Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes, Beaver Brown Band Saxophonist, Passes Away
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He was not on the list.
Michael “Tunes” Antunes, the New Bedford native who went on to international success as saxophonist with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and starred in both of the Eddie and the Cruisers films, has passed away.
Antunes died Tuesday, August 19, just nine days after his 85th birthday and 10 days after his final performance at the Narrows Center in Fall River. The band had even sung “Happy Birthday” to Antunes during that final show.
Antunes reportedly passed away from kidney failure, although no official obituary has yet been published.
Early Life and Musical Roots
Born in New Bedford, Antunes began his performing career at age 13 while still attending Dartmouth High. He came from a musical family, as his father Peter played upright bass, guitar and Hammond organ throughout New England, and his grandfather Joaquim, an immigrant from Cape Verde, played guitar and violin here once he came to America.
Breakthrough with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
Antunes joined the Narragansett, Rhode Island-based Beaver Brown Band in the 1970s, after more than a decade of playing throughout the New England music scene.
The band went on to release two singles in 1980, “Wild Summer Nights” and “Tender Years,” which got them the job of providing music for the 1983 film Eddie and the Cruisers about a legendary bar band whose lead singer is presumed dead after his car goes into a river in the 1960s.
Antunes was a second-generation American with a Cape Verde heritage who was born into a musical family in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Antunes' father Peter Antunes played upright bass, guitar and Hammond organ, performing throughout New England. Antunes began performing at age 13 while still attending Dartmouth High School, and most of his early shows were playing Cape Verde music with his guitarist brother David and a cousin in a band called Second Generation.[1] Throughout the 1960s, Antunes performed in New England and upstate New York as a saxophone player in the Blazers, Bernie and the Cavaliers, the New Spices, Mike n’ Jenna, and Triumph. While with the Blazers, he recorded the songs "Grasshopper" with Mundo records (#864), and "A-Time" (#2002) and a remake of the Li’l Ray Armstrong song, "Boom Boom" (#2001) on Empire Records.
In addition to playing with John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, from 2004 to 2011, Antunes played with Ernie and the Automatics, a blues band that included former members of Boston, The J. Geils Band, and Peter Wolf's band.
Actor
No Apologies
Father Johnny
In Production
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989)
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
6.2
Wendell Newton
1989
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, John Cafferty, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, Beaver Brown, Bob Cotola, Gary Gramolini, Kenny Jo Silva, and Pat Lupo in John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Song and Dance (1988)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Song and Dance
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1988
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, John Cafferty, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, Beaver Brown, Bob Cotola, Gary Gramolini, Kenny Jo Silva, and Pat Lupo in John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Voice of America's Son (1986)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Voice of America's Son
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1986
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Small Town Girl, Version 2
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1985
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Small Town Girl
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1985
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: C-I-T-Y (1985)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: C-I-T-Y
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes*
1985
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, John Cafferty, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, Beaver Brown, Bob Cotola, Gary Gramolini, Kenny Jo Silva, and Pat Lupo in John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Tough All Over (1985)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Tough All Over
6.3
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1985
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, John Cafferty, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, Beaver Brown, Gary Gramolini, Kenny Jo Silva, and Pat Lupo in John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Tender Years (1984)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: Tender Years
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1984
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: On the Dark Side (1983)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: On the Dark Side
7.8
Music Video
Michael 'Tunes' Antunes
1983
Michael Paré in Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
Eddie and the Cruisers
6.9
Wendell Newton
1983
Music Department
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989)
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
6.2
saxophone (as Michael 'Tunes' Antunes)
1989
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: On the Dark Side (1983)
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: On the Dark Side
7.8
Music Video
saxophone
1983
Soundtrack
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989)
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
6.2
performer: "Runnin' Through the Fire", "Just a Matter of Time", "Open Road", "Maryia", "Emotional Storm", "Pride and Passion", "Garden of Eden", "N.Y.C. Song", "Some Like It Hot", "Keep My Love Alive", "Fool and His Money", "When the World Was Young"
1989
Michael Paré in Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
Eddie and the Cruisers
6.9
performer: "On the Dark Side", "Tender Years", "Down on My Knees", "Wild Summer Nights", "Boardwalk Angel", "Runaround Sue", "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "Season in Hell (Fire Suite)"
1983
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