The 20 Greatest Fictional Bands In The Movies… Ranked!

With Spinal Tap soon to return to our screens, plug yourself in for Uncut’s guide to the 20 best fictional bands in the movies…

20: THE BANG BANG, Brothers Of The Head

Odd, Seventies-set mockumentary, from a novel by Brian Aldiss and directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe – who made Lost In La Mancha, about Terry Gilliam’s aborted attempt to film Don Quixote. Brothers Harry and Luke Treadaway play conjoined twins who form a punk rock band.

19: THE ONEDERS, That Thing You Do

Personal project from Tom Hanks – his only film as writer and director – about a one-hit wonder group it in the early Sixties. The band’s one hit – “That Thing You Do” – was written by Adam Schlesinger, bassist for Fountains Of Wayne.

18: THE KELLY AFFAIR/CARRIE NATIONS, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls

First, they were the Kelly Affair, then they changed their name to the Carrie Nations – after a grand old dame of the temperance movement – in Russ Meyer’s comedy. Their songs were written by future composer of the Battlestar Galactica theme, Stu Phillips.

17: BLUESHAMMER, Ghost World

Steve Buscemi’s blues aficionado Seymour goes to see Fred Chatham, an 82-year-old blues veteran play a small bar. “If you really like authentic blues, you’ve got to check out Blueshammer,” he is told. But Blueshammer’s “authentic, way-down-in-the-delta blues” turns out to be closer to George Thorogood. Poor Seymour!

16: KIPPER, Confessions Of A Pop Performer

Voted “worst British film of 1975” in Sight & Sound, this finds cheeky chappy Robin Askwith copping off with some saucy birds while also trying to make it big in the music scene with his band, Kipper.

15: THE SNARKS, Smashing Time

Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave wreak havoc on Swinging London in George Melly scripted comedy. Michael York sports a terrific cravat. Psychedelic hipsters Tomorrow turn up as the Snarks: some consolation, perhaps, after Antonioni chose the Yardbirds over them to appear in Blowup.

14: STRANGE FRUIT, Still Crazy

Brilliant, if largely for the bit where Bill Nighy – as the band’s singer – opens his father-of-the-bride speech at a posh country house with the deathless lines: “Good evening, Wembley.” But worth it, too, for Bruce Robinson’s touching cameo as the band’s reclusive guitarist. Clive Langer provided the songs.

13: THE ULTIMATE LOSERS, Slacker

It’s 1991, and arguably no film captured Gen X ennui better than Richard Linklater’s debut. But even the band – seen playing art-rock to the dysfunctional youth of Austin, Texas – can barely muster up the energy to get out of bed.

12: BREAKING GLASS, Breaking Glass

An unusual convergence, this. So Hazel O’Connor’s backing band consists of future Bill star Mark Wingett, former Ant Gary Tibbs alongside Jonathan Pryce and ITV drama stalwart, Peter Hugo-Daly, who was also in real-life band The Cross alongside Breaking Glass co-star Phil Daniels.

11: AUTOBAHN, The Big Lebowski

That’ll be Kraftwerk, of course. Flea, Peter Stormare and Torsten Voges are the German nihilists/would-be kidnappers/electronic pioneers. The Coen brothers even went as far as to get a sleeve designed for Autobahn’s sole album, Nagelbett (roughly translated as ‘bed of nails’).

10: THE FABULOUS STAINS, Ladies And Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains

Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter are US punkers the Stains; connoisseurs of UK punk will no doubt enjoy Paul Cook and Steve Jones teaming up with Paul Simonon as the Looters, fronted by Ray Winstone.

9: VENUS IN FURS, Velvet Goldmine

Basically, it’s the Spiders From Mars. But on record, it’s an intriguing collaboration between Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Bernard Butler and Andy Mackay. Worth pointing out, Greenwood did something similar, hooking up with Jarvis Cocker, Phil Selway, Steve Mackey, All Seeing I’s Jason Buckle and Add N To X’s Steven Claydon as Hogwarths favourites the Weird Sisters in Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire.

8: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, Hedwig And The Angry Inch

Colourful, out-there frock opera about a transexual punk rock girl from East Berlin. The songs are by Stephen Trask – who latterly succeeded Randy Newman as composer on the … Fockers movies.

7: WYLD STALLYNS, Bill & Ted

The only band on our list to feature in their ‘classic’ line-up two medieval princesses, a pair of robots and – on bass – Death himself.

6: CITIZEN DICK, Singles

From Cameron Crowe, this is grunge era shenanigans featuring assorted members of Pearl Jam as Matt Dillon’s group Citizen Dick, with lyrics written by Chris Cornell.

5: STRAY CATS, Stardust

That’s David Essex, Keith Moon, Dave Edmunds and Paul Nicholas to you and me. In the sequel That’ll Be The Day, Essex’ British invasion rock star Jim MacLaine battles drugs, groupies, record company execs and sundry excess. Dark.

4: THE LENINGRAD COWBOYS, various

Ostensibly the creation of film director Aki Kaurismäki and two members of Finnish rock band Sleepy Sleepers, the Leningrad Cowboys and their extraordinary hair have taken on a life of their own beyond the three films directed by Kaurismäki. There are eight studio albums, no less, and they’ve become something of a Finnish institution.

3: SPINAL TAP, This Is Spinal Tap

Arch improvisers Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer launched the British heavy metal on a TV sketch in 1979, stretching out for this deathless 1984 film and sundry other projects including an 1992 album, Break Like The Wind, with sleeve notes by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker. A sequel to the original film arrives in 2025. McKean, Guest and Shearer also performed as The Folksmen, an American folk revival trio, in the film A Mighty Wind.

2: FLAME, Slade In Flame

They are Slade, playing Flame.

1: STILLWATER, Almost Famous

Effectively a composite of a number of bands Cameron Crowe interviewed for Rolling Stone in the early 1970s – Skynyrd, Allmans, maybe the Eagles. The songs played by Stillwater in the film were co-writes between Crowe, his wife Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton. Jason Lee’s singing voice was provided by Aerosmith collaborator, Marty Frederiksen, while Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready played lead guitar. On screen, Mark Kozelek played Stillwater’s bassist, Larry Fellows.