John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band "Tough All Over"

John Cafferty and his Beaver Brown bandmates had toiled in near anonimity for a decade when they found themselves with a surprise hit song courtesy of "On The Dark Side" as the fictitious title band in the movie Eddie & The Cruisers. The movie, and song, had barely registered with the public when originally released in the late summer of 1983. Nearly a year later, the movie became a hit video rental, reigniting interest in the song.

In the spring of 1985, with the career momentum from their two hit singles from the Eddie & The Cruisers soundtrack, the Rhode Island-based band released the album Tough All Over as John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band. More confusing to the public than the group's dual identity was likely the fact that they sounded like a bar band version of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (who were dominating the musical landscape with the monstrous success of Born In The USA).

However, Cafferty and company still had a bit of steam left and Tough All Over's initial single, the title track, bounded up the chart when it was released in May. In June, "Tough All Over" became the group's third US Top 40 single. With its straight-ahead, bar rock energy, the working class anthem was especially embraced at album rock radio where the song hit #1.

"Tough All Over" didn't fare quite as well with the mainstream pop audience. It did spend two months in the Top 40, but came to a halt at #22 in late July. John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band would manage to milk one more single from Tough All Over before returning to obscurity.

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