...was a REAL BAND! And I spent about a half hour trying to convince hin otherwise. He finally gave me an open when he said "That lead singer looks like Lenny fro Laverne & Shirley". I then told him "That IS the guy!". That finally convinced him. Just thought I'd share this funny and true story.
While they are obviously a band that was manufactured to (great) comedic effect, I'd hesitate to go so far as to call them a "fake" band. They (mostly) write their own songs, they play their own instruments, they've released singles and albums and have even done tours. They are as much a "real" musical act as a manufactured band like the Monkeys or Pussycat Dolls or a comedic act like Wierd Al. Strangely enough, while doing a bit of reading on the subject I discovered two things I did not know: 1) Christopher Guest is married to Jamie Lee Curtis and 2) that he has an official British title (5th baron Haden Guest) and by extension so does she (Lady Haden-Guest).
I know what you mean. That's why it took me a half hour to convince him. I know they write and perform their own songs (quite well). But their tounges are firmly in cheek and, unlike the Pussycat Dolls, their being rediculous on purpouse. It was the Laverne & Shirley reference that gave me the edge. Thanks, Tony.
It is a real band. Saying it's not is like saying that a satirical movie that makes fun of other movies isn't a movie.
Technically they did write and record entire albums worth of material so yes I'd consider them a real band. Not a serious band of course. There are probably a few people out there who have heard of them but don't realize they are a comedy act.
You think that's funny? Oasis singer Liam Gallagher thought the exact same thing until his brother Noel set him straight!
I think we all understand what the OP meant, stop splitting hairs people I too have met various people who did not realise that they were a satire, all the more amazing when those people have actually seen them playing on the TV. I guess they just weren't looking or listening too carefully. I mean who plays a guitar with 10 pickups and a speedometer for heaven's sake
But they weren't a complete spoof comedy group like Spinal Tap, which I initially mistook them for, even if a lot of their stuff did have intentional tongue in cheek elements.
They are about as much a real band as the Rutles were. The guy that played the John Lennon character on the Rutles wrote all their music.
Comedic or otherwise, Spinal Tap are as real and as legitimate as any other band. Comedy has always played a part of music, it's just another genre (The Rutles have been mentioned, Neil Innes was also in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Flanders and Swan etc..) Musically, Spinal Tap stands up against any 'real' bands. Tap played live at the Freddie Mercury tribute and at Live 8 (or was it Live Earth?) Frankly, the music industry needs more bands/musicians like them to inject some humour into it. Too many people are stuck up their own backsides releasing second-rate material full of half-baked soulless "emotions". Besides, U2 got stuck in their giant lemon years after Derek Smalls got trapped in his pod!
The point was, the movie came first, then the band. This dude thought the band existed before they made the movie. Gotta love how the internet has to make everything extremely complicated!
Oh right, yes that's quite true. Lets not go over the top, they were good for a satirical band set up to make a movie. True. I do wonder if all those pickups really worked. Christopher Guest strikes me as the sort to fully commit to such a concept
Stonehenge! 'Tis a magic place Where the moon doth rise with a dragon's face Stonehenge! Where the virgins lie And the prayers of devils fill the midnight sky And you my love, won't you take my hand? We'll go back in time to that mystic land Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow I will take you there, I will show you how. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXGbwIkvh38 One of the best film comedy moments ever.