DaytonDailyNews.com

Where to begin about Broooce, my rock 'n' roll idol for 30-years-plus?

"Write a brief introduction about what it's like to be a Springsteen disciple," instructed my editor for this story.

I laughed at both the absurdity and the aptness of the phrase. We're a fanatical bunch, willing to drive all night, traverse the tundra and cross the desert to see our hero. No, we're not Deadheads (though a friend once accused me of being a "Spring-head.") We hold jobs, we pay our bills, we don't sell empanadas from portable grills.

But many of us have lost count of how many concerts we've seen. For me it's more than 40, and counting, since I first saw him at Miami University's Millett Hall on Oct. 10, 1976. I was a goner from the minute he leapt into the audience during the opening bars of "Spirit in the Night," allowing himself to be held aloft by the crowd and tossed around like a beach ball. Before long he abandoned that risky practice, but it remains symbolic of the wholeheartedness and intensity with which he gives himself to his audience.

Since that moment, I have managed to memorize my Springsteen from A to Z:

A is for Asbury Park — the Jersey boardwalk town that Springsteen made famous. The cover of his 1972 first album, "Greetings from Asbury Park," is still sold as a postcard there.

B is for "The Boss" — a nickname Springsteen earned when he started doling out the paychecks to his band members in the early '70s. B is also for "Brooooce" — the moose call that fans make before and after performances. It is not to be confused with boos, though it often has been by disgruntled musicians who had the misfortune to share a bill with him.

"B" is also for "Born to Run," his 1975 breakthrough record, as well as 1984's "Born in the USA," which vaulted him to an exhilarating, yet sometimes-uncomfortable, superstardom. Another fabulous "B" — keyboardist Roy Bittan — remembered it this way: "The whole thing was dreamlike, because everyone's dreams were coming true. We all wanted to be in the biggest rock band in the world, and we were."

C is for saxophonist Clarence Clemons, aka "the Big Man," "the King of the World, the Master of the Universe" — the Boss' No. 1 sidekick. He has slowed down since the days he would slide across the stage like Pete Rose at the end of his "Jungleland" solo. But the Big Man's camaraderie with his Boss still constitutes a big part of the magic of a Springsteen concert.

D is for Bob Dylan, an artist Springsteen revered despite his distaste for being dubbed "the new Dylan." Springsteen inducted Dylan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, noting there had never been any need for a "new" Dylan: "He broke through the limitations of what a recording artist could achieve, and changed the face of rock 'n' roll forever."

E is for the E Street Band. Enough said.

F is for keyboardist Danny Federici, who has played with Springsteen since the two met in 1968 and joined the E Street Band at its inception in 1972. He left the "Magic" tour in November to undergo treatment for melanoma. He is reportedly doing well and planning to rejoin the band later in this leg of the tour. "We are really brothers and we are there for each other," Federici has said — a notion Springsteen seconded when he penned the song "Blood Brothers" for his longtime bandmates.

"F" is also for the Fender Esquire, Springsteen's electric guitar.

G is for "Glory Days," the "Born in the USA" hit single written as a parody of nostalgia.

It is an un-ironic, euphoric fan favorite in concert.

H is for Hara Arena, where Springsteen performed as an opening act in 1972, during his one and only appearance in the Dayton area. (According to published reports, it was his second tour date ever.) My friend, Dennis Kiel, recalled of that concert: "I don't remember Bruce's performance as being all that exciting. Bruce — sporting a scraggly looking beard and white tank top — sang and played his guitar for the most part directly in front of his microphone." Fortunately, Kiel, now a big Springsteen fan, gave him a second chance.

I is for Jimmy Iovine, the engineer/producer who helped to create the signature sound of classic American rockers such as Springsteen and Tom Petty.

J is for Jessica Rae, Springsteen's only daughter and the second of his three children with Patti Scialfa. Oldest son Evan is 17; youngest child Sam is 14. Of becoming a parent Springsteen once said, "You're afraid to love something so much, you're afraid to be that in love."

K is for Kid Leo, the Cleveland disc jockey (WMMS-FM, natch) credited with helping Springsteen gain popularity outside of New Jersey. His real name is Lawrence James Travagliante; who knew?

L is for Springsteen's legendary live performances — not quite at their peak of four-hour-plus marathons, but still well more than two hours long during the current "Magic" tour.

"L" is also for guitarist Nils Lofgren, a noted artist in his own right, who joined the E Street Band in 1984. His diminutive size is more than compensated by his outsized guitar-playing.

M is for "Magic," the acclaimed 2007 album as well as the concert tour making its way to Cincinnati and Columbus this week.

N is for "Nebraska," the stark 10-track demo tape that Springsteen released as an album in 1982. Various recording artists, including Johnny Cash, put together a Nebraska tribute album in 2000.

O is for the great Roy Orbison, one of Springsteen's most obvious musical influences, to whom the songwriter paid tribute on "Thunder Road": "Roy Orbison singing for the lonely/Hey that's me and I want you only."

P is for Patti Scialfa, the "Jersey Girl" and gifted singer-songwriter who has been Springsteen's bandmate since 1985 and his wife since 1991. She joined the E Street Band in 1984, but romance didn't blossom until the 1987 Tunnel of Love tour.

Q is for "Quarter to Three" — the rousing Gary U.S. Bonds song often employed as an E Street encore.

R is for "Rosalita" — everybody's favorite encore. It's a rambling eight-minute track from his second album, "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle." Springsteen sometimes introduces the song by saying the rock-star gig is only an excuse to tour the country searching for his lost love: "So Rosie, if you're out there, come on out!"

S is for Sha Na Na, for whom Springsteen performed as an opening act at Hara Arena. Springsteen's fame was so nonexistent that a Dayton Daily News ad billed him as Rick Springsteen, probably confusing him with Rick Springfield, who had a hit that year with "Speak to the Sky."

T is for Garry W. Tallent, E Street bass player since 1973. At his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1999, Springsteen praised Tallent as "a rock 'n' roll aficionado whose quiet dignity graced my band and graced my life."

U is for The Upstage, the Asbury Park club where Springsteen performed in the late '60s with his band, the Steel Mill. Recalled Federici, "I had never seen anything like him."

V is for E Street guitarist "Miami Steve" Van Zandt, aka "Little Steven," a rock 'n' roll Renaissance man who also starred as Silvio Dante in "The Sopranos." He is also host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Little Steven's Underground Garage." The hyperactive guitarist, sporting his trademark bandanna, forms an essential part of the band's onstage synergy.

W is for the "Mighty Max" Weinberg, E Street drummer since 1974, who serves as bandleader for "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" when not touring with Springsteen. The Jersey native found his first gigs playing in a bar mitzvah band. He joined the E Street Band after answering a "drummer wanted" ad in The Village Voice.

X is for "X-Man," a homeless character in the song "Balboa Park" from the 1995 album "The Ghost of Tom Joad," featuring the lyrics: "They stretched the blankets out 'neath the freeway/And each one took a name/There was X-Man and Cochise ..." You didn't think I'd be stumped by a little letter like X, did you? The Springsteen oeuvre boasts such a cast of colorful characters, from Crazy Janey to Madam Marie to Killer Joe, it's no challenge to find someone with this troublesome letter.

Y is for "Youngstown," a lament to the loss of factory jobs in Ohio. Springsteen pointedly included it in his set list during his 2004 "Vote for Change" tour, when he teamed up with other musicians to campaign for John Kerry.

Z is for the excessive zeal that Springsteen fans are known to exhibit for their hero.

Except me, of course. My devotion is perfectly rational and reasonable.

And I'm sure my real boss will understand why I need to take off next week.

Broooce is in town, after all.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or

mmccarty@DaytonDailyNews.com.