CLUB SOUL CITY^©

Springsteen's home demo

Club soul
Club soul city
Ooh, oh yeah, ooh

Club soul
Club soul city
Ah, yeah

[recording cut]

Club soul
Club soul city
Whoah, whoah, whoah

Club soul
Club soul city
Ooh, oh

Club soul

Page last updated: 20 Feb 2008

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, CLUB SOUL CITY was donated to Gary U.S. Bonds for his 1982 album On The Line. The album was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt.

Springsteen's version

Between Spring 1981 and Spring 1982, Bruce Springsteen spent much time laying down home demos at Thrill Hill East, his home studio in Colt's Neck, NJ. These were non-professional home recordings most of which have first surfaced on The Lost Masters bootleg series released by Labour Of Love in 1996. CLUB SOUL CITY was one of the few that didn't make it on the series, but it later surfaced on the Fist Full Of Dollars bootleg released by E Street Records in 1998.

The above lyrics are for that 55-seconds warm-up take, and according to Brucebase, it was recorded sometime between mid-Sep and Dec 1981 at Thrill Hill East. It can now be found on the bootlegs Fist Full Of Dollars (E Street Records) and How Nebraska Was Born (Godfather Records).

Brucebase mentions that CLUB SOUL CITY was recorded by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band in Jan or Feb 1982 at The Power Station recording studio in New York City, NY. That recording has never surfaced.

Cover versions

Gary U.S. Bonds first released CLUB SOUL CITY on his 1982 album On The Line. See Gary U.S. Bonds' version for details. Killer Joe also recorded the song and released it on their 1991 album Scene Of The Crime. See Killer Joe's version for details. Mikael Rickfors also covered the song on his 1986 album Rickfors.

Live Performances

As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never played CLUB SOUL CITY live. However, the song was reported to be practiced during the sound-check of two Human Touch / Lucky Town Tour shows:

• 21 Jun 1992 at Forum Assago, Milan, Italy
• 25 Jul 1992 at Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

Available Versions

List of available versions of CLUB SOUL CITY on this website:

• Springsteen's home demo (more details)
• Gary U.S. Bonds' version
• Killer Joe's version

Credits / references

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help. Some of the info on this page are taken from Brucebase.