7 More Not Real but kind of Famous bands...
I once wrote an article about some very famous bands that became very famous under false pretenses. The reaction was mostly positive and it became my most viewed piece on that website. A few readers left some comments on other famous bands/musicians that I missed in my original list.
So, with the minimal amount of research that kept me interested enough to avoid other responsibilities, I decided to go back and do this 2nd row group of famous non-bands. While there have been a lot of ‘fake’ bands created in the interest of selling records, promoting movies and tv shows (there ain’t no party like an S Club party), I decided only to focus on bands that well, honestly, are ones that had some success in selling records and most importantly were sold to it’s audiences under false pretenses, unlike something like S Club 7, which sadly was what it was.
That said, in my original list, I excluded some ‘copy-cat’ groups for not being ‘famous enough’. Josie and the Pussycats were a direct result of the success of the Archies and the attempt at reviving them in the 2001 movie may have been the pinnacle of Tara Reid’s career (until Sharknado) but I don’t feel it hit the acclaim needed to be considered ‘famous’.
I also excluded some fictional groups that I didn't feel crossed over into the famous enough category to be able to actually perform in public or had no success to speak of in album sales, like the Oneders from ‘That Thing You Do’ or Stillwater from ‘Almost Famous’. And although Wyld Stallyns is the greatest band to ever exist (in the future), they have yet to release that album that will change the world.
So without further adieu, here is part deux;
7. The Partridge Family
Remember when I said I didn't want to focus on rip-offs? It was the 3rd paragraph. This is my exception. Although they may have been similar to the Monkees (who were more trying to emulate the Beatles), The Partridge Family was made for the new American suburban hippie-parents who were not yet ready to give up on their musical dreams while raising a family. That is, if your dream was to travel the country in a school bus singing radio friendly pop tunes to avoid dealing with the loss of your husband and father of your 5 kids (in the back story).
The Partridges were another made for TV musical group like the Monkees who had little to no input on the actual production of the songs. Most of the songs were written and performed by studio musicians with the exception of Mother Partridge (Shirley Jones) and Keith Partridge (soon to be teen hunk David Cassidy) who convinced producers that they could actually sing well enough to be recorded. Everybody else lip-synced.
Cassidy parlayed that opportunity to soon break out of his TV role and take his act solo, travelling with his own musicians, appearing in Rolling Stone and basically living the rock and roll lifestyle. Another Partridge, Donnie Bonaduce, also became infamous for being a bit of a douche, and living the rock and roll lifestyle, despite not really knowing anything about rock and roll.
The Partridges had a few albums that made it into the Billboard charts, aside from their catchy ‘C’mon get Happy’ theme song, they also hit number 1 in 1970 with ‘I think I love You’, selling over 5 million copies. They released 9 albums between 1970-73, quantity over quality meaning something in those days. Their 1971 Christmas album also hit #1 on Billboard USA, #45 in the UK.
Not bad for a fictional widow and her 5 photogenic kids from California.
6. The Soggy Bottom Boys
In 2000 The Coen Brothers released their film ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ to critical, if not commercial success. The movie followed George Clooney and his dim-witted friends in 1930′s Southern United States as they broke out of a prison chain gang and attempted to find their way to some buried loot from a bank heist. Along the way they encounter a myriad of different characters that hamper their escape and was described as a retelling of the Odyssey, which meant nothing to most people that watched it.
But this isn't about the movie, this is about the Soggy Bottom Boys, the stage name George and the boys take on during a break from escaping. They record one throwaway single (Dick Burton’s ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’) and it winds up becoming a huge hit, which plays out later on in the story. While the only thing the song in the movie proves is that Clooney sings just about as good as he plays The Batman, it still brought a slight resurgence in music that has long fallen into musical history’s waste bin.
In real life, the Soggy Bottom Boys were a collection of Bluegrass singers that went on to to play the Down From the Mountain Concert Tour and film. Much of the concert was full renditions of songs that were played in the movie and featured the talents of Allison Krause, Ralph Stanley, Emmy Lou Harris, John Hartford and more. The soundtrack peaked at #10 on the US country charts, despite it’s eclectic contents.
5. Dethklok
Based on a recommendation of totally mentally balanced whatculture commenter, ‘Murderface’, Dethklok comes courtesy of Adult Swim and if you don’t get AdultSwim and don’t care for it’s adult-oriented cartoons, then you won’t get Dethklok, the subject death metal band of it’s Metalocaplypse cartoon series. Created by Brendan Small and Tommy Blacha, who also wrote and played much of the music in the studio for the cartoon, they decided to take a live version of Dethklok out into the real world.
In the cartoon, Dethklok itself is said to be the 7th largest economy, due it’s billions of fans around the world. However, despite their popularity they come off as barely able to survive in a world that expects more from them than just …well, playing death metal. They struggle with the most basic of activities not needing a guitar, like buying groceries as The Tribunal watches their every move.
Dethklok crossed over into the real world in 2007 with the release of the Dethalbum. They have since followed that record up with the imaginative Dethalbum II and Dethalbum III. The creators of Dethklok (the cartoon) enlisted the talents of fellow death metal musicians to take Dethklok and their message on the road on campus tours throughout America and into Europe where people with similar tastes get together and I don’t know, I guess discuss the problems buying groceries and conditioner.
4. Gorillaz
Gorillaz was the first ‘virtual’ band to really achieve mass appeal. Conceived in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (co-creator of Tank Girl) the band consisted of virtual members 2D, Murdoc, Noodles and Russell. They were a multi-platform band with a presence on their early internet website and accompanied with short cartoons, music videos and mind-blowingly later on, performed in hologram form, seen here at the MTV awards.
Gorillaz has welcomed a variety of musicians into their ranks at the studio level, resulting in the chart-topping self-titled album in 2001, Demon Days in 2005 and Plastic Beach in 2010. While Damon Albron has been the brains behind the music, Jamie Hewlett did his fair share of making the Gorillaz who they were in the virtual world. Without one, Gorillaz was destined for Milli Vanilli fame. The tongue-in-cheek multi-platforming of this virtual band kept the concept fresh and welcomed.
Once success hit in the form of the single ‘Clint Eastwood’, a tour was demanded and logistically, there became a need for real-life musicians to go out and play to real-life audiences the music that was created for a virtual world. They have been nominated an astonishing 57 times and won 15 awards including 6 Brit awards in 2001 but came away empty handed. They requested to be withdrawn for consideration of the Mercury Prize, (best album in UK and Ireland) due to the usual subsequent failures of past winners to parlay that award into more album sales.
3. Dewey Cox
Dewey Cox lived a hard life. His music reflected that. He sang the way he lived. He walked Hard and he sang Hard. Of course, Dewey Cox is actually John C. Reilly, more notoriously known as the Yin to Will Ferrell’s Yang in Talladega Nights and Stepbrothers.
Ultimately a send up of Johnny Cash’s life and the subsequent Joaquin Phoenix biopic, Dewey Cox only recorded one album which peaked at #3 on Billboard back in 2008. Although officially placed into the ‘comedy album’ section, the range of musical styles that John C. Reilly actually performs guitar and sings as he takes on the decades long career of his alter ego left many critics impressed.
The album consists of 15 tracks, and there is an extended edition on Itunes with 29 tracks. Dewey performed with his band the Hardwalkers seven times in concerts leading up to the release of the movie, including a set in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
2. Chris Gaines
Ah, Chris Gaines aka 'Garth Brooks'. Garth’s famous experiment in putting the cart before the horse, this emo-based alter ego was an attempt in crossing musical genres back in the late 90′s. Brooks, the undisputed King of Country of the time decided that basically out-selling every major country star wasn't enough, he needed more. He needed a soul patch.
He began to develop a movie that sounds both ‘meta’ and ‘ridiculous’; called The Lamb it was a story about a successful singer and his emotionally conflicted life in the public eye (almost like that Casey Affleck bomb he promoted here). Unfortunately he made two major mistakes in genre of music (pop/rock instead of country) and casting (himself instead of anybody else).
The confusing promotion of ‘Chris Gaines’ including an appearance on Saturday Night Live in which Garth Brooks was hosting only led to a lot of people misunderstanding what Garth was trying to do; either cross musical genres, get in touch with his inner emo or disassociate himself entirely as Garth Brooks. Although the Chris Gaines pseudo-based movie failed to materialize, Garth rode the Gaines Crazy train to a strong start, with his first single hitting #2 on the top 100 before the bad press started to really take effect and the album became more of a symbol of wrong career move than strong career choice. Thankfully, Garth’s fans quickly forgave him as he promised never to put on the emo wig again (in public).
1. Hannah Montana
Who doesn't know Hannah Montana? Besides grandparents? She is Chris Gaines done right. The alter ego of future therapy patient Miley Cyrus (called it! -ed), Hannah Montana was another teen idol who rode her rocket to fame from 2006-2010. In context, Justin Bieber is on Year 3 of his burn-out trajectory, having shot to fame in 2009, so at least there’s that.
But back to Hannah Montana, who is really Miley Stewart, who is really Miley Cyrus, who is really Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter. If you don’t know Billy Ray and his Achy Breaky Heart, which has been hailed as the best and worst song to come out of the 90′s then…well, that is what Youtube is for.
Hannah Montana had not only her own tv show but also two movies, a series of live concerts, a shitload of merchandising gear and released 9 albums, 3 in 2008 alone. She had 31 singles and made 15 videos and with 6 of her albums reaching #1 in the US, a sign of the dismally low standards of music thrust upon American children by their parents.
To further add to her future therapy bill, the release of Hannah Montana 2; Meet Miley Cyrus was a ‘hybrid’ album, with 1/2 of the 2o songs credited as being sung by Hannah Montana, the other 1/2 as being sung by Miley Cyrus. Who again, is the same person; Miley Stewart. Hannah has since became Miley full-time on concert tickets and gossip rags, to the shame of her parents who must be wondering if whoring their child out to the Disney Star Maker was such a great idea after all. Proof;
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| somewhere, a therapist is masturbating furiously |
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