Maybe he didn't get air play where you were but he did here. The music wars in HS were serious stuff. Those who liked Springsteen also tended to like Bob Seiger (sp?), and the dislike went the same way - hate one, hated the other.
Yeah, the "music wars" were pretty serious where I went to HS school as well (L.A., '78 - '82). I'm a couple years behind you so disco had already (and thankfully) died, and the punk/new wave scene was the big deal .....especially since many of the bands in that genre made L.A. their home and played the local scene regularly. I never got into most of that music though, except perhaps some Elvis Costello for a while.
I mostly listened to classic rock from the '68 - '74 period. ....and jazz & blues.