Is Bruce Springsteen about to follow the example of his good pal Bono and get his own Special Edition iPod?
Even, as he once joked, he wouldn’t take the money.
Dunno. The ones who would know, of course, are Springsteen; Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime manager and record producer. And they’re not talking.
Still, we find it revealing that Springsteen, Jobs and Landau were in the same place at the same time Saturday night in downtown San Jose.
The occasion was Springsteen’s two-and-a-half hour, Ramrod-rockin’ performance at HP Pavilion. (Bruce actually didn’t play ‘Ramrod,’ but he made up for it by including ‘Boss Time’ in a rousing ‘Glory Days’). Jobs and his wife, Laurene Powell, were spotted in the crowd below the right side of the stage, near E-Street band members “Professor” Roy Bittan and “Sister” Soozie Tyrell. A well-placed source said she also saw Landau, who does not attend many of Springsteen’s concerts, rockin’out nearby.
Did the men discuss some business backstage before the show? Or were they there just to enjoy the ‘Magic’ of the night?
Your guess is as good as ours. But this much is known:
When Springsteen inducted Bono and U2 at the 2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction show, Bruce told the crowd about the first time he saw U2’s iPod commercial on TV.
“I thought they had totally sold out,” Springsteen joked, as the audience – and Bono — roared with appreciative laughter. So I called up Jon (Landau) the next morning and said, ‘Did you see that iPod thing?’ ”
“Jon said, ‘Yeah, but they didn’t take the money.’ I said, ‘that’s smart, that’s wily.’
“So I tell Jon – I want you to call up Bill Gates or whoever is behind this (iPod) thing and float this (idea of a) red, white and blue iPod signed by Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen,” he joked again.
“And remember, no matter how much money he offers, don’t take it!”
OK, so the Boss wasn’t quite sure who’s behind the iPod. But the world sure has changed since Springsteen cut his first record deal with Columbia Records in 1972. And so has the music industry.
Apple introduced the U2 Special Edition iPod in October 2004.
“U2 is one of the greatest bands in the world and we are floored to be working with them,’’ Jobs said in an Apple release at the time.
Red Herring thinks U2 is a fine band. But it’s not Bruce Springsteen and the LEGENDARY E-Street Band.
After Springsteen’s stop in Silicon Valley, we suspect Steve Jobs feels exactly the same way.
When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker’s circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night as they were driving to yet another rubber-chicken dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks and manner) that he was tired of making speeches.
