John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - Eddie and the Cruisers Soundtrack

My history with Eddie and the Cruisers is an odd one. I saw Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! on cable before seeing the original. For some reason, because of the way it was listed on my tv, I thought I was watching the original Eddie and the Cruisers. I was up late and it was on cable, which should explain a lot. While I enjoyed Eddie II (how many people can say that? I think a lot of it has to do with the format in which I saw it. When you see a movie on late night cable and enjoy it, that doesn't mean you would have enjoyed it in a theater after paying 20 bucks for the privilege), it killed the mystery of the first movie, which is the whole point of watching it.

If you don't know, Eddie and the Cruisers is about a hard working band in the 60's and their enigmatic lead singer who was way ahead of his time. Oddly enough, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown band figured that bands from the 60's who were way ahead of their time would sound almost exactly like Bruce Springsteen. While it's easy to write off John Cafferty & co. as a cheap Springsteen knockoff, but they're not. They're a really really good Springsteen knockoff. Also, before you write them off, know that they weren't the only ones making this kind of music in the 80's (see also: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, who is fantastic, and John Cougar Mellencamp, who is not). Anyway, if you enjoyed the movie and you like The Boss, there's really no reason to not own this soundtrack. It's definitely one of the better soundtracks of its decade.