# Bands that appeared playing in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368 "2016-05-22T15:49:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/41 "2016-05-22T22:09:15Z")
The Wonders as Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters in _That Thing You Do!_. šŸ™‚ (OK, so thatā€™s a fictional band playing a fictional bandā€¦) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/42 "2016-05-22T22:15:40Z")
The Louisiana Gator Boys from ā€œBlues Brothers 2000ā€? B.B. Kingā€™s name in that movie was Malvern Gasperon. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/43 "2016-05-22T22:41:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > The Wonders as Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters in _That Thing You Do!_. šŸ™‚ > (OK, so thatā€™s a fictional band playing a fictional bandā€¦) I have that soundtrack and thatā€™s some good stuff on there, even if it is supposed to be parody/homage. Heck, The Wonders were so popular that one of their songs was covered by a different fictional band in ā€œMy Big Fat Greek Wedding.ā€ šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/44 "2016-05-22T23:27:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Itā€™s been a while but isnā€™t Alice playing himself? > > Jeff Healy is a good example. Itā€™s him and The Jeff Healy Band but heā€™s playing a character named Cody and the band isnā€™t named. I think Alice was also in Dark Shadows. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/45 "2016-05-22T23:43:33Z")
The Circle Jerks were in the movie _Repo Man_. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/46 "2016-05-22T23:59:30Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > In _Human Highway_ (1982), co-directed by Neil Young, the group Devo perform several numbers, but not as themselves. Neil Young performs as a non-Neil Young character. A wonderful film which has been released on dvd finally. Remastered to boot, and Neil may have re-edited it, too. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/47 "2016-05-23T00:08:04Z")
Lemmy Kilmister was ā€œThe editor of the school magazineā€ in Airheads. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mPGf6RebLhM/hqdefault.jpg "Airheads") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPGf6RebLhM) ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/48 "2016-05-23T00:42:26Z")
In the climactic scene of _To Sir, with Love_ (1967) one of Sidney Poitierā€™s students gets up and sings the title song to him. That singer was the real pop singer Lulu; the backing band were the real band The Mindbenders. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/49 "2016-05-23T00:53:27Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Lemmy Kilmister was ā€œThe editor of the school magazineā€ in Airheads. He also appeared in _Hardware_, as a water taxi driver who happened to be a big fan of ā€œAce of Spadesā€. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/50 "2016-05-23T00:55:30Z")
If solo performer counts, there are about 30 movies in which some random dude gets up and sings a song and itā€™s actually Elvis Presley. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/51 "2016-05-23T01:02:05Z")
When the Indigo Girls were at the height of their popularity, they played a bar band-- or part of a bar band, I don 't remember which, they may have just been the lead vocalists and guitarists of a five person band-- in _Boys on the Side_. They even had a couple of lines. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/52 "2016-05-23T11:04:54Z")
The Red Elvises were featured quite a bit in, ā€œSix-String Samurai.ā€ [Boogie on the Beach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwUJUuefjoE) Also, Tito and Tarantula were featured during the snake dance in, ā€œ[From Dusk 'til Dawn.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_05lRKSdJBM)ā€ Slightly NSFW ```auto
``` ---
**Author:** ![GunnarFranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@GunnarFranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GunnarFranz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/53 "2016-05-23T11:35:06Z")
Reel Big Fish perform in Baseketball. Doesnā€™t count but blink-182 are in American pie whilst ā€œMuttā€ plays in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/54 "2016-05-23T12:00:52Z")
Hair band [Vixen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQOmDUnt8Hs) performed in the sex comedy [Hardbodies](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087385/?ref_=nv_sr_2) as the band ā€œDiaper Rash.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/55 "2016-05-23T12:51:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > No, you are disqualified. šŸ™‚ > > I think they were known regionally but what makes them not fit with other examples is that they are named in the clip. They are playing themselves. I was going to say that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were in _Point Break_ but now that I think of it it may have only been Anthony Kiedis. Who didnā€™t sing. On a slightly different note, ā€œopera starā€ Kathleen Jenkins and actual opera star Bryn Terfel appeared in the BBC production of _Under Milk Wood_ as Polly Garter and Rev Eli Jenkins respectively; both sang. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/56 "2016-05-23T13:35:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Yardbirds appear in Antonioniā€™s ā€œBlow Up,ā€ playing ā€œStroll On,ā€ which was basically a revised version of ā€œTrain Kept a Rolling.ā€ > > Jeff Beck smashes his guitar on stage, a la Pete Townshend. What a great, unexpected scene in a great movieā€¦for those who havenā€™t seen the clip, [check it out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zeza1xeWKM). I believe the The Plimsoulsā€™ name wasnā€™t mentioned as the bar band in 1983ā€™s ā€œ[Valley Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfCMJ_VFbhM)ā€ - Nicolas Cageā€™s career zenith :D. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/57 "2016-05-23T13:38:49Z")
I only vaguely recall this, but in the 1988 ā€œDirty Harryā€ movie _The Dead Pool_, a rock star (played by a pre-fame Jim Carrey) is killed, and Guns & Roses appear at the funeral. Iā€™m pretty sure they were supposed to be other rock stars, but not themselves. They donā€™t play, though, theyā€™re just there. ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/58 "2016-05-23T15:37:00Z")
[White Lion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1SPfTNHr-U) was in ā€˜The Money Pitā€™. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/59 "2016-05-23T15:52:51Z")
Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees joined forces as Sgt. Pepperā€™s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the dreadful, and yet awesome, film of the same name. Aerosmith also appears as The Future Villain Band. There are probably a few others that could be included from that movie but thatā€™s all I got off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/60 "2016-05-23T16:00:42Z")
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