THE 10 BEST SONGS BY FAKE BANDS
From hilarious slow jams to sweeping ballads and a track by Bruce, these are real earworms
1. “That Thing You Do!”
The Wonders
Tom Hanks’ 1996 film about the Sixties-era one-hit Wonders would not work at all if the title song were lame.
But the late Adam Schlesinger proved his bona fides as the master of the fake pop-song form with tight harmonies and bouncy riffs.
2. “Scotty Doesn’t Know”
Lustra
A crassly hilarious tale of cuckoldry, this Blink-182-style nugget from 2004’s cult classic Eurotrip — lip-synced by a punked-out Matt Damon — is catchy enough to have hit the Hot 100 singles chart in real life.
3. “3 Small Words”
Josie and the Pussycats
The adaptation of the comic Josie and the Pussycats was dismissed in 2001 but later embraced for its satire and tunes. On this pop-punk banger, Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley voices Josie.
4. “School of Rock”
School of Rock
The theme from Richard Linklater’s movie of the same name features Jack Black’s substitute teacher Dewey leading his band of nerdy students in an original song that pays homage to all of his guitar-shredding influences.
5. “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”
DJay
As Shug, a prostitute working for Terrence Howard’s rapper DJay, Taraji P. Henson croons the hook of this track from Hustle & Flow. She also performed it at the Academy Awards with Three 6 Mafia, who became the first hip-hop group to win the Original Song Oscar.
6. “Best of Both Worlds”
Hannah Montana
The opening theme to the Disney series
Hannah Montana set the tone for the show that would make Miley Cyrus a megastar, showcasing her massive pop-rock vocal range, as well as the double life of the titular teen idol who exists offstage as the seemingly normal Miley Stewart.
7. “Finest Girl”
Conner4Real
From the mockumentary Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, this is among the Lonely Island’s best — a guitar-laden slow jam stuffed with Top 40-ready melodies and flows about a woman with an extremely specific request (“Fuck me like we fucked Bin Laden”) and a man down bad enough to oblige.
8. “Light of Day”
The Barbusters
Bruce Springsteen stole “Born in the U.S.A.” from the working title of director Paul Schrader’s 1987 movie Light of Day — but he wrote Schrader this rocker in return, to be played by costars Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox in the film. No wonder it’s suspiciously good for a bar band.
9. “Shallow”
Jackson Maine and Ally
The ballad at the heart of Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake was a runaway success before the movie was even out. The booming note
Lady Gaga’s Ally hits on the bridge became instantly iconic in the trailer, and scored Gaga an Original Song Oscar.
10. “Straight Outta LoCash”
CB4
Straight outta the mockumentary
CB4, named for the N.W.A-like group at its center, this hardcore-rap parody features star Chris Rock spitting lyrics like “I fucked ya sister, I fucked ya cat/I would have fucked ya mom, but the bitch is too fat!” It’s like Def Comedy Jam set to a break beat.