Here’s one of the more obscure covers Bruce has performed.
Not the song itself, though: “Funky Broadway” is notable both for being the first-ever song with the word “Funky” in the title when it was originally released by Dyke & The Blazers in 1967…
,,,and for scoring a big hit for Wilson Pickett, who covered it later that same year and took the song to #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and #8 on the Hot 100.
No, “Funky Broadway” is obscure because even though Bruce has covered it three times over a quarter-century, each one occurrence was very much under the radar.
Bruce’s earliest cover of “Funky Broadway” was way back in his Steel Mill Days. We don’t have a full recording of it, but there’s a surviving snippet of it.
The most recent time was in 1994, when Bruce turned up unannounced at The Stone Pony’s 20th anniversary party with Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes.
But in between was the most surprising one of all.
In 1977, Southside Johnny passed the Stone Pony house band baton to Billy Hector and his band The Shots. On Sunday night of Labor Day weekend that year, The Shots were in session at the Pony when Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance.
Bruce played two songs with The Shots that night, the first of which was “Funky Broadway.” Here’s that performance, miraculously captured on tape on September 4, 1977.
Bruce played one other song with The Shots that night–Bruce’s one and only appearance with the short-lived band–but that’s a story for another day.
Funky Broadway
First performed: April 24, 1970 (West Long Branch, NJ)
Last performed: July 16, 1994 (Asbury Park, NJ)
