Eddie and the Cruisers

[Chris Brown]

Just saw this film on a whim, and was amazed at the paralells it contained to Brian and Smile.  Certainly too many things to be coincidence.  For those who haven't seen/heard of it, it's about an early 60's band who does catchy songs about cars and girls.  Then their leader decides to spend a year recording an album of "weird sounds" because he wants to do something that has never been done before.  In the movie there is only one song from the project heard, but the intro sounds strikingly like "Fire" played with guitars (perhaps the most blatant evidence: in the credits, the song is called "Fire Suite").  The rest of the band hates it, as does the record company, who tell Eddie that they won't release it.  The next day Eddie mysteriously dies, and the film is basically about trying to figure out what happened to the "lost tapes" from the album.

As I said, the paralells between this movie and Smile are striking.  There is a young genius lyricist in the band who loves poetry (a VDP figure).  A band and record company who doesn't want the band to "change the formula", and a leader who wants to evolve; not to mention the missing tapes from a lost album.  It was weird to watch, as it liberally took several elements from the Brian Wilson story of Smile. 

Anyone else seen this? 

[Mark A. Moore]

The soundtrack was from 1983 . . . a movie starring Michael Pare and Tom Berringer.

The original music for Eddie & the Cruisers was composed and performed by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

"On the Dark Side" was Top 10 in 1984 . . . and "Tender Years" was Top 40 in '85 . . . both from the soundtrack.

The song from the movie you're referring to was called "Season In Hell (Fire Suite)" . . . composed by John Cafferty.

The music, obviously, was nothing like the Beach Boys . . . It ranged from doo-wop to driving guitar rock, to slow ballads . . . to the Fire Suite.

But the comparison is definitely there . . .

Good movie . . .

M.

[Third Coast]

I've wanted to see this for a long time.  Story line sounds like Brian Wilson meets Bobby Fuller.