Setting The Scene...
50th Anniversary of "Greetings From Asbury Park" Symposium at Monmouth College.

The Making Of The Album...
50th Anniversary of "Greetings From Asbury Park" Symposium at Monmouth College.

MIKE APPEL INTERVIEW

FORMER BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, E STREET DRUMMER OPENS UP ABOUT 'GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK'
It was more than 50 years ago when Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez was working in a boatyard at the Jersey shore "scraping hulls and getting barnacles off when the owner of the place came in and said there's this guy named Bruce on the phone".

NEW JERSEY 101.5
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

E STREET BAND MEMBERS TALK BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN,
'GREETINGS' 50TH ANNIVERSARY AT MONMOUTH U.
The road to music immortality is often not a pretty one — just ask the E Street Band. Members shared their reminiscences about the early days of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Saturday, Jan. 7, at a daylong symposium titled "The 50th Anniversary: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.," presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

Chris Jordan: Asbury Park Press
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

WHEN I MET SPRINGSTEEN IN SING SING
It was 50 years ago today....before his first record, and only two of us accepted the invitation. And then we caught his first gig in NYC with the band. Here's my full account, and a video recap.

Greg Mitchell Dec 7, 2022
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

NY POST:
How Bruce Springsteen became 'The Boss' — 50 years ago

When Mike Appel — Bruce Springsteen's first producer and manager — initially heard the 22-year-old baby Boss in November 1971, he wasn't impressed.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

THE SPIRIT OF '73: ARCHIVES SYMPOSIUM CELEBRATES GREETINGS
Mike Appel, Garry Tallent, David Sancious, Vini Lopez [below, L-R] and many more on hand for the debut album's milestone 50th anniversary 

On Saturday, January 7, 2023, approximately 600 fans from around the world gathered at Monmouth University to celebrate the golden anniversary of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., Springsteen's debut studio album.

HOW BRUCE BECAME THE BOSS - MIKE APPEL FEATURED ON NY1 TV

HOW BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN GOT HIS FIRST- EVER RECORD DEAL

Bruce Springsteen tells Howard Stern about his fateful meeting with music producer John Hammond and performs the acoustic track that got him signed by the Columbia Records executive.

Mike Appel - THE DAVID CASSIDY CONNECTIONS

This week my special guest is talking about his amazing life journey which took him from being a songwriter for The Partridge Family to discovering, producing and managing Bruce Springsteen.
Mike Appel always wanted to be a songwriter and musician starting his career in the Brill Building which was the heartbeat of the music industry in New York.
Born in Flushing, Queens, he was a member of groups in the 1950s and 1960s including The Balloon Farm, co-writing their 1967 hit, A Question of Temperature. Mike worked with song writing duos including Leiber & Stoller, Hugo & Luigi.
With his writing partner Jim Cretecos, five songs they penned together were recorded by The Partridge Family – the million seller Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted along with I Can Feel Your Heartbeat, Somebody Wants To Love You, Rainmaker and Umbrella Man.
Mike went on to discover and manage Bruce Springsteen. He produced Springsteen's first two albums and co-produced Springsteen’s third and breakthrough album, Born To Run.
In our conversation Mike talks about the skills he has learnt from other songwriters, his own writing technique, the first meeting of songwriters at the pilot showing of The Partridge Family, the legacy of that music, and how he would have managed David Cassidy.

LINK TO PODCAST HERE

Mike Appel - Set Lusting Bruce: A Bruce Springsteen Podcast

Mike Appel is one of the founder fathers of the E Street Nation.  In a candid discussion of his life pre and post Bruce, Mike shares his journey with Jesse over the next two episodes

For the past 6 years, Jesse Jackson has been talking to Bruce Springsteen fans from around the world. He believes that every Springsteen fan has a story to tell and it's his job to record as many as possible. At 800 episodes and counting, fans of Bruce (as well as fans of other musicians) have shared how the magic and power of music has helped them celebrate successes and mourn losses. Music has been part of births, deaths, birthdays, weddings and other major events in their lives.

Mike Appel - Producer, Song writer, Manager part 1
Mike Appel - Producer, Song writer, Manager part 2

Mike Appel - Dystopia Tonight With John Poveromo
1 Hour 20 minute interview

Mike Appel is an American music industry manager and record producer, best known for his role in both capacities in the early career of Bruce Springsteen.
We talk about his start in music in his own band as well as a song writer for the Partridge Family, the first time he met Bruce Springsteen, not taking a meeting with John Lennon, how he learned to be a good manager, and endless stories working and producing with Springsteen and what’s coming next for Mike! Enjoy!

PODCAST HERE • YOUTUBE HERE

ON THE RECORD:
BORN TO RUN: HERE’S WHAT THE CLASSIC BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ALBUM MEANS TO FANS, SONG BY SONG
Chris Jordan, Asbury Park Press

Springsteen was on the verge of being left behind by the record industry. His first two albums for Columbia Records, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” were not hits. “(If) we miss this one, contract’s up and in all probability we’ll be sent back to the minors deep in the South Jersey pines,” Springsteen said in his “Born to Run” memoir. But Springsteen’s third album was a hit, first with the single “Born to Run,” then with the LP, released on Aug. 25, 1975. Produced by Springsteen, Mike Appel and Jon Landau, it was majestic and vital rock ’n’ roll, both sweeping and intimate, written from the perspective of a hot Jersey Shore summer night.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN CONVERSATION
WITH DAVID REMNICK

Bruce Springsteen, an American music legend for more than four decades, published his autobiography, “Born to Run,” in 2016. David Remnick called it “as vivid as his songs, with that same pedal-to-the-floor quality, and just as honest about the struggles in his own life.” In October of that year, Springsteen appeared at the New Yorker Festival for an intimate conversation with the editor. (The event sold out in six seconds.) This entire episode is dedicated to that conversation. Springsteen tells Remnick how, as a young musician gigging around New Jersey, he decided to up his game: “I’m going to have to write some songs that are fireworks. . . . I needed to do something that was more original.” They talked for more than an hour about Springsteen’s tortured relationship with his father, his triumphant audition for the legendary producer John Hammond, and his struggles with depression. As Springsteen explains it, his tremendously exuberant concert performances were a form of catharsis: “I had had enough of myself by that time to want to lose myself. So I went onstage every night to do exactly that.” This episode originally aired in 2016.

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE

AFTER 48 YEARS, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN HAS FINALLY RELEASED THE SONG THAT LAUNCHED HIS CAREER
'He never is in a rush. He's got the rest of his life to make this all work out,' says manager Mike Appel
CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 13, 2020
By Brent Bambury

"Bare guitar in my hands, Mike and I walked into John Hammond's office and came face-to-face with the grey crew cut, horn-rimmed glasses, huge smile, grey suit and tie of my music business hero," Springsteen wrote in his autobiography Born to Run. Mike is Mike Appel, Springsteen's recently-signed manager at the time who finagled the appointment with Hammond.

HEAR THE INTERVIEW ARTICLE AND READ THE ARTICLE HERE

MIKE APPEL IN THE HOUSE
Appel shares the spirit of 1974 at Staten Island house concert
May 23, 2019
By Stan Goldstein - original interview by Jonathan Pont

Mike Appel is not a man of few words. Ask him to recall a story from 1974 and you're going to get all the details as if it happened yesterday. Speaking in front of an audience in Staten Island, New York, on Sunday, May 19, Bruce Springsteen's first manager and producer shared colorful memories of Springsteen's rocky start and rise to stardom.

The nearly two-hour conversation, moderated by Backstreets Associate Editor Jonathan Pont, was part of the Hamilton Park House Concert series at the home of Ray Heffernan and Maureen Campbell. While there were many areas that could have been covered, Pont focused on 1974: the events and music of the year that shaped Springsteen leading up to Born to Run and the simultaneous covers of Time and Newsweek in 1975.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE FROM BACKSTREETS.COM HERE

ROCK IMPRESARIO MIKE APPEL PITCHES BROADWAY MUSICAL,
TALKS SPRINGSTEEN

Mike Appel, former manager of Bruce Springsteen and a Dongan Hills resident, has written a musical,
"Stage Door Johnny," that he hopes to have produced on Broadway.
(Steve Zaffarano/Staten Island Advance)

1974 IN FOCUS: MIKE APPEL WITH BACKSTREETS' JONATHAN PONT

On Sunday May 19, 2019 Mike Appel will be appearing as part of The Hamilton Park House Concert Series in Staten Island with Backstreets Co-Editor Jonathan Pont for and in-depth discussion about the year 1974 & all of the pivotal changes that took place with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band...

May 19 event in NYC looks back on the lead-up to Born to Run
Forty-five years gone by now, 1974 was a year of change for Bruce Springsteen, bringing shifts on a host of fronts. On May 19, Springsteen's first manager and producer Mike Appel (above) will join Backstreets Associate Editor Jonathan Pont to look at the events and music that shaped the year.

"There are years that history tends to obscure, and 1974 is one," Pont says. "So much went into setting up the success that Born to Run became."

Appel, of course, served Springsteen from 1972 to 1976, and they formally parted ways in the spring of 1977. "Mike tells the story as only he can," Pont says. "He was there for everything, from the business and the creative side."

"In Conversation: Mike Appel" takes place on Sunday, May 19, at 3pm as part of the Hamilton Park House Concerts: 29 Harvard Ave, Stat
en Island, New York 10301

Bruce
The Jersey guy no one can get enough of
By Chuck Darrow / SJ Mag

It seems everyone in Jersey loves Bruce Springsteen, and they have for decades. Maybe it’s the rough hometown roots from Asbury Park or his down-to-earth, hard-working persona. Then again, the iconic music is reason enough.
The story of Springsteen is gritty and gutsy – and really good. In a new, unexpected twist, the rocker has taken his book of songs and stories to Broadway, where sold-out crowds are loving him even more.

...If anyone should be surprised at this latest turn in Springsteen’s career, it’s Mike Appel, who was The Boss’ first manager.

READ THE SJ MAGAZINE CLIP HERE

Bruce Springsteen's 'Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.': 10 Things You Didn't Know

... singer-songwriter, Springsteen had faith in Appel. "The bottom line was I liked Mike and I knew he understood what I wanted to do musically," Springsteen wrote in Born to Run. "We were aiming for impact, for influence, for the top rung of what recording artists are capable of achieving. We both knew rock music was now a culture shaper. I wanted to collide with the times and create a voice that had musical, social and cultural impact. Mike understood that this was my goal."

READ THE ENTIRE ROLLING STONE ARTICLE HERE

SPRINGSTEEN’S BROADWAY DEBUT
IS BRINGING AUDIENCES TO TEARS

Springsteen’s first manager, Mike Appel, tells The Post. “Even I thought a band would be distracting because he was such an extraordinary lyricist. Without the band playing, you’re less likely to miss those lyrics and realize, ‘Wow, that’s powerful stuff.’”

When legendary record producer and talent scout John Hammond signed Bruce Springsteen in 1972, the scraggly Jersey kid was envisioned as a lyrically intricate singer-songwriter, who might be New Jersey’s answer to Bob Dylan.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

BORN TO RUN:
Springsteen’s autobiography soars to No. 1 on the NY Times bestseller list.

Springsteen reflections on Mike Appel:

Page 169:  The bottom line was I liked Mike and I knew he understood what I wanted to do musically.  We weren't aiming for a few successful records and some modest hits.  We were aiming for impact, for influence, for the top rung of what recording artists are capable of achieving.  We both knew rock music was a culture shaper, I wanted to collide with the times and create a voice that had musical, social and cultural impact.  Mike understood that this was my goal.  In the end, I would have signed Mike's jockey shorts, if he'd presented them to me, to get my foot in the door.

Page 170:  The next thing Mike finagled-and I couldn't believe it- was an audition with John Hammond. John Hammond! The legendary producer who signed Dylan, Aretha, Billie Holiday-a giant in the recording business.  The motor mouth of Mike Appel was a fierce and surgical instrument when put to proper use. Mike could've talked Jesus down from the cross, Santa Claus out of Christmas and Pam Anderson out of breast augmentation. He talked us off the street and into the inner sanctum of John Hammond's office. My man was a managerial genius.

Page 258:  Along with Jon and Steve, Mike was my musical brother in arms.  He knew everything about the great groups, the fabulous hit records, every important nuance of the great singers' voices, the greatest riffs, the heart and soul that were in our favorite music.  When we talked, he could finish my sentences.  He was a fan with all the beauty and import that word carries for me.  Mike was funny, cynical, dreamy and profane, and when you were with him, you were always laughing.

Page 258:  We had been someplace special together, someplace unique, a place where we had to depend upon each other and nothing else, where things that meant something were at stake.  I could never hate Mike; I can only love him.

The companion album 'Chapter in Verse' has four songs produced by Mike Appel:  'Henry Boy', 'Born to Run','4th of July (Sandy)' and 'Growin' Up' and it is top five in 16 different countries of the world as of January 2017

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL INTERVIEW WITH MIKE APPEL

Why Springsteen never made another album like ‘Born to Run,’ and other questions only Mike Appel can answer The Boss largely stopped pushing music’s boundaries after his epic third album, which happened to be around the time he fell out, spectacularly, with his original manager. Coincidence?
BY DAVID HOROVITZ July 19, 2016

READ THE ENTIRE
INTERVIEW HERE

MAKING OF A ROCK STAR'S COVER COUP

Forty years ago, the face of a young Bruce Springsteen — "Rock's New Sensation!" — landed simultaneously on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines. With Springsteen's star on the rise following Born to Run, Jay Cocks interviewed him for Time, and Maureen Orth for Newsweek; either cover story alone would have been astounding publicity, but both at once — a first for a rock musician — caused shockwaves. For Springsteen to go, in a year, from fears of being dropped from his label to the covers of both leading national news magazines... you have to chalk it up to not only the strength of Born to Run and his live performances, but to the indefatigable efforts of his Producer / Manager Mike Appel. -
READ THE BACKSTREETS INTERVIEW HERE

Bruce Springsteen’s Former Manager Mike Appel Talks ‘Born To Run’ 40th Anniversary.
Bruce Springsteen's former manager joined the Bruce Brunch this past weekend to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the historic 'Born To Run' album.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S FIRST MANAGER MIKE APPEL TALKS ABOUT THE EARLY YEARS.
Interview with Mike Appel

Featured article and interview with Mike Appel.

Featured article and interview with Mike Appel.

Featured article and interview with Mike Appel.

Rockin' Rich Lynch
interviews Mike Appel

Join your host Rockin' Rich Lynch as he brings you another amazing independent radio show. The show opens with a brand-new track "All Rights Reversed" from the RICH LYNCH BAND. This episode also features great interviews with NILS LOFGREN, MIKE APPEL, KIRK MCFEE, and JULIA OTHMER. Brought to you by the SoundPress.net Radio Network (http://www.soundpress.net) - get in touch with us today if you would like to add this show to your station or syndicate!!!