Written by Kevin Gunn
“The screen door slams, Angelina’s dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays…”
In a fantasy world, that opening line to “Wings For Wheels,” might have been coming out of a radio tuned to WMMR on February 5th, 1975. “Wings For Wheels” would eventually morph into “Thunder Road,” and ‘Angelina’ would become ‘Mary.’
We are 47 years beyond that epic show and historic broadcast, an occasion at which we can look back on with wonder. And pride.
In his autobiography, (pages 195-197) Bruce Springsteen looks back on the E Street Band’s Main Point experiences in a sub-chapter entitled “A Deejay Save My Life.” He credits WMMR jocks David Dye, and later Ed Sciaky as early supporters of the band’s music, and state of mind.
On the night in question, Sciaky introduced the band to the assembled, and to the radio audience, cementing his status as prognosticator and prophet:
Details of that show are alive and well, and available for the curious. But what Ed Sciaky said in that intro proved prescient.
Springsteen and his newly beefed up E Streeters tore the tiny coffee house to shreds, and in turn, did the same to the radio audience.
Technology being what it was, the show and the taping started at 8PM. Once an hour of tape was recorded, it was then dashed from Bryn Mawr to Rittenhouse Square, where WMMR began its playback/coverage at 10PM. Second and third reels, same process. (If you happen to come across the elusive the 3rd reel, we’re all ears!)
Two out of the three reels
But only in retrospect can we connect the dots of what that evening of music AND radio yielded. Ed Sciaky was right. Bruce and the band used 1975 like an airport runway. They spent the first half of the year touring and finishing the Born To Run album. It was released in August, and every fan has a story about how the album affected their lives. For this author, it was vivid memories of hearing any one of the LP’s 8 cuts blaring out of the windows of dorms and frat houses on the campus of the University of Delaware. Then in October, fans and critics alike felt validated when Springsteen graced the covers of Time and Newsweek Magazines IN THE SAME WEEK, a rare feat to be sure!
1975 came to a close when Bruce and the band rung out the year with the 5th of 5 sold out shows at Philly’s Tower Theatre. It was only a few miles from the Main Point. But it was light years away for the skinny Jersey kid and his burgeoning band.
Bruce backstage on that night at the Main Point, 1975
Years later, on his B-Side collection entitled ‘Tracks,” Bruce used a picture of himself seated on a backstage couch taken on that night as the cover photo (above). It perfectly captures where he was, but also hints as to where he was headed. Turns out he traded those wheels back in for wings. And he was airborne.