Customer Reviews

The Rocklopedia Fakebandica

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Simply put, this book is absolutely dandy. T. Mike Childs has written more than a hilarious and sardonic encyclopedia of fictitious music groups. Taken as a whole, The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is a study of the influence of marketing on pop culture. Unlike most (or at least many) real-life music groups, each of the bands in this book represents someone's attempt to sell something other than just music. The Monkees, for example, were primarily a vehicle to accumulate ratings and advertising dollars. Jem and the Holograms were created to sell dolls and accessories. Even Spinal Tap, a "band" that displayed genuine musical brilliance, made music to sell movie tickets. This isn't to say that fake bands can't stimulate and inspire us (I'd buy a full-length record by Sgt. Blind Kiwi Tarzan in a heartbeat ), but The Rocklopedia Fakebandica demonstrates brilliantly that the lines separating art and advertising continue to blur.

It is also worth mentioning that Jason Torchinsky's illustrations are equally as dandy.

This book rocks! My favorite band in the book is Andromeda from a Buck Rogers TV show in the 1970s. They had a mind control signal in their music that made the kid all over the universe riot.

I picked up this book thinking that I would flip through the pages only to find some bands. Quite to my surprise, just about EVERY fake band I could think of was mentioned in the book (with the exception of LoveFist, a rather amusing Scottish band from the Grand Theft Auto series).

The book includes all sorts of bands from TV and movies - some obvious, some very obscure. For example, along with bands like Spinal Tap and The Monkees, it includes such bands as Oozing Meat, Tears & Vomit, Joanie and the Slashettes/Hepcats (all from Married With Children), Autobahn (from The Big Lebowski), and even composers and singers from Monty Python - like Johann Gambolputty de von... (you know), Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson, Inspector Jean-Paul Zathapatique, and many others that you probably never even heard of.

Fun book about TV and movie bands that were mostly fictional. It is an interesting read, very informative but far from complete and it did raise a few questions. I say mostly fictional because a few mentioned became bands because of the TV show/movie they were created for. The first question is, should they be considered fake once they are technically a band? Spinal Tap, included here, were created for a movie, but played their own instruments, did concerts, and released an album years after the release of the movie. The Monkees did not play their instruments (at least for the first 3 albums, according to the band), but did tour and also outlived the timespan of their show. Are these fake bands? Also, the author lists every band on a marquee in the movie That Thing You Do. Does each band really need a seperate entry since they are never developed beyond a 2 second glimpse on a marquee in a movie that has nothing to do with them? If he were to include every fake band on every billboard/flyer in every movie the book would be ridiculously long. I feel the book could be more concise and deal with only reasonably developed characters (i.e.:at least shown onscreen for more than one second).One minor rant to the author, slow down with the word titular, I felt I was reading the word in every other entry sometimes. Over and above the aforementioned, the book is quite enjoyable and anyone into rock music as pop culture should enjoy the book.

This book was very informative, but also imcomplete. Some fictional bands were missing. Where were the Beasties and Way-Outs from the Flintstones episode "Masquerade Party? Or Mystery from Justine's Bateman's movie "Satisfaction?" Or even The Heights and S Club 7? I hope they put out a second edition that includes these overlooked musicians.

The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is a silly yet thoroughly entertaining reference book that lists all sorts of fictional bands and singers that have appeared in movies or television shows. T. Mike Childs has compiled a reasonably complete list of all sorts of fake musicians, some prominent (such as Spinal Tap or the Monkees) and many limited to a minor Married with Children or Clockwork Orange reference.

Unlike many reference books, Childs doesn't make any sort of attempt at objectivity, filling his entries with humorous remarks. This is not a very serious subject, and Childs doesn't treat it as such. At the same time, he does provide the necessary information. It's hard to think of fake bands that he doesn't include; this book even cites obscure sources like The Giant Gila Monster and certain TV shows that ran for only a month twenty years ago. The only real flaw in this text is a lack of an index.

If there's a lesson to be gleaned from this book, it seems to be that most fictional musicians are either intentionally (Spinal Tap) or unintentionally (most Elvis movies) funny. But looking for overall themes in a book like this is kind of silly; it should just be enjoyed as it is.