Eight great fictional bands from the movies
From Bill and Ted’s Wyld Stallyns to Coming To America’s Sexual Chocolate, the movies are littered with questionable beat combos. But, as proves, not all bands in films are unlistenable. Here are eight fictional groups whose music you might actually choose to play in real life…
1. The Monkees in Head (1968)
The elder statesmen of fictional pop groups, made their debut on US TV in 1965. Three years later, counterculture figureheads Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson wrote a cinematic vehicle for the band - the decidedly psychedelic Head. The film was a massive commercial failure, but its soundtrack is frequently cited as The Monkees’ best work.
Key song: Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)
2. The Carrie Nations in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)
A sequel to 1967’s Valley Of The Dolls in name alone, Russ Meyer’s cult classic was written by the late, great film critic . The film follows an all-girl rock trio as they ride the rollercoaster of the music business, from drug problems to their manager’s attempted suicide. Real-life sixties band star alongside The Carrie Nations, whose psych-tinged pop songs were lip-synched by their three lead actresses.
Key song: Sweet Talkin’ Candy Man
3. Flame in Slade In Flame (1973)
No list of fictional bands would be complete without ’s role in what Mark has called “”. The Wolverhampton rockers play Flame – a band who are bought by a London investment company and then sold to the public. The film’s soundtrack reached No. 6 in the UK charts and produced a couple of hit singles - and Mark reckons it’s Slade’s best album.
Key song: How Does It Feel
4. The Stains in Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982)
Diane Lane stars as the 15-year-old singer of a teenage garage band in record producer Lou Adler's second film as a director. Lane and her bandmates abandon their suburban lives to go on tour with British group The Looters, played by ex- Steve Jones and Paul Cook, ’s Paul Simonon and a very fresh-faced Ray Winstone. All of The Stains’ brilliantly spiky punk songs were written by Jones and Cook especially for the film.
Key song: Waste Of Time
5. Marvin Berry and The Starlighters in Back To The Future (1985)
The highlight of Hill Valley High School’s Enchantment Under The Sea dance is a performance by this quintet, featuring ’s cousin Marvin. Their set is cut short when Marvin injures his hand trying to free Marty McFly from a car trunk, but Marty is quick to take up his guitar and save the day. The audience may not have been ready, but their kids were gonna love it…
Key song: Earth Angel
6. Stillwater in Almost Famous (2000)
Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical story of a Rolling Stone journalist on tour revolves around rock band Stillwater, who were allegedly conceived as a composite of five classic seventies groups: , , , and . Stillwater's Fever Dog was written by Crowe’s then-wife Nancy Wilson, better known as one-half of sibling duo .
Key song: Fever Dog
7. The Weird Sisters in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2006)
Far from the average school disco, Hogwarts' Yule Ball features a headline gig from , backed by various members of and . The Weird Sisters are seemingly huge in the wizard world, and their songs feature some excellent lyrics by Cocker. “Move your body like a hairy troll” anyone?
Key song: Do The Hippogriff
8. Sex Bob-Omb in Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010)
Edgar Wright’s graphic novel adaptation features several bands, including title character Pilgrim’s own Sex Bob-Omb. Their lead singer is called Stephen Stills (not ) and all their tracks are composed by a certain Hansen.
Key song: We Are Sex Bob-Omb
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Music
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Hear all the tracks from Mark's tour of pop music in the movies