ABOUT ROB AND FANATIC RECORDS

Fanatic Records is a non-profit artwork site where fans can download CD covers for their live Bruce Springsteen collection. This is simply an artwork site; nothing is sold or even traded here.

My fanaticism began in 1975 when I received the Born To Run album as a Christmas present. I was 18 years old and into a lot of the rock music being played on FM radio. Radio station WMMR in Philadelphia was very supportive of Bruce’s music in those days. The title track for the BTR album was being played long before the album was released, along with songs from Greetings and The Wild & The Innocent. When I listened to the BTR album it was like nothing I ever heard before. The music was so unique, filled with drama, romance and lyrics with these epic street tales. Bruce’s voice and songwriting was fresh and at the time I memorized the lyrics to the entire album. In October of 1976 I had the opportunity to see Bruce for the very first time at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Now in hindsight I wish would have kept the ticket stub, because I can’t recall if the show was the 25th or the 27th. However, I do remember sitting up in the nosebleed section and squinting to see Bruce's face, as I expected a bearded fellow and he was clean-shaven. When the lights went out and the band opened the show with “Night”, it made me realize what a great song that was. Listening to the album was one thing, but experiencing the live version took it to another level. During the encores I remember Bruce playing oldies that I wasn’t familiar with at the time, but it all sounded great! After that show I knew that this was the way rock and roll music was supposed to be. Bruce was so charismatic and the experience was exhilarating! I have attended shows every year in Philadelphia and some in New Jersey. It wasn’t until the Reunion Tour that I discovered trading live shows through the internet! During that time a guy named Fernando A.K.A. Monte had an artwork website where you could find covers for every show from the tour. There was also Scorpion Realm, Cover Me and other sites. But, when trading exploded, the need for artwork gave these sites a lot of traffic and most of them became unstable. Monte was using a free web host and so were others and their sites were constantly down. His original covers were an inspiration for me, as I’ve always had a passion for art. So, I began creating covers for myself and sharing them with other fans. When I created enough covers, it gave me the motivation to build my own website. Around 2001, Fanatic Records was born.