BBC Music Television announces When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain
The film tells the story of how Springsteen and the E Street Band first arrived in the UK in November 1975 for a sold-out performance in Hammersmith, giving his new album Born to Run its European premiere.
BBC Two and iPlayer will celebrate Bruce Springsteen with a night of programming in May to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s first UK concert.
The centerpiece is When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain, a fascinating new documentary from Wise Owl Films, part of All3Media, chronicling the artist’s unique relationship with the UK – as revealed in a world exclusive new interview with the American musician.
The one-hour film tells the story of how a 26-year-old Springsteen and the E Street Band first arrived in the UK in November 1975 for a sold-out performance at the Hammersmith Odeon (now the Eventim Apollo), giving his new album Born to Run its European premiere.
The concert was heavily hyped by Springsteen’s record company, who were keen to sell him as the new Bob Dylan. On arriving at the venue, the New Jersey-born star was dismayed to see posters which proclaimed ‘Finally London is ready for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’.
In this new interview, which sees Bruce tell many never-heard-before stories, Springsteen reveals how he was so disappointed by his own performance that night that he couldn’t watch the footage back for over 30 years.
Bruce says: “(After the show)…I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I’d been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in… I went in for a few minutes, couldn’t stand myself being there, went out, ran back to the hotel, sat in my lonely room under a big black cloud, ate whatever I had and went to bed….I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show!”
Fortunately, a second concert at the same venue a week later was a personal triumph, but Springsteen did not return to the UK until 1981 for The River Tour, which took him around the country to venues including Edinburgh, Birmingham, Stafford and six nights at London’s Wembley Arena.
This is the story of a unique and ongoing, two-way, love affair – from the Leeds team behind BBC Two’s successful When X Came To Britain series (Bob Marley, Nirvana, Motown, Tina Turner, Blondie and ABBA) and The Hacienda: The Club That Shook Britain.
Mark Robinson, Wise Owl Films said: “This documentary chronicles a truly special relationship between an iconic American artist and the UK – and one who seems to inspire an unrivalled loyalty and passion from his fans. Not only has Bruce been influenced by British songwriters and musicians, in turn he has influenced new generations of them too”.
Full article can be found here.
