10. The Folksmen, A Mighty Wind (2003)
The first of two contributions from the Christopher Guest/Michael McKean team, A Mighty Wind is about the coming together of legendary folk acts The Folksmen, Mitch & Mickey and The Mainstreet Singers to perform a concert in memory of their recently deceased manager Irving Steinbloom. As with all of the group’s films, A Mighty Wind is heavily improvised by a cast of true comedy greats, including Guest, McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara.
9. The Rolling Stones, Shine A Light (2008)
The first real-life band on the list, and arguably the best cinematic output from the band that also featured in Charlie is My Darling, Gimme Shelter, Stoned, Stones in Exile Crossfire Hurricane and Jean-Luc Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil. Passionately directed by Martin Scorsese, a life-long fan of the band, Shine A Light follows the band as they play a one-off concert at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Featuring a string of guest appearances, including Jack White and some songs that had never been performed live before, it is as interesting a look at Scorsese as a fanboy director as it is a treat for Rolling Stones fans.
8. The Ultimate Losers, Slacker (1991)
One of the many highlights from Richard Linklater’s iconic film, the all-too-briefly seen performance from The Ultimate Losers epitomizes the entire point of Slacker perfectly. Bored, alienated and in their mid-twenties, their weird, artsy rock music clashes horrendously with the creepy Texas bar they perform in. Still better than Madonna’s pap smear.
7. The Soggy Bottom Boys, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
George Clooney insisted on doing his own singing, the Coen’s insisted he didn’t. Thankfully, the Brothers won that particular battle, and the result is one of the best film soundtracks of the last twenty years. The Homeric tale of three criminals on the run in thirties Mississippi who inadvertently become music sensations, as their song A Man Of Constant Sorrow becomes famous as far away as Mobile. Featuring a turn from Robert Johnson, the man who allegedly sold his soul to the devil in order to be the greatest guitar player on earth, the film is rich with a mixture of blues, soul, bluegrass and country music. The soundtrack even won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001.
6. Emmet Ray, Sweet and Lowdown (1993)
“This is the story of the second greatest jazz guitarist of all time.” Woody Allen’s brilliant film/documentary is about the fictional musician Emmet Ray, whose vanity and ego are only matched by his obsession with Django Reinhardt. A stunning soundtrack and brilliant performances form Sean Penn and Nottingham’s Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown is a perfect examination of the pretentious, self-proclaimed ‘tortured artist’ syndrome that makes many creative people so hateable.
5. The Oneders/Wonders, That Thing You Do (1996)
Written and directed by Tom Hanks, That Thing You Do was an utterly enjoyable look at the downsides of making it big, from the perspective of fictional sixties one-hit-wonders The Wonders. With a brilliantly catchy song, Hanks’ success lies in re-creating the sixties music scene in great detail, from the first time the hit song is played on the radio, to the clash of egos in the final recording session.
4. The Blues Brothers, The Blues Brothers (1980)
Easily the most successful of all of the SNL spin-offs, The Blues Brothers tells the story of Jake and Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd). On a mission from God to save the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up from foreclosure, they have to get their old band back together to raise the $5,000 owed in taxes. Directed by John Landis, with career-best performances from Ackroyd and Belushi and featuring performances from James Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, The Blues Brothers remains one of the most popular comedies ever made.
3. Stillwater, Almost Famous (2000)
The beautiful coming-of-age story from Cameron Crowe is semi-autobiographical story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine whilst on tour with fictitious seventies rock band Stillwater. Based on a combination of bands form the era, including Lynryd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and Eagles, Stillwater epitomized the tumultuous world of rock in the seventies. Crowe captures the excitement and atmosphere perfectly, reaching a crescendo at the electrifying moment Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) struts out onto the stage to sing Fever Dog.
2. Anvil, Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008)
Another real-life band that you really wish was fictional. The tragically hilarious story of Anvil, the Canadian heavy metal band that got left behind by contemporaries such as AC/DC and Metallica. It opens with footage of them headlining the Super Rock festival in Japan, 1984. Their name appears above the likes of Whitesnake and Bon Jovi. Cut to present day, and singer/guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudrow drives trucks for a children’s catering company and drummer Robb Reiner works in construction. The dream never died though, and the band embark on an ill-fated European tour under the guidance of fan/tour manager Tiziana Arrigoni. They miss connecting trains, get lost in Prague and play to mostly empty rooms, before eventually running out of money and sleeping in a train station. It would be funny if it weren’t so awfully real. Thankfully, the success of the film has catapulted the band back into the spotlight, and they have since had great success.
1. Spinal Tap, This Is Spinal Tap! (1984)
Who else could it be? You know you’ve made a huge dent in popular culture when the volume controls on BBC iPlayer go up to 11. There isn’t a lot that happens in modern music that can’t be traced back in some way to Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and a long list of dead ex-drummers. Rob Reiner’s (the director, not the coincidentally-named drummer from Anvil) perfect mockumentary shadows the slow decline of the now legendary fictional band Spinal Tap, through the tribulations of life on the road. Almost every line is iconic, every performance is brilliant and the songs are genuinely catchy. This is Spinal Tap! provided too much fucking perspective into the greatest fictional band of all time.
A Hard Day's Night will be showing at Broadway until Sunday 24 August.
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