I’m currently listening to Juliette and the Licks, a band fronted by Juliette Lewis. They remind me a fair bit of Morningwood and I’m surprised that I really quite like them. “Smash & Grab” and “Hot Kiss” especially, though there hasn’t been a song on this album that I’ve outright disliked yet.
Anyway, this band being fronted by an actor has me thinking about about music by others in that field, and wondering how many are worth a listen. I know Jamie Foxx released an album in 2005 and Jennifer Lopez is well-known for being successful in both fields, but I’m looking for lesser known projects, and also ones that won’t make me rip my headphones from my ears in pain, so no Transformed Man by William Shatner, either.
Jason Schwartzman plays drums for Phantom Planet, a decently well known band (thanks to their work being used as the theme song for the O.C.). I particularly like the song “Do the Panic”.
Johnny Depp has played on a few albums, and was in the band P.
Patrick Swayze had a top-ten hit with “She’s Like the Wind,” though it could be argued that this was actually part of his role in Dirty Dancing.
Tracey Ullman started her comedy career as a musician (and she still does music in her stand-up routines).
Don Johnson had two albums and one top-ten hit with “Heartbeat.”
Mark Wahlberg has been much more successful as an actor than as a rapper, though I find so many people know he was “Marky Mark” that I’m not sure one could say he’s better-known as an actor.
My favorite “he’s a musician?” guy is Bill Mumy; a child actor who matured into a successful character actor and voice-over actor, who also happens to have released multiple solo albums, was a member of Barnes and Barnes (Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads…), performs with comic-book-professionals in a comic-convention-specific band called Seduction of the Innocent, performed with America, and was in “The Be Five Band,” made up of Babylon 5 actors. Watch a Twilight Zone marathon with someone some day, wait until his debut episode comes on where he plays an evil child with God-like powers to change reality on a whim, terrorizing his neighbors and family. Wait until he’s at his most vicious (maybe when he’s saying “You be dead! You’re dead!”) and tell your viewing partner “Y’know, he went on to record Fish Heads.”
Bobby Troup was a jazz musician before he got a role in the TV series Emergency. He also wrote that famous song about the highway on which you can get your kicks.
His wife, Julie London, also an Emergency actor, had an early career as a blues singer.
Jamie Foxx - that’s him playing the piano in ‘Ray’.
Julie Delphy - again, that’s her playing in ‘Before Sunset’. She released a self-titled album in 2003
Hugh Laurie - that’s him playing piano for various episodes of ‘Jeeves and Wooster’.
Gary Sinise performs in a cover band called the Lt. Dan Band. They often perform at charity events, especially for veterans and Sinise’s charity for Iraqi children. The co-former (?) of the band is a veteran of the Vietnam War.