He was the voice behind the greatest Jersey based band that never existed, the ultimate "Milli Vanilli," (long before that sad chapter in music history would see the light of day), the poster child for identity theft, a modern day Sybil...all right, I'm getting carried away.He did however; provide a multitude of tunes that would make up some of my very favorites from the 1980's, though it would take me until sometime in the mid 1990's to realize it. John Cafferty is one of those artists that I would truly love to sit down with for five minutes just to hear his side of the story. Does he have any regrets? Does he inwardly hate the monster he had inadvertently created? Have his musical goals and aspirations suffered due to the existence, death and reincarnation of his alter ego?
Am I reading too deeply into this?
As I return from my elongated sabbatical, eager to continue the legacy I envision Unknown 80's to become, I go back to the very roots from which this blogging endeavor found life.
"He's got something we need Doc, words and music," the great Eddie Wilson once said.
I find it ironic that more than quarter of a century following the release of
the movie that temporarily thrust an unsuspecting John Cafferty into the limelight I am quoting a film that I, like the multitudes of others worldwide thoroughly ignored at the box office. Bowing down several months later to what I can only construe as peer pressure, I unexpectedly found myself a convert and part of the millions of fans who made this a pseudo cult classic through the power of cable television. I realize now that back then as cable was still a growing industry, there was considerably less than 57 Channels (and Nothin’ On). While the experience failed to make me a Springsteen fan, it did turn me on to what I always considered the Jersey Shore sound. Ten years after Eddie Wilson drove off the Stainton Memorial Causeway, I finally had the opportunity to see John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown band live on (where else?) the Jersey Shore, in a Long Branch bar eerily similar to one portrayed in the movie. Long after their brief brush with fame, the band put on a spirited set highlighting a number of cuts from both films, (we’ll leave the sequel out of this for now) and several original tunes from the band’s own repertoire. Granted all of them were Cafferty penned, but it was difficult to separate the Beaver Brown selections from those of the once mighty Cruisers. Separating John Cafferty from Michael Paré, aka Eddie Wilson proved a far simpler task. Following the evening, I made it a point to get my hands on as much John 
Cafferty material that I could. Until that point, I had only owned Tough All Over; the first single released under the band’s own name. I remember this tune getting some radio airplay before it, and the band fell back into relative obscurity. In 1988, they released their second album. Roadhouse is simply a continuation of the good time Jersey Shore sound that Cafferty helped to create. Granted I did not learn of the record’s existence until sometime in the1990’s which happened to coincide with the bombshell that these guys actually originated from Rhode Island.What the heck, they have a shore there too, right?
It’s on the same ocean, in fact.
Sadly, (and I say this under my own assumption), Cafferty could never escape the legend that was Eddie and the Cruisers. It was only recently while I researched them as this month’s featured artist that I learned the CD copies I possess do not portray the original cover art, but draw attention to
the face and music of Eddie Wilson and the Cruisers. Mr. Cafferty, should you have the genuine honor of accidentally finding yourself here, I appreciate the music and all that you have brought to the rock and roll world. Tough All Over, Roadhouse and the soundtracks to both of the Eddie and the Cruisers films are an integral part of the soundtrack that is my life. I consider it both pleasure and honor in doing my small part to draw some more attention to the music you have created. For first time visitors and return clientele as well, I invite you now to hit the play button below and take a trip with me back to 1988. If I may quote the late, great Eddie Wilson just one more time…“Alright, now let’s get on with the music!”
