Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You," his first single, rose up the charts faster than any rock album since _Rumours._ In 1985, he was the first musician to break $1 million in a single year from record sales. After a short hiatus, Springsteen reconvened the E Street Band in 1987, touring and recording _Tunnel of Love_ in 1988-90. Three years later, "Dead Man Walking," his most overtly political song, expressed his solidarity with Vietnam veterans (with whom he'd worked on numerous occasions) and his anger at capital punishment. "Innocent When You Dream," a number two hit in 1993, gave his thoughts on his children's futures. The two albums he released that year — _Human Touch_ and _Lucky Town_ — were dedicated to his wife, Julianne Phillips, and their family. In 1995, Springsteen told the press that he planned to stop touring at the end of 1999, a period that coincided with the release of _The Ghost of Tom Joad,_ his most overtly political album to date. Recorded with acoustic and electric guitars, piano, and a full orchestra, the album was inspired by his experiences in the Deep South during the early 1970s and by his memories of his father, whom he'd never known. During the same period, he released a boxed set of his greatest hits titled _Tracks,_ and he released a pair of live albums from 1995 to 1997. The boxed set included over ten hours of previously unreleased live material. He later released a compilation of rarities and new recordings from the early 1990s. # SMOKEY ROBINSON _Born November 26, 1949, in Tampa, Florida_ _Died January 10, 1965, in Macon, Georgia_ A virtuoso who helped give the blues-based rock sound its distinctive Southern flavour, the guitarist and vocalist Smokey Robinson began recording in 1964. His debut album, _The Fabulous Smokey Robinson,_ became an R&B chart topper. He scored another number-one album in 1966 with _The Intruders_ and hit singles with "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "If You Don't Know Me by Now," and "Ooo Baby Baby," both in 1967. He scored his last big hit, "The Tracks of My Tears," in 1969, and three years later he took a six-year break. Robinson later played small roles in _Ocean's 11_ and _Ocean's 12_ and hosted a short-lived television variety show. He recorded a pair of pop albums for EMI's Capitol label in 1978 and was dropped by Columbia Records the following year. In 1983, his career was resurrected with a successful joint venture with the independent Relativity label. Robinson, now sporting a shaved head, appeared on albums by such artists as Bon Jovi, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, and Peter Frampton. His most recent album, _Smile,_ was released in 1996. Robinson remained involved in various philanthropic efforts, including his own New Generation Foundation. He died in a New Jersey hospital of renal failure and arteriosclerosis on January 10, 1965. # LENNY BRUCE _Born October 16, 1947, in Buffalo, New York_ _Died June 27, 1966, in London, England_ With his raspy, soulful voice, Lenny Bruce became an inspiration to some of the most creative comedians of his generation, including Woody Allen and David Letterman. But by the time of his death, Bruce was an alcoholic wreck and his music was increasingly associated with painkiller addiction. From 1954 through 1963, he made recordings for his employer of nearly thirty years, Warner Brothers Records, including a series of live comedy albums that sold millions. Bruce made his first trip to England in 1963 and was performing in London when he died. ## **The Playboy Interview** In 1965, Bruce was invited by Hugh Hefner to interview him for _Playboy._ The interview took place over several days, at one of the Playboy mansions on the coast of Malibu. Bruce spoke to Hefner about how he got his start, performing for soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam and on army bases. He talked about his early days as a comic, in 1950s clubs in New York, and his work with Sly and the Family Stone. But the bulk of the interview was devoted to the problems of drug addiction, which had taken Bruce to his grave at thirty-three. "Do I like it? What do you think?" Hefner asked. "I don't," Bruce responded. "The trouble is I feel like a real son of a bitch all the time. I really believe I ought to go see a psychiatrist and find out what the hell it is." "Are you hooked on pills?" "Oh, yeah. I'm all hooked up on these damned pills." "Do you ever have them for fun? Is there any fun in it?" "I get so bored with the things I do now that when the doctors stop me, I can't even imagine going back and doing them." "Where do you get the pills?" "I get them in Mexico. They're legal there." "Do you think it's a crime? How are you different than a pusher? How much do you spend in a year?" "I don't know. I have my own scales. I take all kinds of pills. Heroin, barbiturates, everything. You ought to see some of the stuff I've got in my little refrigerator." "Dope addicts all over the world are going to hate you. You'll get the worst kind of publicity. Do you care?" "I don't care. It's not hurting me any, man. I'm here today, you're here today. When I go, I go." "You're not afraid of death?" "Sure. I'll tell you what scares me. When they've got all the money and control, you're liable to be killed." ## **Legend** Bruce's death, at age thirty-three, has gone down in history as one of the most bizarre coincidences in the history of rock 'n' roll. Bruce's death had been announced a day earlier in England, which was already the target of the FBI's electronic surveillance program. But it turned out that Bruce had not been killed. A man with the same name and age — but not the same birth date — had just died at a London hospital. Even his body was supposed to be in the US, but someone had placed it in the wrong casket. The funeral director had called the coroner, and when the body was exhumed a day later, it was discovered that the body had been switched with a different corpse. ## **Legacy** Bruce influenced generations of performers. He appeared in a supporting role in _The Godfather: Part II_ and _The Exorcist,_ in which he played the Devil. Bruce is mentioned in both Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" and Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," and he is featured in the song "Rock Me Baby" by the Who, whose singer, Pete Townshend, was a fan. Bruce also influenced Loudon Wainwright III. His "Cry to Me" was about Bruce's death, as was his version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad." The Bruce estate still pays Wainwright royalties from "Cry to Me." Bruce was the subject of a hit one-hour television movie, "Lenny" (1974). ## **Legacy** Bruce's estate is a legendary character in its own right, its owner a mystery woman in Switzerland who has sued publishers, musicians, and record companies seeking money or royalties. Bruce's most recent manager, Bob Shad, said in 2004 that the estate had been paying royalties to its former managers for the last thirty years. There were indications of other possible heirs but no real knowledge of what the estate had owned. The estate continued to issue new Lenny Bruce titles to members of Bruce's family, including an autobiography of Bruce's, _How to Talk Dirty and Influence People._ In August 1997, David J. Healy announced that he had purchased two thousand original Bruce recordings, making them available for download via the Internet, at a price of $20 to download each song. The release was to raise money to pay Bruce's estate taxes, which the IRS would not accept as payment. **David Fricke,** liner notes from _The Best of Lenny Bruce,_ Warner Brothers Records, 1975 **_The Lenny Bruce Story,_** a two-part HBO documentary with Geraldo Rivera and Robert Stone, 1989 **_Let's Talk Dirty to Lenny Bruce: The Story of How We Met the Loner, the Madman, the Bard,_** a BBC documentary about Bruce's life and career with music from Bruce's early days on, including his performances in Buffalo and London, 1976 **_Lenny Bruce: Swear to God,_** a 2001 documentary about Bruce's life and career # JOHN LENNON _Born November 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England_ _Died November 8, 1980_ Lennon grew up in