B
ruce Springsteen would like to see a red, white and blue iPod The Boss Special Edition, modeled after the black and red iPod U2 Special Edition. Apple may want to take note of that, because in edition to the millions of fans Mr. Springsteen commands around the world that might want to buy such an iPod, heis willing to do it for free. The (perhaps somewhat joking) comments came during U2is induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14th.
Interestingly enough, despite Appleis top brand rating and near-ubiquitous iPod marketing, Mr. Springsteen made mention of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates as the person his agent should contact about developing such an iPod.
Mr. Springsteenis comments came in the form of a story that needs to be read in full to have context, which we are excerpting from the full speech:
Well, there I was sitting down on the couch in my pajamas with my eldest son. He was watching TV. I was doing one of my favorite things: I was tallying up all the money I passed up in endorsements over the years and thinking of all the fun I could have had with it. Suddenly I hear "Uno, dos, tres, catorce!"
I look up. But instead of the silhouettes of the hippie-wannabes bouncing around in the iPod commercial, I see my boys! Oh my God! They sold out!
Now, what I know about the iPod is this: it is a device that plays music. Of course, their new song sounded great, my guys are doing great, but methinks I hear the footsteps of my old tape operator, of Jimmy Iovine somewhere. Wily, smart.
Now, personally, I live an insanely expensive lifestyle that my wife barely tolerates. I burn money, and that calls for huge amounts of cash flow. But, I also have a ludicrous image of myself that keeps me from truly cashing in. You can see my problem. Woe is me.
So the next morning, I call up Jon Landau (or as I refer to him, "the American Paul McGuinness"), and I say, "Did you see that iPod thing?" and he says, "Yes." And he says, "And I hear they didnit take any money." And I said, "They didnit take any money?" and he says, "No." I said, "Smart, wily Irish guys. Anybody – anybody – can do an ad and take the money. But to do the ad and not take the money… thatis smart. Thatis wily." I say, "Jon, I want you to call up Bill Gates or whoever is behind this thing and float this: a red, white and blue iPod signed by Bruce iThe Bossi Springsteen. Now remember, no matter how much money he offers, donit take it!"
The full speech was published by BackStreets, a Bruce Springsteen fan magazine, who in turn thanked U2log.com for the transcription, though there are no direct links to it on U2logsi home page.
In addition to the comments about the iPod and other U2 stories, Mr. Springsteen also comments about U2is "Uno, dos, Tres, Catorce" (which translates to 1, 2, 3, 14) introduction to the song "Vertigo," calling it the correct math for rock and roll.
No word from Apple on whether or not there might actually be a Boss iPod, and no word from Microsoft on what Bill Gates said when Mr. Landau contacted him about having his own iPod.