SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 2:52 Min.
Recorded for the 1983 Eddie and the Cruisers film soundtrack, John Cafferty (as the fictional Eddie Wilson’s singing voice) and the Beaver Brown Band (doubling for the on-screen Cruisers) perform this rock tune. Per a 1963-64 flashback in the film’s storyline, a troubled Eddie Wilson is inspired by 19th Century French poet Arthur Rimbaud to create a dark, mind-bending new form of rock album (a precursor to The Doors’ style). This song appears in the film’s concluding scene leading off the end credits.
REVIEW:
For clarification, this song isn’t a reprise of the prior track (despite its listing) – it should be construed as the second half of the so-called “Fire Suite.” More so, it’s odd: this song works perfectly accentuating the story’s twist finish. Yet, aside its dramatic opening bars, the tune isn’t that remarkable … it’s even underwhelming, if heard outside the movie.
Worse yet is the late inclusion of garbled background noise – evidently, technical static from the recording studio’s control room was inadvertently included. Considering this inexplicable ‘noise’ isn’t part of the song’s film version, it’s a lazy technical gaffe that no one ever bothered to fix. Frankly, it makes little difference either way.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
Note: The soundtrack’s prior track is the first half of “Season in Hell (Fire Suite).”
