[2] Jessie Walters (Denise Miller) is a buoyant 13-year-old girl who goes to the Eddie Nova Guitar Institute and is stunned to discover that her guitar instructor is Michael Skye (Rex Smith), a 17-year-old aspiring musician she has just seen play with his rock band (The Skye Band) at the local shopping mall in upstate New York and with whom she is instantly smitten.
Through the grace of make-up, Jessie enters the world of a 16-year-old, and she tells Michael that's her age when he gives her a ride home from class one week.
Rex Smith's self-titled LP, released by Columbia Records, is basically a soundtrack album featuring the pop/rock songs he performed in the film.
The album's first four tracks are the soundtrack songs from the film composed by Stephen Lawrence and Bruce Hart: In an interview, Rex Smith recalled his experience of achieving instant fame simultaneously with Sooner or Later and the hit single "You Take My Breath Away": On March 25, 1979, my life changed overnight.
[3]A paperback novelization of the film was written by Bruce and Carole Hart (based on their teleplay) and published by Avon Books as a promotional tie-in.