Sweet Ballad – Munchausen By Proxy

Films don’t have to be about pop music to feature top class imaginary bands in them. In point of exact factual fact, the films don’t have to really be much cop either. Everyone has seen Yes Man. It’s not terrible. It’s not brilliant. It’s just on all the time. For me the finest moment in the whole movie is the bit where Jim Carrey (he of the magnificent performance of Somebody To Love in The Cable Guy) takes up the invitation from Zooey Descantel (second appearance on the list? How about that?) to go and see a gig by the band she is in.

The venue in question is one of those movie dive bars that actually look really quite nice. The sort of bar that only exists in movies, as far as I can tell. The show is by a high camp Flaming Lips style post modern irony drenched sci-fi fixated pop group called Munchausen By Proxy (it’s actually Von Iva the band backing Zooey, who is incidentally also in a real rock and roll band with M. Ward called She And Him herself, out there in the really real world. She And Him have managed 6 album and an EP since 2006 and own a surprize Christmas hit with their alternative Christmas album A Very She And Him Christmas).

MBP were Yes Man’s MVP’s

Uh-Huh is a stone cold jam for it’s intro alone. The reaction Carrey’s character has to the synth and voice effects intro would be the same for most adventurous music lovers in a bar on a week night. That roll call intro that names each of the shows regular audience members is soooo sweet. But there’s not enough of that song in the movie so we have to go with the second track they play. Sweet Ballad. All bands need a Sweet Ballad right? Even ones who are made up for two scenes in a movie. Sweet Ballad hits the spot in it’s scant run time.

Other acts we all know from similar scenes in films include Crucial Taunt & The Shitty Beatles (not just a clever band name) from Wayne’s World. Pink Slip from Freaky Friday (Check out yesterdays post for the ultimate made up pop rock number). Weird Sisters from the school prom in Harry Potter. Sy Snootles and The Rebo-Band in Return Of The Jedi and The Clash At Demonhead who went up against Scott Pilgrim.

You can be sure, if I’m naming them here they’re not getting a post later in the week. So clocking in the Clockwork Orange chart rundown of imaginary bands who became real to include Heaven 17, Sparks, The Legend, The Humpers and Johnny Zhivago gets those guy off the list and out of the running. L7 playing the band Camel Lips in John Waters’ Serial Mom are magnificent but not going on the list either. Nor The Swell Season from the Scottish busker fairytale Once. We shall not give a spot to Sing Street and their songs The Riddle Of The Model or Drive It Like You Stole It despite both being excellent. No the final spot is saved for one of the biggest imaginary bands of all time… But before we get there. In at Number three… it’s…

Uh-Huh (She)