About
The legendary "East Coast Rock'n'Roll" group John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band began their career in 1972 and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s with the "Eddie & The Cruisers - Motion Picture Soundtrack". The hit single "On the Dark Side" held the "Number-One" position on the Billboard Rock charts and the MTV video charts for “five” consecutive weeks. The album sold over 3 million copies and was certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.
The title track from the group's 1985 follow-up album “Tough All Over” became their second "Number-One" single on the Billboard Rock charts and the song “C-I-T-Y” reached the Billboard Top 20. John Cafferty's solo track "Hearts on Fire" was featured in the Sylvester Stallone film "Rocky IV” and he received his second double Platinum soundtrack award. Over the years John has placed 35 songs in major motion pictures.
Today John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band continue to tour and bring their exciting live shows to fans around the world. In 2012 they were inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame.
John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band is the name of an American roots rock’n’roll band from Rhode Island which began its career in 1972 and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s. Originally known as simply Beaver Brown, the classic lineup of the group (consisting of John Cafferty on vocals and guitar, Gary Gramolini on lead guitar, Pat Lupo on bass, Kenny Jo Silva on drums, Bobby Cotoia on keyboards, and Michael "Tunes" Antunes on saxophone) started out as a New England bar band based out of Narragansett, Rhode Island and established a huge following up and down the Northeast corridor with strongholds in the beach resort towns of Narragansett and Misquamicut, Rhode Island; Cape Cod and Boston, Massachusetts, ; New Haven, Connecticut; New York City; Asbury Park, New Jersey and Washington, DC.
History
They first achieved success with a 1980 self-released single pairing two of their now-classic songs, "Wild Summer Nights" and Tender Years" which sold over 10,000 copies and enjoyed terrific radio play up and down the Atlantic seaboard. They finally achieved international success when producer Kenny Vance, offered them the score to a movie soundtrack he was producing based on a best-selling novel about a fictional 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 fanbase as well as hundreds of thousands of new converts, "Eddie & The Cruisers - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and produced a number 7 hit single ("On the Dark Side") on the Billboard Hot 100. "On the Dark Side" also held number-one on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart for five weeks. The album was eventually certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.
The group's 1985 follow-up album was highlighted by the title track ” Tough All Over “ which became their second number-one single on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song "C.I.T.Y" from that album also reached the Billboard Top 20 while "Voice of America's Sons" was the featured theme song on the motion picture soundtrack of the movie Cobra, starring Sylvester Stallone and 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. Bobby Cotoia passed away September 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 “Jersey Girl” and the smash hit "There's Something About Mary."
