ON THE DARK SIDE

Another band that found success in the wake of Bruce Springsteen started as a shore band, although their turf was north of Asbury Park in Narragansett, Rhode Island.

John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band were a New England bar band who established a strong following in the Northeast corridor, playing shows as far south as Asbury Park. The band released an independent single in 1980 that sold 10,000 copies and got a lot of airplay in the markets where their following was concentrated, but the labels did not seem interested-a rare case where the Springsteen comparisons did not lead to a label signing. 

Longtime fan, producer Kenny Vance, hired the band to score the movie "Eddie And The Cruisers," a movie about a legendary Jersey band that sounded an awful lot like Bruce Springsteen.

That soundtrack went on to place number 10 on the Billboard  albums chart and yielded a number 7 single with "On The Dark Side."

Their follow up made the top 50, and the inclusion of "Hearts On Fire" and "Voice Of America's Songs" in subsequent Sylvester Stallone films helped sales. 

Their third release had disappointing sales, pretty much limited to their core fan base.

A sequel to "Eddie And The Cruisers" in 1989 was a box-office failure, although it led to another soundtrack opportunity for the band. The "Eddie Lives" soundtrack suffered the same fate as the film, although the film has gone on to "cult" status in home video circles. 

The band continues to perform, mostly in New England, and their songs still find their way onto soundtracks, but there has not been any new music in a couple of decades.