John Cafferty
Listen for free or download thousands of 80's Top 40 tracks for just 12 cents per song!
John Cafferty's started his first band as a Rhode Island junior high school student in the mid 1960's. As the years rolled on, Cafferty was a member of a number of blues-based bands, including The Luvin' Kynd, and later as the Beaver Brown (circa 1972). Beaver Brown made a name for themselves throughout the Northeast corridor bar scene, in places like New Haven, Boston, Asbury Park, and Misquamicut, as a tight and well-rehearsed rock team.
Initially, Beaver Brown was being compared to Bruce Springsteen (another Blue Collar Band), which initially delayed a record deal. The band decided to independently release the singles "Wild Summer Nights" and "Tender Years", which sold very well on the east coast. Still, no record deal was presented to the band. In the early 1980's, Beaver Brown met Kenny Vance, a musician who worked on the TV show Saturday Night Live as well as movie soundtracks like Animal House. After being given the duties of creating the soundtrack for the movie Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Vance gave the job to Beaver Brown, their first hit song, "On the Dark Side", was born. Soon after, "Tender Years", a re-release, also made the top 40. It was after the success of this soundtrack that the band changed their name to John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The band's follow-up album, Tough All Over (1985), also did well, giving us the title track and another hit song called "C-I-T-Y".
Other releases for the band in the 80's included contributions to the Rocky IV soundtrack ("Hearts on Fire"), the soundtrack for Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1988), & Roadhouse (1988). Although these albums featured some minor success, the heyday was over. Since the 1980's, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band have continued touring, from time to time, and contributing to movie soundtracks. The John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band Discography is as follows:
Listen for free or download thousands of 80's Top 40 tracks for just 12 cents per song!
- 1983: Eddie and the Cruisers Soundtrack
- 1985: Tough All Over
- 1988: Roadhouse
- 1989: Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! Soundtrack
- 1991: Eddie and the Cruisers: The Unreleased Tapes
- 1992: Eddie and the Cruisers: Live and in Concert
- 2004: John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band: Extended Versions