Springsteen says Wal-Mart album deal was mistake.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

They were both born in the USA, but they have little else in common. Bruce Springsteen, the musical champion of America's blue-collar workforce, has expressed regret over an exclusive sales deal with the fiercely anti-union retailer Wal-Mart.

In a tie-up that prompted raised eyebrows among many fans, Springsteen and his E Street Band gave Wal-Mart the sole rights to release a 12-track anthology of hits at the discount price of $10 (GBP6.90) in January.

Seen as controversial in liberal circles, Wal-Mart refuses to recognise unions and has been criticised by groups such as Human Rights Watch for its alleged hardline treatment of low-wage staff.

Facing accusations that he had sold out on his principles after decades chronicling everyday working struggles in songs such as Born to Run and My Hometown, Springsteen this weekend accepted that he should not have got into bed with the retailer.

"It was a mistake," he told the New York Times. "We were in the middle of doing a lot of things, it just kind of came down and really, we didn't vet it the way we usually do."

Admitting that he had "dropped the ball", Springsteen said that instead of handing the album to ...