Real bands cameoing as fictional bands in movies/TV?

Cafe Society
22

In “American Graffiti” the band playing at the sock hop is called “Herbie and the Heartbeats” but IRL they were “Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids.” Although a retro-rock style band, Wikipedia says:

Their version of “At the Hop” was released as a single in 1973.[3] Flash Cadillac had chart hits in the 1970s with “Dancin’ (on a Saturday Night)”, written by Lynsey De Paul and Barry Blue, “Good Times, Rock and Roll” and “Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)”.[4] “Dancin’ (On A Saturday Night)” was listed in the Swedish top 10 in 1974.[5] In 1977, the band released a cover version of Wizzard’s “See My Baby Jive” written by Roy Wood.[6]

Source

23

In the movie “Light of Day,” Trent Reznor and other members of Exotic Birds appear as The Problems.

24

I just remembered: Chrissie Hynde guested on Friends and performed “Angel of the Morning”.

She’s introduced as “Stephanie Schiffer”, so this qualifies.

Was she a bad singer? Well, she did OK with that song, but she couldn’t get “Smelly Cat” right.

25

The Blues Brothers count, in my opinion. They didn’t just put a bunch of great session players together for the movie - the band was put together in 1976 with largely the same lineup as in the movie. They not only played on Saturday Night Live, but the entire band with Ayckroyd and Belushi played live gigs, including opening for The Grateful Dead two years before the movie was made.

Warning: Blues Brothers geekery ahead:

In 1978, two years before the movie, they released Briefcase Full of Blues, a live album that was truly outstanding. It went to #1 on the billboard album charts and had a big hit with ‘Soul Man’. Their movie sountrack also went to the top 40 and spawned another hit with ‘Gimme Some Lovin’.

Furthermore, the band stayed together after the movie, touring sometimes with Ackroyd and Jim Belushi, then with their own frontmen when Ackroyd and pals weren’t available. They collaborated with other musicians as the Blues Brothers Band.

In 2000 they again played the band in ‘Blues Brothers 2000’, a godawful movie with an excellent soundtrack. Then they went back out and toured again.

They are still touring today. The surviving members are ‘Blue Lou’ Marini, Tom Malone (who I don’t think is playing with them) and Steve Cropper. Donald “Duck” Dunn died in 2012, and Alan ‘Mister Fabulous’ Rubin died in 2011. Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy died in 2018.

They have been together as a band with essentially the same lineup continuously from 1976 until today, except for replacing those that died. Of course being world-class musicians they have individually played with all sorts of other musicians as well.

They really were/are a supergroup:

Marini and Malone were members of Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Dunn and Crooper were part of the legendary Booker T. and the MGs. Cropper co-wrote Green Onions with Booker T, Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay with Otis Redding and In the Midnight Hour with Wilson Pickett among other hits. Lennon and McCartney admired him so much they made plans to travel to Memphis to work with him, but it never happened.

Alan Rubin was a prodigy and trained at Julliard. His last performance before he died was with the Blues Brothers band in 2010.

Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy was a Chicago blues legend who played in Howlin’ Wolf’s band, made two albums with Chuck Berry, and played with pretty much the who’s who of the Blues. And yet, he stayed a member of the Blues Brothers band for almost 30 years until he died. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012.

If we were making a list of the most talented bands in history, they’d have real shot at #1.

26

While more known as an actress (though she has won two Grammys and put out 5 albums), Tia Carrere played Cassandra in Wayne’s World. No idea if her band mates were actual musicians.

27

The all-time winner must be the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For good measure, featuring Aerosmith as Future Villain Band, and a whole mess of musicians who were Guests at Heartland!

28

Wow I had never heard of that movie. And based on the 11% rotten tomatoes score I’m unlikely to search it out (if its on Netflix I may give it a try)

29

I watched it on cable around 1980 or so…it’s really, really bad. And, it’s cited as one of the reasons that Frampton, after being a huge rock star for several years, then saw his career hit a long dry spell.

30

Classic episode. That ad for Pentuplemint Gum is so brilliantly awful. It cracks me the hell up every time.

31

And a week later, they appeared on The Patty Duke Show as “Nigel & Patrick”,

32

If you concede that Spinal Tap was a “real band” (they recorded and toured) than their appearance in A Mighty Wind as The Folksmen qualifies.

33

The Beau Brummels were on The Flintstones as the Beau Brummelstones. And Ann-Margaret was Ann-Margrock.

Does that count as fictional? You make the call.

34

The new wave band Face to Face, billed under the name Fire Inc., appeared in Streets of Fire as the fictional band Ellen Aim and the Attackers, with Diane Lane lip-syncing Laurie Sargent’s vocals.

35

Mark Knopfler did the score for the movie “Local Hero” an underrated film IMHO. There is a ceilidh (Scottish dance) in the movie and the band in the background is in significant part Dire Straits’ keyboardist, Alan Clark and their manager Ed Bicknell on drums.

36

In the film La Bamba, the band Los Lobos plays a house band playing at a Tijuana strip club that Ritchie Valens and his brother are visiting. Ritchie hears them play a traditional version of “La Bamba” and becomes inspired to record his rocking version of the song. Los Lobos actually recorded the Ritchie Valens version of the La Bamba song used in the film. The La Bamba Soundtrack was the biggest seller of Los Lobos’ career.

37

The F Troop episode “That’s Show Biz” (written by Arthur Julian) bore an uncanny resemblance to “Don’t Bug the Mosquitoes” (written by Sherwood Schwartz and Brad Radnitz). Remarkably, the former was aired more than a year after the latter (9 February 1967 vs 9 December 1965).

38

Wasn’t the name of the band “The Oneders,” making for great misunderstandings and high comedy?

39

I saw it in the cinema when it first came out. It’s gloriously bad, but some of the songs are good, including Aerosmith’s “Come Together” and Billy Preston’s turn at the end. Steve Martin performing “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” doesn’t meet any definition of “good” but depending on your tastes might still qualify as “entertaining”.

Back on topic, the film Serial Mom featured raunchy girlband L7 as raunchy girlband “Camel Lips”.

40

The Simpsons episode “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet” used The Dapper Dans as the singing voices of The Be-Sharps.

41

There was a Parks and Rec episode with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco as the front man for a local band called “Land Ho” that Leslie Knope was trying to get to reunite for a benefit concert.