“Still Crazy” is a favourite movie of mine, especially Bill Nighy’s performance as a used up hard rock screecher in the style of Robert Plant. I was impressed how they were able to come up with original songs that were plausible for second-tier works of the appropriate genre and time period. But did Nighy actually sing those parts? I’d be mighty impressed if he had. If not, whose voice did he lip synch to?
Looking through the IMDB listings, as far as I can tell, it was Bill doing his own vocals.
Music Department
Mark Bishop … score recording engineer
John Bundrick … musician: Hammond organ (as Rabbit)
Paul Carrack … musician: hammond organ
Billy Connolly … composer: song “Stealin’”
Steve Dagger … music supervisor
Steve Donnelly … band musician
Steve Donnelly … musician: bass
Tim Dorney … musician: drum programmer
Alan Dunn … musician: accordion
Dina Eaton … music editor
Mike Fewtrell … band musician
Tarquin Gotch … music supervisor
Matt Gregory … music recording engineer
Brian Gulland … musician: tuba
Simon Hale … music arranger: songs
Kim Halliday … music programmer
Martin Hughes … musician: drums
Chris Johnson … musician: drums
Clive Langer … music arranger: songs
Clive Langer … musician: guitar
Michael Lee … band musician
Bob Loveday … musician: mandolin and violin
Ralph McTell … musician: guitar
Steve Nieve … musician: keyboards
Charlie Palmer … musician: bass
Guy Pratt … band musician
Some really great players there, like Steve Nieve of The Attractions (Elvis Costello’s band) Paul Carrack (too damn many bands and great songs to list), John Bundrick of The Who and apparently Billy Connolly wrote one of the songs as well.
That’s impressive. Does Nighy have a background in singing?
Doing some more searching, the name Jimmy Nail keeps popping up. The Wikipedia page for the soundtrack album lists three songs as “Strange Fruit with Jimmy Nail”, so Nighy might have been lip-syncing Nail. It has been a very long time since I’ve seen the film, but I think Nail’s your man. He has one of those effortlessly soulful voices like Paul Carrack.
Also, Chris Difford of Squeeze appears to have been one of the songwriters.
I know which songs on the soundtrack are credited to Jimmy Nail and the voice sound totally different.
Which songs? Bill Nighy did his own singing in Love, Actually, although he was playing a rock singer well past his prime trying for one last success.
Turns out I’ve been mis-pronouncing his name. It’s “nye”, and appears to be pronounced the same as Bill Nye the Science Guy.
The Jimmy Nail songs are “The Flame Still Burns” “What Might Have Been” “Bird on a Wire”
The Billy Connolly song is “Stealin’”. His voice s unmistakeable.
The ones I’m wondering about are “All Over the World” “Dirty Town” “Black Moon” “Scream Freedom” “Dangerous Things”
Also I now recall seeing an American movie with a very similar plot only set in L.A. about an old band getting back together and experiencing hjinks, only not as funny as “Still Crazy.”. Anyone remember what that movie was?
Having listened to them again I’m starting to gunk that Gaffa’s right and it is actually Nighy’s own voice on those songs.
I think you’re thinking of The Rocker
No, definitely not that one. It’s several years older than that and not a comedy.
I remember one of the characters was English and he was always going out with girls in their 20s. At the end, he finally gets together with a woman his own age (the band’s publicist, I think) and is surprised to find that he enjoys that situation.
Another character is constantly being hit on by a female singer who wants him in her touring band and at the end he decides to protect his marriage by dropping out of the tour.
Another character is surprised when a teen-ager shows up at his door claiming to be his son by a groupie.
Just popped in to say I think Still Crazy is an underappreciated gem, and the soundtrack really does manage to sound plausible for the period.