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Springsteen, who spent the last half of March, and early April, mixing Darkness On The Edge Of Town, drops by adjoining studio A at the Record Plant, where New York proto-punk band The Dictators were working on their third album, Bloodbrothers. While both bands were hanging out in the studio's common area, "Handsome Dick" Manitoba and Clarence Clemons discussed their admiration for each other's work. "When I told Clarence I didn't know he was a Dictators fan," he looked at me and said, "The Big Man knows about the universe!" Manitoba recalled. Bruce was a big fan of the influential punk band’s first two albums, wearing a Dictators t-shirt on stage and dedicating "Born To Run" to them. So when it turned out the bands were recording in the same building, Bruce stopped by for a visit and ended up on vinyl. The mutual affection shared by both parties was no fluke. During the mid-'70s, Springsteen spent many nights in New York City, frequenting The Bottom Line, CBGBs, and Cafe Wha?, where he met and hung out with musicians and songwriters of all types. He loved the punk scene, though it was not the type of music he wrote or performed. He was even referred to as a "punkish performer," and Henry Edwards wrote in 1976, "Springsteen writes and sings songs of epic length about New Jersey teen punks and their wasted lives."
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