Posted on 05/31/2025 8:45:04 AM PDT by DallasBiff
Throughout music history, bands have been formed by members who were friends or perhaps created by ambitious producers looking for the next Big Sensation. On the other hand, there are also bands that were born out of cartoons, television programs, and movies. They generally only performed as musical acts on the screen yet achieved the success of a traditional group by releasing records and videos, blurring the lines between real and fiction. While they may not have received major awards or recognition, real people did lend their voices to these pieces of vinyl.
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The Archies
The Banana Spits
The Blues Brothers
The Monkees
The Partridge Family
(Excerpt) Read more at culturesonar.com ...
I guess for DEI purposes they were left out.
As for The Partridges and Monkees, they had some great songs.
Have fun it is saturday.
I thought the goofy Monkees has some pretty good songs.
The Ruttles come to mind.
In it are details on how Peter Tork was not amused that they took over the music of The Monkees. But he admitted that is was necessary.
I dismiss the concept of a fake band. And in these examples I dismiss it even harder. The Monkees eventually wrote and performed their own music, once they had a major argument with the label. Paul Shaffer collected some of the most important people in the blues (especially Stax Records) to flesh out the Blue Brothers, not only were they a band it was arguably the greatest blues band ever assembled.
Even Milli Vanilli tried really hard to be legit, but their label just kept pushing them off with “no no, this is how it’s done”. That’s actually a really sad story, as all the people who made them fake made millions, and the dumb kids who just listened to the wrong people became the villains, and then one died of drug problems.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys.
All the instruments on their recordings were performed by a group of studio musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew”. And even Gary Lewis’ voice was “enhanced” by a Ron Hicklin who was the lead singer of the “Ron Hicklin Singers” who were frequently used for backup vocals on numerous hit records.
Any band where the singers are dancers and not musicians (playing an instrument) is a fake band.
Spinal Tap
This was apparently a common thing in the early days of A&M Records - Herb Alpert (and some studio musicians) created those chart-topping hits of the '60s, but the "Tijuana Brass" didn't exist outside of the studio until Alpert had to create it to play live shows.
How were the Monkeys a fake band?
I agree. Great documentary.
Boyce and Hart IIRC. Some of the studio folks who did the monkees stuff are legends.
Yeah. The Monkees were a fake band until they weren’t. But any “hits” they made while being a fake band do count as “fake band hits”.
Of course they did. They had some of the best songwriters in the business writing their material: Boyce & Hart, Goffin & King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, John Stewart, Neil Sedaka...
Some may remember the film “That Thing you Do” (1996) with Tom Hanks. It featured some really excellent mid-1960s style songs that were produced just for that movie. It was so good that I ended up buying the soundtrack. I still listen to it.
Kind of hard to believe that movie is almost 30 years old now.
So Joe Cocker? Aretha Franklin? The Mamas and Papas? Tina Turner? I think you need to refine that one.
The Archies and The Cuff Links were actually Ron Dante.
How were the Monkeys a fake band?
In their case, it ended up working pretty well. There was some dispute as to whether or not they wrote any of their songs or even played their own instruments. But its undeniable that they could sing well together.
Yeah. And speaking of the Wrecking Crew, did they not play a lot of stuff in Beach Boys recordings?
I’ve been in 14 bands in my musical career just since 1997. I’ve seen plenty of no-talent hacks do very well financially and some incredibly talented musicians get by as studio musicians. I see most pop acts as mostly marketing.
Even Taylor Swift. A pedestrian voice, but some very catchy tunes and great arrangements. I even have a couple of her albums.
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