When Aurora, the 11-track debut album by Daisy Jones and The Six, hit Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart in mid-March, it went straight to the top. It also topped the iTunes charts. This is most unusual. The band does not exist. It is a fictional group of shows of the same name on Amazon Prime.
Based on Taylor Jenkins Reed’s best-selling 2019 novel, the series follows the rise and fall of a ’70s music group (which is loosely modeled on Fleetwood Mac). The songs are specially composed for the series.
It’s not the first time that a made-up band has played music we love. Here are some notable things–true-cultural things.
.
The Blues Brothers
Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi performed their fake-band sketch so many times on Saturday Night Live, it was no surprise that the characters ended up in their own movie, in 1980. Plot – Musician brothers on a mission from God to stop their childhood orphanage. From the off, pulling the band back together – is weak. But The Blues Brothers packed enough soul, jazz and blues (and cameos) to really get the cast going on tour after the film’s release. In suits, sunglasses and fedoras.
.
Sex bob-omb
The band from Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010) played some great original music. Composer Beck handled the instrumentation, curated the soundtrack and wrote Garbage Truck and Threshold. Plus there’s that killer opening line: We’re the sex bob-omb! (Cue guitar and cymbals). Two albums, for the soundtrack and score, accompanied the film. They perform music by Beck, Broken Social Scene, Metric, Black Lips, T Rex, Rolling Stones, Frank Black and Plumtree.
.
Calm still water
How does a fictional young writer break into Rolling Stone magazine in the ’70s? Following the era’s biggest music sensation for a profile. Stillwater, the band from Almost Famous (2000), proceeds to self-destruct even as the tour bus stops. It embodies every rock ‘n’ roll cliché of the era: flashy outfits, long hair, debauchery, groupies (calling themselves Band Aids). Music by Led Zeppelin, Elton John and others make up the soundtrack. Stillwater’s own score isn’t half bad.
.
School of Rock
What else do you call a band made up of school kids coached by a substitute teacher thrown by their rock group? The 2003 film celebrates the genre. There is music by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC. But the story remains light, even a little silly (it helps that Jack Black plays the teacher). School of Rock also plays some original tunes, written for the film by New York City band The Mooney Suzuki.
.
Lady parts
The band is from We Are Lady Parts, the critically acclaimed 2021 sitcom about a Muslim female punk band looking for a lead guitarist and hoping to land a gig. Six original tracks are part of the show’s first season, including Bashir with the Good Beard, Ain’t No One Gonna Honor Kill My Sister But Me, and Voldemort Under My Headscarf.
.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Come for the unique plot: A transgender East German sings the story of her life in dull U.S. dives as she follows her plagiarizing rocker ex-boyfriend on a trip. Stay for great music: The title band performs glam-punk-rock songs in the style of David Bowie and Lou Reed. The 2001 film is based on the Off-Broadway megahit. If you only listen to one song, let it be Origin of Love, which weaves in Greek myth, horror and weirdness.
.
Autobahn
Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is part of this band of nihilists in the 1998 stoner classic The Big Lebowski. Even though the music playing in the background of the scenes is a clear rip-off of 70s German electronic band Kraftwerk, they don’t seem to be doing too well. In real life, movie fans have built a cult around Autobahn. You can also buy merch and album art from their fantasy LP, Nagelbett.
.
Spinel tap
When a band, in a mockumentary, has a metal umlaut, expectations are high. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) plays heavy metal and comes with a completely fictional backstory. They played psychedelic pop, progressive rock, jazz fusion, funk and reggae before switching to metal. More than one drummer has died in a horrific accident. In the real world, the actors regularly performed, together and separately, as Spın̈l Tap.
.
Onders
Doomed to present as O-Knee-Ders (that’s one-ders!). The band had only one big hit. This made them truly, one-hit wonders. That’s what you do! (1996) is the story of the making of that hit (it’s the drums) and the breakup of the band (it’s the ego, and indeed the ’60s). The song plays several times in the movie, at different tempos; Each feels different.
.
Strange Sisters
Glam-rock, magic and bagpipes… The band that played at the Hogwarts Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). If the music felt real enough, and very British, it was because Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker wrote the lyrics. He and bandmate Steve Mackie and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selvey were featured in the film. It’s too bad that muggles can’t attend their gigs.