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Three Fictional Bands That Are Better Than Any Real New Artist You’ll Hear Today
Fiction beats fact every time
As I was once again working on a piece that has languished in my drafts folder since early 2021, I stopped briefly to search for some appropriate background music to inspire me. Normally Springsteen or The Smiths will do the trick no matter what I’m writing, but they weren’t working for me this time. I needed something from the 1970s, not as hard as Black Sabbath and not as soft as Joni Mitchell, and as I fell further down the rabbit hole I landed on Elton John’s classic “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.” This reminded me of the scene from Almost Famous, which reminded me of Stillwater, the fictional band from that film.
Because my mind is not unlike a cocker spaniel on crystal meth, I completely forgot why I was searching for music in the first place and started thinking about how many fictional bands are better than real ones (this may be why that story has been in my drafts folder for three years). The most obvious one is, for most people at least, Spinal Tap. The Blues Brothers would run a close second for many (or perhaps even first if you’re of a certain age). And for Gen Z kids, it seems like every Disney and Nickelodeon series had a fictional band in it.
