VOLUME 8 ISSUE 11 - Mike Appel · BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN HADDONFIELD IN ... hooked one mid-January night in 1973 on Long Island, ... “because to me, rather than seeing Bruce at the

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN HADDONFIELD IN1978, AS SHOT BY LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHERFRANK STEFANKO.

B Y R A N D Y A L E X A N D E R

SouthJersey.com VOLUME 8 ISSUE 12 SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE 59

On the heels of his 17th al bumand new tour this month, weexamine Bruce Springsteen’sstoried South Jersey pastand trace the local rootsthat help ed spawn alegend ary rock ca reer thathas spanned four decades.

The

ofBIRTH

BRUCE

ACK IN HIScollege days,Dell Poncettused to fancyhimself as the

first Bruce Spring-steen fan in South Jersey. He gothooked one mid-January night in1973 on Long Island, having leftCherry Hill for the weekend tovisit his cousin. Looking to catchsome live music, Poncett stum-bled upon “this scruffy little kid”with “so much charisma” as theopening act for the Paul WinterConsort at My Father’s Place, apopular cabaret housed in aRoslyn, N.Y. bowling alley.

might be able to bide their time byshooting a couple rounds of pool. Withouthesitation, Poncett sent them 2 ½ miles upRoute 70 to the Silver Cue, a pool hall thatwas located on the eastbound side, acrossthe highway from the landmark King ofPizza. Armed with directions, the groupzoomed off in a metal-flake, lime-greenBuick Riviera, Clarence behind the wheel.

Poncett vividly recalls Springsteendressing “oddly for him” on stage thatnight, wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, khakicolored jeans and sneakers, while Clemonssported a light-colored zoot suit and fedora,

a precursor to that iconic look from theBorn to Run cover, two years in the future.

The Erlton Lounge was owned byJulius “Ju-Ju” Kinkle of North Camden,“Uncle Al” to his patrons, a reputed mob-ster who had left his job as a waiter at theold Latin Casino to open his own CherryHill nightspot. The Erlton Lounge was thespot “Where Your Friends Are All Week,”the newspaper ad touting Springsteen’sarrival declared. Poncett, now managingeditor of the Philadelphia BusinessJournal, fondly remembers the ErltonLounge as “sort of a grungy bar with a little

Poncett could n’t wait to get back toCherry Hill to tell his buddies how he’dbeen impressed by this “unbelievable”guy with vividly intoxicating songs andlighthearted stories made funnier whenhe’d stop mid-song and bang on hisamplifier to keep it from short-circuiting.

Seven months later, by that point anadmitted fanatic, Poncett arguably becamethe first Bruce Springsteen fan to see himperform in South Jersey. It was Aug. 14,1973, and Springsteen was making his localdebut at Uncle Al’s Erlton Theatre Loungeon King’s Highway in Cherry Hill, just two-thirds of a mile from Poncett’s home in theKingston Estates development. Oddlyenough, the joint where Bruce wasappearing was once again a bowling alley.

Poncett and his two pals arrived early tomake sure they secured the best spot in thehouse. So early, in fact, they were forced towait outside for the lounge to open. That’swhen they encountered Springsteen andthe band—Clarence Clemons on sax,Danny Federici and David Sancious on key-boards, Garry Tallent on bass and Vini “MadDog” Lopez on drums—looking to killsome time before the gig. Bruce andClarence walked out of the club and rightover to Poncett to ask where the group

60 SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE VOLUME 8 ISSUE 12 SouthJersey.com

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BRUCESPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND INSIDESHELLOW’S LUNCHEONETTE IN EASTCAMDEN (1978); A FLYER FOR A CAMDENCOUNTY COLLEGE SHOW IN 1974; SPRING-STEEN AND HIS 1960 CORVETTE ON COLO-NIAL AVENUE IN HADDONFIELD (1978); OUT-SIDE PHOTOGRAPHER FRANK STEFANKO’SHOME IN HADDONFIELD (1978); A FLYER MIS-SPELLING SPRINGSTEEN’S NAME, FOR ACHERRY HILL SHOW IN 1973; THE BAND ONTHE STREET IN EAST CAMDEN (1978);SPRINGSTEEIN OUTSIDE A HADDONFIELDBARBERSHOP (1978); ENJOYING A SUMMERNIGHT IN HADDONFIELD (1982).

PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRANK STEFANKO

stage where bands played.” Springsteenwas booked there at the end of the Greet-ings From Asbury Park tour supporting hisfirst album. He’d return to the ErltonLounge in December, four days beforeChristmas and a couple months into thetour for his second album, The Wild, TheInnocent & The E Street Shuffle. This time,Bruce was the headliner on a triple bill witha pair of local bands, Uproar and Moxie, inthe midst of a week-long residency. Spring-steen was a last-minute addition, taking thestage just before midnight and leaving after2 a.m.

Those weren’t Springsteen’s onlySouth Jersey gigs in the early days of hiscareer as a Columbia recording artist,before the Born to Run breakthrough. In

1974, he played another club similar inspirit to the Erlton Lounge, only muchlarger and without the bowling lanes—the Satellite Lounge in Cookstown. Healso performed that year at BurlingtonCounty College (April 6) and CamdenCounty College’s Blackwood campus(Nov. 21). The latter was a game-changing moment for Cherry Hill rockerJohn Eddie, who has mentioned thatnight at Lincoln Hall Auditorium as thefirst time he’d ever seen Springsteen liveand “that’s when I realized you could betheatrical and rock ‘n’ roll, and not haveto wear women’s clothing.” Eddie wouldemerge in the early ‘80s as a Springsteen-inspired rocker, and he’s been especiallyembraced by Springsteen lovers ever

since. LL OF THOSE EARLYSouth Jersey shows hap-pened during the magical,

mythical era in local Springsteen lorethat, for nearly 40 years, has staked itsclaim to the Pennsylvania side of theDelaware. The perception always hasbeen that Bruce’s meeting across theriver with Philly fans was a career-launching love affair rooted at theMain Point coffeehouse in BrynMawr and surrounding Main Line

colleges, and propelled over the FM air-waves by WMMR, with the late Ed Sciakyleading the album rock station’s efforts tocrown Bruce as the next King of Rock ‘n’Roll. Westmont resident Michael Tearson,the first person to play Springsteen on theradio anywhere during his early WMMRtenure, says it was a complete team effortto break Springsteen at the station.

Too often overlooked is the key roleSouth Jersey played in Springsteen’s risenot only in the early ‘70s, but through theentire decade. Gigs aside, South Jerseyalso was where Bruce would be pho-tographed for two album covers, andwould seek out the sage wisdom thatwould rocket his career into the 1980sand to phenomenal new heights.

Mike Appel, Springsteen’s managerthrough the first half of the ‘70s, says all ofthat WMMR exposure naturally “bledacross the border to South Jersey,” butthere was no real touring strategy at thetime to bring Bruce from Asbury Park tothe Garden State’s lower half beyond get-ting as much exposure and money as hecould for the band to survive.

“We had a lot of concerts in SouthJersey, Cherry Hill in particular,” saysAppel. “It didn’t matter if Bruce wasplaying Mafia-tinged clubs or not. Every-body treated us very well and paid uswhat we needed to be paid. We onlyhave good memories of those CherryHill dates. Any shows we did down therewere way stronger than in New YorkCity. I always say that the Philadelphiaarea is the epicenter of fanaticism forBruce and the E Street Band. We had agreat deal of support down there. They


were great places for Bruce to keep per-forming and building his live showresume.”

WXPN and NPR “World Café” hostDavid Dye was a member of the WMMRair staff that boosted the Boss in 1973. Hehad become “a Springsteen groupie” andrecalls being one of the only WMMRstaffers dissatisfied with simply followingBruce around the Delaware Valley on thePhilly side. “I thought the South Jersey liveexperience was the coolest thing,” saysDye, “because to me, rather than seeingBruce at the Main Point out of his ele-ment, you were seeing him in his ele-ment, like at a Jersey bar show.”

Dye got to the Erlton Lounge early,too, positioning himself at a kitchen table,drinking beer and watching Uproar, thenMoxie, while waiting for Bruce to hit thestage. Sometime during Moxie’s set,“Bruce and the band walked through thecrowd to get to the dressing room, andeverybody stood up and clapped,” saysDye. “And the band on stage thought it

was for them. I remember that vividly.” “We rehearsed everything we did and

knew it verbatim back then,” drummerVini Lopez explains, noting that RollingStone named the Lopez-era E Street Bandthe No. 1 live performing act of all time.“It’s crazy when I think about those days.We were very tight—we sounded loosebut we played tight. A lot of bands didn’tlike to have us opening for them in thosedays, because once we got done it wastough to keep the crowd around.

“It was a terrific time. We wanted tobe the best at what we did. Every showwe did, the band was very tight—we werelike married. It was more than exciting.We were playing terrific. It was ourdream.”

Fast forward two months: Springsteendoes his last South Jersey club show onFeb. 23, 1974, at the “new” SatelliteLounge, then known as the biggest bar inNew Jersey, an expansive, lone-standing,one-floor building on the Fort Dix out-skirts. It’s easily his best chronicled local

appearance, not only because of its his-toric importance as the official debut ofnew drummer Ernest “Boom” Carter,but for the sensational ripple effect ofthat sudden personnel change, courtesyof club owner Carlo Rossi. Rossi was alongtime New Hanover Township com-mitteeman who also owned theWhisper Bar and Restaurant in BrownsMills and at one time also operated twobars in Northeast Philly—Carlo’s CircleClub and the Club Rossi.

As Appel recounts, Springsteenwanted to postpone the Satellite showby a couple of weeks because heneeded more time to rehearse withCarter, who had replaced Lopez ondrums three days earlier. (Lopez hadbeen fired in the wee hours following aFeb. 12 gig in Kentucky for punchingout Appel’s brother, Steve, the roadmanager, before the show). Appel,thinking nothing of asking for aschedule change, asked the WilliamMorris Agency, which was bookingSpringsteen by then, to call Rossi andmake the request. Instead of granting it,Rossi obtained Appel’s phone numberfrom the agent and wanted to speak tothe manager personally.

“Rossi gets on the phone with me,”Appel recalls, “and says, ‘Listen, Brucehas gotta play my place on the date Idecided on. And if you don’t do what Isay, I’m gonna give Bruce ‘the kiss’ inAsbury Park.’ I was stunned. I mean, didthat guy just tell me what I think he toldme? I called Bruce right away and said,‘Hey, Bruce: Not for nothing, but I justgot a call from a bad dude and I think hereally means business. We really have towatch what we do and say here.

“In the meantime, the guy calls backand gets my brother, Steve, on thephone and after the call, Steve comesover, and says to me that Carlo hasthreatened both of us with deaththreats, too. I call back Bruce. ‘What doyou wanna do?’ He says, ‘Oh dammit,tell him we’ll play.’ So we do and Carlosays, ‘Thank you very much, you won’tbe disappointed.’

“We go down there, and it’s a giantplace and the place is mobbed. One ofCarlo’s henchmen calls me over andsays, ‘Listen, just in case you thoughtthat was an idle threat, let me tell you alittle story about Carlo. ….”

In the weeks that followed, Spring-steen recounted the story during aMarch 8, 1974, radio interview inHouston, transcribed in the bookBruce Springsteen on the Road, 1968-2005, by noted Springsteen biogra-


“WE ONLY HAVE GOOD MEMORIES OF THOSE CHERRY HILL DATES. Any shows we did down there were way stronger than in New York City.”

—MIKE APPEL, SPRINGSTEEN’S MANAGER IN THE 1970S

pher Dave Marsh: “We just got a new drummer, he’d

only been with us about four days andwe were gonna cancel out the gigbecause we weren’t ready, and Carlocalls up my manager and says, ‘Tell ‘emto get down here,’ and he said he’sgonna kill me if I didn’t come [laughter].So we called up these cats we know—Tyrone and Rocky [laughter]—and thesecats run another place, they run this jointcalled the Erlton Lounge, which is likeanother little chapter, you know, about25, 30 miles up. We said, ‘Tyrone, man,this cat Carlo, he’s gonna kill Bruceunless we … you know.’ And Tyronesays, ‘Be there. Go’ [chuckles]. And it’sfunny because a week before … thisband Foghat played there and [Rossi]came out and he told them to turn down,and they didn’t listen to him. He came upagain and told ‘em to turn down, andthey didn’t listen to him. So the third timehe comes up, he says, ‘I told you guys toturn down,’ pulls out a gun and shootsthe amps [laughter]. That’s a true story… pulls out a gun, blows the ampsaway, right [chuckles]. So I was there onSaturday night. But yeah—SatelliteLounge, don’t ever go there.”

Not only did Springsteen blow awaythe Satellite audience, giving them wellmore than their five bucks’ worth, butCarter, despite just a single rehearsal,“performed splendidly,” says Appel.“There wasn’t a soul in the audiencewho didn’t think he wasn’t with themfor the band for three years.” Little didthey realize that because Carter hadn’thad enough time to learn Bruce’s mate-rial, the show—a pair of 70- to 80-minute sets starting, respectively, atmidnight and 3 a.m. with a long inter-mission—contained an extra-high pro-portion of classic rock standards.

Rossi was so happy after the Satel-lite gig that he called Appel over to givehim a hug and arrange for the band andcrew to fill their gas tanks in the middleof the night, well past normal operatinghours around those parts.

“He opened up a gas station that wasclosed,” says Appel. “We drive out to themiddle of nowhere to a Gulf station, andall our cars are following a state trooper.And the state trooper opens up the sta-tion and gives us free gas!”

ESPITE NO LONGER BEINGa part of the group, Lopezcontinued to build SouthJersey roots post-Spring-steen, as a security worker



at Emerald City, the late ‘70s/early ‘80srock emporium in Cherry Hill on the siteof the Latin Casino, now Subaru head-quarters. Emerald City also was knownfor a time to be a favorite hangout ofClarence Clemons.

The transition in drummers fromLopez to Carter completely changed thedynamic of the E Street Band, both soni-cally and rhythmically, notes Tom Cun-ningham, host of The Bruce Brunch onWCHR-FM in Manahawkin and the nation-ally syndicated Boss Time Radio show.Cunningham, a longtime Bruce historian,was stunned to hear Springsteen speak lastyear at an Asbury Park conference on thehistory of race in the Asbury scene, aboutthe balanced complexion of the bandlineup that debuted at the SatelliteLounge—three white members (Spring-steen, Tallent, Federici) and three African-Americans (Clemons, Sancious, Carter).

“This was a band that was completelyintegrated at a time when rock bandswere not,” says Cunningham. “And thebest thing about it was that BruceSpringseen had enough confidence in hismusic and his sense of self to just say,‘Here we are.’ He just presented it likethat was the way it should be, and it wasvery liberating.

“The band was different then. BoomCarter was more of a swing, jazz typedrummer. David Sancious could play any-thing on keyboards. That version of theband wasn’t together all that long, and itwas tremendous to hear Springsteen finallytalk about it, how much he loved it, andhow no one ever made a big deal about theband’s integration, because people lovedthem. That’s what made it so special. “

The E Street Band had moved up to theSouth Jersey college circuit for the rest of1974 following the Satellite Lounge event.Colleges paid better and “always treated uswell,” says Lopez. And on April 4, theyreached Burlington County College in Pem-berton on a double bill with the Persua-sions, the venerable Brooklyn gospel/pop acappella group, opening the show. Fans ofSpringsteen’s first two albums witnessed adream set list over 90 minutes, containing,in part, “New York City Serenade,” “Spirit inthe Night,” “The E Street Shuffle,” “4th ofJuly, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Kitty’s Back,”“Blinded by the Light,” “For You,” and “Ros-alita (Come Out Tonight).”

It would be seven more months untilSpringsteen returned to South Jersey. Inbetween, he was supposed to play Glass-boro State College (now Rowan Univer-sity) but the May 12 commitment was

scratched for a recording session in NewYork. Springsteen was supposed to head-line over Fairport Convention, but wasreplaced instead by the Bogus Baby Band,and never returned. Three days earlier,Springsteen played the Boston showreviewed by future manager Jon Landauin Boston’s The Real Paper with the infa-mous line: “I saw rock ‘n’ roll’s future andits name is Bruce Springsteen.”

A Camden County College Blackwoodcampus concert would, however, berescheduled, from Oct. 21 to Nov. 21 atwhat’s now known as the Dennis FlyerTheater. It was a double bill, with long-forgotten Buddah Records R&B artist JaeMason as the opening act.

Y 1978, THE PHOTOGRAPHYof Frank Stefanko broughtSouth Jersey’s role into entirelynew focus. Stefanko met

Springsteen through Patti Smith, a closefriend from Glassboro State College whogrew up in Deptford Township and, aspunk rock’s burgeoning poet laureate, alsowould record the definitive version of theSpringsteen-penned “Because the Night.”

Smith showed Springsteen publicity

photos Stefanko had taken of her, and hewas impressed enough to expressinterest in hiring him. Stefanko shot thealbum cover portraits for 1978’s Dark-ness on the Edge of Town and 1980’sThe River during combined sessions athis home in Haddonfield. Stefanko’s fullband photos seen on the The Riverdouble album design were taken in EastCamden, as well as Manhattan.

“Patti called me up and said, ‘Youwanna photograph Bruce Springsteen?He’s crazy about your work,’” Sefanko,already a Bruce fan, recalls. “I didn’thear anything for three months, andone day in February 1978, I get this call:‘Hey Frank. Let’s get together and dosome photos. How ‘bout I come downto your place? What should I bring?’ Isaid bring some changes of clothes.”

And on one cool Saturdaymorning, Springsteen pulled up to Ste-fanko’s house in a ‘58 Chevy pickuptruck with tree trunks in the back toweigh it down from skidding on the icyroads. He arrived at the door carrying abrown paper bag packed with flannelshirts. The next day, Springsteenreturned in a much flashier 1960Corvette—the same Corvette on dis-play at the National Constitution Centerin the new exhibit, “From Asbury Parkto the Promised Land.” Adjacent to theCorvette at the exhibit is a life-sizedblowup of Stefanko’s photo of Spring-steen standing next to the car in frontof the photographer’s house on asnow-lined Colonial Avenue. One ofthose flannel shirts in Bruce’s bagmade the cover of The River.

The following weekend, the entireE Street Band arrived at Stefanko’shome in two big “pimpmobile” carswith fins—one was Steven Van Zandt’s,the other belonged to Clemons, remi-niscent of the car Poncett saw the BigMan driving in Cherry Hill five years ear-lier. After a few photos around thehouse, the shoot moved to Shellow’sLuncheonette on Federal Street in EastCamden. Stefanko had known aboutthe place through his uncles, whobegan to frequent it back in the 1940s.He thought the knotty pine wood inte-rior, formica chrome counters andbooths, and pinball machine combinedfor a number of creative possibilities,and called Bill Shellow.

“I said, ‘Keep the shop open, I’mcoming over with Bruce Springsteenand the E Street Band,’ and he didn’tbelieve me,” says Stefanko. “But wewent over and took photos of them onthe counter, and all crammed in the


booths, and shots of Bruce playing pin-ball.”

The band—which by now hadreplaced Sancious and Carter with RoyBittan on keyboards and Max Weinbergon drums, adding Van Zandt on guitar—was having too much fun, as bestexpressed in a Stefanko photo on theinner sleeve of The River with Van Zandtalmost doubled over with laughter.

“In those days,” Stefanko recalls,“Bruce was this young man who wasreally down to earth. He could’ve been mybrother, loving the Jersey Shore, lovingrock ‘n’ roll, cracking jokes, telling stories,keeping the band amused, laughing all thetime, and just having a good time. But it allcame with a drive of having something toprove, something that had to get said. Hewas a perfectionist.”

HAT DRIVE QUIETLY BROUGHTSpringsteen back to CherryHill in 1979. Darkness on theEdge of Town, the long-

awaited followup to Born to Run, finallyhad been released but four albums intohis career, a Top 10 hit still evaded TheBoss.


Behind the MusicA new exhibit chronicles Springsteen’s mark on rock music.

special exhibit across the bridge at the National ConstitutionCenter in Philadelphia has Bruce Springsteen fans buzzing,while allowing them to get an up close and personal look atThe Boss’ storied career. Visitors can check out “FromAsbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music ofBruce Springsteen” through Sept. 3 to catch glimpses ofone-of-a-kind memorabilia on loan from the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Everything from handwritten lyrics and oldguitars to the famous blue jeans and white T-shirt he popularized onthe cover of Born in the U.S.A. is showcased. During the exhibit’s run,several special events are planned, including documentary screen-ings and Q&A sessions with Springsteen historians. For more details,visit ConstitutionCenter.org. – Peter Proko

He wanted to see if Kal Rudman,Cherry Hill’s “Man with the Golden Ears,”could help finally elevate Springsteen tothe “Promised Land” of the record charts.Rudman’s national reputation as publisherof the highly influential broadcast andmusic industry bible, the Friday MorningQuarterback (FMQB), was soaring. Hecould be seen regularly at the time as themusic industry’s hit-picking maven on TheMerv Griffin Show and the Today Show.

Bruce arranged for a secret meeting atRudman’s offices on Route 70 in CherryHill through Herbie Gordon, the legendaryPhiladelphia regional Columbia Recordsrepresentative, also from Cherry Hill.

“Bruce was very humble, kind of shy,and very low key,” Rudman remembers.“He said, ‘Everybody told me you’re theexpert. That’s why I’m here. I have aquestion that’s very important to me inmy career. Very basic. You have a TopAlbum list and a Top Singles list. I’venever made the Top 10 yet with an album.But I’m feeling hits, and based on theaudience response at my concerts, it’s allselling. But I can’t get near the Top 10.Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong?’

“He had no clue. And I looked at him,and with a wry smile, I said, ‘Not only areyou doing something wrong, but in the

science and art of creating Top 10 records,you’ve got a big vacuum.’ And his eyeswidened like half dollars.

“‘What is it?,’ he says.“‘All your songs are directed to the

male demographic. If you look at a lot ofTop 10 records, you’ll see the words ‘cry’and ‘girl,’ angst about young female emo-tions. You have no songs for girls. Andmany more girls listen to Top 40 thanboys. And that’s the science and art ofdemographics and psychographics.’

“Bruce was astonished. And helooked at me and he said, ‘Boy, what yousay is true. I sure can’t deny it. So I’m notmakin’ it with the girls?’ And I chuckled.Myself and a lot of listeners had beenasking, ‘What’s the matter with Bruce?Doesn’t he like females?’”

Springsteen recalled the incident toinfluential music executive Danny Gold-berg in his 2009 book, Bumping IntoGeniuses: My Life Inside the Rock andRoll Business.

“Kal explained to me that Top 40 radio ismainly listened to by girls and that my femaledemographic was low. And I thought aboutthe songs on Darkness and I realized that thelyrics really were mostly for and about guys.So on this new album I’m working on—there are some songs for girls.”

The new album, released severalmonths later, was The River, which wouldbear Stefanko’s cover portrait in theflannel shirt, and Rudman’s imprint on“Hungry Heart,” which countered themacho celebrations of the rest of thealbum with sped-up vocal, romantic lyrics,and retro harmonies by ‘60s pop greatsThe Turtles. “Hungry Heart” becameSpringsteen’s first Top 10 hit and the onlyone on that double album, peaking at No.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Springsteen’snext rock album with the E Street Band,1984’s Born in the USA, was an unparal-leled smash, netting seven Top 10 hits.

Needless to say, Springsteen went onto become one of the biggest rock stars ofall time. This month he will release his 17thalbum, Wrecking Ball, and play to a sold-out Wells Fargo Center crowd, all in suchclose proximity to the South Jersey townswhere it all started some 40 years ago.

Randy Alexander is president and CEO of RandexCommunications, a South Jersey entertainment,lifestyle and music publicity firm celebrating its 15thanniversary in 2012. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s,he was an award-winning pop music critic andentertainment columnist at The Trenton Times,where he wrote more about Bruce Springsteenthan anyone else in his 20-year newspaper career.


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VOLUME 8 ISSUE 11 - Mike Appel · BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN HADDONFIELD IN ... hooked one mid-January night in 1973 on Long Island, ... “because to me, rather than seeing Bruce at the