The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast
The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast celebrates the magic of live music through sharing personal stories. Each week, our guests will share their stories of different shows that were memorable and meaningful to them. We’ll also have concert reviews and conversations with musicians and crew members who put on those live shows. By sharing their stories, we hope to engage you - our audience - to relive your live music memories also. So please join us every week as we explore the transformative power of live music that makes attending concerts not just entertaining, but essential. This is The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast, where every concert tells a story.
The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast
Episode 026 - Top 10 Fictional Bands
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the world of the Fictional Bands – musical acts created for TV or Movies that produce real rock-n-roll music. Imagine the effort it takes to create good music for a band that will never tour or play those songs for a concert crowd?! Do you have a favorite? Well, get ready to journey through the fascinating universe of fictional bands, this week on The Rock and Roll Show Podcast!
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Welcome to the Rock and Roll Show podcast. I'm your host, Alex Gad, and this week we've got another top 10 list for you. The subject of this top 10 list is the top 10 fictional bands from movies and TV. Now, I love good music, which is really what this podcast is all about. I love good music no matter where it comes from, including a source. That particularly fascinates me when music is created for TV shows and movies. I really appreciate it when the filmmakers take the time to craft songs from the fictitious band. It makes the overall experience of that story more authentic.
Alex Gadd:I have a robust playlist of fictional band music, which seemed like an interesting subject to explore. As far as I can tell, this genre seems to have started, at least in pop music, with Alvin and the Chipmunks, who released a number of songs from the late 1950s through the mid-60s as novelty music created by singer and producer Ross Bagdasarian, who went by the stage name David Saville after. Bagdasarian had a hit in April of 1958 with the song Witch Doctor, which went to number one on the singles chart and included his sped-up voice in the chorus. That sped-up voice effect produced the sound that we now associate with the chipmunks. Take a listen.
Speaker 2:I told the witch doctor I was in love with you. And then the witch doctor he told me what to do. He said that I'd be the witch doctor. He told me what to do. He said that I could eat. Ooh ah, ah, ding ding la la la ding ding. Ooh ah, ah, ding ding la la la ding ding. Ooh ah, ah ding ding la la la ding ding.
Alex Gadd:Ooh, ah, ah, ding ding, la la la ding ding. Later that year he recorded the Chipmunk Song, which December is part of the holiday season, and that song also went to number one. For that song, Bagdasarian introduced a family of three chipmunks that we know today as Alvin, simon and Theodore right at the beginning of the song, and he used his own voice as their father, dave, and thus began the fictional bands with real musical hits. In the 60s, these bands started emerging in the wake of the British invasion, the Monkees being the next fictional band to have a significant impact on the real world music chart. Using the success of the Beatles' first two movies, a Hard Day's Night and Hell, as their model, the creators of that TV show got a deal in early 1965 and debuted their new show in the fall of 1966. We'll talk more about the Monkees during the list because they're certainly on it From there. Other pop-oriented, family-friendly fictional bands seemed to explode from the world of television, from the Archies to the Partridge family, to the Brady Bunch and more. Later, spoof bands like the Ruttles and then Spinal Tap made their way into the public consciousness, and all sorts of fictional bands have continued putting out good music in movies and on TV right up to now, and that's the point. I'm invested when a filmmaker takes time to create original music and produce it, so it sounds like it could have been recorded and released by an actual band.
Alex Gadd:Initially, this list was only going to include bands that produced original music. Then things started to get sticky. Namely, that would have excluded the Blues Brothers, which would render this list incomplete in my eyes, so I have added some parameters. Original music automatically qualifies a fictional band for consideration on this list, but if they could not meet that requirement, then they had to have at least produced more than one song. This excludes excellent performances like High Fidelity's Barry Jive in the Uptown Five, where Jack Black sings let's Get it On, or Crucial Taunt from Wayne's World, where Tia Carrera sings the Suites' Ballroom Blitz, as well as countless others. Also, a fictional band has to be comprised of people for whom being in that band was not their primary occupation before they joined it. So any act that can meet at least two of those three parameters qualifies for consideration on my list. Now your rules can be different, of course. Let me know what you think in the comments, but without any further ado, here's my list of the top 10 fictional bands.
Alex Gadd:At number 10, steel Dragon from the movie Rockstar. Rockstar is a fictionalized retelling of the story of Judas Priest and their replacement lead singer, tim Ripper Owens. Steel Dragon is presented as a preeminent metal band in the heyday of the late 80s heavy metal excess. Like Priest, the Dragon finds out that their lead singer is gay and quits the band, so they replace him with a sound-alike singer from the Steel Dragon tribute band. Now Mark Wahlberg plays that singer. His name is Chris Cole in the movie and although Mark doesn't sing at all in the movie, it's the musicians in the band that put Steel Dragon on this list. Aside from the rhythm guitarist Kirk, who is played by actor Dominic West, who you might recognize from the Wire, among other great roles, the other three band members are real world-class hard rock musicians the lead guitarists played by Zach Wild from Ozzy Osbourne's band and his own Black Label Society. The bass players played by Jeff Pilsen, who'd been in Dokken in the 1980s and now is in the final version of Foreigner. And the drummer is played by Jason Bonham, son of Zeppelin legend John Bonham and member of his own Bonham as well as Black Country Communion with Joe Bonamassa. He's in Sammy Hagar on the Circle and he does a Led Zeppelin evening experience, all of which are great. So this is legitimate hard rock credibility.
Alex Gadd:The six songs credited to Steel Dragon on the soundtrack are all pretty good metal songs. Considering the pedigree of the people who wrote them, they better be. We All Die Young is the showpiece number, and that's an actual song that had been released previous to the movie by the band Steelheart, and their singer, miljenko Madohevic, voices all of Chris's performances in the movie the, and their singer, milenko Medehevic, voices all of Chris's performances in the movie. The other songs, though, written by people like Sammy Hagar, steve Plunkett, the singer from the band Autograph, who had one big hit in the 80s with the song Turn Up the Radio he wrote one of the songs on the soundtrack, as did Twiggy Ramirez, the bass player from Marilyn Manson's band songwriter, extraordinaire Desmond Child, and there was a cover of a Rainbow song written by Roddy James Dio and Richie Blackmore. There is a really good cast, with Jennifer Aniston playing the level-headed girlfriend, timothy Oilfin as the best friend. Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind played Chris's rival. Brian VanderArk of the Verve Pipe played Chris's bass player. Played Chris's rival Brian Van Der Ark of the Verve Pipe played Chris's bass player. There's even a cameo at the end of the movie by a young Miles Kennedy who now fronts the band Alterbridge and slashes touring band the Conspirators. So if you like heavy metal music, check out the Dragon and the movie Rockstar.
Alex Gadd:Number nine on the list, eddie and the Cruisers from the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. This movie was adopted from the novel of the same name PF Kluge. The film is a whatever-happened-to story of a 1960s Jersey Shore band fronted by a tortured poet who can't handle the scrutiny that comes from his band's early success and mysteriously disappears Now. The film was released in 1983 and proceeded to totally flop. However, once it came on to HBO, millions of people, including me as a teenager, saw it for the first time and fell hard for it, watching it again and again. It was loaded with actors who would go on to do bigger things, most notably Tom Barringer as the naive piano-playing songwriter. Tom Berringer went on to be in Platoon and lots of other movies. Joe Pantoliano is the band's manager. He was in the Sopranos First-time actor. Michael Paré played Eddie Wilson. The cast also included Ellen Barkin as the plucky TV reporter whose investigation 20 years after the music frames the movie's narrative and she had just had two big roles in the previous year, so she was the big name in the cast at the time.
Alex Gadd:The movie is pretty entertaining not an Oscar winner, but it did have great music. Most of the movie's a flashback to how the band got together, started succeeding and then fell apart and, intentionally or not, the music was very Springsteen-esque and the movie overall really leaned into the Springsteen mythology pretty hard rock and roll songs accented by an older African-American saxophone player to the music that was a mix of R&B and Dylan influences. The only thing that wasn't accurate was the time frame. Springsteen was in his early teens in the mid-60s when this band was supposedly making their music. While the movie initially did poorly, as I mentioned, once it hit on HBO and on VHS and Laserdisc Born in the USA had come out and Bruce Mania was in full gear, which couldn't have hurt this movie's performance. The music itself was initially supposed to be accurate to the time, a mix of Dion and the Belmonts harmonies and the Doors' brooding intensity. But the writer-director couldn't avoid the fact that the movie was based on the Jersey Shore and the band was constructed as it was. So a Springsteen influence was, if not required, then maybe unavoidable.
Alex Gadd:The film's producers found a Rhode Island bar band called John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band which is definitely a candidate for the worst band named ever to compose and perform the songs that would be the cruiser's body of work. And man, did they nail it? Maybe not the Dion influence, and then only the unreleased second Eddie and the Cruisers album, seasons in Hell, which you only hear for a few minutes in the movie, sounded even a little bit like the Doors, but the band's first set of songs sound like they were written on E Street. The sax player for the Beaver Brown Band was even cast as the sax player in the Cruisers. Tender Years is a really good ballad. The big hit On the dark side sounds like a hit even the first time you heard it in the movie, and both the songs down on my knees and wild summer nights are straight pulls from early springsteen. In all, the music gets the cruisers onto this list, even if the actors couldn't play the music. Check out eddie and the cruisers again, or john cafferty and the beaver brown. God, I wish they would change Number eight on the list, the Commitments from the movie of the same name.
Alex Gadd:This is a great move about bringing an authentic, if all-white, soul music show band to Dublin Ireland. The band was a genius idea of their manager, jimmy Rabbit, who carefully selected the players and drilled them on what it meant to play and sing soul music. The set list was classic Stax, volt and Atlantic soul records from the greats like Wilson Pickett, aretha Franklin, otis Redding. The band in the movie couldn't stay together long enough to get signed because the singer had a bad case of LSD, which we'll hear about. A lot on this list is lead singer's disease. Also, the older trumpet player in the band kept sleeping with the various backup singers. Both of those things caused all kinds of drama, just as they're about to get a shot at success. But they sounded great while they lasted and the soundtrack was a wonderful greatest hits of soul music. It was a huge success on the charts in 1991 and 1992, and the commitments were excellent at covering R&B and soul songs and making them into their own thing, introducing classic soul music to a 90s audience.
Alex Gadd:This band was assembled based primarily on the actor's ability to play music. Director Alan Parker wouldn't even have any actor read for a part until they had played and or sang for him first and the music was really the draw. The movie was a failure at the box office, but the soundtrack got as high as number eight on the Billboard 200 album chart and went triple platinum, meaning it sold more than three million copies. Interesting fact number one is all four of the core siblings auditioned for this movie and all got small parts, but none got roles in the band. Still, the musical coordinator of the film was impressed enough by them to put them together as a group and become their managers. So they became Coors, our still international best-selling artist today. Interesting fact number two the guitar player was Glenn Hansard, who went on to bigger fame in the movie once and then as a solo recording artist. He's currently opening for Pearl Jam 2024 American tour and has played in Eddie Vedder's side project, earthling.
Alex Gadd:Check out the commitments great soul music, timeless and a good movie as well. Now number seven on the list Ellen Ame and the Attackers from the movie Streets of Fire. Streets of Fire was a movie that barely made a ripple in 1984 when it was released. It was written and directed by Walter Hill, who was fresh off of his big success with the movie 48 Hours. Only two years earlier he billed this movie as a rock and roll fable, and the story is definitely a melodrama as well as a musical.
Alex Gadd:The movie starts off with big rock star Ellen Ame coming home to play a concert in her town, the Richmond, a strange city that resembles both Chicago and Queens, new York, and seems to be set in the 1950s, based on the cars and technology and some other fashion. Now she gets kidnapped by a rival gang from another town and Ellen's ex-boyfriend, tom, is called to come home and save her, which he eventually does after lots of fights with the gang, and we never really find out why they kidnapped her. As far as I can remember, it was never cleared. Based on the description, you won't be surprised that the movie was a total flop. But it also found a second life on home video. It wasn't great, but it has a certain amount of cult movie cachet. These days.
Alex Gadd:The filmmakers described their goal as wanting to write a teen movie, because John Hughes movies at the time were huge and the Outsiders had just been a big hit. But they also wanted to make it a comic book that was also a musical. That's a lot to try and make work together, which is why it was a bit of a bastard, but what helped the movie rebound was the cast was pretty impressive. Michael Perret starred as Tom Cody in his follow-up role to Eddie from Eddie and the Cruisers, but he has nothing to do with the music. Diane Lane was cast as Ellen Ame, who she was only 18 years old at the time, but pulled off a great rock star. However, her role was little more than being the damsel in distress. She's barely in the time but pulled off a great rock star. However, her role was little more than being the damsel in distress. She's barely in the movie, only seen at the very beginning and the very end. Amy Madigan played the tough gal sidekick to Tom in an interesting gender-defying casting move. That was definitely one of the hammiest and at the same time one of the best parts of the movie. Rick Moranis played the annoying band manager. Bill Paxton had a minor role early in his career as a bartender and the villain was played by a young and creepy-looking Willem Dafoe. So a good cast, hamming it up with a goofy script, some impressive visuals, mixing the 1950s and 1980s styles into a fascinating amalgam all its own. Ellen Ame dressed in a very 80s style, while her backing band, the Attackers dressed in 50s suits and had 50s haircuts and played 50s instruments.
Alex Gadd:I believe the reason the movie found its second win really more than the cast was the music. A video was released of a song from the soundtrack by Dan Hartman called I Can Dream of. That song went top 10 in the US thanks largely to the video for the song being played in heavy rotation on MTV. The video used the film's lip-sync performance of the song by another fictitious band, the vocal group the Sorrels, who included the comedian Robert Townsend and Michael T Williamson, who played Bubba in Forrest Gump a decade later. Take a look, I can dream about you If I can hold you tonight. Later, take a look. The soundtrack was produced by world-famous producer and music mogul Jimmy Iovine and included other really good songs, including the Blaster song, one Bad Stud and a Stevie Nicks-written song called Sorcerer, which I love, which was sung by her own backup singer, marilyn Martin. The whole record, in fact, is good Now.
Alex Gadd:The title of the movie Streets of Fire was taken from the Bruce Springsteen song from 1978's classic album Darkness on the Edge of Town, and the plans that the producers had had been to license that song for the last scene in the movie. Bruce was on his way to agreeing when he found out that the song was going to be re-recorded to be sung in the finale by Alan Ames, so he pulled his approval. At that point the producers were in a jam and went to get someone reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen and they got Jim Steinman. Jim Steinman had written all the songs on Meat Loaf's debut album Bad Outta Hell. Steinman wrote two songs for Ellen Ame to sing and they were both really good. They sounded modern for the 80s, but that's fine. They were great. The opening number is Nowhere Fast and the closing hit is Tonight Is what it Means To Be Young. Check out that one.
Speaker 2:I've got a dream in the dark. This is all the way I Check out that long. It's all we really got tonight. You've got a long tonight. Before you know it, it's long tonight. Tonight is what it means to be young. Tonight is what it means to be young.
Alex Gadd:The band in the movie really played those songs. They were a real band called Face to Face, and their singer, lori Sargent, was one of the two voices used for Ellen A Holly Sherwood was the other one. The band was credited as Fire Inc on the soundtrack and their two songs sealed the deal for me and are why the attackers are on this list. Number six, as mentioned previously, the Monkees from the TV series the Monkees. It would be wrong to present this list without mentioning the band that really started it all, easily the most prolific of all fictional bands. In fact, they were so prolific that they really don't belong on this list. They recorded 12 albums, they released 17 singles and more than 75 million albums sold. Yet they were only on TV for three years. You heard that right 75 million records sold. These guys never really rose above their success as being monkeys, but the trailblazing nature of their work is essential to this whole concept. The monkeys were created to capitalize on the Beatles' popularity, and the band members picked for their acting ability as well as ensuring that they had at least some musical talent. But in the initial season at least, they ended up on instruments that were not their best. Most importantly, davy Jones, the lone British guy in the group, was put out front as the lead singer and while he had a decent voice, that decision was clearly based more on his good looks and maybe his British accent than it was his talent. He was actually the best drummer in the group and Mickey Dolenz was the best singer, but Mickey started out as the drummer. Ultimately, mike Nesmith stepped up and took control of the production of the band's music and they came together to insist that they decide on their own music, that they recorded and how they recorded it. So they really took over and became their own band very quickly. Now the show itself was goofy and dumb, I thought, but the music was as popular as both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the same time. They all shared the charts between 1966 and 68. The Monkees had four number one albums in a row and their singles are still played today on oldies radio. Their debut single, last Train to Clarksville, was released before the TV show even aired and spent 13 weeks at number one on the singles chart in 1966.
Alex Gadd:1967 brought the band's second album, more of the Monkees, and the single I'm a Believer with the B-side I'm Not your Steppenstone, which was a cover of a Paul Revere and the Raiders song. Both the album and the single hit number one, and Steppenstone even went to number 20 as a B-side. Both the album and the single hit number one, and Step in Stone even went to number 20 as a B-side. In fact, the band put out three records in 1967 alone, and all three went to number one. The last of those Pisces, aquarius, capricorn and Jones Limited included the single Pleasant Valley Sunday, which only made it to number two on the singles chart. The Monkees' fifth album, the Birds, the Bees and the Monkees, came out in early 1968 and was the first one not to chart at number one. It only made it to number three, but they had a huge hit off that album, daydream Believer, which did go to number one and really is their top song, in my opinion. After that, though, the show got canceled and they put out a movie that didn't do well at all and the band faded. And they put out a movie that didn't do well at all and the band faded. They had totally broken up by 1971, and they didn't get back together until the mid-80s, when they started to tour again as a nostalgia band Not my favorite fictional band at all, but the first to transition from the screen to the stage and the most successful of all of them.
Alex Gadd:No list would be complete. Number five on the list, the Wonders from that Thing you Do, from writer-director Tom Hanks' ode to the British invasion, that Thing you Do. The Wonders are a mid-60s teen band from Erie, pennsylvania, clearly inspired by the Beatles and the British invasion. Tom Everett Scott plays Guy, who fills in for the band's original drummer who breaks his arm right before a big area talent show that the band is entering. Guy's a jazz drummer and at the talent show Guy starts up the band's big ballad called that Thing you Do, at a faster tempo than Jimmy. The singer-songwriter played by Jonathan Skatech had written it. While Jimmy's pissed off at Guy, the band plays it as an up-tempo pop song. They recover and the crowd goes wild. Jimmy plays as yet another example of a singer with LSD lead singer disease.
Alex Gadd:It seems to be a stereotype that screenwriters lean into when writing bands for the screen. Steve Zahn is in the movie and he plays lead guitarist Lenny as a flake who just is happy to be there and in one of my favorite writing choices in any movie, ethan Emery plays the bass player whose name is TB Player. As in, he doesn't even have a name, he's just a bass player. I love it. The song is a great imitation of the pop singles being produced in the day, though I can't really think of any American bands that put out those kind of hits at the time, maybe Paul Revere and the Raiders. The song was actually written by since-deceased Fountain of Wains bassist and songwriter Adam Schlesinger, a great musician, great songwriter, who said he was trying to write a song that sounded like the early Beatles, and I think he nailed it.
Alex Gadd:The other primary influence on the sound of the band was Tom Hanks, who was a total Dave Clark Five fan. Now, in the movie the band is signed to Playtone Records by Mr White. That's Tom Hanks' character, he's the manager and A&R guy, and they release the song that Thing you Do Nationally, which shoots up the singles chart to number seven in just a few weeks. In reality, the song was released as a single in 1996 on Tom Hanks' own label, playtone which, yes, same label as in the movie and it went on to reach number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was nominated for both the Golden Globe and the Academy Awards.
Alex Gadd:Mike Viola gets credit for the vocals on the Wonders tunes and they're both pretty good. Particularly Dance With Me Tonight. I really like it. The band epitomizes the one-hit wonders of the era because they fall apart after a TV appearance, but the movie isn't melancholy. In the end Guy gets the girl of his dreams, gets to play jazz with his hero and has a happy life in sunny California. My biggest question coming out of this movie was how come no band used that name before Tom Hanks, number four on the list, the Blues Brothers from the movie the Blues Brothers.
Alex Gadd:The Blues Brothers were doing more than covering old R&B and blues tunes. Originally assembled for a Saturday Night Live sketch, this was an absolute all-star team of the finest R&B session musicians in the world in the mid-70s Soon they had an LP and a major motion picture and had lead singer John Belushi who played Joliet. Jake Blues not died. This may have well become an ongoing gig for the band, along with Dan Aykroyd who played Jake's brother, elwood Blues. On harmonica, the band was Steve the Colonel Cropper and Matt Guitar Murphy on guitars, donald Duck Dunn on the bass, steve Jordan on the drums and then Willie Hall stepped in for the movie, paul Schaefer on keyboards, murphy Dunn stepped in on the movie and a monster horn section comprised of Alan Mr Wonderful Rubin on the trumpet, lulu Marini on Tom Scott on sax and Tom Bones Malone on the trombone.
Alex Gadd:The band originated, as I mentioned, in an early SNL skit called Howard Shore and His All B Band, where the band dressed up like bees and they played a killer version of I'm a King Bee by Slim Harpo. And this was all driven by Dan Aykroyd's Love of the Blues. Now, howard Shore is a name you might recognize. He was the original band leader at SNL. He went on to become one of the most successful film composers in the world, famous for scoring the Lord of the Rings movies, the Hobbit movies and many others. He suggested the name the Blues Brothers to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi following that sketch and they did further sketches as the Blues Brothers' no More Bee Suits.
Alex Gadd:They released an album in 1978, as I mentioned, a Briefcase Full of Blues which went to number one on the album charts and is essential listening. Then, two years later, the movie was an amazing, stupid, fun, animal House-like movie, which makes sense because the Blues Brothers was directed by John Landis, who directed Animal Houselike movie, which makes sense because the Blues Brothers was directed by John Landis, who directed Animal House. The movie had the benefit of pulling in the dream guest soul and blues artists. They had Aretha Franklin, james Brown, ray Charles, john Lee Hooker most prominently, cab Calloway, big role In all. This band introduced the blues to white kids across America in the 70s in a way that the Beatles, the Stones and Clapton did for people everywhere in the 60s, and they performed their own music, even if they didn't write it. So they're number four on this list.
Alex Gadd:Number three a personal favorite of mine the Assassins from the TV show Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. Now, as I said, this is a personal favorite of mine and I acknowledge that putting them above the Blues Brothers was a tough call for them. Dennis Leary created the show Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll in the mid-2010s about a fictitious New York City late 80s band called the Heathens, whose lead singer, johnny Rock, played by Dennis Leary, ruined the band's shot at success right as their first album was released due to a bad case of LSD. But he gets a second chance at success when, 25 years later, the daughter he didn't know he had shows up and essentially hires him and his old band to help her put an album together. They become the Assassins and write some really good songs. More impressive is that Dennis Leary actually wrote or co-wrote all the songs. Greg Dooley from the Afghan Whigs plays guitar on some of the tracks, covering for the band's guitarist in the show, john Corbett, who you might recognize from my Big Fat Greek Wedding or Sex and the City. Johnny Rock's daughter, gigi, is played by former Nickelodeon star, elizabeth Gillies, and she has a monster voice that sounds great belting out rock and roll.
Alex Gadd:Check out songs like New York 2015, die Tryin' and what's my Name, as well as the Heathens' original hit Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. You can find them all on Spotify or Apple Music. Sounds pretty good. Overall, the Assassins are a real solid rock and roll band. It's too bad that they had a season two, but it focused less on the music, which might have been why the show got canceled. But check out the heathens and the assassins from Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. You won't be sorry.
Alex Gadd:Number two on the list Stillwater from Almost Famous. This is also a very personal pick. I love this band and I wish there was more music from them to listen to. In the movie, stillwater was humorously described by journalist Lester Bangs, who was played brilliantly by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, as a mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom. They were modeled after the blues rock four-piece bands that ruled the rock and roll landscape in the early 1970s, from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to Humble Pie and Bad Company. Those were the bands that the movie's writer-director, cameron Crowe, grew up covering as a teenage music reporter. Oddly Crowe chose to name this fictitious band Stillwater, despite the fact that there was an actual band from the South active during the same period as the movie takes place, the mid-70s, called Stillwater, but the band and the film totally separate.
Alex Gadd:In the movie the band plays all or parts of six original songs, and those songs were either written by Peter Frampton from Humble Pie and his own incredible solo career, or Nancy Wilson from Heart, who at the time was Cameron Crowe's wife, and those songs really sound like solid 1970s era rock songs warm and lush sounding and totally rockin'. Mike McCready from Pearl Jam played all the lead guitar parts and Marty Fredrickson recorded all the vocals. But give credit to actors Billy Crudup and Jason Lee. They learned their parts well enough to perform them live on film so that they looked authentic. Lee's Jeff Beebe is another singer with a classic case of lead singer's disease, and it threatens to destroy the band's future though in this case it doesn't.
Alex Gadd:But I encourage you to seek out the six original songs. They are you had to Be there Fever Dog, which was the big song in the movie Hour of Need Love. Thing Chance Upon you and Love Comes and Goes. Those are all really good rock and roll songs. You can find them on the deluxe version of the soundtrack on Apple Music or Spotify, or you can buy the director's cut of the Blu-ray or the DVD and you'll get an EP with all those six songs on it. That is if anyone still buys DVDs. But either way, give Stillwater a listen and check out Almost Famous.
Alex Gadd:Before we get to the number one fictional band, I want to share the list of bands deserving of an honorable mention that almost made the cut and are deserving of your attention. I also want to thank you for being here and remind you to like and subscribe or follow the podcast so that you never miss an episode. Our honorable mention list includes first, daisy Jones and the Six from a TV show of the same name. This was the hardest choice I had to make whether to include Daisy and the Six at number 10 or Steel Dragon. The songs from the soundtrack to Daisy Jones and the Six, which was an intense show that was released in 2022, I believe, very uneven. Aurora was a real high point and an obvious winner, but the first single that they ever had Honeycomb hard to accept that as a breakthrough hit. So they're the first runner up on our list.
Alex Gadd:Number two the Bar Busters from Light of Day. This is Michael J Fox and Joan Jett and Michael McKean. The song that they play is called Light of Day, written by Bruce Springsteen. Number three Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Don't love all the songs on it, but Tear Me Down rocks the first song on the soundtrack. Number four Bad Blake from Crazy Heart. The song Fallin' and Flyin' Alone is incredible.
Alex Gadd:Number five check out we Are Lady Parts from the TV series. We Are Lady Parts Particularly. There's a great song called Bashir With a Good Beard. You've got to check that out. Number six Tenacious D, jack Black's actual band with Kyle Gass. Those two have put out great music. Jack Black's an incredible singer. The songs are very raunchy and ridiculous, but still great rock and roll songs. Check out the D. Number seven, also from Jack Black, barry Jive and the uptown five. You only hear one song from him. It deserves an honorable mention because jack black's such an amazing singer and high fidelity is a great movie. Number eight the school of rock again jack black and the horace green school band. The song by the same name is really a good song. Plus their cover it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. They're both dynamite songs. Number nine is the Soggy Bottom Boys for oh Brother, where Art Thou? This soundtrack really brought Americana to the forefront of popular music in America and some incredible songs on there.
Alex Gadd:And finally, no list of honorable mentions wouldn't be complete without noting Citizen Dick from Singles. What other band would have Pearl Jam, fronted by Matt Dillon and their one song, Touch Me, I'm Dick Ridiculous, Of course it's a spoof on Mudhuddy's song Touch Me, I'm Sick, Worth mentioning. And now our number one fictional band, Mudhutty's song Touch Me, I'm Sick, worth mentioning. And now our number one fictional band, Spinal Tap. From this Is Spinal Tap. Spinal Tap is the quintessential fictional band from the classic 80s heavy metal mockumentary. This Is Spinal Tap.
Alex Gadd:What puts this band at the top of the list is that the songs were all written and performed by the stars of the film. They are Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, along with director Rob Reiner, and they're good songs. The characters are incredibly authentic while also being ridiculous. Guest's Nigel Tufnel is the classic dopey aloof rock star. Harry Shearer's bass player Derek Smalls classic bass player stereotype. And Michael McKean's David St Hubbins is another classical, archetypal frontman with LSD. All the songs sound like metal songs from that period throughout the 70s and 80s, and many of them are really good. Tonight I'm Gonna Rock you Tonight was excellent. Especially, it stood above all the others for me. I couldn't get that one out of my head when I left the theater that afternoon. And then I went to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden and the song that I was humming when I went home was Tonight, I'm Gonna Rock you Tonight. What a day. A story for another time. Even better, the Spinal Tap soundtrack was a compilation of all the songs heard in the movie and they were all tap originals. The songs are silly sex-obsessed songs reminiscent of the early 80s Scorpions like Sex Farmer Big Bottom, or mystical-obsessed songs reminiscent of the early 80s Scorpions like Sex Farmer Big Bottom, or mystical-obsessed songs a la Black Sabbath like Stonehenge. And the added track Christmas with the Devil, which they performed on Saturday Night Live two months after the movie's premiere and is on the soundtrack. They also played their classic single from 1970, Big Bottom, on Saturday Night Live, with all bass guitars and bass synthesizers.
Alex Gadd:As time went on, TAP's fiction converged with reality. They reformed in 1992 to record a new album called Break Like the Wind, which also has a number of good tracks on it, including Cash on Delivery, the Majesty of Rock Stinking Up the Great Outdoors, and includes TAP's first song called All the Way Home, which we heard in the movie, done a cappella in a deli. Later in the 90s, TAP went on tour, even played Carnegie Hall, before playing on the bill at the Live Earth concerts playing Big Bottom at Wembley Arena. The following musicians have played with TAP, either live or in the studio Steve Lukather from Toto, Bassist extraordinaire Pino Palladino, David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood, Mac Jarvis Cocker from Pulp, Keith Emerson from ELP and yes, Todd Sucherman currently playing with Styx, Greg Bissonette from, among other things, David Lee Ross for a solo band, and many more. As much as they shined a light on the many quirks and foibles of the real rock stars of the 60s, 70s and 80s, using their mockumentary as a filter, they have in fact become part of rock history for real, and they have a new movie scheduled to come out in 2025, with cameos scheduled to include Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Questlove and more. So we've got to check out more of Spinal Tap. 40 years later, number one on our list of the greatest fictional bands of all time.
Alex Gadd:Well, that's my list, and remember, these are just my opinion. I might be wrong or may have overlooked an obvious band that deserves to be mentioned here, but I tried my best and I considered more than 30 bands. So how do you think I did? I want to hear from you what do you think I got. Right or wrong? Any surprises? Let me know in the comments and I'll try to respond to every one of them. And please, again, like this video and subscribe or follow the podcast to make sure you get notified about each new episode. And if you would tell your friends Also a reminder that I'll release a playlist for every episode of the podcast. So look for the Rock and Roll Show podcast playlist on Spotify every week, featuring the songs mentioned during this episode. Check that out. The Rock and Roll Show podcast is a World Highway Media production. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and until next time, remember that life is short, so get those concerts. We'll see you next time.