I might get to Eddie tomorrow night.
So, indeed, tonight, the second night of my Michael Paré Film Festival,
was
Eddie and the Cruisers.I liked it. Oddly, at least twice while I was watching it, I felt myself choking up. I have no idea why. I was 5 years old in 1963, too young for that whole early-60's Jersey Shore band scene. Maybe I was being nostalgic for a time and a place that I never knew?
I read some interesting things about the movie. I learned that John Cafferty (John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band) scored the movie. I well remember "The Dark Side." I don't remember if I knew it was from this movie.
After listening to Michael in
Streets of Fire, I more or less expected to learn that he did not sing as Eddie. Then today I read that Janet Maslin in the
New York Times called Michael's lip-synching "almost perfect." I couldn't find anything today that said who did Eddie's singing. I suspected it was probably John Cafferty, and, if I read the credits right, I guess I'm correct. I think I read that the Cruisers' music was performed by the Beaver Brown Band, and Cafferty sang lead vocals, so that would make sense. It sounded like John Cafferty's voice, and his singing voice sounded close enough to Michael Paré's speaking voice to make it plausible.
It was an added delight to find that Tom Berenger is in the movie. I've always liked him--I loved him as the guy with the
Magnum, P.I.-type TV series in
The Big Chill. He's another one about whom I've wondered why he didn't become a bigger star.
Funny. I do want to watch
Streets of Fire and again. Soon.
Why did Michael Paré not become a big star?
And, yes, I do have to get
The Philadelphia Experiment.