POP MUSIC : Live From New York, It’s the Boss

How did “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels persuade Bruce Springsteen to make his live TV debut next weekend on his show?

“I’ve been asking with some regularity since 1975--and this is the first time he’s said yes,” says Michaels.

Why now?

“It’s an area I don’t speculate on, but I think the fact that he’s making his debut on free TV in a straight, high-risk format is great,” adds Michaels, who said he hasn’t been told which three songs Springsteen plans to perform or who’ll be in his band. “He could have chosen for his (TV) debut a pay-per-view special, but I think he wanted to do something more nervy. . . .”

Surely this 17-year wait (1975 having been the year “Saturday Night Live” first went on the air as well as the year of Springsteen’s first hit album) marks the longest birthing period between an initial request from “SNL” and an affirmative response, no?

Just about, but. . . .

“I’m still waiting for Clint Eastwood,” points out the producer, longingly. “And we did ask Dick Nixon a couple of times, and he still hasn’t gotten back to me. But you never know.”