[deleted] t1_ivhzaz0 wrote
Reply to comment by wowbobwow in TIL that the band The Hondells had a top-ten hit with their 1964 cover of The Beach Boy's song "Little Honda," except "The Hondells" didn't actually exist by wowbobwow
It's an interesting conundrum. The band existed, it was real people making real music, it just had fictional names and backstory.
It's not too far removed from 80s and 90s teen pop stars. By that time the industry "formula" for boy bands like NSYNC and female solo acts like Britney Spears was so polished and perfected, these singers might as well have been fictional. They were merely voices and faces holding up a largely imaginary popular persona.
Perhaps a more apt comparison would be the Gorillaz or Alvin and the Chipmunks. The music made by these "virtual bands" is real and performed by real musicians, but they disappear behind the animated personas of their fictional characters.
GrandmaPoses t1_ivi24zm wrote
The teen idol formula existed just about from the beginning of rock/pop. In the 50s and 60s Bobby Rydell, Fabian, etc. were young, pretty faces with passable voices (sometimes electronically enhanced) that could sell records. And television just made it easier: a couple of lip synced performances on American Bandstand and the record company was swimming in cash.
The packaging may have gotten slicker over time, but the idea has always been the same.
Long_Antelope_1400 t1_ivi7vsx wrote
I think K-Pop music and bands would be a good comp. A lot of those groups churn through the members while putting out music on the constant.
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