“Words and Music”

Eddie and the Cruisers was originally released on September 23, 1983.  Thirty-five years ago.  The movie is centered around the mysterious disappearance of Eddie Wilson, lead singer and guitar player for the The Cruisers.  On March 15, 1964, Wilson, played by Michael Pare, crashes his car through the guard railing of the Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway and plunges into the bay.  Eddie’s ’57 Chevy was recovered but his body wasn’t.  Television reporter Maggie Foley (Ellen Barkin), starts to investigate the possibility of Eddie still being alive, since his body was never found.

Foley cites a poem by French Poet, Arthur Rimbaud, called ‘A Season In Hell’.  She then summarizes Rimbaud with the reading, “Arthur Rimbaud was a genius.  His writings were a quest.  A search for perfection.  An attempt to find total freedom.  At the age of nineteen, Arthur Rimbaud committed suicide.  Not of the flesh, but of the mind and soul.”  What does that mean to the movie?  Rimbaud didn’t write another word.  He was not seen of or heard from again until he showed up on his deathbed in Marseille, nearly twenty years later.

Even more mysterious was that before the accident, Eddie was coming from a recording studio where he had just turned in the new material The Cruisers had recorded.  The record company, Satin Records, hated it and rejected the album.

The name of that album: A Season In Hell.

Foley wanting to hear these tapes, goes to Satin Records to get her hands on the album.  She finds out the tapes are missing.  They were checked out from the studio on March 16, 1964.  The day after Eddie died.

After Frank ‘Wordman’ Ridgeway, played by Tom Berenger, starts on his own journey of memories, reunions and the search for the missing tapes, the movie takes us through flashbacks of what it was like as a Cruiser and the What If’s of what could’ve been.  We meet the rest of the band which includes, Sal Amato, Joann Carlino, Wendell Newton, Kenny Hopkins and manager Doc Robbins.

The rest is up to you to see how this story unfolds and to find out if Eddie Wilson was indeed pulling a Rimbaud.

Since its release in 1983 and it’s re-release in 1984, Eddie and the Cruisers has become a cult classic. In between those releases, it took on a new life being shown on HBO several times a day.  The soundtrack to the movie went quadruple platinum.  The lead song from the film, ‘On The Darkside’, went to number one on the Billboard Mainstream, Rock and Heatseeker charts.  The second single, ‘Tender Years’ went Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The film has impacted so many people around the world.  The cast, crew, fans and everyday people all share great memories of Eddie and the Cruisers.  When speaking to members of the cast and crew, I was blown away by how revered this movie and experience is to each of them.  Even those in the film, that haven’t seen it in thirty years or more, were reflective and shared memories that are held in high regard to this day.  During this whole experience of researching and re-watching Eddie and the Cruisers (for easily the 100th+ time), I was not only told stories of how the movie impacted them but also how this movie impacted others and was given emotional stories of personal interaction.

I asked Michael Pare about what the movie and the role of Eddie Wilson means to him.  Pare tells me, “Eddie was my first.  I had a small supporting role on The Greatest American Hero before I did Eddie and the Cruisers.  I worked one or two days an episode on 17 of 22 episodes, on the show.  So then I was suddenly taken serious after Eddie. It was the perfect way for me to step from supporting character to a second lead.   If a young actor was looking for the perfect first experience in a movie.. That was it.”

And thirty-five years later?  “It feels good.  The whole ideas is to leave your mark on the world and impact people.  To make them think, and in that way, I think it was pretty successful.  We didn’t get much of a theatrical run but we’ve got history, man.”

“I want something great.  I want something that nobody’s ever done before.”

That impact on people from an Eddie Wilson standpoint is easy to figure out.  I asked Michael if people still come up to him as though he is Eddie.  Pare says, “All the time, man.” (laughs) Sounds like something Eddie would’ve said.  The countless number of musicians that wanted to be a rock stars after watching Eddie and the Cruisers is a testament to the character strength of Eddie Wilson and the performance by Pare.  “I’ll be honest, guys have come up to me said that I inspired them to become musicians.”  Pare says and then laughs. “Which is kind of scary because the music business is probably right up there with being as unstable as the acting business.  I have a son and I told him, I’ll support you in everything you do but don’t go into show business.”  Pare continues on the point of inspiring musicians, “I’ve been told that, that scene on top of Tony Marts is the way rock and roll happens.  That you take a melody and you just make it rock and it just sort of happens.  You know, that’s probably one of the most flattering things you can say because all of these scenes just kind of happened.”  Pare nailed the rock and roll persona and his lip syncing to the songs sung by John Cafferty are spot on.

You can count me as one of the inspired.

The director of the movie was Martin Davidson.  When talking about getting Pare ready to become Eddie Wilson, Davidson tells us, “It was only a ten week shoot in New Jersey and I realized very quickly that we were going to need as much time as possible to pull this thing off.  I scheduled all of the dramatic scenes to be done within the first five weeks.  So while we were doing that, I tried to have as little of the Michael Pare scenes, so that he could be back at the motel where we were staying, where I hired this wonderful man, Southside Johnny to work with him.  He would spend 8 hours a day, 10 hours a day, and even 14 hours a day with Michael to work on his performance.  This performance, that he was going to have to get up and make us believe that he was a giant.  A rock star.”  Pare without a doubt became Eddie Wilson by the time the cameras rolled.

Like any project there are good times and sometimes difficult ones, but there was another side to this story.  A more emotional side.  Many years after the movie, Davidson tells me about the time his sister, Arlene Davidson, was in facility suffering from the early stages of dementia.  Arlene, who co-wrote the screen play with Martin and was an associate producer, was telling people at the nursing home, that she made movies.  At first they didn’t believe her.  Davidson says, “I eventually got a call about my sister with something about that she’s saying she makes movies and stuff.  And I said, she did.  She was one of the writers and producers of Eddie and the Cruisers.  They sounded surprised by this.  So I said, I’ll tell you what, I’ll come down and bring the film with me and we’ll show it to the people there and to the non-believers.  So we went through this process for me to show up one afternoon and show the film.”

Davidson then describes the day.  “My sister Arlene got all dressed up for it.  She understood what was going on.  So what I did to surprise not only the other people there but also my sister, was I hunted down and found Michael Pare.  I told him what we were doing and I asked him if he would come to the screening.  This is like 3 in the afternoon in the Valley somewhere in Los Angeles.  In a home for people that are going through dementia and every other possible problem.  But Michael showed up, we didn’t announce it or anything and he sat in the back of the room.  Kind of huddled up in the corner.  All of these people that had come in on walkers and people that struggled to get into the screening room, watched the movie and got to see my sisters name on the screen.  When the movie was over, they all applauded.  They then introduced me and I said, I have another surprise.  In the back of the room we have Eddie Wilson right here.  Michael got up and came to the front with me and talked to everyone.  They couldn’t believe it and I would say it was the happiest moment of my sisters life.  I’ve got to tell you, I haven’t told anybody that story, but I’m in tears right now thinking about it…  I think it’s a wonderful thing that Michael did.”  That story sent chills up and down my spine.  The power of that day is something that will probably stay with both Marty and Michael forever.

Arlene Davidson passed away a few days later.

Matthew Laurance who plays bassist Sal Amato, tells us about his memories of the movie.  It’s clear that the film remains close to his heart after all of these years.  Laurance tells us, “As the years go by and every milestone you hit, 15, 20, 25, 30, and now 35 years ago.. It’s kind of astounding.  Of all the things that I did and I had a great career, I was very blessed.  I did a lot of things that I really enjoyed.  But nothing really came close to being Sal.  Learning how to play the bass and working with the people that I worked with.  Being up on stage.  You know, all actors want to be rock stars and all rock and roll stars want to be actors. (Matthew laughs) When I started acting I had two things I wanted to accomplish.  I got to do one of them.  One was being in a rock and roll movie, which was great.  The other was to do a sports movie where I got to play in Yankees Stadium.  I didn’t get to do that one but one out of two’s not bad.”  Not bad at all.

“We ain’t great.  We’re just some guys from Jersey.”

As we were talking about people still recognizing him as Sal Amato, Matthew tells me, “It happens all the time.  All the time. (laughs) When I’d go to New York, and it’s been three or four years since I’ve been there, it happened every time I went to there, at least once.  Because I was the guy, in the movie it’s my most famous line, who says, we ain’t great, we’re just some guys from Jersey.  I would be walking down Fifth Avenue and I’d be crossing the street and some guy would be stopped in a cab at a red light.  He’d roll down the window and scream, HEY SAL, I’M FROM JERSEY, SAL!  I mean it never fails when I’m in New York.” (laughs)

“I can’t tell you how many times people have come up to me and told me about their experiences because of that movie.  That’s the best part of it all. It’s such an important movie to so many people.  Still, even now.  Here’s a story that may be the one that gets me the most.  I played in a lot of celebrity golf tournaments.  Still do. The biggest one we played was this one in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  It was a huge deal.  Hundreds and hundreds of people there.  It was three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Friday I’m walking down one of the fairways and I look over to my right where people are walking.  I see this guy and he kind of had this longish beard and an Army hat on, the kind that has “Veteran” on it.  The next day, I’m walking and there was this guy again.  By the last day, I knew he had to be walking with ME.  So I went over to him and I said, Are you stalking me, do I owe you money?  Is there something I’m missing here or what?  The guy says to me, I saw in the paper that you were going to be playing in this tournament.  I live about an hour from here and I’m glad you came over.  I was waiting until it was over to introduce myself.  He said to me, I served during Desert Storm and I’m originally from New Jersey.  Everyday, those of us that were from Jersey and other people as well, we would watch at least a part of Eddie and the Cruisers in the video tent.  Everyday.  And it got us through our tour in Desert Storm.  We would sing the music while we were out and we would go back and watch a song or half of the movie and I just wanted to thank you.”

Wow.

Matthew exclaims, “How do you respond to that?  It’s just an incredible thing.  Any actor when they do something, you hope that somehow the work that you’re doing and the work of the people you’re working with, influences people in a good way.  When I think of Eddie and the Cruisers, I always think of that story too.”

In addition to being a member of The Beaver Brown band, Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes also played saxophone in the movie.  I asked him how it all went down.  Michael remembers, “I got a call to come to New York and they wanted to see myself and John Cafferty.  John met with Kenny Vance, the music producer and I met with the director Marty Davidson and his sister Arlene Davidson.  It was a like something you see in the movies when people are at a casting call.  People going in and out of the room.  They would stay in there for about five minutes.  I wound up staying in there for forty-five minutes!  I had a good feeling when Arlene started talking to me and asked if I’d play something on my saxophone.  So I did and it was sort of magical that moment.  Then I got a call a couple days later from Nancy Klopper the casting agent and she said, Michael Antunes, congratulations! You’ve got the part of Wendell Newton in the movie Eddie and the Cruisers.”

Both Matthew and Michael told me a story about Michael being at a driving range and a mutual acquaintance saying to Michael, “I was just talking to Matt the other day, let’s take a selfie and send it to him.”  Michael recalls, “About five minutes later Matt calls back with this video.  That was so cool.” (laughs) How about that for a long lasting friendship?

One common thread during my interviews with the cast and crew was this:  Helen Schneider was a already a huge star in Europe.  Those words literally came out of everyone’s mouth when Helen came up in conversation.  She had a burgeoning music career happening and was a legit star in the music scene there.  Helen played Eddie’s girlfriend, Joann Carlino, and also sang back up in the band.  Another thing that came up was her personality.  I’m not sure I’ve ever heard someone talked about, with this much of an endearing tone.  I asked her to give me her thoughts on Eddie and the Cruisers after all of these years.  Helen says, “I think of Eddie and the Cruisers like some really beloved family member.”

“That’s the most you’ll ever get out of me, Wordman.  Ever.”

While we were talking about the audition process and her role, she was reminded of how she did some improvisation with Marty and that Ellen Barkin was also there.  She says, “Ellen was instrumental in pushing that I was cast, as she was witness to my audition, and I got it!” (laughs) Everyone around me was so supportive.  I stayed friends with Joey Pantoliano for years.  I live in Europe, so I’ve lost touch with a lot people.  But Ellen was always a fantastic support and was very, very sweet.  Actually, Ellen and Joey were instrumental in convincing me to stay in New York and take three years of acting.

When we talked about Eddie and Joann, Helen tells me, “Michael was a really sweet friend.  I’ve lost touch with him over the years but I only have fond memories of Michael.  We must’ve made a good pair.”  They certainly did.

I wondered since Helen lives outside of the United States, if she gets fan mail from that side of the world in regards to the movie.  Helen tells me, “I get the wildest fan letters from Eastern Europe.  The movie played there and had some huge successes and I guess in countries in all of Eastern Europe and I get some pretty wild fan mail.  I can say that it’s kind of a surprise and it makes me giggle, (laughs) when I realize that people after all this time love this little movie!  I had a great time making it.  It was an enormous cusp for me and it was a turning point in my life because it suddenly gave me an understanding of what kind a role acting could play in my life.  I took off on a very different direction after I made the movie because of the friendships I made there and what I learned from Eddie and the Cruisers.”

One name that kept coming up was Kenny Vance, music supervisor and producer.  He also sang on Betty Lou’s Got A New Pair Of Shoes and Those Oldies But Goodies.  Both Michael and Matthew expressed the importance of Kenny and Marty called him the real hero of the movie.  I asked Kenny if it feels like this was an eternity ago.  Kenny says, “It actually feels recent.  I don’t know why, it just does.  It’s so crazy because I remember so much about it all.  Sometimes you forget what you had for breakfast (laughs) but for some reason I remember it very vividly.”

I asked Kenny how the relationships were with the people involved.  Kenny tells me about a time very recently where he was playing a show at The Mohegan Sun Casino with his band Kenny Vance and The Planetones.  Kenny says, “Unbeknownst to me a Chief from the committee is friends with Cafferty and he invited him to the show.  When I was backstage after the show, John and his wife were there and it was so beautiful to him.  We hugged each other and it was so great to reunite with him and his wife.”  I asked Kenny how long it had been since they last saw each other.  Kenny says, “I’d have to say fifteen years.  To have that type of love for each other after all that time was, well in this world is really rare, so it was truly special.”

The friendships and memories made during that time will last a lifetime for the people involved.

Going into this journey I wanted to talk about Eddie and scenes from the movie.  But as I began interviewing people, I started to realize that it was more than just scenes from a movie.  Don’t get me wrong, those scenes are the main reason why we’re here today.  Me writing and you reading.  But the relationships and impact on everyone involved is pretty amazing.  Especially after all of these years.  Just as amazing, is the influence that the film has had over people that were not involved in the making of it.  People from all different walks of life have stories that they can tell about the movie and how it has affected them.

After reading the novel by P.F. Kluge, I felt a little like a combination of Elliot Mannheim and Wordman in search of the old band with a quest of finding some answers to question I’ve had for years.  Only for me, there are no missing tapes to find.  My Season In Hell are the memories from a group of people that shared an incredible moment in time with one another.  Growing up I wore out my VHS copy of Eddie and the Cruisers from watching it so much.  I can say that personally this movie has had an impact on my life and jump started my own career of writing and touring music.  If you are reading this and have the same kind of goose bumps from the stories that these people have told us, then I will say to you:

Eddie Wilson Lives

-Tommy Marz

Follow @Tommy and @SoundVapors on Twitter.

Here’s a look into where they are today.

Michael Pare has remained a steady working actor and has not slowed down in the least.  Over the last three years, Pare has been in 11 films.  Michael says, “I’ve been doing this for 38 years, man.  I came to Hollywood and did The Greatest American Hero, that went on in the fall of 1980 and I’ve never done anything else.  I’ve written a little bit and produced a few things but I’ve been acting a long time.”

We talked about Eddie and the Cruisers II (that’s another article, another time) and I asked him if we would ever see an Eddie III.  Michael tells me, “Me and a friend of mine wrote a screenplay for it and I gave it to John Ferriter.  John said this would be great as a television series.  So the screen play we wrote would be the pilot.”  I really hope it gets made.  Michael says, “Me too.”

Here’s the trailer from his 2015 movie where he stars with Dolph Lundgren, Johnny Messner, Danny Trejo and Vivica Fox.  The movie is call The Good, The Bad and The Dead.

One song I’ve always wished that Helen would’ve released is a version of Tender Years similar to the version in the movie when she sang along to the piano.  Helen laughs and says, when I tell her that, “That’s so wonderful and sweet but I’ve never really thought about it.  I was in the middle of a really happening, rolling rock career myself.  Eddie and the Cruisers was sort of like an extra circular event for me.  So I never really thought about it.” (laughs) Well, here’s to hoping that one day she will release a version of it.

You can keep up with Helen on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HelenSchneiderOfficial/

Here’s her video for her song, Haze:

Matthew Laurance is co-host of Matthew & Mikey on ESPN Radio.  He is also host of University of Kentucky’s Men’s Basketball Game Day.  He is definitely staying busy.  But he still has that urge to play music.  Matthew tells me, “I haven’t played the bass in a long time.  But I’ve been actually thinking about starting up again, you know, just for me.  One of the greatest things was that we got work with Southside Johnny, John Cafferty, The Beaver Brown Band and Michael ‘Tunes’, who is obviously in the movie.  Southside Johnny was an icon.  He worked with us as a band and he’s that one that did all of that work with us and taught me how to play the bass guitar.  I learned how to play the songs in the movie.  I played the saxophone and accordion growing up, so I’ve always loved music.  But getting to learn how to play the bass guitar from somebody like Southside Johnny was a dream come true.”

Here’s a link to their show/podcast:

http://www.wlxg.com/podcast/matthew-and-mike/

Kenny Vance is still touring.  When talking about the song Those Oldies But Goodies, Kenny is still clearly motivated to play live shows.  Kenny tells me, “That’s pretty much what the Planetones do.  Those oldies.  There’s a world of people that show up at these shows.  Bowzer (John Bauman, Sha Na Na) can still play the Mohegan Sun and sell out for 20,000 people for a Doo Wop show.  It’s great that you can still be old (laughs) and still do that!”  Pretty amazing after all of these years.  Follow the link to Kenny’s music:  http://kennyvanceandtheplanotones.com/

Here’s a video of Kenny live singing a song from the title track of another movie that him and Marty Davidson worked on.  Looking For An Echo.  His voice is as unbelievable as ever:

Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes is still touring with John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band.  They still pull in the big crowds and everyone goes wild when they hear the opening to “On The Darkside.”  Michael’s sons are all in the music business.  Both Derek and Kevin played in The New Kids On The Block touring band on the drums and keyboards, respectfully.  Kevin is the musical director for Madonna and has been the MD for Rhianna and Justin Timberlake.  He also produced the Michael Jackson Cirque De Soleil music for “Immortal.”  His other son Matt is the drummer in the band Tavares, best known for their hit “More Than A Woman” and “It Only Takes A Minute.”

Watch Michael and John still killing Tender Years on stage.  That outro sax solo… Goose Bumps.

Martin Davidson is enjoying his life with his wife, Sandra, who was also the costume designer on the movie.  In addition to the 35th of Eddie and the Cruisers they are celebrating another Anniversary this year as it is 50 years for the happy couple.  Happy Anniversary, Marty and Sandy!

***Stay tuned for the second part of 35th Anniversary which will include an oral history of the music behind this movie.  And we will get into Eddie and the Cruisers II – Eddie Lives***

For now I will leave you with this:

Cast:

Tom Berenger – Frank Ridgeway

Michael Pare – Eddie Wilson

Joe Pantoliano – Doc Robbins

Matthew Laurance – Sal Amato

Helen Schneider – Joann Carlino

David Wilson – Kenny Hopkins

Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes – Wendell Newton

Ellen Barkin – Maggie Foley

Directed by Martin Davidson

Screenplay by Martin Davidson and Arlene Davidson

Based on the novel Eddie and The Cruisers by P.F. Kluge

Article written and interviews by Tommy Marz.  Edited by Mark Kowalski