Michael Paré: Eddie Wilson, Joe West
Photos
Quotes
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Hilton Overstreet : [faces Eddie, sternly] First you destroy your guitar, now your songs. You're gonna be next?
Eddie Wilson : They're lousy songs. They don't even burn good.
Hilton Overstreet : Good thing you know them by heart. Be a shame to lose that many songs by Eddie Wilson.
[Eddie stops destroying his songs and realizes that Hilton knows his true identity]
Hilton Overstreet : I knew the minute I heard you play. The way a man plays - he's born with it; like fingerprints. He can hide under another name. But he can't disguise the way he plays.
Eddie Wilson : Then it's a good thing I'm quitting.
Hilton Overstreet : You're not quitting now, Eddie! You owe it to this band! You brought them this far! Then deserve another chance, just like you had a chance. But they ain't gonna get it without you. You owe it to them, Eddie... and you owe it to me.
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Diane Armani : You really enjoyed this life, don't you? Always traveling.
Eddie Wilson : Still missed Jersey.
Diane Armani : [snorts] And what's so special about Jersey?
Eddie Wilson : Baby, there's nowhere else in the world like the Garden State! You got miles of swamps, and mountains of dumps... different colored rivers... automobiles graveyards... breweries, factories, ballparks, all mixed up together. It's the best place to live.
Diane Armani : Uh-huh? Then why does the Statue of Liberty face the other way?
[they both laugh]
Eddie Wilson : [jokingly] Oooh! That was cruel!
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Sal Amato : [with Eddie in an old abandoned church, where the mystery tapes were recorded] What's all this bullshit about the mystery tapes? You and Wendell coming here to play twenty years ago.
Eddie Wilson : It was just an experiment, Sal. Look, Wendell knew these guys that had a recording studio here. That's all. The funny thing is that there I was playing with the greatest. Bo Diddley, King Curtis. Thinking "This is great, this is what I want!"
[In a flashback, Eddie and Wendell Newton were playing in a jam session with a large group of black musicians, including Bo Diddley]
Eddie Wilson : And you know, to them, it was just another night of jamming. That's what got me thinking, wondering. I start thinking I wasn't good enough. Then Wendell died. I couldn't take it anymore. 'Cause it was my fault.
Sal Amato : Wendell OD'd. Why do you blame yourself for Wendell's death, huh?
Eddie Wilson : Because I could have saved him. I was pushing the band to get a sound, and I didn't care about anybody.
Sal Amato : You didn't kill Wendell, the monkey was on his back long before he ever met you. Wendell was just a player like all of them. Maybe that's why they treated that night like it was any other night. And that should tell you something: Don't worry about being good enough. Just go out there and play it, the best you could play it. That's all.
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Sal Amato : [sees Eddie, now clean-shaven and with short hair, approach him on the beach for the first time since his death] Son of a...
[Eddie faces him, contrite]
Sal Amato : Jesus Christ! You son of a bitch! You son of a...
[takes a swing at him and misses, losing his balance, Eddie catches him, Sal is hysterical]
Sal Amato : Son of a bitch! Jesus Christ! You've been dead for 20 years, goddammit!
Eddie Wilson : [restraining him] I gotta talk to you, Sal!
Sal Amato : Shut up! No, you're dead, goddammit! Don't talk to me!
Eddie Wilson : I gotta talk to you, Sal!
Sal Amato : No! Don't talk to me! Shut up! Get away from me!
Eddie Wilson : [Sal breaks free and faces Eddie, who tears up] I'm... I'm sorry.
Sal Amato : [close to tears] Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Huh? What kind of person does that to a friend? Shit... I was your best friend, goddammit! Why did you do it?
Eddie Wilson : I couldn't handle it.
Sal Amato : You couldn't handle it? I hate you, man!
[storms off, Eddie follows him]
Eddie Wilson : I came back 'cause I need you, Sal! I really need you, man!
Sal Amato : Yeah? What about all the times I needed you?
Eddie Wilson : I'm scared, I don't know what I'm gonna do! Sal... I need you to forgive me. Please! I'm sorry, man! I'm really sorry!
[both men break down in tears]
Eddie Wilson : Come here, you.
[embraces Sal]
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Diane Armani : [walking into the dining room, where Eddie is staring out a window, she kisses him] Good morning.
[Eddie is silent]
Diane Armani : Joe, last night you were scared of something. I could feel it. Does that guy have something on you?
Eddie Wilson : [sighs] No.
Diane Armani : [confused] Then what's the matter?
Eddie Wilson : There's something happening in my life that I just can't handle.
[gets up and walks away]
Diane Armani : Go on, please.
Eddie Wilson : [hesitatingly] Diane... a long time ago I had a band. I wanted to create... the perfect sound. Perfect music. I spent a whole year... working on this album. And when I was done, I was proud of it. And then I handed it in, and this guy at Satin Records... he told me it was garbage. He said I was finished... the album was unreleasable.
[shaking his head]
Eddie Wilson : I can't go through that again.
Diane Armani : I'm sure people have forgotten your old band by now. You could start...
Eddie Wilson : No! That's the point! Nobody's forgotten! I hear it and see it every goddamned day on radio, television! It's driving me crazy! They like me better dead than alive!
Diane Armani : What do you mean dead? What band are you talking about?
Eddie Wilson : [tersely] The Cruisers... Eddie and the Cruisers.