Some of my favorite songs to jam to aren’t real. I mean they’re real. But they’re fictional. Really fictional? What I’m trying to say is that I like a lot of songs that are from fictional bands from movies and TV, so let’s talk about it!
*Disclaimer* I am not going to talk about every single fictional band to exist, this is just a list of some of my favorites.
1. The Blues Brothers
One of the OGs in fictional bands and one of the first fictional bands that I remember. I’m not going to lie to you, I thought they were a real band until like the age of 12. Alas they were a creation of SNL featuring Dan Aykroyd and the late, great John Belushi. Eventually the sketches led to a movie and a banging, bluesy soundtrack to go with it.
2. The Soggy Bottom Boys
In hindsight I was probably too young to be watching O Brother ,Where Art Thou? when it came out, but did my parents care? No! And that is how their song, I am a man of constant sorrow, got stuck in my head for 25 years. Not only is it a catchy tune, but it really encapsulates the whole film. I will always picture George Clooney pulling down that fake-beard while fake singing this. And sorry to burst your bubble if you didn’t already know, but Clooney was not, in fact, the one singing in the movie.
3. Josie and the Pussycats
Before we even discuss the music I want to state for the record that we as a society let this movie down. It is genius. It had Parker Posey AND Alan Cumming what else did we need? Nothing! But they said hold my product placement and gave us an ENTIRE ALBUM of pop punk bangers. I still vividly remember finding the CD in my easter basket that following spring (thank you mom and dad) and I proceeded to wear the shit out of it on my Hello Kitty boombox. While Rachel Leigh Cook did not actually sing I still like to pretend she did because her, along with Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid made such a cool band. Shit I still listen to that album, it’s good, I don’t care what anyone says.
4. DuJour
DuJour means family and it also means one of the greatest fictional boy band moments from Hollywood. Yes, I was too young for this movie, and in particular this band, but did it stop six year old me from singing Back Door Lover like my life depended on it? Absolutely not. That song is still hilarious to me. You know what maybe it’s time for a rewatch of this movie.
5. The Hex Girls
I think most people had an awakening with the Hex Girls. They either wanted to be them or be with them. Who doesn’t love a group of gothic baddies? I was a Scooby-Doo kid and my favorite episodes were always the Hex Girl episodes. I wanted to be in a band so bad when I was younger and they only made me want that even more.
6. Proto Zoa/Microbe
Cetus-Lupeedus! Did you really think I was going to leave my boy Proto out of this list? Don’t play with me, I still know every single line of Supernova Girl. I’m also still mad that our future does not look like the one portrayed in Zenon. I was promised intergalactic concerts and cute pink/blue/purple skirt sets with space buns. One thing I will never forgive this film series for is replacing Proto Zoa in the last film like we wouldn’t notice. I don’t care what the reason was, you get Phillip Rhys Chaudhary on the phone and tell him to get his frosted tips over to the set ASAP.
7. Boyz ’N Motion
Listen, I can’t be mad at Raven for throwing that wig on and impersonating the Boyz ’N Motion. At least she was trying to do something and they showed up in the end! And we are going to give them our devotion!
8. Big Time Rush
I almost hesitated to add them to this list because they did sort-of become a real band. They even toured. And is that really much different than the factory made NSYNC and Backstreet Boys? I think not. They were very One Direction-coded and I didn’t mind it. I was a Kendall girl. Halfway There and Boyfriend went triple platinum in my house and that’s all I’m saying.
9. Lustra
Okay so this band was not fictional, they are very much real, however, they did write a song for the 2004 comedy Eurotrip, featuring the late Michelle Trachtenberg, called Scotty Doesn’t Know. In the movie the real band is performing it except Matt Damon is the lead singer. Lustra did eventually release the song on one of their albums so I guess it’s officially not so fictional now but it still fits this list. I have it on my Spotify playlists and I still regularly scream along to it in my car. Anyways, don’t tell scotty about all of this.
10. Sex Bob-Omb
This whole list is making me realize how much I miss the 2000s and early 2010s. The Sex Bob-Ombs are the band featured in Scott Pilgrim VS The World. This movie had such a stacked cast, we had Michael Cera as the lead, Kieran Culkin as the witty best friend, Anna Kendrick as Cera’s sister, Aubrey Plaza as the deadpan voice of reason, and random features from the likes of Chris Evans, Brie Larson, and Jason Schwartzman. Not only was the band’s music good, it was evil ex-defeating good. WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB 1 2 3 4!
11. Pink Slip
I used to re-watch Freaky Friday just for the music. While Pink Slip was fictional, the songs were actually from other real-world artists. I know we all still rock out to Take Me Away. And lucky for us they finally released an official movie version of it with the premiere of Freakier Friday! Christina Vidal-Mitchell was actually singing on this one and damn did she sound good. There was also the song Ultimate which Lindsay Lohan sang at the end of the movie and that one is just as good. Also can we all give Jamie Lee-Curtis a round of applause for actually learning that guitar solo during the House of Blues competition? She really did that for us.
Honorable Mention!
This last one is more of an honorable mention because it’s not just one band. Degrassi, for those of us 30 and older, had many a fake band on throughout the years. The first of which, The Zit Remedy, was in Degrassi High. It included Joey, Archie (Snake), and Derek. As for my generation, we grew up with PMS, Downtown Sasquatch, Hell Hath No Fury, Studz (later Janie and the Studs), and Whisper Hug. Maya Matlin also had an unnamed band at one point as well. And then we had solo artists like Craig Manning, Jenna Middleton, Ashley Kerwin, and Wheelchair Jimmy. While the songs were written by actual musicians they were usually performed by the actors in the show which I always thought was cool. And some of the songs weren’t bad! There was also a fictional band called the Dead Hand that had a song called Paisley Jacket that was featured in multiple episodes and it still pops into my head on occasion.
Phew, I think that’s all I have for you today. I’d love to know what fictional bands and songs you love the most! You can find me on the socials @thisisside.one (TikTok and IG) and just for you, I made a playlist with some of these artists mentioned above. Please don’t get mad at me for the Supernova Girl remix, I do not know why they don’t have the original on Spotify. I think I’m going to go binge some of these movies now!
