WCSX Classic Cuts
Bruce Springsteen: “Badlands”
The Hook: It was all about capturing excitement and energy in the studio.
Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Year: 1978
Writer: Bruce Springsteen
Stats: Peaked at number-43 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town had its 40th anniversary a month ago today — exactly one month ahead of the 69th birthday of E Street Band piano player Roy Bittan. Here’s what the birthday boy has to say about the recording sessions for one of that album’s most memorable cuts.
E Street Band piano player Roy Bittan on the intensity of the recording sessions for “Badlands.” OC:…on tape. :12
“Playing ‘Badlands’ you’d play a take on that thing and you’d be soaking wet by the end of the take. And that’s what we were going for in those days was to capture that excitement and that energy on tape.”
