TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: Elvis, the Doors and...

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: Elvis, the Doors and Jimi Hendrix have shown us that being dead can be a good thing for record sales, and now Eddie Wilson is proving that never having been alive can do the same. Scotti Bros. Records reports that it has sold more than 60,000 copies of Eddie & the Cruisers’ “The Unreleased Tapes,” a package that makes no mention of the fact that Wilson exists only on celluloid in two “Eddie & the Cruisers” films, where he was played by Michael Pare, with music by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band. The album, presented as “lost” nuggets, consists of songs left off the soundtrack albums, remixes and snippets of dialogue from the films.

Also, TV watchers may have noticed the spots for a “not available in stores” Led Zeppelin anthology--two CDs, plus a bonus disc featuring interviews with the Zepsters--offered for “four easy payments” of $9.99, plus shipping costs. That works out to more than $40 for a two-CD set (the interview disc was made as a promotional item sent to radio and press), a good $15 more than two-disc sets usually go for in stores, and only about $15 less than the full original four-CD Zep box that is still in stores.