Eddie and the Cruisers

Eddie and the Cruisers is a 1983 American musical drama film directed by Martin Davidson with the screenplay written by the director and Arlene Davidson, based on the novel by P. F. Kluge. The sequel Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! followed in 1989. Plot A TV reporter named Maggie Foley investigates the mysterious disappearance of cult rock star Eddie Wilson. Flashbacks dramatize Eddie's life and the rise and fall of his rock and roll band, Eddie and the Cruisers. The band gets its start at a club in Somers Point, New Jersey named Tony Mart's. Not adept at writing lyrics, Eddie hires Frank Ridgeway aka "Wordman" to be the band's keyboard player and lyricist, over the protests of band manager Doc Robbins and bassist Sal Amato. Rounding out the Cruisers are saxophonist Wendell Newton, background singer and Eddie's girlfriend Joann Carlino, and drummer Kenny Hopkins. The band's 1st album, Tender Years, becomes a major hit, but recording their next album, "A Season in Hell," turns out to be a nightmare. Inspired by the bleak, fatalistic poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, Eddie wants something far more ambitious than their previous pop songs and he pushes his bandmates beyond their limits, musically and personally. Eddie wants to be great, but bassist Sal replies, "We ain't great. We're just some guys from Jersey." Eddie makes it clear that if the band can't be great, there's no reason to ever play music again. A Season in Hell is rejected by Satin Records on the grounds that it's "dark and strange". In the early morning hours, Eddie's car crashes through the railing and over the Stainton Memorial Causeway. Eddie vanishes without a trace, his body never found.