John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Bandis
the name of anAmericanrockbandfromRhode
Islandwhich
began its career in the 1970s and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s.
Originally known as simplyBeaver
Brown,
the classic lineup of the group (consisting of
John Cafferty
on vocals andguitar,
Gary Gramolini
onlead guitar,
Pat Lupo
on bass,
Kenny Jo Silva
ondrums,
Bobby Cotoia
onkeyboards,
andMichael "Tunes" Antunesonsaxophone)
started out as aNew Englandbar
band based out of Narragansett, Rhode Island and established a following up and
down the Northeast corridor with strongholds in thebeach
resort townsof
Narragansett and Misquamicut, Rhode Island; New York City; New Haven,
Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; and Asbury Park, New Jersey.
They first achieved success with a 1980 self-released single pairing two of
their songs, "Wild Summer Nights" and "Tender Years" which sold over 10,000
copies and enjoyed radio play up and down the Atlantic seaboard. Despite their
success, the act was ignored by the major labels due to persistent critical
comparisons to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They finally achieved
international success when producer Kenny Vance, a longtime fan, offered them
the score to a movie soundtrack he was helming based on a best-selling novel
about a legendary bar band, "Eddie & The Cruisers." Thanks to frequent airings
of the film on HBO and the purchase of the soundtrack album by their established
fan base as well as hundreds of thousands of new converts, "Eddie & The Cruisers
- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" reached the top 10 on theBillboard
200chart and produced a number 7 hit
single ("On the Dark Side") on theBillboard
Hot 100. "On the Dark Side" also held number-one on theAlbum
Rock Trackschart for five weeks. The
album was eventually certified triple Platinum by the RIAA
The group's 1985 follow-up albumTough
All Overmade the top 50,
enjoying great sales for "C.I.T.Y" and the title track, which became their
second number-one single on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Another song from
that album, "Voice of America's Sons," was the featured theme song on the
official motion picture soundtrack of the movie Cobra, starringSylvester
Stalloneand Cafferty's solo track
"Hearts on Fire" was featured in another Stallone film,Rocky
IV.
The band's next album, the self-produced "Roadhouse," sold well to their fan
base but did not reach the sales heights of "Tough All Over." In 1989, they
followed it with the score to an "Eddie" sequel, "Eddie & The Cruisers II: Eddie
Lives!" which became their last major label release of new material.
Several personnel changes occurred over the next few years with Kenny Jo Silva
departing in 1992 and Pat Lupo in 1994 to be replaced, respectively, by Jackie
Santos, formerly of Tavares, and Dean Cassell. Bobby Cotoia had been forced to
retire from the road during the 1990s due to an illness but remained an active
member of the group in the studio. His on-stage replacement was Steve Burke who
remains in the lineup. Cotoia passed away on September 3, 2004.
As of 2012, John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band remains a top concert
attraction touring nationally on an annual basis and they have placed new songs
into the soundtracks of several major motion pictures including the hit "There's
Something About Mary.