For the most part, Bruce Springsteen has kept special guests down to a minimum in his career. Whether working within the tight unit of the E Street Band or on his solo albums, Springsteen tends to let the songwriting and performance do the talking without the need for big names joining him.
But in 1980, when Springsteen broke through with his first Top 10 single, he did so with the help of a pair of backing vocalists. And these two fellows knew a thing or two about hit singles.
Keeping “Hungry”
Bruce Springsteen endured the odd phenomenon in the late 70s of watching several of his songs become hits before he was having much success on the charts with his own recordings. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Patti Smith, and The Pointer Sisters all took Springsteen songs to the upper echelons of the pop charts.
As a result, when Joey Ramone of The Ramones came looking for a song, Springsteen obliged. What happened next is a matter of debate. Springsteen has joked that Ramone refused “Hungry Heart” when he heard it.
But the more likely story is that producer Jon Landau heard something in the song that might break through to the mainstream. And he encouraged Bruce to keep it. The men decided that this pop-leaning song could use some backing vocals to fill out the sound. And they knew just where to turn.
Turtle Power
Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman made a huge imprint as the stalwarts of The Turtles. That Los Angeles band churned out a slew of hits in the mid to late-60s. In fact, they went to No. 1 in 1967 with “Happy Together”.
When The Turtles ran their course, the two men still worked together. But they couldn’t call themselves The Turtles anymore for contractual obligations. As a result, they took on the stage names Flo (Volman) and Eddie (Kaylan). They recorded a series of early 70s albums under that moniker.
The duo also became highly sought after for their backing vocals work. Their voices adorned records by Alice Cooper, T. Rex, and others. Springsteen, Landau, and Steven Van Zandt, all huge fans of 60s pop and rock, thought that Kaylan and Volman’s vocals would make the perfect embellishment to “Hungry Heart”.
Adding “Heart” to the Track
You can hear the sighing vocals of Kaylan and Volman (with Springsteen and Van Zandt mixed in there as well) all throughout “Hungry Heart”. Those vocals add to the golden glow surrounding the song that helped it cut through to audiences.
Yet when Kaylan and Volman heard the finished product, neither thought it had much chance of doing anything on the radio. Comparing it to the weightier songs around it on Springsteen’s The River album, they believed it sounded more like a glorified B-side.
But Springsteen ended up with a Top 10 hit when he released “Hungry Heart” as the first single from the album. That helped him make a dent on mainstream radio, paving the way for the massive success of the singles from Born In The U.S.A. four years later. Who knows if the song would have made quite the same impact without those ex-Turtles along for the ride?
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
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