Fake bands, real songs: 50 best tunes by "made-up" musicians

My baby fits me like a dinner jacket
When I see her I like to whack it

Not quite the same ring to it tbh

Yeah, British people would know the word and be able to use it for the sake of a rhyme, it's not like we wouldn't have heard it. Weird thing to get hung up on, imo.

Nothing from Fear Of A Black Hat, no credibility.

xp sorry, I should have added "this obviously does not matter at all" to the start, or not posted it, that is also an option

Aren't mud flaps American too? I think they're called mud guards in the UK.

at least they didn't call it Big Fanny and change the meaning of the song completely in the UK

the Tap are fully mid-Atlantic and it makes perfect sense

I mean keep in mind Judas Priest are a Brit band and one of their biggest hits is "You've Got Another Thing Coming"

to me that kind of US-Britishes argot is a real part of big 70s rock bands

don't want to rock any boats but apparently Robert Plant wasn't from the Mississippi delta originally

That's not the Carrie Nations' song I would have chosen... or the Spinal Tap one.

wrong Rutles track too

voted "Earache My Eye"

too parochial for this poll but French and Saunders's "C'est la vie" is the greatest Abba song Abba didn't write

Several of my favorite rock musicals featuring fake rock bands (Phantom of the Paradise, Get Crazy, The Apple) are totally unrepresented here, what the what

MEAT

It's a Rolling Stone list so I doubt French & Ssunders were up for consideration. How else to explain the complete absence of the Wombles?

haven't seen VELVET GOLDMINE in forever but i remember thinking the pastiches in that were great

ooh, Chris Morris effortlessly, cheatingly really, doing the Pixies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K9VRl1CkLc

also see "Me Oh Myra"

"Baby on Board," because I always start singing it (generally to the irritation of anyone whose in the car with me) whenever I see one of those signs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuQba4inleQ

lol, that was the first dumb thing I thought of when I saw this thread pop up.

I sort of admire that they never added anything to the song other than the title and the mumbled line about stupid people in fancy clothes

There was also the “fake” album planted in real record stores by fictional band Violet Sedan Chair as promo for the tv series Fringe. “Hovercraft Mother” is the standout imo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FUdB2WnZM8

Also no Ja Ja Ding Dong?

Yeah, Phantom of the Paradise not being here is a big WTF

"You're So Beautiful," Jamal (EMPIRE)

lol are you fucking kidding?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6y47KcuI4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX4-U2r4lS0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEn-mmFiYDs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYSopeqBRKo

Don't The Monkees qualify?

weird to see "3 small words" that high. i saw/liked the movie and song but was knew it was not the sort of thing that ppl/critics especially took seriously. i have this weirdly specific memory of going to my cousin's place once and meeting a friend she had over, who was listening to the song repeatedly to transcribe the lyrics -- i guess that was a thing ppl still did in 2001. i haven't heard the song since then but still remembered the second line being 'brown paper magazine' b/c i remember being struck by how weird it seemed when written down

i guess its placement comes down to the ppl who were young enough to actually like that movie now being old enough to write for these mags? i mean, again i enjoy it but it's not that good. not that some of the other songs up that high are any better lol, in general i find it hard to believe they couldn't come up with better examples for this list (tho i can't think of any myself). voting "sugar sugar" i guess

actually i'm voting "falling slowly"

Don't The Monkees qualify?

They should, but maybe they're being held as "better than"?

Big fan of "Pretend to be Nice" and "Backdoor Lover" from "Josie."

just occurred to me that there's a mistake in Big Bottom, "tuxedo" is American English and while I can imagine British people using it now, that generation wouldn't. obviously this is a very minor nitpick, but the film generally gets stuff right.

Well, just as Spinal Tap (like a lot of their peers) looked to the US for musical inspiration, blues and jazz, surely they looked to the US for lyrical inspiration, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akoi-aIHN1g

Thymens & Sapperstein robbed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwMEZPjiBCE

"Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young," is the best from this list, but “The Professionals” from LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS is a huge omission

I guess the Monkees and FOTC fall into some category between fake band and real band.

I mean, Spinal Tap are a "real band" too after all

Alice Bowie the sentimental favorite, but the songs from Hedwig are actually good.

"I Think I Love You" just ahead of "Sugar Sugar." I registered my complaint elsewhere that the Partridge Family are very, very real.

"Sugar Sugar" was massive. I had the 45, probably not long after it was released. To my young brain, the Archies were 100% real.

I mean, I know the Monkees at a certain point--pretty early--played their own instruments. I'm not sure about the Partridge Family...vocals, at least, I think.

I voted for the Banana Splits--it's a really good song for a bunch of filthy animals

Also, re "It Don't Worry Me" from Nashville: I don't think I'm alone in counting Barbara Jean's "Dues" as the film's musical highlight (greatest moment, period), but that's complicated by the fact that the real Ronee Blakly included that on her debut album three years earlier. So they went with something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2G2zcjC8Cs

Me And My Rhythm Box from Liquid Sky is my favourite song by a fictional artist. List should include tracks from Rock Follies and Jem and the Holograms as well.

Payday (1972) with Rip Torn has some wonderful songs

Also, Breaking Glass (1980) with Hazel O’Connor basically doing the soundtrack in-character is a keeper

So glad someone mentioned The Dregs of Humanity. One of the all-time greatest American sitcom episodes

I was not aware of this sitcom… it sounds like a must-see! Apparently it is streaming on fuboTV, a service “Starting at $74.99/mo.”

(Oh snap – it’s free on “Crackle”)

i voted Archies “Sugar Sugar” bc you cannot deny the perfection also Andy Kim!

but man i almost voted Little Bit Alexis

34. "Fever Dog," Stillwater (ALMOST FAMOUS)

The best Stillwater song is Piggy-Back Ride.

Also, cant' forget Explöded Diper by Löded Diper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQD_fanPkns

I still get these stuck in my head years later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLlkGEyDug0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLyMjIccjL4

it was mentioned upthread but this video should be here, a strong contender!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NtcSrZoq5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3cWWNXBHg

Riverbottom Nightmare Band

List should include tracks from Rock Follies and Jem and the Holograms as well.

― soref, Tuesday, March 14, 2023 3:47 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

And the Misfits!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMv4KJlWQb8

This was my Jem pick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQKs0eQHZRs

"I Hate the Bloody Queen" by the Queen Haters (from SCTV) seems like a major omission.

xp YES I came here to Jempost.

My Jem pick (Jem goes neo-psych):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN9CRfbwCQI

...and for the Misfits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBZwMzLkHAk

Kimber and Stormer's side project might actually be my favorite of all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iinCliptuFY

I forgot about "I Dig Pain"... that's a classic "fake punk" representation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd3NG2JX6lc

Somebody call Grapefruit Records--I think we've got a box set here!

and not forgetting the immortal, unsurpassable sound of flipin

_____*BLUESHAMMER*______

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z97FaPFkkcc

Kraftwerk Orange "I am electro boy" is a jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45piRm2-DV8

todd rivers "one track lover":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO-ZGP68-3w

not sure this punk band is from alan bleasdale's "no surrender" have a name, but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN-h_K86_zA

Let's not forget "The Clapham" by Kipper!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6_i-13KIZU

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Scrolled down looking for this:

Don’t forget this Canadian content from Degrassi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAlQ9whq8Hs

― Kim,

What was great about Zit Remedy is that they only actually had this one song

Love all these - had forgotten about You All Everybody lol
One Track Lover is my fave.

There are way better songs from Josie and The Pussycats, i.e. the DuJour ones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwykvrwvWW4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRSkYTB_Lv0

I like Black Sheep from Scott Pilgrim too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xcSDYy3Dl4

Oh yeah, "Back Door Lover" is great.

Coming from behind with the lights down low.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyvkNDtW7Lw

mysterious overnight underground rave sensation CYBERSTORM from the film (video) vibrations!

good results. didn't vote for it but loved that song in ILD