Top 23 Fake Bands: The Best Fictional Music Groups of Film and TV

Posted by Garin Pirnia

The average lifespan of a band involves everything from playing gigs to breaking up then eventually reuniting, but a fictional band can experience all of the growing pains in one movie or TV episode. Sometimes these make-believe acts are silly and sometimes they're actually good enough to make viewers want to own their songs. Regardless, fictional bands entertain us, which is why we've picked our 23 favorites (and yes, we know we left out ones like Spinal Tap, the Blues Brothers, the Monkees, Flight of the Conchords, etc. -- they're just too real). Check out these fictional groups below and relive their greatest hits.

23. Jesse and the Rippers

'Full House'

The Elvis-obsessed rocker Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) plays guitar and sings lead (his real voice!) in his own band, the Rippers. Donning tattered jeans and mullets, the band has a hit with a cover of Beach Boys' 'Forever,' for which Stamos actually recorded and made a music video with the Boys. The Rippers find moderate success playing D.J's prom, the Smash Club and touring, but Jesse later gets kicked out and forms Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets. In real life, Stamos occasionally played concerts with the Beach Boys, had a recurring role on 'Glee' and starred in the video for Low's song 'Try to Sleep.'

22. Creation, Mission Control

'Freaks and Geeks'

'Freaks and Geeks' should've never been cancelled, but at least the talented cast of Jason Segel, James Franco and Seth Rogen have moved on to bigger things. In the 'I'm With the Band' episode from 1999, Segel's Nick Andopolis thinks he can make a living as a drummer, but he's thwarted when his dad wants him to hit the books or else be shipped off to the army. Nick's in an unnamed band (Creation and Mission Control are suggested names) with Daniel (Franco) and Ken (Rogen), who refuse to play Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Love' for the hundredth time. When Nick gets frustrated with their lack of ambition, he quits and clumsily auditions for another band, Dimension.

21. The Blowholes

'The Adventures of Pete & Pete'

Remember how good Nickelodeon was in the '90s? A quirkier version of 'The Wonder Years,' the show focuses on two brothers both named Pete Wrigley, aka Little and Big Pete. The 'A Hard Day's Pete' episode from 1994 follows 10-year-old Little Pete as he forms the Blowholes after he hears a song by garage band Polaris (played by the now-defunct Miracle Legion). He can't find the song anywhere and decides to learn how to play guitar so he won't forget the melody in his head. The unusual group fronted by Pete, his math teacher, his friend Clem and a meter man (played by guitarist Marshall Crenshaw) rock out to the infectious, prog-rock 'Marmalade Cream' and 'Summerbaby' by Polaris.

20. Crucifictorious

'Friday Night Lights'

NBC

Halfway through season one, witty geek Landry Clarke's (Jesse Plemons) band begins as a Christian death metal band with only Tim Riggins showing up at their gig, but after a lineup reworking, the band transforms into a pretty good bluesy indie-rock trio. The band even does a mean cover of the Flaming Lips' 'She Don't Use Jelly.' During another gig, Clarke's best friend, quarterback Matt Saracen, is so impressed with the band that he blurts out, "They're not that bad." In real life, Plemons plays harmonica and guitar in Austin folk-rock group Cowboy and Indian that performed at SXSW this year.

19. Wyld Stallyns

'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'

The lovable metal slackers from the 1989 time-traveling buddy comedy cult classic 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' were really hoping for Van Halen, but but a pair of rescued royal damsels will do. Who knew the smokey guitar licks begat in a San Dimas garage would pave the way to a utopian future? Party on, dudes!

18. The Silver Platters

'The Brady Brunch'

In the 1973 episode 'Amateur Night', the Brady kids need to raise money to buy their parents a silver platter for their anniversary (hence the name of the group) and discover a talent show contest is giving away a $100 bucks to the best act. Since the kids are so musically inclined, they dress up in matching costumes and do their own choreography to unintentionally campy pop songs 'Keep On' and 'It's a Sunshine Day.' This wasn't the last time the Brady kids would perform: In another episode, they secure a recording contract that spawns the "hit" 'Time to Change,' and in real life, the Brady kids recorded four albums and did a variety show.

17. Dingoes Ate My Baby

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Naming themselves after a quote from the Meryl Streep film 'A Cry in the Dark,' the pseudo duo is comprised of werewolf/guitarist Oz (Seth Green) and his friend Devon, who perform at Sunnydale, Calif., club the Bronze. The band make their first appearance in 1997 episode 'Inca Mummy Girl' and frequently play songs like 'Pain' and 'Dilate' that are actually written and performed by real-life group Four Star Mary. Oz departed the show in season four, but his band posters and songs still popped up in subsequent episodes. Four Star never found much success beyond the program, but a few of their songs do appear on the 'Buffy' soundtrack.

16. Mystik Spiral

'Daria'

After the success of 'Beavis and Butthead' in the '90s, MTV continued with 'Daria,' an animated series about a minor character, smart ass and cynical Daria Morgendorffer, and her trials and tribulations at Lawndale High School. Daria crushes on Trent Lane, her BFF's goateed brother who is supposedly based on Trent Reznor and is the lead singer of grunge group Mystik Spiral. At house parties and at McGrundy's Pub, the band performs their uncomplicated songs 'Every Dog Has Its Day', 'Freakin' Friends' and 'Icebox Woman,' which contains the brooding lyric, "My poor heart, you're giving it freezer burn."

15. Zack Attack

'Saved by the Bell'

'Saved by the Bell' wouldn't have been the same without Zack Morris leading his friends Slater, Lisa, Screech, Kelly and Jessie in the aptly named Zack Attack. The real question is why wasn't Mr. Belding in the group? During a sequence in one episode, Morris dreams about the band headlining stadium shows while playing signature song 'Friends Forever.' But instead of stadium-size success, the band performs at school dances and bar mitzvahs, and several of their songs are featured on the 'Saved by the Bell' soundtrack. In 2009, Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) reprised his Zack Attack role when he briefly performed a version of 'Friends Forever' with the Roots on ' Fallon.'

14. Drive Shaft

'Lost'

The most surreal band on this list, the bio on Drive Shaft's website eerily reads like they were a real band. Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) and his brother Liam form the band in Manchester and obtain huge success with their self-titled debut and Oasis-inspired song 'You All Everybody' in '99. The band has groupies, money and success, but they eventually implode due to Charlie's heroin addiction and a lack of enthusiasm for their sophomore record, 'Oil Change.' Flashbacks on the show reveal how Charlie wanted to get the band back together, but -- semi-spoiler alert! -- things didn't quite work out that way.

13. The Be Sharps

'The Simpsons'

During the fifth season of 'The Simpsons,' Homer reveals to his kids how he used to be in a famous barbershop quartet. In 1985, Homer, Principal Skinner, Barney and Apu recorded their debut album, 'Meet the Be Sharps,' which went on to win them a Grammy for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year. The brilliant parody saw the Sharps having parallels with the Beatles when Barney dated a Yoko Ono-like character who broke up the band. Akin to the Beatles' final performance atop the Apple Corps building, the Sharps played their hit song 'Baby on Board' one last time on top of Moe's Tavern. Beatle George Harrison even stopped by and quips, "It's been done."

12. Chemical Toilet and Electric Dream Machine

'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'

During a season three episode titled 'Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person,' the irreverent gang of Charlie, Frank and Mac form a band called Chemical Toilet (Dennis isn't allowed in the group). They think it will be easy to find success because, as Frank puts it, "There's not a band out there with any musical abilities." Charlie, who can actually play keyboards, pens the song 'Nightman,' a bizarre tune that causes Mac to exclaim, "It sounds like a song where a man breaks into your house and rapes you." Since Mac and Frank dislike the song, Charlie gets kicked out and joins forces with Dennis in their glam-rock band Electric Dream Machine. Wearing leotards and codpieces, they perform at Paddy's Pub and are booed offstage. Undaunted, Charlie later turns his insane tracks into a full-length musical, 'The Nightman Cometh.'

11. The Zits

'Degrassi Junior High'

A long-running Canadian serial, 'Degrassi Junior High' and 'Degrassi High' showcased Toronto students coping with life issues from failed romances to heavy topics like abortion. The fedora-wearing main character Joey Jeremiah and his friends Wheels and Snake start a band called the Zit Remedy then they shorten it to the Zits. The trio first performs in junior high at its graduation dance in 1988 but are featured more prominently when they transition to high school. With only one song in their oeuvre, the poppy 'Everybody Wants Something,' they shoot a homemade music video with late-'80s kitsch written all over it. The band appears again on episode 'It Creeps' when they act in a feminist horror film.

10. Hep Alien

'Gilmore Girls'

For seven seasons, this WB show had its finger on the pulse of pop culture with Hep Alien, a precursor to the hipster indie bands of today. Before splitting for 'The O.C.,' Adam Brody founds Alien, a band that mainly performed cover songs like the Monkees' 'Daydream Believer,' Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Head On' and Blondie's 'Hanging on a Telephone.' Drummer Lane Kim and the band make occasional appearances on episodes throughout the series playing house parties and other gigs. Once Dave Rygalski (Brody) moves out west for college, Sebastian Bach (yes, that Sebastian Bach from metal band Skid Row) takes over on guitar. The band briefly breaks up only to reunite and embark on a successful tour of Seventh Day Adventists churches.

9. Sexual Chocolate

'Coming to America'

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall play various roles in the 1988 comedy 'Coming to America' with socially pointed and dated hilarity a-plenty. Yet, it's Murphy's Jheri-curled Randy Watson from the band Sexual Chocolate and his rendition of George Benson's 'Greatest Love of All' at the Black Awareness Rally that gives us one of the best stage exits of all time.

8. Phish Tahko

'My Name Is Earl'

tvloop.com

In the episode 'Van Hickey,' Earl (Jason Lee), his simpleton brother Randy (Ethan Suplee) and friend Ralph (Giovanni Ribisi) decide to form a band while going through a fast food drive-thru offering fish tacos on the menu. According to Ralph, "If we play with real instruments, we can have sex with real girls." They promise the voice who takes their order, Tom Sparks, that he can be their lead singer, but when they discover he's old, they let Tom join the band but then kick him out before their first gig at the Crab Shack. In order to restore order in the universe, Earl recruits Tom back into the band and lets him play at a gig, but they perform the instrumental 'Frankenstein' by the Edgar Winter Group, which doesn't allow Tom to sing.

7. Barry Jive and the Uptown 5/Sonic Death Monkey

'High Fidelity'

Barry, the belly-slapping, customer-berating record store clerk from hell, was a launch-pad character for Jack Black, and it's his music-nerd mentality that transforms the never-before-heard, highly questionable sound of Sonic Death Monkey into the sultry ways of Barry Jive and the Uptown 5. The surprise performance at the end further established 'High Fidelity' as a must-see for any music lover.

6. Mouse Rat

'Parks and Recreation'

Pawnee, Ind.'s loveable lug Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) describes his band as a cross between Matchbox 20 and the Fray and has cycled through 30 names, including Jet Black Pope, Ninja Dick and Scarecrow Boat. Their songs 'The Pit' and 'Sex Hair' are inspired by things that have happened to Andy, but despite his method approach to songwriting, none of the tracks are very good. Mouse Rat played their first gig on the show during the season one finale and performed again at a dance on season's two 'Galentine's Day' episode and for April after her surprise wedding to Andy in season three.

5. The Weird Sisters

'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'

This magical rock band appears repeatedly in the Harry Potter book series and is manifested in the films as a thoroughly goth'ed supergroup featuring Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway, Steve Claydon from Add N to (X) and Jason Buckle from All Seeing I. Wow. Did those extras at the Yule Ball at Hogwarts even have to act to look excited?

4. Scrantonicity

'The Office'

Accountant by day and drummer by night, dim-witted Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) performs in a cover band called Scrantonicity, a hybrid of the show's locale of Scranton, Pa., and the Police's final studio album, 'Synchronicity.' The band plays classics like 'Roxanne' during season two's finale 'Casino Night' and, in the episode, Kevin is invited to perform at Pam and Roy's upcoming wedding, but when she kisses Jim, the wedding gets called off. Luckily for Scrantonicity, they end up performing during Phyllis's Wedding and Karen (Rashida Jones) contributes vocals on 'Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic.'

3. Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld

'South Park'

In 'Timmy 2000,' handicapped classmate Timmy happens upon a garage metal band called Lords of the Underworld, and even though Timmy can only scream his name and nothing else, he fits right into the group as lead singer. Together, they win a Battle of the Bands contest allowing them to open for Phil Collins at the Lalapalalapaza festival, but guitarist Skyler gets jealous of Timmy's fame and quits the band. While Collins performs at the fest, the audience boos him offstage and the reunited Timmy and the Lords take over as headliners. They perform their only song, 'Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld,' which can be played on 'Rock Band.'

2. Frozen Embryos

'My So-Called Life'

Before Jared Leto set the world on fire as frontman for 30 Seconds to Mars, he showed off his musical chops on acclaimed '90s television show 'My So-Called Life' as Jordan Catalano, an emo love interest of Angela Chase (Claire Danes). In the seventh episode, 'Why Jordan Can't Read,' Jordan invites redhead Angela to his band rehearsal, and when she hears him play his acoustic ballad 'Red,' she automatically thinks the song is about her (it's about his car). In a later episode, Angela's best friend Rayanne Graff joins the Embryos as lead singer but a case of stage fright causes her to abandon the project and leaves Jordan to take over vocals for the band's 'I Wanna Be Sedated' cover.

1. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

'The Muppet Show'

Jim Henson's 'The Muppet Show' launched in the '70s and featured house band Dr. Teeth (based on musician Dr. John), Janice (based on Janis Joplin), Animal (supposedly based on Keith Moon), Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Rowlf, Lips and Zoot, all of which seem to be tripping on something. They made their first appearance on the 'Sex and Violence' episode in 1975 and went on to perform original songs like 'Give Me Money' and covers such as 'Wild Thing,' naturally performed by Animal. The band also made appearances in a few Muppet films and were humorously parodied on a 'Behind the Music'-like 'Robot Chicken' episode.

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Swagnotes

Why aren't the Beets on this list!

April 09 2013 at 3:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

gmpizza

DUDE! Infant Sorrow!

May 10 2012 at 1:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

lizduhwiz

Ummm.....Spinal Tap?

March 16 2012 at 1:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Michael White

Steel Dragon from RockStar
Eddie and the Cruisers
Stillwater from Almost Famous.
The Monkeys. yeah, I said it.

February 02 2012 at 2:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

MJMIII

Ah EE oo, killer tofu!!

November 10 2011 at 10:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Abner

What about Sex BOB-OMB!, from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Also in the movie the band Clash at Demon Head perform the bad ass song Black Sheep. Bad ass soundtrack

August 18 2011 at 2:55 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down Reply

Mathew Hopkins

I just paid $ 24,31 for an iPad2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic GF 1 Camera that we got for $ 34,26 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 42 inch L.E.D TV to my boss for $ 678 which only cost me $68,18 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentSpace.com

August 04 2011 at 8:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply