For two days in June 1984, Bruce Springsteen recorded a music video for a new single he was putting out at the St. Paul Civic Center. The video was pretty basic, but it would help make “Dancing in the Dark” the biggest hit of his career.
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Editor: Britt Aamodt
Producer: Britt Aamodt
Editorial support: Emily Krumberger
Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood —–
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Transcript
MN90 Intro: Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.
Narrator: Bruce Springsteen may have been nicknamed "the Boss" but his record label was the calling the shots. It wanted the New Jersey rocker to make a video to promote his new album Born in the USA.
The Boss didn't see what videos had to do with making music. But this was 1984, the heyday of MTV—24-hour music television.
So that's why the Boss took a film crew to Minnesota in June 1984. For two days, they ran through his song onstage at the St. Paul Civic Center. Bruce, on cue, would yank a "fan," actually actor Courteney Cox, who'd later find fame on TV series Friends, and dance with her.
It was fairly basic as far as music videos went, but it would help make Bruce Springsteen's single "Dancing in the Dark" the biggest of his career.
MN90 Outro: MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at mn90.org.