The following article is from today's New York Times. Apparantly Bon Jovi is now considered cooler than Bruce by some. I would have just posted the link but you need an account there in order to read anything.

Enjoy
Kathleen

Newark Asks, Who's the Boss?
June 16, 2004 By PETER APPLEBOME
Newark

DANIELLE JONES, a 17-year-old high school student, furrowed
her brow but came up blank.

"Bruce Springsteen? No, I've never heard of him.''
She listened intently to a description of his music but didn't
look impressed. "Is he still living?'' she asked.

For the Bruce faithful, the ones who pack his concerts,
order the "Born to Run'' collection of 14-ounce drinking
glasses, and slap "My other car is a '69 Chevy with a 396"
bumper stickers on their cars, this is a big week. On
Thursday, the Newark Museum opens its doors for its
presentation of the first major museum exhibition devoted
to his work, a multimedia presentation focusing on his use
of cars and highways as a theme. For those who want to
argue for Bruce versus Tony Soprano as the ultimate New
Jersey icon, it's good grist for their mill.

But few of the faithful actually live in Newark, where the
highway is often gridlocked, the Jersey Shore isn't
necessarily the weekend destination and the Boss is the guy
who busts your chops when you're late for work. So when Mr.
Springsteen's name was invoked down the street from the
museum at the Ashanti Mart on Broad Street, the Subway next
door or the Rutgers University Newark Campus up the hill,
almost everyone was pretty much dancing in the dark.

"If there was an exhibit about Mary J. Blige, I might go,''
said Ms. Jones.

"Springsteen? Springsteen? Isn't he the owner of the
museum?'' asked Charles Boampong, co-owner of the Ashanti
Mart, whose wares include watches, clothes, CD's and Elvis
ties.

"I don't know much about him other than he's more for the
older crowd,'' said Meha Patel, a 19-year-old Rutgers
students from Rahway. "And, also, doesn't he do religious
songs about Jesus? So it wouldn't really be my religion.''

The denizens of downtown Newark are hardly his core
constituency, and, at 54, Mr. Springsteen is still going
strong. His 2002-2003 tour was one of the biggest in
history, grossing $221 million. He sold 566,560 tickets at
Giants Stadium alone, a world record for one engagement.

Mr. Springsteen told the show's curator, Colleen Sheehy of
the Frederick Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, that the
thought of a museum exhibit about his work left him a
little spooked, as if that's what happens when your work is
done, not while you're in the middle of it. But if any
musician other than Bob Dylan merits the heavy breathing of
a serious museum show, Mr. Springsteen is right up there in
the pack. The exhibit, "Troubadour of the Highway,'' which
runs through Aug. 29, includes videos, lyrics, photography
and memorabilia, as well as links to pieces in the museum's
permanent collection, most memorably Duane Hanson's
sculpture of an eerily lifelike, well-over-the hill "Man on
Mower,'' which the museum connects to Mr. Springsteen's
"Glory Days." The show also includes 41 photos of the
American West by his sister, Pamela Springsteen.

Still, one person's icon is another's fossil. So a lot of
the students at Rutgers seemed to see Mr. Springsteen as
the evocation of their dad's New Jersey, not their own.

"I go more for Bon Jovi,'' said Dan Ross, who was eating a
sub outside at Rutgers with his friend Dan Matlosz. "He's
getting old,'' Mr. Matlosz added.

DESPITE some strenuous efforts, Mr. Springsteen has never
managed to break out beyond his core audience of suburban
and urban whites. So, for the black, Hispanic and
foreign-born people in the neighborhood, the show is the
ultimate nonevent.

"I've heard of him,'' said Mario Cadena, a 23-year-old
student from West New York. "He's sort of older rock from
the 70's and 80's, am I right?''

Still, even if the show just lures a horde of creaky old
Springsteen boomers and subboomers, it will do just fine at
the box office. It might not be "From the Sacred Realm:
Treasures of Tibetan Art,'' but you can bet there will be
more takers for the Vinylux containers created from old
Springsteen records than the usual museum shop fare.

And, the museum insists, it's not the start of a trend.


"His lyrics stand up as poetry, and he's produced art that
has affected millions of people,'' said Becky Schutt, who
helped coordinate the installation. "Every museum wants to
get customers in the door, but it's not like we're going to
do an exhibit next of Britney Spears and put the lyrics to
'Hit Me Baby One More Time' on the wall."