First making a brief appearance on Saturday Night Live, the Folksmen were intended to be a spoof of the Folk revival scene that was a little too corporate. Played by the same people who comprised Spinal Tap (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer), The Folksmen returned as a large feature in the quirky ensemble film, “A Mighty Wind” where they are scheduled to be the main event of a reunion concert to honor their fallen manager. They were given a backstory, where they had a minor hit in 1962 (Old Joe’s Place) and had dissolved much like other Folk Groups from the era had. McKean, Guest and Shearer reprised these roles in concert as the opening act for Spinal Tap (again, played by them), and have actually played other Folk festivals where they have outshone “real acts”. At no point, would we think that the Folksmen could enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but in this fictitious version it seems very possible. The Bullet Points: TV Show and Movie Appeared: Saturday Night Live (1984) A Mighty Wind (2003) Actors: Michael McKean (Jerry Palter) Christopher Guest (Alan Barrows) Harry Shearer (Mark Shubb) Songs you might remember: Old Joe’s Place Why you should vote for them: They are good, and have legitimately gone on tour. Why you should not vote for them: Folk Music doesn’t get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; should it really get in here? {youtube}
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From the Anne Hathaway film, The Princess Diaries, we had a brief glimpse of the band, Flypaper. In the flick, Hathaway’s best friend’s brother had a band, which had an irrelevant role. Although this was a very successful movie, did anyone who watched this film want more of Flypaper? The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: The Princess Diaries (2001) Actors: Robert Schwartzman (Michael Moscovitz) Ned Brower Taylor Locke Shan Elliot Harold Carter Songs you might remember: None Why you should vote for them: Hmmm…We really don’t have much of a good reason here. Why you should not vote for them: Their role was irrelevant. {youtube}
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Here is another that we could not help but put on the ballot because of who portrayed them. In Steven Spielberg’s 2001 Sci-Fi film, A.I., we were taken to a “Flesh Fair” where a Metal sound permeated the scene. We don’t know the name of the band (hence why we are just calling them the “Flesh Fair Band”) but Ministry, a band that was a lot more important in musical history than they got credit for, played them. Perhaps that is why we could not leave them off the ballot. The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Actors: Ministry Songs you might remember: None Why you should vote for them: Only because you love the early Industrial sound and want to throw a bone here. Why you should not vote for them: They were barely shown on screen, and there is no set song. How many people even knew that this was a world class band up there, when they saw it? {youtube}
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We will admit that they are on the ballot for about two reasons. The first, we are always a sucker for a T.Rex cover. The second, the band that covered them in Velvet Goldmine was Placebo, a group we always thought was a little underappreciated. One song in a minor movie really isn’t much to go on, but hell; there are a lot more obscure choices on this ballot! The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Velvet Goldmine (1998) Actors: Placebo Songs you might remember: 20th Century Boy Why you should vote for them: Only for the love of Placebo; not that we think there are lot of people in that category. Why you should not vote for them: There are far greater choices from the film than this. {youtube}
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