Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a little behind on my reading. Last night I picked up the May issue of More magazine, which had been sitting in the slush pile on my desk, since, well, May. I was flipping through it and I came across a piece called, “I Was the Girl in the Song: Four Famous Names from Rock History Fess Up,” by Peter Knobler [Now for those of you who don't know me, it's important to point out that I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I love my husband, but he and I have an agreement. If Bruce ever beckons, I'm free to cross the line, no questions asked. Hasn't happened yet but a girl can dream].
My first thought was, “what a cool assignment!” I started to flip the pages and met Judy Blue Eyes, Rikki (as in Rikki Don’t Lose that Number) and [My] Sharona. On the last page I came to, the pull-quote jumped off the page at me: “Bruce and I tucked around behind a rock and started kissing.”
“NO. DON’T TEASE ME,” I thought. Sure enough, that quote was attributed to one Diane Lozito, who was the inspiration for Rosalita. Seems that Diane met Bruce one night in 1971 when she went to hear him play. Since Bruce didn’t drink or get high, (I knew he was good boy) they wound up tucking around that rock on the beach after hours. She and Bruce co-habitated for quite some time, even though “I know your daddy don’t dig me ‘cus I play in a rock and roll band,” during which he wrote such classics as “Spirit in the Night,” “Backstreets,” etc. When Diane asked why she wasn’t in any of them, Bruce replied, “nothing rhymes with Diane.”
Fast forward a bit, and Bruce meets Diane’s grandmother, Rose Lazito. In that part of New Jersey, the name was pronounced Lazita, so she was Rose Lazita. Ah.
Diane left Bruce (silly, silly girl) in 1975, just as Bruce was finishing Born to Run. Years later, she visited Bruce at his hotel after a concert. As he opened his arms wide for a hug, she whispered, “That man behind me is my husband.” Bruce replied, “Ewwwww!” Is he adorable or what? One of the newer musicians on the tour asked who she was, and why everybody was hugging her. Someone replied, “You know who that is? That’s Rosalita!”
Diane’s photo shows a fair-skinned brunette with shoulder-length hair cut in long layers and wearing a very classically cut silk dress. If I was only 15 years older, IT COULDA BEEN ME!
Until Next Time,
Joan
(c) 2008 Joan McCue All Rights Reserved
Oh mother, I now know what we’re calling him. He’s my Bruce :p
Anwyays, it’s gotta be pretty awesome to have a famous rock and roll artist write multiple songs about you.
Comment by The embarrased daughter — October 16, 2008 @ 8:33 pm |
Joanie – you would have had to grow up in NJ for starters…And ya know I heard Rosalita on the radio this morning (WPLJ!). I was lucky enough to hear him play it live at a concert in 2003 at Giants Stadium – he doesn’t play it very often!
Great article!! Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Mary Ellen Jones — October 17, 2008 @ 11:18 am |
Gosh was it that long ago?? I heard it in the pouring rain at the Stadium-must’ve been that year ‘cus he didn’t do it when I saw him in the arena for the Magic Tour. That night in the stadium, the encore was Jersey Girl, Born to Run, and Thunder Road. To quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman: “I nearly peed my pants!”
Comment by jtmccue — October 17, 2008 @ 1:29 pm |
Thanks for posting this – I LOVE these kind of stories and it was cool to find out that there are real women who inspried the songs behind some of the now famous names (like Sharona, Rikki and Rosalita. I already knew about Judy).
Comment by Irene — October 18, 2008 @ 2:29 pm |