I was just searching out some 80s sites, and I discovered that Bryan Scott played Kidd, of the show Kidd Video. Holy crap, I thought, the same guy who did the songs on Transformers: the movie? Umm, no, actually. A quick glance at around this board reveals that Stan Bush was the guy. No relation at all.
Now, that, and a recent thread about how much Jem rocks (some recent singer, not the cartoon) makes me wonder. What cartoons had their own bands, which actually could be enjoyed. Sorry, that leaves out all
l the Hannah Barbera cartoon I can think of. I recently listened to some Kidd Video songs here and here, and while I liked the cartoon show Jem, Kidd definitely had them beat musically.
Any other challengers? Bonus points for links (not direct ones) to recordings. Please remember that this is a matter of personally taste, by and large, so that doesn’t mean that the Gorillaz top everything.
Rick Springfield was in an animated cartoon in the early 70s called Mission Magic. For some reason, I had it in my head he had an animated show of his own, but I can’t find anything on it.
I must protest. Since when was recording a damn record was any true test of a cartoon band’s ability to rock like a harem in a velvet-lined van?
I nominate Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids. No record sales that I know of – hell, I can’t remember anything but their opening song theme (“Ya ya ya, gonna hava a good time. Hey, hey, HEEEEY!”)-- but any progenitor of Philly hip-hop and purveyors of authentic 70s funk played with fucking homemade scrapyard instruments has got have better musicality than the Archies.
DAMMIT. You people had to dredge this memory of my childhood up. As you can see from the above link, the Banana Splits released one LP, 2 EPs, and a 45.
They also were in the film “Yellow Submarine”, which was animated. “Yellow Submarine” is quite well regarded as a film in some circles. And a lot better known than say the Archies.
Of course, I suspect Alvin and the Chipmunks have gotten just about eveybody beat except the Beatles. But only the Chipmunks have had the balls to do Beatles covers.
Hardly relevant. Isn’t this thread supposed to be about bands composed of fictional cartoon characters? The Beatles cartoons that I used to watch Saturday mornings were just cartoons about a real live flesh-and-blood band.
To be technical, the Chipmunks existed on record prior for several years prior to being an animated cartoon. Thus I would argue the Chipmunks don’t qualify in the sense that the Archies do.
As you can see from the above link, the Banana Splits released one LP, 2 EPs, and a 45.