another studio album would inevitably have suffered by comparison to Born in the U.S.A. Still, a triple-disc live box set (five records) seemed a risky career move that would test just how deep fans’ pockets were. The move paid off brilliantly. Well Received Anticipation was so high, the album generated over 1.5 million advance orders, the largest dollar-volume pre-order in record business history at that time. WK The album debuted at #1, a feat last seen a decade earlier with Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. It was the first five-record set to reach the top 10 and the first to sell more than a million copies. WK The album was certified for sales of 12 million; U.S. sales were actually 4 million, but the RIAA multiplies that figure by the number of discs in the collection. The only live album certified for more was Garth Brooks’ Double Live at 13 times platinum. WK “In his brief liner notes, Springsteen spoke of the emergence of the album’s ‘story’ as he reviewed live tapes, and that story seems nothing less than a history of his life, his concerns, and his career. The first cuts present the Springsteen of the early to mid-‘70s; these performances, most of them drawn from a July 1978 show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, present the romantic, hopeful, earnest Springsteen.” AM What We Get “The second section begins with his first Top Ten hit, Hungry Heart – this is the Springsteen of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, an arena rock star with working-class concerns. After an acoustic mini set given largely to material from Nebraska – songs of economic desperation and crime – comes a reshuffling of Born in the U.S.A., songs in which the artist and his characters start to fight back and rock out.” AM Surprisingly, “Dancing in the Dark,” his #2 hit from that album and highest-charting song of his career, doesn’t make the cut. He does, of course, include his most iconic song, Born to Run, the “unofficial state anthem” AM of New Jersey. Reviews were “overwhelmingly positive,” WK but some critics cited the omission of concert highlights such as “Prove It All Night,” “The Fever,” and his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” WK “Fans could rejoice in the seven previously unreleased songs,” AM which included a cover of Edwin Starr’s War and Fire, a song written by Springsteen and a top-ten hit for the Pointer Sisters in 1979. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of songs from the live box set that aren’t highlighted on another page.

Raise Your Hand Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd Alvertis Isbell Recorded: 7/7/1978 at Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA Released: Live 1975/1985 Charted: 12/10/1986 Peak: 44 AR, 30 DF Click for codes to charts. Cover of: Eddie Floyd (1967, #79 BB, 16 RB 42 UK, 74 CN) About the Song: Eddie Floyd first recorded this song in 1967 for his debut album, Knock on Wood. While it was a top-20 R&B hit, it otherwise went pretty much unnoticed. It became a live favorite for a variety of rock acts, though, including Janis Joplin, the J. Geils Band, Ike & Tina Turner, and, of course, Bruce Springsteen, who performed it for the first time back in 1976. ESS He often used the song as an encore or show closer. ESS “Even Bruce’s casual fans recognize Floyd’s importance as a musical influence–we’ve seen it evidenced in Bruce’s set lists over the years, from Floyd-penned staples like ‘634-5789’ on the Wrecking Ball Tour to memorable cameos like ‘Ninety-Nine and Half (Won’t Do)’ and ‘Knock on Wood’.” ESS A decent chunk of Live 1975/1985 was recorded at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood on July 7, 1978. In addition to “Raise Your Hand,” the box set includes live recordings from this date and venue for “Adam Raised a Cain,” “Spirit in the Night,” “Paradise by the ‘C’,” “Growin’ Up,” “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” “Backstreets,” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).”

This Land Is Your Land Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Woody Guthrie Recorded: 12/28/1980 live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York Released: Live 1975/1985 About the Song: Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” in 1939 as a reaction to the “saccharinely patriotic song” ESS “God Bless America.” “It irked Guthrie to hear Berlin’s blindly syrupy song coming out of every radio a full decade into the Great Depression while all around him were migrants and homeless struggling to find work and survive.” ESS Guthrie used “This Land” to point “out where America was falling short and failing its citizens.” ESS However, “the version most of us are familiar with is the sanitized one he released in 1951,” ESS “minus its more progressive lyrics.” ESS “Even though the versions in print and on record excluded Guthrie’s sharpest lyrics, the folk music tradition kept them alive.” ESS Bruce Springsteen, for one, “always insisted on performing all the verses, starting with his first performance in 1980.” ESS He “was captivated with the beauty and poetry of Guthrie’s words, along with Guthrie’s ability to simultaneously hold his country accountable.” ESS

Seeds Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/30/1985 live at the Los Angeles Coliseum Released: Live 1975/1985 About the Song: This is “an original Springsteen song that Bruce has played live almost two hundred times, and yet it’s never seen an official studio release.” ESS It’s been done “in so many different arrangements…[one] can’t help but wonder if the reason Bruce never released it is that he’s never found a studio arrangement he’s comfortable memorializing.” ESS He would, however, release “Rockaway the Days”on the 1998 Tracks box set in which he paired the lyrics with completely different music. This version was recorded live at the Los Angeles Coliseum on 9/30/1985 along with “Born in the U.S.A.,” “The River,” “War,” “Darlington County,” “The Promised Land,” “Cover Me,” and “My Hometown.” The song is sung from the point of view of “an unemployed worker, lured from his home up north (probably working in the steel mills or coal mines) by the promise of plentiful and secure work in Texas. He heads south with nothing to his name other than his family, only to find that by the time he gets there, the price of oil had dropped and the jobs along with it. With no work to do and no place to go, he and his family find themselves homeless in Houston.” ESS The family sleeps in their car and the kids are sick. The narrator seethes over a passing limousine, presumably carrying an oil executive apathetic to the plight of his former workers. He just wants “to be seen and acknowledged for the economic injustice that’s been done him.” ESS

War Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong Recorded: 9/30/1985 live at the Los Angeles Coliseum Released: 11/10/1986 as a single, Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986) B-Side: “Merry Christmas Baby” Peak: 8 BB, 9 CB 9 GR, 12 RR, 4 AR, 18 UK, 11 CN, 38 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.5 video, 2.64 streaming About the Song: This song was originally recorded by the Temptations, but their “original 1970 recording never quite mustered the visceral power that Edwin Starr would bring to bear in his now-legendary single released just a few months later.” ESS It reached #1. As Bruce was winding down his Born in the U.S.A. tour in 1985, he “introduced a few wild cards into the tour’s last stand in Los Angeles. One of them was a cover of “War,” introduced by a prescient plea to his young fans not to blindly trust their leaders. Bruce had never shied away from anti-war sentiment, but rarely had he embraced it quite so boldly.” ESS Check out the DMDB page for more details about the original version of “War.”

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Jersey Girl Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Tom Waits Recorded: 7/9/1981 live at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey Released: 7/31/1984 as the B-side of “Cover Me,” Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986) Cover of: Tom Waits (1980) About the Song: Tom Waits wrote this song for Kathleen Brennan, his future wife. It was released in 1980 on his Heartbreak and Vine album. Springsteen performed the song live and a recording of it was featured as the B-side of his 1984 single for “Cover Me.” The same performance was then used as the closing song for Bruce’s Live 1975/1985 box set. Because of his association with the state, people have mistakenly assumed Bruce wrote the song. ”Its lyrics absolutely reek of Bruce” ESS “because Waits’ songwriting on ‘Jersey Girl’ so closely resembles Bruce’s own style.” ESS When Bruce debuted his performance of the song, he cleaned up the lyrics a bit and added a whole new verse that “perfectly matches the tone and heart of Waits’ original.” ESS It turns out he’d originally written the words for the song “Party Lights,” which wouldn’t surface until it was released on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set in 2015.

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by William Ruhlmann ESS EStreetShuffle.com WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 2/14/2011; last updated 8/3/2025.

Dennis DeYoung released Desert Moon, first solo album

Desert Moon Dennis DeYoung

Charted: October 6, 1994 Peak: 29 US Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Don’t Wait for Heroes [4:46] (12/8/84, 83 US, 81 CB) Please (with Rosemary Butler) [4:20] Boys Will Be Boys [5:41] Fire (Jimi Hendrix) [3:46] Desert Moon [6:09] (9/8/84, 10 US, 10 CB, 7 RR, 4 AC, 31 AR, 7 CN) Suspicious [4:57] Gravity [4:51] Dear Darling (I’ll Be There) [4:27] All songs by Dennis DeYoung except where noted. Total Running Time: 38:57

Rating: 3.348 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Styx’s Kilroy Was Here album released in 1983 followed the same trajectory as its four predecessors – it hit the top 10 on the Billboard album chart and sold more than a million copies. It was only the second Styx album, after 1981’s Paradise Theater, to produce two top-10 hits – “Mr Roboto” and “Don’t Let It End.” The latter was a Dennis DeYoung ballad not too far from the template that gave the band their only #1 hit with “Babe” in 1979. “Mr. Roboto,” however, proved divisive even though it was a #3 hit. Some fans and even members of the band considered the song goofy and even the band’s “jump the shark” moment. The video gave a taste of the rock opera storyline DeYoung envisioned with the album, but it also tested the patience of guitarist Tommy Shaw who wasn’t enamored with DeYoung’s theatrical leanings. Shaw ended up leaving the band the following year. After a live album, 1984’s Caught in the Act, Styx disappeared from the scene for six years with DeYoung, Shaw, and guitarist James Young all releasing solo albums to varying degrees of success. DeYoung was the only one of the three to find himself back in the top 10 of the pop charts without his bandmates. Desert Moon, “a glorious power ballad in the vein of ‘Don’t Let It End’…showcases every aspect of DeYoung’s wide range…and…did deservedly crack Billboard’s Top 10.” AMG It was also a top 10 hit in Canada and a top-5 adult contemporary hit. “Nothing [else on the album] is as glorious as ‘Desert Moon,’ but that’s a song that justifies an entire album.” AMG The second single, Don’t Wait for Heroes, didn’t fare nearly as well, stalling at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Desert Moon” proved to be DeYoung’s only solo hit to scratch the top 40. “Heroes” demonstrates how DeYoung “loves to put on a show, to rouse a crowd and strut on the stage.” AMG In the upbeat anthem, he proclaims, “Don’t wait for heroes / Do it yourself / You’ve got the power / Winners are losers / Who got up and gave it one more try.” AMG Elsewhere the album features Boys Will Be Boys, which All Music Guide’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls “a horrific fusion of new wave, arena rock, and doo wop.” AMG Please, “a song that makes Meat Loaf seem subtle,” AMG is a duet with Rosemary Butler, who was a backup singer with Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, and Neil Young. She even had some success as a solo artist in Japan in the early ‘80s. The album, produced by DeYoung, is “very, very ‘80s – all all thundering drums, clanking synths, glassy electric pianos and overdriven guitars.” AMG “The first side contains the rockers, the second the ballads and pop tunes and, although it can get sticky on sentiment and often rides a bouncy, dorky beat, overall, the B-side is the better of the two because it showcases DeYoung the pop singer.” AMG In addition to singing and writing all the songs, with the exception of his cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Fire, DeYoung plays keyboards, piano, and percussion. He also did arranging and mixing on the album. He brought in a slew of musicians to help, including his wife Suzanne on backing vocals, and Tom Dziallo for guitar, bass, percussion, drum programming, arranging, and mixing.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia First posted 6/5/2021.