Have we discussed favorite/least favorite bands featured in movies on the show? For example, I actually really love the Del Aires. (But they are SO FUN to make fun of.) But the VERY WORST PERFORMANCE (in my opinion) occurs at the “Radio Station” in THE DEAD TALK BACK. They are apparently supposed to be a JAZZ COMBO, but they sound less swinging than the Power Steves!
I’d agree The Del Aires are a lot of fun. As for the worst band, I’d have to pick the house band in “Incredibly Strange Creatures…” The cleaning ladies in the audience seemed to like it, though.
What would be your picks?
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Best band: The Band Who Played California Lady from “Track of the Moonbeast”. They played a catchy song, and the girl singer was a real cutie.
Worst band: Oskar Schindler and the Boston Pops from the dance scene in “The Creeping Terror”. Every song they played sounded like the theme to Hollywood Squares.
Although not a band, Albert Glaser at least wakes you up so you can shut off the TV and go to bed.
Worst, the Giant Gila Monster seemed to have a love for repetative, whimpy rhymes that are best suited for day rooms at institutions.
Best band: Motörhead from Zombie Nightmare, THE ACE OF SPADES!!!!
Worst Band: Paul Anka from Girls Town, everytime he starts to sing ‘Lonely Boy’ I just want to kick in my T.V.
Best Band: Jimmy Bryant in Skydivers. Terrible movie, but wow, that’s some amazingly good guitar work in the dance party scene at the little airport. Jimmy Bryant definitely had some “chops” when it came to guitar.
Worst Band: The Cascades sounded dreadful in Catalina Caper, certainly not up to the standards of their one big hit, Rhythm of The Rain.
Honorable Mention: Little Richard in Catalina Caper. He doesn’t really get to show off his best stuff with the ho-hum musical number they had him do in the movie, but he sounded good regardless.
Worst Band:I gotta go with Cabbage Patch Elvis’ combo that breaks out into a fight in Eegah!
Best Band:Diamond, from Soultaker. “We’re gonna ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK!”
My secret shame: I sort of like The Band That Played California Lady.
The Beau Brummels from “Village of the Giants’ don’t suck. I also find myself singing “Shine Your Love” from “Angel’s Revenge” around the house a lot.
The band from “Pod People” is pretty awful. “Wind in my eyes?”
What about that dreadful band in the Club Scumm bar in Hobgoblins? They were awful, but easily better than anything in the movie.
If anything, even though he’s solo, Arch Hall Jr’s songs in “Eegah!”. It makes me wanna TEAR MY HAIR OUT.
The band from Pod People, they riffed themselves…
THEY STUNK!
I gotta go with the Del-Aires (but I’m a fan of doo-wop to begin with).
For me, the best band was the Kevin Danzig Band & their performance in Soultaker. For my honorable mention, I agree with Zee about the Beau Brummels.
Worst would be the band “performing” on television in The Deadly Bees…yow!
Best – Zombie Nightmare
Worst – the song from Hercules Unchained
My favorite is most definitely The Spinners in Girl’s Town.
Worst is a toss up between the Arch Hall Jr Discount Tequila Ensemble from Eegah and Buffalo Bill’s riot inducing Amatuer Night performance.
I’m sure I’m alone in this but my nominee for best band is The Femtones (can’t think of their real name right now) in Wild Rebels. They’re such a perfect example of the American pseudo-British bubblegummy stuff that was “happening” in that time period.
And yeah, I must echo RHL…the rotating Cabbage Patch Elvis octet (?) from Eegah!. It’s The Ventures if they were all REALLY wasted and weren’t allowed to tune their guit-fiddles!
Since it’s been mentioned twice above, I feel the need to point out that to the best of my recollection there was no band in Zombie Nightmare. Motorhead is on the soundtrack, love them or hate them they were not in the film. This topic about bands that appear in the movies, not movie soundtrack music.
The worst for me is that awful Amish band from Soultaker. That song makes me irrationally angry.
Best? The Platters in Girls Town. Smooth.
Best band is a tie: Digger smoklin from the Undead and the beau Brummells from Village of the Giants
Worst band- that band from Wild REbels- hell I’d beat up college boys after listening to their crap
Does Flatbutt count as a band? If so, then I vote for Flatbutt. For worst band. Y/N?
Have to agree with The Platters from Girl’s Town for best. Close second would be Mary Beth Hughes and the orchestras she sings with in I Accuse My Parents. She grew on me, what can I say?? Worst….gah, there’s almost too much on that buffet of loathsomeness to pick just one. The nameless (I think?) group playing on the beach in The Wild, Wild World of Batwoman crack me up with their sheer repetitiveness (“Oh yes the devil made this movie for you…”), and the group from Pod People (“Finally! A movie for OUR generation!!”) is an old least-fave. I’m not including soundtracks, or the haunting Torgo theme would win hands-down.
It’s hard to top The Platters from Girls Town. Dick Contino and his backup band from Daddy-O had a pretty fun sound as well.
As for the worst? The Creeping Terror Band jumped to mind instantly.
Dark Grandma, would that band be The Birds featuring a young Ronnie Wood?
And if a recent post in MSTory is correct, the band in “Wild Rebels” features a young Duane Allman. I’ll definitely have to rewatch that.
The worst band to me is the teens from Pod People. The tag-line says it all….”It stinks!”
The best? Hmmm….the Del-Aires, by default I feel. Not original choices, but I have to agree with them.
Don’t forget the “Fontanelles” in Hobgoblins…singing a wicked 80’s new wave tune Kiss Kicker ’89—er was id “Fish Picker”? Pretty good tune in retrospect of todays dreck…
…and yeah, “Scott Scrawney and the Hardgainers” were pretty sweet.
You guys can’t forget the stage band in GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS! I’ve actually tried finding their songs, but to no avail. Quite catchy, if you ask me. As for the worst, good lord, I still wake up screaming to the thought of the music from THE CREEPING TERROR. It never ends!
Best band: It’s been mentioned before, but I have a soft spot for The Band That Played California Lady. Purty. Runners up would have to be Fish Picker– they would totally be the band I would’ve had a crush on in middle school and if you don’t get them then YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAAAND, man. Also the kids doing The Zombie Stomp. I’m a sucker for novelty songs. I wish I could find a copy of it.
Worst band? Buffalo Bill brings his own hell when he’s not keeping the black marks off mah mudflaps.
For best, I gotta go with Jimmy Bryant in SKYDIVERS. Too bad Speedy West wasn’t playing with him on that one – Stratosphere Boogie really swings with the pedal steel guitar on board.
Worst band may be the middle school ensemble from the Mr. B short. But since it’s mean to pick on kids, I’ll nominate Don Sullivan in GIANT GILA MONSTER. He’s a decent singer, but a horrible song writer, and well, you just can’t rock a teen party with a Christian retreat ballad played on a ukelele.
Best: “California laaaaaady….”
Worst: Three words: Arch…Hall…Jr. Don’t get me wrong: those are some of the funniest moments in MST3K history….but, man is Arch bad.
Great subject…..I think Ward E just found a new list…Musical groups with performers names and tracks sung/played.
I gotta say the Del-Aires is my all-time favorite band from MST. Years ago I found a great tribute page here: http://www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/tributes/delaires/delairesindex.html. Second would be the guys from Girl in Gold Boots, and let us not forget the ditties by Arch Hall, Jr. (which, if you’re familiar with his later films, actually get a little better!).
Paul Anka is truly dreadful. I’ve never understood his appeal; he sounds to me like a bland, third-rate copy of Johnny Ray. And he wrote the wretched “My Way”. But he’s a laugh riot in Girls Town when he tries to look tough. (Mel Torme cuts an equally ridiculous figure but at least the guy had a great voice.)
I actually sort of like “California Lady” too, but then (unlike the SOL crew) I also enjoy the Eagles.
“Dark Grandma, would that band be The Birds featuring a young Ronnie Wood?” That would be. (Ronnie Wood?! Damn, you’re right, I never noticed before.) I thought they were…eh, inoffensive, despite Crow’s “Eight…miles…wrong!“
@Mr. B – True enough, they weren’t IN the movie, but Motorhead still provided the music for the title sequence. That’s close enough for me.
…And I’m voting them #1 best band in a MST3k movie. Honorable mention goes to Little Richard in Catalina Caper.
Worst band award goes to the Arch Hall Jr Band in Eegah. 3 personnel changes in 1 song?
#25 beat me to the band who played in The Girl in Gold Boots. Those guys swung! Looking over this thread, I’m more struck by how many bands in these movies I liked rather than hated. But one of the worst efforts has to be the redneck guy in Riding with Death. For no particular reason, he and Ben Murphy go to “amateur night” at some bar and he sings country so bad that even the truckers are like, “what’s this redneck crap?”
@4&32: Let’s also give a special mention to Carol Connor, the female singer in Catalina Caper. Not only was she was the lead singer of the Teddy Bears (To Know Him Is to Love Him), she also went on to write the songs Hey Little Cobra (recorded by the Rip Chords) and Gonna Fly Now (The Theme From Rocky). In addition, she also had to lipsync her song in CC with her hair blowing in her face almost constantly.
Plus, an extra special mention for Mary Wells(My Guy), who sang the CC title song, Never Steal Anything Wet.
Thanks Dropo221, I was trying to think of the ‘Book of Love’ singer from Catalina Caper. Pretty catchy little 60s song. I made a futile attempt to hunt it down quite a few years back. If one song in a movie = band then she’d be my pick. If not, then the Del-Aires are a safe pick. Just try to get the Zombie Stomp song out of your head.
Worst is easily Arch Hall Jr. Vicky is a bad song in the movie where there isn’t anybody named Vicky, but it isn’t really much better in Wild Guitar.
Best: Jimmy Bryant in Skydivers. If one was so inclined, I highly recommend checking out the 3-cd anthology Frettin’ Fingers on Sundazed Records for a great collection of his tunes, many performed with Speedy West, a fantastically talented steel guitar player. Honorable mention to the Del Aires and Arch Hall Jr. (his songs in Wild Guitar are better than the ones in Eegah!)
Worst: The group singing “Idiots Control Now” from Pod People. It STINKS!
Dishonorables for the Femmetones in Wild Rebels, Critter Jones, and the Chew chew chew wow Wow WOW lady from TISCTSLABMUZ!
I’ll put in what must be the seventh (I’m guessing) vote for the Fontenelles. Was this the best band Rick Sloane could find? Their music is dreary and monotonal, not even good enough to qualify as punk or hair metal. And the singer’s affected delivery is just wretched beyond belief. “Kiss Kicker ’99” was not destined to become a top ten hit in any country.
Sorry, the above was for Worst Band.
Best for me was probably Little Ritchard in Catalina Caper.
Worst was Billy Bob and the house band in Riding with Death.
Nice thread this weekend. I’ll throw in with others here and say I liked the Del-Aires and Jimmy Bryant but the song from the jukebox in Skydivers would make me pull up a stool right next to Tony Cardoza and start throwing them back at a rapid pace. I’ll agree with Mr. Servo and say that the Platters were good in Girls Town, certainly better than Mr Anka in the same movie. On a related note my brother actually has the “I’m Just A Lonely Boy” 45 that proudly states that it was from the film Girls Town on the label.
As far as the worst go, do the rash of talent show/open mic night wannabes count from Incredibly Strange Creatures? In that case, to quote Crow from a different flick: “There’s a buffet of loathsomeness in this movie.”
I gotta go with the Del Aires. Definitely would still be a great party band. #27 you make a great point. Now I’m wondering how much of that modern, unsingable, liturgical music that’s foisted on me Sunday mornings was written by Chase Winstead.
Last Night (Under the Evening Star) from Hercules Unchained. She has a lovely voice but there’s something wrong with the scene as Hercules’ wife “sings” about losing her virginity while Hercules is passed out in the back of a wagon and she’s huddled up next to Fabian. No wonder he never wears pants, she’s the one wearing them.
The worst though has to be Buffalo Bill from Riding with Death. Well, he’s a amateur alright.
Have to admit it’s easier to think of segments like Where oh Werewolf then bands from the movies.
Night Train to Mundo Fine. Whoa I’m rockin’ now.
Best band/performer, and by far, would be Little Richard. Despite being hopped up on goofballs, and probably later very embarrassed to be seen in that p.o.s film, he still stands out as the best. Honorable mention to Paul McCartney’s decapitated head from Colossus vs. the Headhunters. Del Aires were good and fun too. They made that movie so much less excruciating.
Worst band is a toss up between Arch Hall Jr. and the pod people band/music. Both Idiot Control Now, and Ringo’s terrible reggae song during the driving through mist scene. It doesn’t get more loathsome than that. Evil Trumpy couldn’t have killed them off enough for my tastes. If only evil Trumpy could have somehow showed up in Eegah to pummel Cabbage Patch Elvis too.
HA! Love all the postings…great memories…
My fave is of course Zombie Nighmare
Must give an honorable mention to Brownsville Road. I like that song, maybe its just me…
The worst? Pod People hands down.
Worst? Most annoying at least has to go to whatever band sang Yipes Stripes in Teen Age Strangler (according to IMDb written by Clark Davis and sung by Stacey Smith). By itself it’s innocuous enough, but it’s endlessly repeated to the point where it nearly becomes the entire soundtrack of the film. And then there’s the little quirk that no one in the film is wearing striped pants…
Wasted potential goes to Tom Stewart from Tormented. He’s the best jazz pianist of his generation and all we get to hear is a bit of noodling and a snippet of a single? At least it was a great film by Bert I. standards.
Best? The Platters certainly, or the Del-Aires, also perhaps The Birdwatchers from Wild Rebels.
Um, if anyone has a copy of “Yipe Stripes”, let me know. It’s irritating in that 60s teenybopper earworm sort of way. Not the best band, but not the worst.
Arch Hall actually sounds better on record than in the movies. Sound problems and his dad pushing him to be a matinee idol (and sing more ballads) give him the bad rap more than anything.
The Birds also have a lot of strong songs. The one in the Deadly Bees is not one of them (so much so that I don’t think a complete version exists of it anywhere).
The Del-Aires and Jimmy Bryant truly rise above the movies that surround them. How did they end up there, anyway?
And to have Mel Torme in a movie but not let him sing while Paul Anka goes on and on is criminal.
Anyway, the worst? The gaggle of enslaved children forced to perform “traditional” songs for Santa’s entertainment. It’s not the kids’ fault, really. Indentured servants rarely sing with joy.
Ha! Unga, I took too long to compose and post mine. Now it sounds like I’m refuting your claims. Weird in a not really weird way.
I’d still like a copy of “Yipe Stripes”, though.
“Anyway, the worst? The gaggle of enslaved children forced to perform “traditional” songs for Santa’s entertainment. It’s not the kids’ fault, really. Indentured servants rarely sing with joy.”
Those are atrocious on several levels, but at least I can get ’em out of my head easier than “Hooray for Santy Claus.”
But neither are really bands as such . . .
If we’re migrating into specific songs, whoever did the music for Final Justice wasn’t terrible. Corny, to be sure, but musically not bad for an 80’s “action” flick.
Space Mutiny on the other hand . . .
bartcow: you are so right about Paul Anka versus Mel Torme. Ironically, Torme released MEL TORME SWINGS SHUBERT ALLEY only the next year (1960). It’s a great record featuring excellent scores by Marty Paich.
All of these great posts are reminding me of all the bands I could have chosen–for both categories. I’m sort of on the fence with the Femtones (from The Wild Rebels); their song is sort of catchy (irritatingly so, it is true), but the toughskins (as well as the keyboardist’s incredibly spasmodic moves) have got to go.
The Beau Brummels were quite cool, and I even picked up a cd for my wife after we watched Village of the Giants a few times.
And how could I forget Mary Beth Hughes?? She did a very nice job–both as an actor and a singer–in I Accuse My Parents.
The band featured in Hobgoblins, though, were TRULY WRETCHED (like the movie, of course). Horrible, horrible stuff. But they brought the right vibe to Club Scum.
I vote for the Del Aires as Best and Worst, depending on how you feel about Beach Boy wannabee’s.