Collecting log: Further digging of NO NUKES collectibles and a nothing-to-rave-about but unexpected finding (Part 3 of 4)

These four multi-vinyl radio show programs were released in the 1980s and exclusively featured Springsteen (two from Westwood One and United Station Programming radio networks each). Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (a.k.a. Detroit Medley) from NO NUKES, 1979, was included in all but A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (far left).

In the 1980s, Sringsteen's two live performances from the NO NUKES soundtrack LP (Asylum ML-801; see, for example, 05/04/2019) had often been featured in non-commercial vinyl pressings in the U.S., among which notable were radio show-program discs. Of the two tracks, Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (better known as Detroit Medley among fans) was the obvious choice over Stay with special guests Jackson Browne and Rosemary Butler, included in some Westwood One (WWO) radio network releases, such as a various artists compilation THE ROCK YERAS — PORTRAIT OF AN ERA: HOUR 44* and an exclusive featured program BORN IN THE USA SPECIAL* 3LP, released in 1981 and 1985, respectively.

WWO already distributed A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (BSS 85-1), another 3-LP exclusive program similar to BITUSA SPECIAL, first in 1984 and again in 1985; however, neither Detroit Medley nor Stay was included. Meanwhile, the United Station Programming (USP) Network distributed two multi-record sets for radio airplay, both of which also contained Detroit Medley: one in November 1987, shortly after the release of TUNNEL OF LOVE (Columbia C 40999) and the other in June 1988, during the European tour for the album promotion.   *No number assigned.

So called Detroit Medley from the NO NUKES soundtrack album is found on each label side of wax shown in these images except for A CONVERSATION WITH ..., which does not feature this live track. The label design significantly differs between the two radio programs from WWO (left two), while that of the two USP sets is similar to each other (right two). All eight sides of USP's RADIO SPECIAL labels have a typo, "Weekend of June 1987," in which the broadcasted year is wrong and correctly "1988."

The first of the two USP releases was a triple-disc set with 32 songs entitled BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND STORY* (hereafter called BAND STORY), hosted by the legendary Ed Sciaky from Philly's WMMR and scheduled to air on the weekend of November 25 (Wed.) to 29 (Sun.), 1987. The second USP program, THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND RADIO SPECIAL* (abbreviated as RADIO SPECIAL onwards), came as a quadruple LP including 41 tracks, presented by Dave Charity and slated for radio broadcast on the weekend of June 24 (Fri.) to 26 (Sun.), 1988. The two programs were similar in content and largely overlapped with material, mostly from the albums up to TUNNEL OF LOVE in almost chronological order, with interviews of the man and his band members, mainly Clarence Clemons, and several other related artists such as J. Browne, inserted between tracks.  *No number assigned.

Part of cue sheets listing the Detroit Medley - Stay segment on the two USP radio
programs, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND STORY (upper)
and THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND RADIO SPECIAL 
(lower). Note that Stay is J. Browne's original recording, not taken from 
NO NUKES, though not indicated explicitly.

Both radio shows carried the same 2-track segment of Detroit Medley - Stay, starting with a short interview of Steve Van Zandt at the beginning and inserting that of J. Browne between the two (although the RADIO SPECIAL 4-LP additionally included the interview with Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs after Stay). Curiously, the two tracks were reversed in order compared to the sequence on NO NUKES. Why? That's probably because Stay in these radio shows was not taken from NO NUKES but from Browne's original album RUNNING ON EMPTY (Asylum 6E-113). So, Springsteen and the band do not play on the track. In addition to this, the BAND STORY 3-LP contained three more tracks where Springsteen was not featured mainly or not at all (Blinded By The Light covered by Manfred Mann's Earthband, This Little Girl by Gary U.S. Bonds, and You're A Friend Of Mine by the Big Man & J. Browne). Two tracks were brought into RADIO SPECIAL further, besides the four mentioned above (Sun City by the Artists United Against Apartheid and Light Of Day performed by the Barbusters).

Circus Song (live) on the USP 1988 radio program (shown is part of the front
page of the cue sheets). Including this first-ever Springsteen's official live
release makes this radio special rarer and more attractive than other radio
shows and similar compilation releases.

From my point of view, these radio show sets are very appealing and highly collectible for (1) their content volume, (2) numerous interviews spread over multiple discs, and (3) custom-designed sleeves (cf., Like the WWO releases above, radio show discs usually came without or in plain generic sleeves). Of the two, the RADIO SPECIAL 4-LP is especially interesting, as the first track to appear on the program is Circus Song (live), an early version of Wild Billy's Circus Story on the second album, taken from the performance during "A Week To Remember" concerts organized and promoted by Columbia Records, at Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, on May 1, 1973.

"A Week To Remember" was seven consecutive night concerts held in Los Angeles between April 29 and May 5, 1973. It was sponsored and organized by Columbia Records to promote the label's 23 artists, including Springsteen. His performance on May 1 (Tues.) was reviewed in 425 words in the accompanying booklet (Play:Back Issue 25). Interestingly, none of his original song titles except Spirit In The Night were correctly named or mentioned, probably because his set consisted mainly of the then-unreleased material, such as Cirus Song, Tokyo, and Thundercrack (Tokyo is still not officially available in any form). The following short description is given to the performance of Circus Song: "The carnival song with accordion and Gary on tuba was next [to Spirit in The Night], and it warmed the crowd considerably." I own four copies of this 4-track 7" EP whose matrix number is either ZSM158458-1B or -1D (shown here) on SIDE ONE, whereas all discs share the same number, ZSM158459-1B, on SIDE TWO.

When I spotted this acoustic live recording on this radio show in the early 1990s, it was a small but exciting moment for me since Circus Song was only found on Columbia Records' promotion-only Play:Back EP issued in June 1973, very early in his career (Columbia AS 52; for the Play:Back series, see 02/23/2021 and 03/01/2021). Since then, it had never been available on any form of his commercial releases until the release of the BORN TO RUN 30th-anniversary edition box in 2005 (i.e., the live footage was captured on DVD). Thus, this live track has not yet been available commercially in audio-only form since its first official release in 1973, half a century ago! Note that, although unconfirmed, the audio recording of Circus Song might have been featured on one or a few other radio show releases, too. 

— Continued to Part 4 / Back to Part 1 or Part 2.