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May 14, 2002 2:29 pm US/Eastern

(Trenton-AP) -- Bruce Springsteen was Born in the U-S-A. But that doesn't mean the musician wants to give up Thunder Road for the campaign trail.

The man whose support helped Jesse "The Body" Ventura get elected governor in Minnesota thinks The Boss would make a fine U-S Senator from New Jersey.

Doug Friedline is recruiting the Rumson resident to run an independent campaign against Democrat Robert Torricelli.

Three Republicans are seeking their party's nomination.

The problem is that Friedline hasn't reached Springsteen. So he's taking his Draft Bruce Springsteen campaign public.

The rocker is known as much for his social conscience as for his music.

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Born to Run - For Senate

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Froy Comment?

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NEW SPRINGSTEEN RECORDINGS DEBUTED FOR SONY CONFERENCE
Five songs from the new Bruce album were played for a small industry listening party, giving us our first word of new song titles: "Mary's Place," "Nothing Man," "The Rising," "Lonesome Day," and "Into the Fire."

On the evening of Tuesday, May 14, these five songs were previewed at a Sony presentation in New York City, where retail, distribution, and label representatives received a first taste of the forthcoming album. In the Sony Wonder High Definition Theater, Springsteen manager Jon Landau was on hand to play the new recordings for an assembly of roughly 50 people.

One listener told Backstreets: "Nothing short of amazing." According to our earwitness, "Mary's Place" is reportedly a showstopper in the tradition of "Rosalita" and "Thundercrack," complete with choir backup vocals, that evokes The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle-- "Bruce even uses his 'young' voice." "The Rising" and "Into the Fire" both seem to be lyrically inspired by 9/11. There are even some strings in the mix (courtesy, we assume, of the Nashville String Machine). Not many horn parts evident-- "Mary's Place" may be the only one of the five with an obvious part from Clarence. One thing that stood out across the board was "great production"-- so Brendan O'Brien's association with this record continues to bode well.

In his remarks, Landau said that the new album was "recorded in a span of three months." He joked that that was the point where Bruce would normally shelve a record and keep going, but not with this one; he said that Bruce is 100% behind getting this record heard by as many people as possible.

Exactly when that will happen remains be seen. While rumors of a summer release date continue to circulate, no mention was made at the Sony function of a release date, album title, or tour. But as soon as any such information is available, you can bet your motorcycle boots we'll post it immediately.

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Word is that the new album could be out as early as August 1st. But Bruce has a major tendency to try to perfect his albums in studio after all the tracks have been recorded. He could spend weeks or months going over things and tinkering before it finally gets released.

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