DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET?

Live 09 Jan 1973 version

One, two, ooh, ooh, ah!

Yeah! [chuckles]

[Spoken intro:] Ah, the first part of this song was written, uh, on the bus in
New York going up to 82nd Street, and, uh, the second part was written on the subway going
downtown to play at the Gaslight, and the third part was made up at my house.

Hey bus driver, keep the change, bless your children, give them names
Don't trust men who walk with canes
Drink this and you'll grow wings on your feet
Broadway Mary, Joan Fontaine, advertiser on a downtown train
Christmas crier bustin' cane, she's in love again

Where dock worker's dreams mix with panther's schemes to someday own the rodeo
Tainted women in VistaVision perform for out-of-state kids at the late show

And wizard imps, sweat sock pimps, interstellar mongrel nymphs
Rex said that lady left him limp
Oh, love's like that
Sure it is
Oh, and Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, newly discovered lovers of the Everglades
They take out a full page ad in the trades to announce their arrival
Get it on the accordion!

Yeah!

Take it some more! And Funky, now!

Do that one time, on the bass!

And Mary Lou, she found out how to cope, she rides to heaven on a gyroscope
The Daily News asked her for the dope
She said, "Man, the dope's that there's still hope"

Senorita, Spanish rose, wipes her eyes and blows her nose
Uptown in Harlem she throw a rose to some lucky young matador

Alright

Ra ra ra ra, ra da da
Ra, oh! Da da da

Oooh

Whoa, da da da, oh la la, la la la la, la la la la
La la la la, la la

Ooh!

Ooh! Ah! [chuckles]
Sock it to me! Yay! Yay!

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 09 Jan 1973 radio performance of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? as broadcast on Boston's WBCN-FM.

The 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM Radio Performance

Bruce Springsteen's first ever radio station performance took place on 09 Jan 1973 and was broadcast live on Boston's WBCN-FM. The show took place at WBCN-FM radio station in Boston, MA, and was hosted by legendary DJ Maxanne Sartori who worked the afternoon shift at WBCN in the early seventies.

Promotional ad for DJ Maxanne Sartori afternoon show on WBCN-FM in the early seventies
(Taken from Brucebase)

In addition to band members Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, and Garry Tallent (Vini Lopez was not present), co-manager Jim Cretecos, roadie/soundman Albee Tellone, and CBS representative Ed Hynes were in the broadcast studio; the three provided party-like background vocals on BLINDED BY THE LIGHT.

The radio show was recorded off the airways and is available in very good quality on bootleg CDs. This is the earliest circulating "live" audio with what would become the E Street Band. Unfortunately, the recording is missing nearly all of the show's last track plus some concluding discussions about Springsteen's upcoming tour plans. According to Brucebase, a complete but poor quality tape of the show was allegedly circulating in the Boston area for a brief period during the mid-seventies but seems to have vanished from the tape trading pool.

The 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.

Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

CD - Leftfield Media (LFMCD516) - UK, 2011

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV039LP) - UK, 2012

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast. It was released under exclusive agreement with Leftfield Media.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Spirit Of The Radio: Legendary Broadcasts From The Early 1970s

3xCD - Parallel Lines (PLCD022) - Europe, 2014

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast, the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast, and part of the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point.

Bruce Springsteen -- Acoustic Radio 1973

CD - Good Ship Funke (GSF006) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 31 May 1973 WGOE-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- The 1973 Acoustic Radio Sessions

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV374LP) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 31 May 1973 WGOE-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- Live In Studio 1974 + Bonus 1973

LP - DOL (DOR2109H) - Russia, 2016

This release contains the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast and part of the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- Acoustic Radio Broadcast Collection

2xCD - The Broadcast Archive (BSCD6047) - UK, 2017

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast, the 31 May 1973 WGOE-FM radio broadcast, the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast, and the 09 Apr 1974 WBCN-FM radio broadcast. This is a repackaging of Good Ship Funke's Acoustic Radio 1973 and Acoustic Radio 1974.

Bruce Springsteen -- Satin Doll

LP - Roxborough Music (ROXMB001) - UK, 2017

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 31 May 1973 WGOE-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- Live In Studio 1973-1974

LP - BRR (BRR4035LPP) - Europe, 2017

This release contains the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast and part of the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

Digital album - Cult Legends (no catalog number) - Europe, 2018

This is a download-only digital album. It contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.

Best Of Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

CD - Cult Legends (CL76348) - Europe, 2018

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and part of the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.

Best Of Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

LP - Cult Legends (CL76331) - Europe, 2018

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and part of the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Broadcast Collection 1973-1993

5xCD - Cult Legends (CL78199) - Europe, 2019

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast, the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast, part of the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the soundtrack of the pro-shot video footage from the 11 Apr 1993 show in Verona, and some various TV appearances.

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

List of available versions of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? on this website:

Page last updated: 08 Jan 2012