Who knew these guys had a career outside “Relax?” Who knew they had the chops to take on the Boss? Yet on their 1984 debut record Welcome to the Pleasuredome, that’s exactly what British pop group Frankie Goes to Hollywood does. Who do you think is most successful? Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover) How do you handle those iconic saxophone solos by the late, great Clarence Clemons? What about that glockenspiel lick that more or less defines the song? Each of the artists spotlighted below has a different answer to those questions. It’s interesting to note, then, what arrangement choices are made by every act that does take the bold step of covering this classic. Even live performances of the song are hard to ape Springsteen’s E-Street Band has contained anywhere in the range of six to ten members throughout its life, putting most four-piece rock acts to shame. For starters, Springsteen consciously employed a Phil Spector-style “Wall of Sound” approach to recording “BTR,” creating a lush studio arrangement that would probably give any copycats headaches. We’re talking, of course, about Born to Run.īut though the album and song left its mark on a generation of musicians, its followers have not found producing covers to be an easy task. It’s one of the only records to earn a 10.0 rating from Pitchfork, and at least one critic has heralded its title track the greatest song ever written.

Little did anyone, even Bruce himself, know at the time just what was stirring in his head, aching to get out: an 8-song magnum opus that stands almost unparalleled in the annals of rock. Following two critically-acclaimed but low-selling records, he had to produce a masterpiece or risk his career being over before he even got to make his impact on the world of pop music. When Bruce Springsteen began to construct and record the songs that would make up his third album in early 1974, he knew the pressure was on.

Bruce springsteen born to run songs