Has there been an 80s movie more iconic than The Lost Boys? Has there ever been a scene as legendary as the Boardwalk scene, where an oiled-up, muscular sax man wails through The Call’s “I Still Believe”? 

No, there has not. 

The sax man in question, Tim Cappello has become a cult icon. Synthwave bands invite him to play on their tracks, and TV shows, like The Break with Michelle Wolf, invite him on to harken back to that classic scene. And he’s huge on the convention circuit. Everyone wants a signed Lost Boys photo. But Tim Cappello is so much more than all this—he’s a phenomenal musician with an amazing resume that includes Tina Turner, Carly Simon, and Peter Gabriel.

On this episode of In Defense of Ska, we spend some time getting to know the musician side of Tim Cappello. We of course begin the conversation by talking about ska and asking him technical saxophone questions. But then we hear all about Carly Simon’s intense stage fright, how Tina Turner bought him his first codpiece, how he landed an unlikely gig backing comedian Billy Crystal, and we learn about one of his bands that were so outrageous, they were banned from CBGB’s. We also get into his iconic Lost Boys scene. We learn how he got the role and all the details behind the recording of the scene. It’s an amazing conversation. 

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy