# 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:** 4
**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, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/61 "2016-05-23T16:07:02Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Does Perl Jam being in _Singles_ count? They weren’t famous when the movie was filmed but we’re huge by the time it came out. Not just that, but lead singer Eddie Vetter played an instrument rather than sing. Matt Dillon was the lead singer. The band was known as Citizen Dick. ---
**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, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/62 "2016-05-23T16:21:49Z")
Vince Neil appears in _The Adventures of Ford Fairlane_ as the lead singer of Black Plague, who gets poisoned and dies onstage at the start of the movie. The other band members are Carlos Cavazzo (Quiet Riot), Phil Soussan and Randy Castillo (from Ozzy Osbourne’s band). Tone Loc and Sheila E. also perform in the movie, but not as themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/63 "2016-05-23T16:42:25Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Does Perl Jam being in _Singles_ count? They weren’t famous when the movie was filmed but we’re huge by the time it came out. > [@Superdude](#): > > Not just that, but lead singer Eddie Vetter played an instrument rather than sing. Matt Dillon was the lead singer. The band was known as Citizen Dick. “This negativity just makes me stronger, we will not retreat, this band is unstoppable! This weekend we rock Portland!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qQuNdPS5Qco/maxresdefault.jpg "this band is unstoppable.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQuNdPS5Qco) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/64 "2016-05-23T16:48:07Z")
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones played a high school dance in \*Clueless \*(1995). For 1984’s _Streets of Fire_, members of the Boston band Face to Face appeared as Ellen Aim’s (Diane Lane) band The Attackers; Face to Face’s vocalist, Laurie Sargent, provided some of the vocals for Lane’s character in the movie. (Face to Face had a #38 single in 1984, [10-9-8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBgyDQIZpY).) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/65 "2016-05-23T16:59:22Z")
Re-reading the thread prompted my memory about [The Grass Roots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQyr3Fb47Ew) showing up as an unidentified band in _With Six You Get Eggroll_, a 1968 Doris Day vehicle. \*Feelings \*is a pretty cool song (and the scene includes Creed Bratton from _The Office_, who was still with The Grass Roots at the time.) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/66 "2016-05-23T17:00:50Z")
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have a brief cameo appearance playing in a Berlin club in Wim Wenders’ _Wings of Desire_; I don’t think they were named as themselves, but I could be wrong. The Frames’ Glen Hansard plays a street busker in _Once_ (but it’s a main role, so I don’t know if this counts?). ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/67 "2016-05-23T17:07:33Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have a brief cameo appearance playing in a Berlin club in Wim Wenders’ _Wings of Desire_; I don’t think they were named as themselves, but I could be wrong. I also don’t think they’re named in the movie but they are credited on IMDb as themselves. Crime & the City Solution also perform in _Wings of Desire_ but are credited as themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/68 "2016-05-23T17:18:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > **The Lovin’ Spoonful** were inserted into \*What’s Up, Tiger Lily? \*(1966), but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it and I don’t remember in what capacity they appeared. It was a pure cut in, at a club, obviously with no interaction with the characters. They played “Going Fishing” by Leadbelly, I think. Country Joe and the Fish played The Crackers, both a rock and roll and outlaw bank in Zachariah. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/69 "2016-05-23T18:11:19Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Does Perl Jam being in _Singles_ count? They weren’t famous when the movie was filmed but we’re huge by the time it came out. Alice in Chains are the band who is playing on stage in (at least one of) one of the rock club scenes in that movie. Soundgarden too, if the Wikipedia page is correct, but I don’t remember that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/70 "2016-05-23T18:45:52Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Does Perl Jam being in _Singles_ count? They weren’t famous when the movie was filmed but we’re huge by the time it came out. > [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Alice in Chains are the band who is playing on stage in (at least one of) one of the rock club scenes in that movie. Soundgarden too, if the Wikipedia page is correct, but I don’t remember that scene. Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament are both credited as “Himself-Citizen Dick”. Eddie Vedder is apparently uncredited even though he has a very small speaking part in the movie (that I posted earlier.) ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/71 "2016-05-23T18:53:01Z")
Sugar Ray were in the Ivan Reitman comedy _[Father’s Day.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119109/)_ Interestingly, they had more of a hardcore/punk sound back then as compared to the pop-rock sound with which they scored hits later. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/72 "2016-05-23T19:00:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Celtic Fire as the bunch of guys who just met in steerage, but had their instruments with them so they could play a party, in _Titanic_. Gaelic Storm, but Celtic Fire strikes me as an equally good name for an Irish band.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/73 "2016-05-23T19:02:19Z")
**The Zombies** are shown on TV in the miserable little movie _Bunny Lake Is Missing_, but I don’t know if they were playing themselves or not. Anybody know the band that played at The Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel? _(Coogan’s Bluff)_ ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/74 "2016-05-23T19:11:34Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band appeared in the movie _Paint Your Wagon_ as a nameless band playing the piece _Hand Me Down That Can o’ Beans_. Damn you, I was going to post this one, as I was arrogant enough to think nobody else would remember it.😛 Tito and Tarantula played “After Dark” as the unnamed bar band in _“From Dusk 'til Dawn.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/75 "2016-05-23T20:49:20Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Alice in Chains are the band who is playing on stage in (at least one of) one of the rock club scenes in that movie. Soundgarden too, if the Wikipedia page is correct, but I don’t remember that scene. Soundgarden is certainly in that movie and Chris Cornell is just _killing_ it. Best part of the movie! ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/76 "2016-05-24T00:02:32Z")
The Amen Post are seen performing on stage in a nightclub in the horror film SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/77 "2016-05-24T02:54:21Z")
The Marshall Crenshaw Band appeared in a couple of movies – in \*La Bamba, \*playing Buddy Holley and the Crickets (or was that just Marshall Crenshaw himself, with someone else backing him up? Can’t remember), and in \*Peggy Sue Got Married, \*playing the band at the high school dance. Or reunion. Or something. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/78 "2016-05-24T05:45:00Z")
Sting, pre-Police, played the leader of The Fabulous Blow-Waves, the group who attempted to abduct Paul Cook in a deleted scene from _The Great Rock N Roll Swindle._ The scene was cut, but later resurfaced in the Sex Pistols documentary _The Filth and The Fury._ ---
**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 24, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/79 "2016-05-24T14:01:32Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Sting, pre-Police, played the leader of The Fabulous Blow-Waves, the group who attempted to abduct Paul Cook in a deleted scene from _The Great Rock N Roll Swindle._ The scene was cut, but later resurfaced in the Sex Pistols documentary _The Filth and The Fury._ Speaking of Paul Cook, he and fellow Sex Pistol Steve Jones (together with Paul Simenon of the Clash) appear as the band The Looters in the film _Ladies and Gentlemen… the Fabulous Stains_ (1981). Also in that film, two members of The Tubes appear as The Metal Corpses. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-appeared-playing-in-movies/755368/80 "2016-05-24T16:18:00Z")
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