In recognition of Amazon’s release of Daisy Jones and the Six last month, an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel surrounding a fictional band from the 1970’s, The Rolling Stones Music Now podcast took time to spotlight some of the most successful real songs from fake bands.
LISTEN NOW: Rolling Stones Music Now podcast talks top 50 real songs by fake bands
Rolling Stones TV critic, Alan Sepinwall joined host Brian Hiatt to reveal his list: Fake Bands, Real Songs the 50 best tunes by made-up musicians during the latest episode of the podcast, which led to some interesting conversation and a whole lot of nostalgia.
To ensure a strong and fair foundation for the list, Sepinwall established some rules which helped funnel focus to songs that all fall within the same category — for the most part.
“We had to come up with rules. I’ve written a whole bunch of big, professional lists over the years and rules to me are the only way to make it sane,” said Sepinwall. “Otherwise, it’s like the field is too big, it becomes impossible to compare things.”
The eligibility rules are as follows, “1) Original songs only, with apologies to the Blues Brothers, the Commitments, and other great fictional cover artists; 2) No biopics or other films where musicians essentially play themselves (e.g., Prince in Purple Rain or Eminem in 8 Mile); and 3) It has to be some kind of genuine fictional music act, rather than someone just performing an original song in the context of a movie, show, or stage musical. We also had a long debate about what to do with the Monkees, before it was decided that at a certain point, they Pinocchio’ed their way into being a real band, and thus didn’t qualify. Otherwise, “Daydream Believer” would have been very highly ranked.”
So who did make the list? Check out the full episode above as Hiatt and Sepinwall review the top 50 and dive into some of their favorites from The Brady Bunch, The Muppet Movie, A Goofy Movie, Hannah Montana, School of Rock and so many more.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign up and follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram