A Hit Man In More Ways Than One

Musician/Actor Steve Van Zandt Plays The Second Hand For Mobs And Rockers

(CBS) 
He later joined Springsteen's "E Street Band" and co-produced the album "The River." Then, amicably, Van Zandt decided to go his own way — missing out on the success of the next Springsteen album, "Born in the U.S.A.," which sold 20 million copies.

"Oh yeah, it was brilliant," Van Zandt said. "When I joined the band we were making $200 a week. And we finally are about to cash in. And I leave."

As Little Steven, wearing the signature bandana that he says hides a scar from a car accident, Van Zandt recorded 5 albums and produced many more for other acts, but commercially nothing really clicked.

"You can't look back with too much regret," he said. "What little I know I've learned since I left the band. And one of the things you learn as you leave is - you shouldn't have left!"

Even his best-known song of the period, "Sun City," an anthem of protest against apartheid in South Africa, was no help to his career. By the early '90s he felt like he was cast out into the wilderness.

"Oh, I was done," Van Zandt said. "Because I was pretty much blackballed from the industry for being so political. It was not a cool thing to do. And I was a little too successful at it."

Then in 1997, while appearing on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies, his fortunes took an unexpected turn. Producer David Chase was dreaming up a new series for HBO.

"My wife and I happened to watch, happened to light on that induction ceremony with the Rascals and there he was," Chase said. "He just had so much presence, was interesting and funny, and I thought, 'Oh, I gotta bring that guy in.' He looked penetrating, suspicious, you know, ready for anything."

He asked Van Zandt to audition for "The Sopranos," but Van Zandt had never acted before. He ended up moving into character quite easily.

"I spent my whole life trying to learn about who I am. Being somebody else is a vacation," he said.

Just as "The Sopranos" began filming, Bruce Springsteen called. He was putting the E Street Band back together and wanted Van Zandt to tour with him again.

"You know, we grew up together and so I was his kind of righthand man for a long time and the guy he could trust," Van Zandt said. "The guy who didn't really have any ambition to be him, to be the Boss. I like being second in command. I like being behind the scenes. I like being an advisor, you know. I like being consigliore. I was born to do that. I don't know why."

But in his own production company, Van Zandt is the boss, promoting the music he loves. In a new animated series he's developing, the government has outlawed rock. The hero is a familiar looking guy in a bandana.

"I actually lead the revolution below ground," he said. "But above ground I'm a respectable businessman."

[Tweedman]

Conspiracy theorists have claimed that the corporate owners of "terrestial" radio stations are engaged in a covert war against the upstart satellite radio companies. They claim further that these efforts extend to pressuring their own news operations to distort the truth, to ignore or downplay satellite's influence. I doubted this greatly, until this morning, when I watched Sunday Morning's profile of Little Steven van Zandt. The profile spoke in depth of van Zandt's efforts to "save rock and roll," and talked about his under-development cartoon, his dance troupe, and his syndicated terrestrial radio show, "Underground Garage." Conspicuously un-mentioned was that van Zandt has an entire Underground Garage channel on one of the satellite radio services. Is it possible that this is because CBS is one of the leading broadcasters of terrestial radio? Seems pretty obvious. I had thought that Sunday Morning was above this kind of corporate dis-honesty. My respect for all of CBS News' objectivity has just taken a big tumble.