Songoftheday 10/29/13 - From out of the shadows she walks like a dream, makes me feel crazy makes me feel so mean...

John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band [Eddie &The Cruisers] - "On The Dark Side"
from the album Eddie and the Cruisers (Original Soundtrack) (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11

Today's Song of the Day would be the first musical triumph for cable TV.

John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band was a competent but unremarkable bar band in the Rhode Island area, starting out in the late 70s. They were approached by producer Kenny Vance to provide the music for a movie he was writing about a fictional band named Eddie and the Cruisers, and the band recorded the soundtrack which was released in 1983. However, the actual "face" of the band in the movie was provided by actors, including star Michael Pare', except for Beaver Brown sax man Michael Antunes. Otherwise the songs were lipsynched by the actors, and even the singles released from the soundtrack were at first credited to "Eddie and the Cruisers". The first, "On The Dark Side", managed to get to #64 on its first release, while the follow-up "Tender Years", did carry the John Cafferty name, but stalled at #78. The movie was a relative failure, netting only 4 million dollars in its theatrical release, less than the budget for the film.

But after it started showing on fledgling cable movie network HBO, the movie started getting word of mouth buzz, and all of a sudden, radio requests started pouring in for the lead song in the movie. I know that especially in my neck of the woods in New Jersey it was insanely popular, comparisons to Springsteen notwithstanding (or maybe because of them). "On The Dark Side", now credited to John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, got a single re-release, and both that and the album sold like hotcakes, and on MTV we finally got to see the "real" voice behind "Eddie & The Cruisers"...

Both the single and album reached the top-10 in October of 1984, as well as "On The Dark Side" topping the rock radio chart as well. It would prove the viewing draw of cable that Nielsen was only starting to realize.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


...and here's how the film looked with the song, with John "Milli Vanilli'd" out...

...and here's the band live from a couple of years ago...


Up tomorrow: Reg is asking about footwear.