A Springsteen Story for Rita Wilde

When I was a teenager there was a great AM station here in Orange County called KEZY. My sister and I listened to it all the ti me and our favorite DJ was a chick named Rita Wilde.

Rita wasn't all that much older than us, and she loved Bruce Springsteen. We'd call the station often when she was on air and request Bruce songs. We got to know her and another DJ, Mike Kennel, so well that they invited us down to the station to hang out with them. RAD!

The station was very dumpy
humble. But it was SO FUN to hang out with there and see how a radio station worked. They actuall had...vinyl. (if you don't know what that means ask your parents).

Rita went on to become a DJ and then music director for the biggest rock station in Southern California - KLOS. She's a well known name here and I admire her. She's the ultimate rock n roll chick!

So anyhow - I decided to write her an email and congratulate her on all her success and I wrote the below to go with it. Inside this "story" there are the TITLES of over 70 Bruce Springsteen songs! See how many you can find. I'll post the answers later this week:

Today I was over at Mary’s Place, in Atlantic City. I gazed out the window, across the river into an empty sky, reminiscing about my glory days back in my hometown.

When I was growing up I met Rosalita and she said “let’s be friends”. We’d hang out in the street or visit our secret garden, we’d flirt with Pony Boy and tell him “you can look but you better not touch”. Then we’d go to Candy’s rtoom and talk about romance and the tunnel of love and Valentine’s Day.

Those days were so carefree. It was all that heaven will allow while you’re still in the real world. Times change and those memories fade away. Now I see a darkness on the edge of town but I’m still counting on a miracle.

Today I wear a brilliant disguise. Its like I have two faces. Oh sure, I’m a rocker and at times I’m tougher than the rest but more often my hungry heart is longing for a real man to say “she’s the one” or “I wanna marry you.”

I thought I found him but he’s a very cautious man and even though I’m on fire and thought our two hearts seemed like one, he wanted living proof and a reason to believe he’d get his beautiful reward, this Jersey girl. I promised him “my love will not let you down!” but he won’t stand on it, says he’s not a lucky man.

I suppose that’s the price you pay when your worlds apart, I was born in the USA and he’s in Darlington County across the border. When I begged for a rendezvous I told him “I ain’t got you, its’ like you’re a nothing man and you’re missing”. And he reminded me, point blank that “you’re alone, even though I wanna be with you. We can’t have a meeting across the river, it’s trouble river with a border guard, like walking into a lion’s den.”

After that, there was trouble in paradise and now he’s probably in Maria’s bed. I miss my sweet lover man with the sad eyes.

So here I am on this lonesome day, longing for a human touch. I believe in better days, and when it’s here maybe I’ll take another roll of the dice and light the fuse of some spirit in the night on a street of fire.

I made a promise to myself: I have a reason to believe that someone in my Father’s house will cover me, if I should fall behind I must remember “no retreat, baby, no surrender.”