Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Music Month: 10 fictional musicians in movies

Wyld Stallyns in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure / Bogus Journey (1988/1991)

Band members: Bill S Preston, Theodore Logan, Elizabeth, Joanna, Death
Why they're awesome: The saved the entire world. You don't get much bigger than that. The fact that they solved air pollution with air guitar should also be highly commended.
Most famous song: “God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II” - actually written by KISS

Dewey Cox in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
Band members: Dewey Cox, Sam McPherson, Theo, Dave
Why they're awesome: These guys spanned so many genres of music over the years. Even the Beatles were huge fans of Cox (*hahaha*).
Most famous song: “Walk Hard” - actually written by Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan

Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers in Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)
Band members: Buckaroo Banzai, Rawhide, Reno, Perfect Tommy, Pecos, Billy Travers, Big Norse, Pinky Carruthers and Sidney Zweibel aka New Jersey(debatable as to whether he's an actual band member as we never see him play).
Why they're awesome: Much like Wyld Stallyns these guys saved the world and still managed time to crank out awesome hits and play small intimate venues.
Most famous song: “Rocket 88” - actually written by Ike Turner

The Wonders/Oneders in That Thing You Do! (1996)
Band members: Guy Patterson, James Mattingly, Leonard Haise, T. B. Player
Why they're awesome: Sure, they only had one hit but what a hit it was. Seriously, I bought the cassette single when the movie came out and wore it out by playing it so much.
Most famous song: “That Thing You Do” - actually written by Adam Schlesinger, the bassist of Fountains of Wayne.

Stillwater in Almost Famous (2000)
Band members: Russell Hammond, Jeff Bebe, Dick Roswell, Ed Vallencourt, Larry Fellows 
Why they're awesome: Sure they never made it big but it's not about how famous you get it's about the journey, man.
Most famous song: “Fever Dog” - actually written by Nancy Wilson


Spinal Tap in This is Spinal Tap (1982)
Band members: David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, Derek Smalls
Why they're awesome: Nothing phases these guys – embarrassing Japanese tours, miniscule Stonehenge models, the deaths of several drummers...
Most famous song (okay, it's my favourite anyway): “Sex Farm” - actually written by Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer

Blues Brothers in The Blues Brothers (1980)
Band members: Jake Blues, Elwood Blues, Tom "Bones" Malone, Willie "Too Big" Hall, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Murphy "Murph" Dunne and "Mr. Fabulous"
Why they're awesome: These guys saved an entire orphanage. Okay, not the entire world but still they should be commended.
Most famous song: “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” - actually written by Bert Berns, Solomon Burke and Jerry Wexler

Crucial Taunt in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2 (1992/1993)
Band members: Cassandra Wong and other guys
Why they're awesome: While I can't say I love them, if someone as cool as Wayne Campbell likes them that's good enough for me.
Most famous song: “Ballroom Blitz” - actually written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman for 70s rockers Sweet

Sex Bob-Omb in Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010)
Band members: Scott Pilgrim, Stephen Stills, Kim Pine, Young Neil
Why they're awesome: Rough around the edges they may be but this scrappy garage band deserved to win the battle of the bands instead of Crash and the Boys
Most famous song: “Threshold” - actually written by Beck

Johnny Van Owen and his band in Cool As Ice (1991)
Band members: Johnny Van Owen, Jazz, Sir D
Why they're awesome: Umm... well... you see it's difficult to... let's just say “Yo drop that zero and get with the hero!”
Most famous song: “The People's Choice” - actually written by Vanilla Ice and others who would like to remain nameless

10 comments:

  1. Cool idea for an article. I never thought of this before but if I made a list it would be pretty similar. I seen most of these movies... even Cool as Ice! The inclusion of that one made me laugh, haha.

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  2. Thanks Chris, yeah. I think I'd struggle to find 10 more. Gotta love Cool As Ice, such a bad/good movie - I've watched it more times than I care to remember!

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  3. Man, I still own that Waynes World soundtrack, and the tunes that Tia Carrere sings are awesome, I like Why You Wanna Break My Heart and Ballroom Blitz which I can't seem to get out of my head...ever, boy did I listen to that tune over and over.

    My favorite on the list? Of course its Wyld Stallyns! They were the ones responsible for getting me into KISS!

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  4. Hey, I remember another fictional band: Cherry Bomb, it's the one in Howard the Duck, where Lea Thompsons was the lead singer!

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  5. Yeah, I had the Wayne's World soundtrack on tape. Used to listen to it loads as a kid. The Alice Cooper track freaked me out! Tia Carrere had a decent voice - she also did a song for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm that was pretty good.

    Yeah, Wild Stallyns are probably my favourite too. I'm glad the 2nd film gave us a glimpse of what they were like when they learned to play!

    Never seen Howard the Duck - think I need to rectify that soon!

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  6. Seriously dude! Howard the Duck! I'm a fan, I realize the film is despised by many, but not by me. Fun times! Cool effects! Stop motion animation! Heavy 80's vibe! Hope you like it.

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  7. Andrew Dice Clay singing that one song in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane didn't make the cut!? lol. :P

    I have to say, I think The Blues Brothers would be my top pick. When I discovered that wonderful movie, I picked up every single Blues Brothers (vinyl) and CD I could find and I love them to this very day. Also, I actually really liked Sex Bob-Omb. My kind of music. :)

    Now don't judge me, but I've never seen Cool As Ice before.

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  8. Franco: Howard the Duck is now on my hit list. I always remember when Tim Robbins won an oscar and an interviewer brought up that movie.

    Jason: You know what Ford Fairlane is a movie I've been thinking of buying for a while - because it's Renny Harlin - should I go for it?

    You totally need to see Cool As Ice, sure a bad/good movie.

    I like Blues Brothers a lot but I've never checked out the albums. Will have to give them a spin sometime.

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  9. Yes! Buy Ford Fairlane! I forgot how great that movie was, just saw it the other day and just posted my review. Renny Harlin in top form with that one, and it was a lot of fun. Great film!

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  10. Cool, ordered a copy today. Expect a review soon!

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