It was 38 years ago tonight (June 29th, 1984) that Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band launched their largest tour to date, kicking things off in June 29th, St. Paul, Minnesota's St. Paul Civic Center. The trek — which was the first to bring Springsteen to the largest stadiums around the road — featured the official tour debuts of new recruits, backing vocalist Patti Scialfa and Steve Van Zandt's replacement, guitarist Nils Lofgren. It was during opening night show that the iconic video for Born In The U.S.A.'s lead single — and biggest hit — “Dancing In The Dark” was filmed with actress Courtney Cox and directed by Brian De Palma.
The massive Born In The U.S.A. tour spanned four legs, playing a total of 156 shows: 122 shows in North America, eight in Australia, eight in Asia, and 18 in Europe before wrapping on October 2nd, 1985 during the final night of a four-show-stand at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
On June 4th, 1984 Born In The U.S.A. was released and less than three weeks later on June 23rd, the album debuted at Number Nine on the Billboard 200. It hit the Number One spot for the first of its seven-week run on July 7th.