Hedwig is the greatest rock musical of all time: fuck the nonsensical Tommy, fuck the bloated Wall, and especially fuck Rent, a Hedwig contemporary. Sing Street is fabulous. I remember reading that Stillwater were *supposed* to be entirely mediocre: that was the point. They couldn't be a great band in the script; they had to be a band that critics didn't dig, and so it would be plausible that a teenager might get assigned to cover them, and that they'd be flattered that anyone's paying attention.
Just like the movie, Josie & The Pussycats' songs are exactly the sort of thing it would take twenty years to get anyone to believe you about. They seems like passable garbage, but they are all incredible, maybe even perfect, pop punk songs that represent the era they were born from but also are a thousand times better than anything they are replicating.
Others you may need to review before Part II:
Munchausen By Proxy (from Yes Man)
PoP! (from Music & Lyrics)
Strange Fruit (from Still Crazy)
The Ain't Rights (from Green Room)
We're Not A Band (from Hearts Beat Loud)
Magnus And His Six Drummers (from The Sound Of Noise - although there's no way they would have stooped to anything so commercial as making an album)
The unnamed band/Iron Fist (from We Are The Best!)
Powerline (from The Goofy Movie)
The Blowholes [(and sort of, Polaris) from The Adventures Of Pete & Pete]
Cold Slither (from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero)
And then there's The Soronprfbs (from Frank), which is a fictional band, but so closely based on a real thing, but really only mostly because of the fake head and not the music.
Also! Nobody watched it, but Disney+ made an entire show about The Electric Mayhem going from cover band to original music last year.
How about Bang-Bang from the movie Brothers of the Head? The songs were written by Clive Langer; the soundtrack doesn't seem to exist in streaming world, but here's a taste if you're not familiar: https://youtu.be/_qvAVLIulik?si=ug9KGWSclv6Q_zZn
I don’t remember that episode but I do remember Scum of the Earth so it must have made an impression. As for other fake bands... does Velvet Goldmine count?
Gilda Radner as (Patti Smith) Candy Slice: https://youtu.be/tx9VGQDNMJA?t=355
SCTV's the Queen Haters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThrkJKxRNXo
The Commitments
Fictional Bands
Ellen Aim and The Attackers
Spinal Tap
Marvin Berry
Sex Bob-omb
It originally ran from 1978 to 1982, so technically it's both a late 70s and an early 80s show.
Hedwig is the greatest rock musical of all time: fuck the nonsensical Tommy, fuck the bloated Wall, and especially fuck Rent, a Hedwig contemporary. Sing Street is fabulous. I remember reading that Stillwater were *supposed* to be entirely mediocre: that was the point. They couldn't be a great band in the script; they had to be a band that critics didn't dig, and so it would be plausible that a teenager might get assigned to cover them, and that they'd be flattered that anyone's paying attention.
Just like the movie, Josie & The Pussycats' songs are exactly the sort of thing it would take twenty years to get anyone to believe you about. They seems like passable garbage, but they are all incredible, maybe even perfect, pop punk songs that represent the era they were born from but also are a thousand times better than anything they are replicating.
Others you may need to review before Part II:
Munchausen By Proxy (from Yes Man)
PoP! (from Music & Lyrics)
Strange Fruit (from Still Crazy)
The Ain't Rights (from Green Room)
We're Not A Band (from Hearts Beat Loud)
Magnus And His Six Drummers (from The Sound Of Noise - although there's no way they would have stooped to anything so commercial as making an album)
Swanky Modes (from Tapeheads)
Owen & Sandy (from Swans Crossing) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a0mKFzNocU]
The unnamed band/Iron Fist (from We Are The Best!)
Powerline (from The Goofy Movie)
The Blowholes [(and sort of, Polaris) from The Adventures Of Pete & Pete]
Cold Slither (from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero)
And then there's The Soronprfbs (from Frank), which is a fictional band, but so closely based on a real thing, but really only mostly because of the fake head and not the music.
Also! Nobody watched it, but Disney+ made an entire show about The Electric Mayhem going from cover band to original music last year.
Realistic band I wish was real: The Fabulous Stains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-hFhCYnbxw)
"Girl wtf are you talking about" that I was was real: Anything on the fictional BIM (Boogalow International Music) label (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIugIUixU_0)
Unrelated, have you vibed with Chappell Roan yet? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaPNR-_Cfn0)
How about Bang-Bang from the movie Brothers of the Head? The songs were written by Clive Langer; the soundtrack doesn't seem to exist in streaming world, but here's a taste if you're not familiar: https://youtu.be/_qvAVLIulik?si=ug9KGWSclv6Q_zZn
I don’t remember that episode but I do remember Scum of the Earth so it must have made an impression. As for other fake bands... does Velvet Goldmine count?
The WKRP episode originally aired in 1978.