While I was watching s1 of Lost, I thought Charlie's backstory seemed really clichéd: Boyhood friends or brothers form a rock band out of their love for music; they become famous; it becomes about the drugs, groupies, and ego rush for the star [and possibly less genuinely talented] frontman; he grows increasingly less committed to the actual musicianship and becomes more of a human wreck; this strains and possibly ruins their relationship, possibly driving the second friend to a more debilitating addiction or misery. However, I couldn't actually think of either a real-life example of this story and wasn't even sure what a fictional archetype would be for this. All I can think of, generally, is comedies spoofing this 'cliché' story: South Park's "Guitar Queer-O" episode, the Simpsons episode where Bart daydreamed about starting a band with Milhouse ("It used to be about the music!"/"Slag off!"). Is there a rock band that served as a model for this particular 'cliché'? (Obviously, I can think of lots of bands or stars whose stories contain elements of this: deteriorating/turning self-parodic/actually dying because of drugs [too many 60s and 70s stars to bother mentioning], friends breaking apart due to the pressures of fame. But I'm not sure if there's any band I can think of that would really typify the whole story arc. Otherwise, what would be some major/classic films/novels/TV shows that would serve as a reference point for this story? There's obv some reason this seems really clichéd to me but I can't put my finger on it. (I imagine it's something really obvious that's slipped my mind.)
― Sundar, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 22:59 (seventeen years ago)
Spinal Tap
― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:01 (seventeen years ago)
this is also just a more specialized subset in a broader mythology re: "fame changes you"
― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:03 (seventeen years ago)
Ever since the mid-90s, I think this has been basically just a composite of assorted Behind the Music episodes -- hence the "lots of bands contain elements" feeling.
― nabisco, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:06 (seventeen years ago)
I thought about this too. The best I can come up with is like a cross between That Thing You Do and Boogie Nights and Behind The Music, which were all popular around the same time.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:07 (seventeen years ago)
the beach boys must be close surely ?
― mark e, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:08 (seventeen years ago)
And Euronymous, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Euronymous and to his offering:
But unto Varg and to his offering he had not respect. And Varg was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:09 (seventeen years ago)
Plus it sorts through the archetypes without having to actually be about music -- focusing everything on the fame/groupies/drugs vs. "it used to be all about the music" is a lot simpler and more accessible of a narrative than "he thought our next record should be more guitar-driven, whereas I wanted to experiment with the arrangements."
xpost - One of the things that always interested me about That Thing You Do is that the one who's "all about the music" is the bad guy -- his desire to actually record serious songs he's written is portrayed as being kind of humorless and party-pooping!
― nabisco, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:09 (seventeen years ago)
I mean, the character's supposed to be humorless and self-absorbed just as a guy, but still -- I always find myself empathizing with him, and wondering why the main character shouldn't be backing him up.
― nabisco, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:11 (seventeen years ago)
The Kinks maybe...
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 23:16 (seventeen years ago)
Metallica had to kill Cliff off before they could start sucking.
― Nate Carson, Friday, 30 May 2008 21:46 (seventeen years ago)
Poison, Motley Crue, Wasp, Guns and Roses…
― I eat cannibals, Friday, 30 May 2008 22:10 (seventeen years ago)
The Libertines
― shanissey, Friday, 30 May 2008 22:45 (seventeen years ago)
One of the things that always interested me about That Thing You Do is that the one who's "all about the music" is the bad guy -- his desire to actually record serious songs he's written is portrayed as being kind of humorless and party-pooping!
-- nabisco
Yes, isn't that a weird twist? The sting of this anti-creative angle is vitiated somewhat perhaps by the fact that Jimmy is the only one who secures a successful career within the pop industry. He goes on, we are told, to gain several gold records with another band.
― moley, Friday, 30 May 2008 23:47 (seventeen years ago)
iirc charlie's backstory was based on oasis.
― Roz, Saturday, 31 May 2008 09:58 (seventeen years ago)