Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!

- Hi, guys. - Hi.

Hey, Joe, come on, drink up.

We only got half an hour for lunch.

Hey, what's the matter with you?

That was Eddie and the Cruisers doing "On the Dark Side."

It was a long time ago, right, kids?

But take it from me, Eddie Wilson was it.

Rock 'n' roll's fastest rising star.

Then on a cold March morning, Eddie Wilson died.

Tonight at 10 p.m.

for the first time anywhere in the world,

an Eddie Wilson look-a-like contest

sponsored by Satin Records.

It'll be broadcast live right here on ROCK TV News.

You believe this?

Just like Elvis. Now it's this clown.

Hey, Joe,

Joe?

Where's Joe?

The reissue of Eddie and the Cruisers album

has gone platinum in only four weeks.

A major phenomenon.

And with me here tonight is one of the original Cruisers,

Sal Amato. Welcome to the show, Sal.

Thanks. Nice to be here.

Now tell me something. In a few minutes,

you're gonna receive the platinum album award

for selling over a million albums.

How does that feel?

Well, it's hard.

I feel good and bad, you know.

I mean, for our album to become this popular

after all these years of being out of release,

never being heard on the radio...

You gotta understand, with Eddie, music was everything.

I mean, it wasn't just songs or records.

With Eddie, music was your whole life.

Now tell me something, Sal.

What's this whispering we hear around

about some surprise announcement?

Does it have something to do with the old band?

I'm sorry. I can't talk about it.

All right, Sal.

Well, the tension is building up right here at Club Metropolis.

All right, everybody!

You have now heard... whoa, whoa, whoa, for a second!

You've now heard the last of the finalists

in the Eddie Wilson lookalike contest!

We've given Sal Amato his platinum award.

Come on, Sal.

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!

All right, all right. Hold on here!

At this time, I'd like to introduce

somebody from Satin Records.

These are the people who reissued

Eddie and the Cruisers.

I'd like to introduce a man by the name of Dave Pagent

who has something you all want to hear.

Before Eddie Wilson died, he was working on a new album.

An album called "Season in Hell."

Now you all know that Eddie Wilson

is the greatest, right?

Satin Records has just reacquired the lost tapes

of Eddie Wilson's never-released album, "Season in Hell"!

And we at Satin Records are now gonna release it

just for you!

Now, here it is in its world premiere!

Yeah!

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!

Eddie! Eddie!

What I want is songs that echo.

The stuff we're doing now is like somebody's bed sheets.

You spread 'em out, soil 'em,

ship 'em out to laundry, you know?

But our songs, I wanna be able to

fold ourselves up in 'em forever.

You understand?

It's a pretty good imitation of Eddie.

Who is it?

When we reacquired the "Season in Hell" album,

we found another totally unrelated tape in the box,

a mystery tape, this tape.

- And you think this is Eddie? - Don't you?

It can't be. Eddie always played with me.

I knew every song he knew.

- I knew everything that he... - No, this is Eddie.

What are you tryin' to pull here?

There aren't any tricks, Sal.

I've had the tape analyzed

and experts agree that this is Eddie Wilson.

Screw the experts.

I was his best friend.

I would know if he was doin' somethin'.

No, no. His music was his best friend, Sal.

Don't you understand?

Eddie did not think you belonged in this session.

He started playing with other musicians

'cause he was leaving you behind, pal.

That's a lie.

You're a goddamn liar! Eddie wouldn't...

Eddie Wilson was my best friend.

That meant something back then.

Maybe you don't understand that.

Hey, no, Lew! Wait a minute!

Wait, Lew. Lew!

Sal's not thinkin' it's Eddie makes this even better.

What are you talkin' about?

Let me explain it to you.

The "Season in Hell" album

- will for sure be a big hit. - So?

But now, now we raise the question of who the hell played

on the mystery tape, where was it recorded,

and, best of all, were these songs recorded

after Eddie Wilson died?

What the hell you gettin' at, Dave?

What I'm gettin' at is creating a rock 'n' roll mystery.

We don't know how old this new tape is.

It could have been recorded before or after

Eddie Wilson's car went off that bridge.

Because Eddie Wilson's body was never found.

That's right.

After "Season in Hell" goes gold,

we announce that we have discovered this mystery tape.

Release each cut of it as a single

and promote the hell out of it.

Get people to start believin' that Eddie could still be alive.

You know, "Eddie lives" kind of stuff.

We could arrange sightings of Eddie.

Newspaper articles, maybe even a TV special.

People do not want their heroes to die.

And that stuff sells records, Lew.

Lots of records.

So what do you think?

I think Eddie Wilson lives.

Hey, come on! Get off of him!

Hey, he's holding him!

Come on, ref, God damn it!

What's the matter with you? He's blind!

You see that?

I don't know, man. You call this playoff hockey?