What did a Bruce Hornsby fan look like 20 years ago?

What did a Bruce Hornsby fan look like twenty years ago?

2002 saw the release of Big Swing Face. Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, Friends and CSI topped the TV charts, Eminem had the top-selling album and Spider-Man beat out Star Wars Episode II as the highest-grossing movie of the year.

Also in 2002, we polled the entire Bruuuce.com community for a snapshot in time, to look for what the “typical Bruce Hornsby fan” looked like at the time. Hobbies, occupation, song requests – let’s take a look at the community, twenty years ago. Stay tuned for an updated survey bringing us up to date – coming very soon!

Where were you in 2002?

On the east coast of the USA, mainly. Lots in California also, maybe spilling over from the Dead.

New York: 30
California: 23 
North Carolina: 21
Virginia: 21
UK & Ireland: 20 
Massachussetts: 16 
Pennsylvania: 16 
Michigan: 14 
Illinois: 12
New Jersey: 12 
Ohio: 12
Indiana: 9
Georgia: 8 
Kentucky: 8
Maryland: 8
Colorado: 7
Florida: 7
Nebraska: 7
Tennessee: 7
Wisconsin: 7
Missouri: 7
Canada: 6
Texas: 6
Washington: 6
Mississippi: 4
Minnesota: 4 
New Hampshire: 4
Utah: 4
Alabama: 3 
Denmark: 3 
Italy: 3
Oregon: 3
South Carolina: 3
Vermont: 3
Australia: 2
Austria: 2
Arizona: 2
Connecticut: 2
DC: 2
Germany: 2
Kansas: 2
Maine: 2
Rhode Island: 2
Sweden: 2
Cape Verde: 1
Czech Rupublic: 1
France: 1
Holland: 1
Idaho: 1
India: 1
Iowa: 1
Louisiana: 1
New Mexico: 1
New Zealand: 1
Spain: 1
Switzerland: 1
West Virginia: 1

How old was the Bruuuce.COMmunity?

Of this of you prepared to answer such an impertinent question, most were in their twenties. 30 hadn’t yet reached that age, 155 hit the 21-30 demo, 132 were in their thirties, 59 in their forties, 7 in their fifties and one in their sixties.

How many years a fan?

This was no surprise twenty years ago; fully 51% had been following Bruce since The Way It Is’ release in 1986. It’ll be interesting to see how the 2022 numbers compare when we put out our survey soon!

Pre-1986: 14 
1986 (The Way It Is): 187 
1987: 9 
1988 (Scenes from the Southside): 18
1989: 3
1990 (A Night on the Town): 23
1991: 13
1992: 3
1993 (Harbor Lights): 19
1994: 4
1995 (Hot House): 18
1996: 18
1997: 6
1998 (Spirit Trail): 13
1999: 3
2000 :5
2001: 8
2002 (Big Swing Face; date of the survey): 2

Hobbies

97 of you listed listening to music, and 60 of you played. Over 20 of you said you enjoyed going to concerts (notice a theme?), also playing golf, reading, sports and spending time with family.

Occupations

Most were in education, either doing the teaching (28)  or being taught (47). A sizeable number worked in finance, IT, sales or retail.

Beyond Bruce

Favourite other bands in 2002 included the Grateful Dead (by a large margin).

grateful dead 83
dave matthews 19
phish 15
widespread panic 14
billy joel 13
U2 10
beatles/mccartney 9
bruce springsteen 9
james taylor 9
ratdog 9
sting 9
string cheese incident 8
steely dan 8
bela fleck 7
elton john 7
shawn colvin 6
van morrison 6
bob dylan 5
john hiatt 5
little feat 5
marc cohn 5
phil lesh & friends 5
bonnie raitt 4
CSNY 4
govt mule 4
jerry garcia 4
jimmy buffett 4
other ones 4
rolling stones 4
rush 4
steve kimock 4
ben harper 3
black crowes 3
corrs 3
eric clapton 3
galactic 3
genesis 3
jackson browne 3
neil finn 3
neil young 3
nickel creek 3
pat metheny 3
peter gabriel 3
phil collins 3
yes 3
yonder mountain string band 3
bach 2
ben folds 2
blues traveler 2
chicago 2
chicane 2
counting crows 2
crowded house 2
dream theater 2
elvis costello 2
fleetwood mac 2
gordon lightfoot 2
huey lewis 2
joe jackson 2
led zeppelin 2
level 42 2
lyle lovett 2
mark knopfler/dire straits 2
miles davis 2
paul simon 2
radiohead 2
ryan adams 2
sheryl crow 2
shelby lynne 2
stevie winwood 2
the band 2
the samples 2
todd rundgren 2
tom petty 2
trey anastasio 2
ween 2
wilco 2
WSP 2
aerosmith 1
alan parsons 1
alanis morisette 1
alison krauss 1
allman bros 1
ani difranco 1
barenaked ladies 1
bebo norman 1
bill evans 1
bo deans 1
bruce cockburn 1
buffalo tom 1
cake 1
cathedral quartet 1
chick corea 1
claypool 1
crystal method 1
dave weckel 1
david bowie 1
david wilcox 1
dead can dance 1
def leppard 1
delbert mcclinton 1
diana krall 1
disco biscuits 1
dr john 1
eagles 1
earth wind & fire 1
eddie from ohio 1
edwin mccain 1
ekoostik hookah 1
fairport convention 1
FLC 1
free 1
gato barbieri 1
george shearing 1
great big sea 1
great big sea 1
guster 1
hal ketchum 1
harry connick 1
hoobastank 1
hot tuna 1
hundred reasons 1
jayhawks 1
jeff beck 1
jethro tull 1
jimmy hendrix 1
jimmy webb 1
john coltrane 1
john cowan 1
john denver 1
john lennon 1
john mayer 1
john prine 1
john scofield 1
joni mitchell 1
kate bush 1
king crimson 1
kiss 1
les claypool 1
lifehouse 1
linda ronstadt 1
lynyrd skynyrd 1
maceo parker 1
marillion 1
marsha ball 1
matchbox 20 1
medeski, martin & wood 1
modereko 1
moody blues 1
mozart 1
natalie merchant 1
pearl jam 1
peter himmelmann 1
phil cody 1
phil keggy 1
pink floyd 1
prince 1
REO speedwagon 1
reverend horton heat 1
rgb 1
ricky skaggs 1
robbie robertson 1
robert earl keen jr 1
rockapella 1
roger waters 1
russell ferrante (yellowjackets) 1
sam bush 1
santana 1
sarah mclaughlin 1
screamin cheetah wheelies 1
simon & garfunkel 1
soulive 1
sound tribe sector 9 1
steve earl 1
stevie nicks 1
stevie wonder 1
style council 1
tangerine dream 1
terrorvision 1
the calling 1
the normals 1
they might be giants 1
third day 1
three doors down 1
toad the wet sprocket 1
toby keith 1
tony rice 1
tori amos 1
toto 1
tragically hip 1
travis 1
warren haynes 1
waterboys 1
wes king 1

Top TV

Some on this list from twenty years ago are still running. Others have not aged as well!

simpsons 54
west wing 30
seinfeld 23
friends 11
sopranos 11
CSI 10
law & order 10
nypd blue 8
six feet under 7
espn sports center 7
star trek (any) 7
ER 6
x files 6
austin city limits 4
baseball 4
ed 4
soccer 4
south park 4
survivor 4
whose line is it anyway? 4
24 4
alias 3
buffy 3
everybody loves raymond 3
frasier 3
letterman 3
sex in the city 3
saturday night live 3
sports 3
the practice 3
third watch 3
will & grace 3
adult swim 2
andy griffith show 2
charmed 2
discovery channel 2
felicity 2
food network 2
hbo sunday night 2
osbournes 2
smallville 2
that 70s show 2
the job 2
trading spaces 2
wwe wrestling 2
60 minutes 1
andy richter rules the universe 1
angel 1
behind the music 1
changing rooms 1
cheers 1
cnbc market wrap 1
cnn news 1
cosby show 1
craig kilborne 1
curb your enthusiasm 1
drew carey 1
eastenders 1
family guy 1
farscape 1
fear actor 1
formula one 1
fresh prince of bel air 1
greg the bunny 1
howard stern 1
i’m alan partridge 1
insomniac 1
iron chef 1
JAG 1
junkyard wars 1
kids in the hall 1
kipper 1
league of gentlemen 1
miami vice 1
monday night football 1
ncaa basketball 1
news radio 1
nhl hockey 1
northern exposure 1
nova 1
o’reilly factor 1
oz 1
pardon the interruption 1
politically incorrect 1
port charles 1
queer as folk 1
red dwarf 1
sealab 2021 1
stargate sg1 1
the daily show 1
the flw tour 1
the man show 1
top of the pops 1
trigger happy tv 1
vh1 behind the music 1
vh1 storytellers 1
wonder years 1
world news tonight 1
young ones 1

Top movies

Several of your favourite movies still hold up as all-time classics. How many from the last 20 years could we add to the list…?

shawshank redemption 14
godfather 13
star wars saga 12
goodfellas 8
lord of the rings 8
field of dreams 6
o brother where art thou? 5
almost famous 4
american beauty 4
big lebowski 4
blues brothers 4
shrek 4
backdraft 3
braveheart 3
caddyshack 3
a beautiful mind 2
casablanca 2
citizen kane 2
clerks 2
dead poets society 2
dumb and dumber 2
fletch 2
goonies 2
i am sam 2
james bond 2
moulin rouge 2
one flew under the cuckoo’s nest 2
pulp fiction 2
say anything… 2
stand by me 2
star trek 2
swingers 2
the matrix 2
the patriot 2
the princess bride 2
this is spinal tap 2
tin cup 2
to kill a mocking bird 2
top gun 2
usual suspects 2
wizard of oz 2

Concerts been to

Bruce has not slowed down on his touring schedule in 20 years. Let’s see how that affects these statistics soon!

Been to no shows: 64
1 to 5 shows: 148
6 to 10: 88
11 to 20: 42
21 to 50: 30
50 plus: 4

Concert recordings owned

With the ubiquitous nature of online distribution (either through official channels, permitted recording or torrents) – we’d expect these numbers to shift quite markedly when we next ask: 

Own no taped shows: 103
1 to 5 shows: 104
6 to 10: 53
11 to 20: 45
21 to 50: 42
50 plus: 31

Bruce-related requests

Too many to mention here, and we’ve asked this question since 2002, but here’s where you stood twenty years ago in a Top Ten:

the show goes on: 26
fortunate son: 19
mandolin rain: 15
the road not taken: 15
white-wheeled limousine: 15
spider fingers: 14
sunflower cat: 13
rainbow’s cadillac: 12
the river runs low: 11
swan song: 11

Non Bruce requests

This would make for a very long gig – but some of them are so creative that we didn’t want to miss any (and some have since made it into a show!)

black muddy river (dead)18
lady with a fan/terrapin (dead) 18
madman across the water(elton john)12
wharf rat (dead) 11
comfortably numb (roger waters) 10
i know you rider (dead) 9
sugaree (dead) 9
jack straw (dead) 8
scarlet begonias (dead) 8
imagine (lennon) 7
darlin be home soon 6
girl from the north country(bob dylan) 6
i can’t make you love me (bonnie raitt) 6
loser (dead) 6
low spark high heeled boys 6
scenes from an italian resturant (billy joel) 6
the boxer (dead) 6
anything by the dead 5
burn down the mission (elton john) 5
tangled up in blue (bob dylan) 4
brokedown palace (dead) 3
china cat sunflower (dead) 3
darlin corey 3
mexico (james taylor) 3
mission in the rain (garcia) 3
prelude/angry young man (billy joel) 3
signed sealed delivered 3
tennessee jed (dead) 3
the weight (the band) 3
when i paint my masterpiece (bob dylan) 3
dixie chicken (little feat) 2
going down the road feeling bad 2
how far am i from canaan 2
king harvest has surely come 2
lot to laugh train to cry 2
man smart woman smarter 2
ripple (dead) 2
rocky mountain way 2
the load out (jackson browne) 2
walking in memphis 2
5.15 (the who) 1
50 ways to leave your lover 1
a day in the life 1
airport (tom petty) 1
allentown (billy joel) 1
althea 1
always a woman (billy joel) 1
amoreena (elton johyn) 1
annabel (don henley) 1
angel (ben harper) 1
any by bob dylan 1
any by ben folds 1
anything bluegrass 1
anything by garcia 1
anything by u2 1
anything jerry lewis 1
barricades of heaven 1
blackbird 1
blue in green 1
blue rondo a la turk 1
brahms 1
brown eyed woman 1
by the river (richard marx) 1
captain jack 1
chicken & straw 1
days like this (van morrison) 1
desperado 1
devil went down to georgia 1
diamond in the rough (shawn colvin) 1
dreaming in metaphors (seal) 1
drops of jupiter (train) 1
easy wind 1
eleanor rigby 1
entertainer (bitonal) 1
everybody loves a train (los lobos) 1
eyes of the world 1
franklin’s tower (dead) 1
funeral for a friend 1
get ready (rare earth) 1
going home (mark knopfler) 1
grandma’s hands 1
grey seal (elton john) 1
handful of keys (fats waller) 1
hard rain gonna fall (bob dylan) 1
hey bulldog 1
high lonesome soul (vince gill) 1
higher and higher 1
hippopotamus song (flanders and swann) 1
i was made to love you 1
if this is it (huey lewis) 1
if you love somebody set them free 1
iko iko (dead) 1
i’m in a sad mood 1
i’m in love 1
in my life (beatles) 1
in the wee small hours 1
in walked bud 1
instant karma 1
johnny be good 1
jubilee (10,000 maniacs) 1
lady madonna (beatles) 1
leaving me now (level 42) 1
leon russell medley 1
let my love open the door (pete townshend) 1
long black veil 1
love theme from spartacus > nardis 1
maple leaf rag 1
margaritaville (jimmy buffett) 1
maybe i’m amazed 1
mercy street 1
message in a bottle (sting) 1
might as well 1
mighty quinn 1
moonlight sonata 1
mr bojangles 1
my old kentucky home 1
one (U2) 1
paperback writer (beatles) 1
peace, love and understanding 1
piano man (billy joel) 1
pyjama people (frank zappa) 1
ramble on rose 1
rapunzel 1
real world (matchbox 20) 1
right here waiting (richard marx) 1
rock me on the water 1
severe tire damage (steve kimock) 1
she belongs to me 1
shenandoah 1
sir duke (stevie wonder) 1
sky black and blue (jackson browne) 1
son of your father (elton john) 1
song for you (leon russell) 1
soul shine (govt mule) 1
spain – blue bossa 1
squeeze box (the who) 1
st theresa of the 1
stage fright (the band) 1
standing on the moon 1
summertime 1
supper’s ready (genesis) 1
take me home (phil collins) 1
take me to the pilot (elton john) 1
telegraph road (dire straits) 1
tempted (squeeze) 1
the gambler (kenny rogers) 1
the name game 1
this is the time (billy joel) 1
three little birds (bob marley) 1
tighten up 1
tusk (fleetwood mac) 1
unchained melody 1
under the boardwalk 1
us and them (pink floyd) 1
whole of the moon 1
will it go round in circles 1
wish you were here 1
year of the cat 1
you can close your eyes (james taylor) 1
you sexy thing 1
your gold teeth II 1
your song (elton john) 1

Favourite concert

Again, the prevalence of the internet and the passage of time will make this a very temporary set of answers, just because of the sheer volume of concerts and files out there. but here’s where you stood in 2002:

12-31-99 Millennium Bash – Williamsburg, VA: 16
1998 Yoshi’s residency –  Oakland, CA: 11 
8-11-01 Biltmore Estate – Asheville, NC: 10 
7-31-01 Count Basie Theater – Red Bank, NJ: 8 
8-15-01 Freedom Heights – Sterling Heights, OH: 6 
8-17-01 Ravinia Music Festival – Highland Park, IL: 6
8-13-01 Palace Theatre – Louisville, KY: 4
11-12-00 Strand Theater – York, PA: 4
11-16-00 Flynn Theater – Burlington, VT: 4
12-11-93 Harrison Opera House – Norfolk, VA: 4
7-27-01 State Theatre – Portland, ME: 4

 

Look out for the 2022 version of the Bruuuce.COMmunity survey – coming very soon!

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