the sandwich with everything piled on top . And then you ’ ve got all the bridges — I think Pittsburgh has more bridges than Venice , actually . And there are all of our sports teams .

in the world but Pittsburgh . I ’ ll give you an example — The Spencer Davis Group , “ Gimme Some Lovin ’,” right ? That was their big hit . But the hit here in Pittsburgh was a song called “ High Time Baby ” that they played in the clubs — not on the radio , but in all these teen clubs . And Tommy James “ Hanky Panky ” was just an overlooked B-side until some Pittsburgh DJs started playing it . Because even the AM radio stations would play this really obscure music , and you could go to see Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs , Wilson Pickett , Sam and Dave , Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels on a

Joe Grushecky

IE : What credos did you pickup there , growing up as a coal miner ’ s son ? JG : The value of hard work . My family was a pretty rugged bunch , my father ’ s side , in particular . They were dirt poor , and they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps , as they say . So you work hard , respect your elders , all that kind of stuff . But when I grew up , Pittsburgh was a unique town because it had its own little music scene , with songs that were popular nowhere else

weekly basis , playing for the teens . And I saw them all numerous times . And while this was going on in Pittsburgh , you also had the regular mainstream stations playing The Beatles and the Stones and all the great ‘ 60s music . So it was a real melting pot here . And Bruce and Miami Steve ( Van Zandt , E Street Band guitarist and founder of Sirius XM ’ s retro “ Underground Garage ” station ) were doing the same thing in New Jersey that I was doing in Pittsburgh .

IE : When did you first hear Bruce ? JG : Well , my father wanted me to go to college . He was a coal miner , and he ’ d left school at 12 or 13 to work in the coal mines during the Depression . So as far as he was concerned , I was going

to college ; no matter what I did — I got my degree . But I also played music , and I definitely played music in college — I had bands , and we played frat parties and all that stuff . I actually had an audition for RCA Records one time

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