Meeting Bruce Springsteen

One of the perks of working in a national chain record store was meeting many recording artists. Usually, they were scheduled visits so that we could do some radio ads or in-store promotions for the artists. But one time in 1975 at the Peaches, Columbus, Ohio store we had a surprise visit from someone who just released the album that would make him a superstar! A co-worker and I were returning from lunch and when we walked in and saw that Bruce Springsteen was leaning over the tape counter. Born to Run, just came out and he was touring.

The hotel he was staying at was on the southeast side of Columbus. The store was on the north side of Columbus so it was some distance for him to travel. Bruce is a great self-promoter and when you’re trying to get some recognition, you just have to be bold. So he started to hitchhike and got picked up by a girl. He asked her to take him to a record store and she knew about Peaches so that’s where she took the Boss.

The coworker I was with was already a big fan and so he recognizes Bruce immediately. Then the fun began and all of a sudden there was a big crowd surrounding him. He ended up signing a lot of autographs and made many more fans. It turns out he’s had a pretty good run over the years.