Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Great Moments In... Fake Band and Song Names

They're not on the screen very long, but there's a huge list of fake band names that are shown on a computer near the end of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. I know that movie has a terrible reputation, but its flaws are few (if large) and I think they're overcome by its exceptional cast and by a whole lot of very funny jokes.

I mean, it's a movie that cast Motley Crue as another band, and yet still had them play this song at the film's start:


Anyway, the list of bands and song titles are - like much of the Renny Harlin-directed, Daniel Waters-written movie - out-of-the-blue and somewhat demented... and I've always thought these quick jokes were funny as hell. If you look closely, some are linked to prior films by the producers of Fairlane.

You should follow the links I provided, but band names include:
-Brain of the Scarecrow
-Alba Varden
-Heather, Corey, Heather Cory and Young
-Todd Times Two
-5000 Schizophrenics
-Hot Tub Johnny and his Feline Friends
-Hamma Waters Sings the Blues

My favorite of course, is "Suck the Bunny" - a title that is perfect for an 80's hard rock/hair metal band. It's got that right mix of filth and stupidity that just works.

But even there, I'd say "StB" is tied with the magical inventiveness of "The Requiem of Paco the Shoeshine Boy by Wolfgang Binky." Both songs are attributed to the band "Black Plague," who experience an incident that kicks off the main plot in Ford Fairlane.

I think the effort - and how it's placed as a visual gag for the audience to notice for itself - make this list superior to "Wyld Stallions," the name of the leads' band in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And my two top picks are better fake titles than the (admittedly fantastic) song "Backdoor Lover" by Du Jour - the fake boy band in 2001's Josie and the Pussycats film.


In terms of deliciously random jokes, those are both winners. And it's even more impressive that people took time an trouble to flesh out that whole list. I can fault anyone for hating the movie, but that's a fine bit of comedy right there...[UPDATE: I don't know what caused the problem, but I'll have to add pictures to this post again when I have a free minute]

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