August 25, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s groundbreaking album Born to Run. Martin Porter and David Goggin, whose new book Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios details the making of the full-length (among dozens of others) spoke with assistant engineer Thom Panunzio recently on their podcast about his experience working under Jimmy Iovine during the Born to Run sessions, and much more.
Listen and watch in the player below.
50 Years Ago: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” an interview with Thom Panunzio
Before starting on the project, Panunzio recollects Born to Run co-producer Mike Appel telling him, “Bruce is the greatest. Forget Bowie, forget Lennon – Bruce Springsteen is the new guy.” Panunzio also contrasted the recording styles of Lennon and Springsteen: “With John we didn’t cut the song thirty different ways . . . Bruce was really searching. He wasn’t gonna give up until he heard what he wanted . . . Imagine having a car and you got a junkyard. You need pieces. So he’d take pieces from these other cars to make one car. He did that with his songs.” He went on to say how underrated Springsteen is as a guitarist and likened witnessing the performance of “Thunder Road” in the studio to receiving an electrical shock through his body. “When he sung those words and the way he sung them, it just changed everything. Like wow, ‘Mike Appel is right. This is a really, really important record.’”
Take a deep dive:
Classic Rock Landmarks: Born to Run
A #1 book on Amazon in both the Popular Music and Music History & Criticism categories at separate times, Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios (published by Thames & Hudson) is based on the memoirs and archives of studio co-founder Chris Stone (1935-2016) and interviews with over 120 studio employees, music producers, and recording artists. Buzz Me In narrates this previously untold story of classic rock ‘n’ roll as the authors retrieved it from industry insiders working days and nights on end behind the iconic studio’s locked doors, alongside the great musicians of the 20th century. In essence, authors Martin Porter and David Goggin buzz the reader into a realm where time was theoretical, and the pursuit of musical perfection was a collective obsession.
Order Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios on Amazon here.
his fast-paced and engrossing book, written by seasoned music journalists with studio expertise tells the incredible story of the evolution of Record Plant Studios, tape-by-tape, and of the hits that were created there. Starting on New York’s West Side in 1968 with the recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland, Record Plant soon became the epicenter of John Lennon’s solo career. The studio expanded to Los Angeles the next year. It’s where Stevie Wonder produced many of his greatest hits, Black Sabbath recorded Vol. 4, and the Eagles conceived Hotel California, which is rumored to be about the Record Plant itself. A third complex opened in 1972 in Sausalito, CA, where Sly Stone, Bob Marley, and Fleetwood Mac were encamped for months on end. It’s also the cutting-edge facility where Prince self-produced For You, his debut album. Each location showcased the founders’ proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms, and group Jacuzzis, with sex, drugs, and celebrity jams. Record Plant also employed a mobile truck to capture numerous famous live recordings, including George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh and Lou Reed’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal.
Bruce Springsteen’s 25 Most Essential Songs
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of several other evergreen Record Plant albums discussed in Buzz Me In. These include Rock and Roll by John Lennon, Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith, One of These Nights by the Eagles, Nighthawks at the Diner by Tom Waits, and Young Americans by David Bowie.
Martin Porter and David Goggin will also be making a presentation at the Born to Run 50th Anniversary Symposium on September 6 at the Bruce Springsteen Archive & Center For American Music, located at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. Tickets can be purchased here.
Backstage Access:
Bruce Springsteen & the Business of the Unexpected
