‘The Lost Boys’ Sax Man Pays Tribute to Joel Schumacher (EXCLUSIVE)

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Tim Cappello — aka the Sax Man from Joel Schumacher’s 1987 film “The Lost Boys” — only met Joel Schumacher two times. But the musician has fond memories of shooting the boardwalk concert scene with the director, who died Monday.

Cappello’s scene in the cult classic movie is just under two minutes long as the muscular, shirtless sax player performs the song, “I Still Believe” to a group of Santa Cruz, Calif. locals. The boardwalk is teeming with vampires during the scene where Jason Patric’s Michael first spots Jamie Gertz, who plays the mysterious Star.

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“Oh man, I didn’t know. I’m so sad that I’ll never get to see him again,” says Capello. “I always thought I’d get to have one more conversation with him, he was such a fun guy to shoot the s–t with, such an interesting, knowledgeable, funny guy.”

The longtime sax player released a solo album last year, still tours the country and sells T-shirts emblazoned with his image and “I Still Believe” on his website.

Cappello recalls meeting Schumacher, “The first time, I was on the Warner lot auditioning for something else. A music producer and publisher who I’d never met, Joel Sill (“La Bamba”), walked past where we were all sitting, stopped and said, ‘You play for Tina Turner don’t you? There’s somebody I’d like you to meet.'”

Cappello, who has also worked with Ringo Starr and Peter Gabriel, remembers walking down the hall with Sill and meeting Schumacher. “He immediately said, ‘Wanna play a song in a movie?'” The meeting lasted two minutes and Cappello was on board to sing a song originally recorded by The Call in 1986.

“The next time I saw him was at the shoot. He was very nice and he let me use my own wardrobe without a word of advice or criticism. I was stunned by how little time it took,” Cappello says. Recalling the prep, Cappello oiled up his muscles and was ready. “Usually, these shoots take ten times longer than you think. This might have taken two or three hours, one or two takes of the band and more takes of the band in the background behind the Michael and Star scenes. But he knew exactly what he wanted and when he got it, he didn’t feel the need to do it again.”

Cappello says he often gets nervous around directors and stars, but he had a chance as they were waiting to shoot to walk around with Schumacher and fondly recalls, “He made me feel so comfortable that I didn’t even think about it. I believe we talked mostly about music and exercise and things he knew I was interested in, to make me feel at ease.”

“He made me laugh, and he had a few insights that really made me think. I came away feeling ‘Wow, so this is what an intensely aware, knowledgeable, charismatic person is all about, there’s really a reason why he is who he is,” Cappello remembers.

 

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