Saturday, July 19, 2014

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.



12 comments:

  1. Ohh-ohh Tender Years.... Won't you wash away my tears...

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    1. CW-

      Not sure if that means you liked it or hated it back in the day.

      I liked the albums, and the first film (the second film was pretty silly except for the music, and even that was so-so in comparison to the original soundtrack).

      Guess you can only ride Bruce's guitar straps for so long...

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    2. Lyrics always mean a good thing...

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  2. I actually liked that song 'On The Dark Side'. Not enough to buy it, but I got it for free on the radio plenty enough times.

    I'm guessing that John Cafferty is the guy who appears front and center frequently and wearing the black pants, the checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up (to display his womanly biceps) and the spot-on Bruce Springsteen haircut.

    Sheesh! He looks more like Springsteen than Springsteen did! (Knock their grade down a full point for blatant "Copycatism". I felt embarrassed for him just looking at that photo. Sheesh!, I say!)

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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    1. Well, he was young, it was the 80's...

      Or don't you remember those early John Cougar haircuts.....

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    2. Did not mean to hit the blue button...

      Amid all the talk of "artistic integrity," a lot of bands have done far sillier things in the name of a record deal...

      You want to see silly, you should see some of the cover bands that play Kimmyz at 59th Avenue and Greenway...,it's one thing to look like that in your 20's, but when you're in your 50's and still trying to look like you're hopeful to get signed playing old rock radio standards (poorly)....well it's so sad it's funny!

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  3. LC ~
    On mo' thang...

    I don't think I mentioned this to you but... I have changed my mind and I am going to follow your advice after all. The more I thought about it the more sense it seemed to make:

    http://wrotebyrote.blogspot.com/2014/07/yard-sale-memories.html

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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    Replies
    1. I kept reading the comments in Lee's post from last week thinking I'd made a joke you were referencing...then I saw this week's and your plans to start a new blog.

      I think that will certainly give the "finale" on FFFS more impact.

      Delete
  4. Oh, this all brought back some memories. Still not sure if those are good or bad, but they're still memories.

    For what it's worth, Hearts on Fire makes me want to hit my heavy bag a million times more than Eye of the Tiger ever did. And drag a wooden sled across a snowy mountain with only my teeth.

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    1. Someone was tuned into AMC this weekend (every time I flipped by, Rocky IV was on)!

      I miss my heavy bag-best workout ever! And awesome for stress relief!

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  5. After listening to all of these songs, the one I like best is the last one. I didn't dislike the other songs, but that's the only one I really liked.

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    1. I like that one a lot, Susan-their sound is a little dated, but I liked these guys a lot back in the day...

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