“A frightened little boy”: Did the screw up that made Manfred Mann terrified of Bruce Springsteen inadvertently launch The Boss’ breakthrough?
Covering Bruce Springsteen should be a herculean task. He’s The Boss, after all, one of the most life-affirming presences in rock with a distinctive voice, lyricism and style.
It should be nearly impossible to pull off a Springsteen song and still keep your dignity, and yet, before Born In The USA took off, there was a feeling that Springsteen would become a songwriter, lingering in the backrooms of the music business. Someone whose songs could give people hits he couldn’t have for himself.
Patti Smith had her one major appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Because The Night’ thanks to Bruce. The Pointer Sisters had a number two hit thanks to Springsteen’s irrepressibly horny ‘Fire’ in 1979. ‘Hungry Heart’ was going to be a Ramones song until Springsteen’s manager put the kibosh on that, and sacrilegiously, ‘Born To Run’ wasn’t even going to be a Springsteen song. A version by The Hollies’ Allan Clarke, of all people, was set to be released first, but due to delays, Springsteen’s version just about nipped ahead of it.
The biggest hit that Springsteen wrote for another artist, though, was Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s version of Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ’s ‘Blinded By The Light’, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. While Mann’s version is pretty good, it’s a more straightforward arena rocker than the Dylan tribute on Asbury Park.
The noodling guitars, solos, church choirs and pumping synths are less Clemons and Springsteen and more Steinman and Meat Loaf. And ironically, Meat Loaf began as a sort of parody of Springsteen in the first place. The conceit of this full circle loop is that Manfred Mann rendered Springsteen less sincere and more stadium-ready, and stole the success that he justly deserved for his Dylanesque ditty.
However, the London group were hardly cock-a-hoop about this cunning triumph. Manfred themselves were mortified by how popular the cover was due to a mistake Mann made while laying down the vocals for the track. You see, the chorus of Springsteen’s original goes, “She was blinded by the light / cut loose like a deuce / another runner in the night.” So far, so Bruce. The chorus also doesn’t turn up until a minute and a half into the song.
Mann’s version does things slightly differently, though. It begins with Mann barking a slightly changed version of the chorus, almost a capella, backed by nothing but a single synth line. So all and sundry hear him howl, “Blinded by the light / wrapped up like a douche / another runner in the night.”
One of the biggest songs of 1976, and the eighth word is douche. It was the punk era, but that’s still a bold start, I’m sure you’ll agree.
This was not intentional. The sleeve for the record says, “revved up like a deuce”, but that is absolutely not what Mann is singing. Mann himself has owned up to it, saying to Record Collector in 2006, “It wasn’t written like that, and I screwed it up completely… cos of the technical process, a faulty azimuth due to tape-head angles, and it meant we couldn’t remix it.”
Not only had the band taken a song of his and made a colossal hit out of it, but they also felt like they’d made a joke out of a wonderful song, and had heard through the grapevine that Springsteen wasn’t very happy about that.
In the same interview, Mann said, “Apparently, Springsteen thought we’d done it deliberately, which we hadn’t, so if I ever saw him, I’d avoid him and cringe away like a frightened little boy.” He needn’t have worried. Given what it had done for his career, The Boss was more likely to shake Mann’s hand rather than give him a thump.
Typically, Bruce found it hilarious. After all, the track had been the first single for Asbury Park and sank like a concrete canoe. It turned out that all he needed to do to send it to number one was make it about a feminine hygiene product. Who knew?
Jokes aside, whether it prompted Springsteen to lighten up a little in his approach or it was the mere act of DJs mentioning he was the star behind this new hit, The Boss was soon met with a promotion, and his career took off. Notably, in a more stadium-ready direction itself. Coincidence?
