Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

5 great imaginary bands (9 of 30/75 of 274)

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A great opportunity presents itself today for me to both indulge my love of fictional bands and fulfill the Day 2 31DBBB assignment to write a list post.

So let’s rock!

5 great imaginary bands

I am far from alone in my obsession with imaginary bands. The Rocklopedia Fakebandica lists about a thousand fictional bands and singers from movies and television. Here are five of my personal favorites, in alphabetical order. You didn’t really think you were going to trap me into rating and ranking fake bands, did you?

1. The Barbusters. Light of Day is a (mostly) filmed-in-Chicago movie with a title song written by Bruce Springsteen. Already you see two of my personal obsessions there. Great casting and unexpectedly good performances (acting and music both) from Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett as the brother and sister team fronting the Barbusters. One of the bar scenes was filmed at the Iron Rail on the northwest side of Chicago, which was then owned by a friend of ours.

2. Eddie and the Cruisers. John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band provided the sound for the fictional band from Jersey. Their Springsteen-like sound is the best thing about the two movies (particularly the original one). Michael Paré is hot and mysterious as Eddie Wilson. Tom Berenger is a big personal favorite of mine and definitely in his role as Frank Ridgeway.

3. Ellen Aim and the Attackers. Michael Paré is once again hot, though not too mysterious, as Tom Cody in Streets of Fire. Diane Lane as Ellen Aim is even hotter. Fire Inc. does the musical performances, and the songs were written by Jim Steinman. If you don’t like Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell album, you might not like “Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young.” Get past it… “let the revels begin, let the fire be started, we’re dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted…” what is not to love there?

4. The Monkees. This is where my love for imaginary bands started. I’m sure many other baby boomer females can relate to that love. Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones were pretty much the first made-for-TV-band. I was probably the only girl in my 4th grade class who wasn’t crazy about Davy Jones, though. “Daydream Believer” and “I’m A Believer” still make me smile and yes, are both on my MP3 player.

5. 2ge+her. This was MTV’s send-up of the formulaic boy bands made popular by… hey, how about that, MTV! They were featured in a TV-movie and then a short-lived series. Their actual songs were surprisingly good, in a boy band kind of melodic harmony good, that is. The series was cut short not only by falling ratings, but also the tragic death of 16-year-old cancer survivor Michael Cuccione from respiratory disease. One of the other band members was Kevin Farley, brother of the late Chris Farley, and funny in his own right.

More soundtrack of my life (24 of 31/59 of 274)

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I have quite a few songs on my playlist that are from movies featuring fictional bands. I will blame this partly on the fact that The Monkees, the ultimate made-for-TV band, were a big part of my childhood. The rest of the blame lies on the movies or songs themselves: they might not be great art, but they are great at making me smile. And even as much as I like Spinal Tap and 2ge+her (MTV’s send-up of boy bands which didn’t last nearly long enough), it’s not about satire either, at least not for this part of my playlist.

And those songs?

“On The Dark Side” from Eddie and the Cruisers: John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band got compared to Springsteen and the E Street Band a lot when this movie came out. I have been a Springsteen fan for a long time (in case it is not obvious from my domain name – brilliant-disguise.net if you are reading this on LJ). As for the movie, I love Tom Berenger (even as Aaron Noble in Third Watch, which is a stretch). And I like Michael Paré, at least in this movie and one other…

Streets of Fire which is one of my favorite movies and favorite soundtracks. The plot is nothing new: biker gang kidnaps hot chick singer and her ex is summoned home to rescue her. The visuals and casting and yes, the music, make it something special. “Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young” and “Nowhere Fast” are my favorites, followed closely by “Countdown To Love”. By the way, did any song of Jim Steinman’s from that time NOT have the sound of a motorcycle revving somewhere in the background? This movie also has one of my favorite quotes: “Everywhere I go, there’s always an asshole” which sadly is true in most places in real life as well.

“Break My Heart” from Spectacular! Yeah, I was surprised, too. Funny what turns up when you are bored and clicking the remote or the mouse. I would not generally expect to find a fun, perfect-for-the-car song like this from a Nickelodeon movie, but hey, there it is.

Two days of my schizophrenic musical taste is probably more than enough for most of you, so tomorrow will feature a new and exciting topic. Or something!