BY MIKEY MIGO
I am a pop culture sponge. This means I love watching, discussing, critiquing, and embracing current music, television, and movies. I know I'm not alone. This is probably why you're here at 411mania anyways. This website covers it all with a one click view at what's going on in the world around us. Due to the aspired evolution in my own filmmaking skills I've been engrossed in the little things in movies now more than ever. Of course I nit pick now on camera angles, the colors used, and all the things that a normal viewer takes for granted. One fun thing I've noticed is the use of musical artists in cameo roles.
It would a bit rough to evaluate every movie out there, so today we're going to take a look at some of my personal favorite musician cameos. Before we jump in, I want to elaborate. The "cameo" should be "as themselves" in the credits and not a main role. This would eliminate guys like Flea("The Big Lebowski"), LL Cool J(most notably "30 Rock"), and of course people like Marky Mark, Will Smith(for the most part/keep reading), and Ice Cube. Odds are these guest spots are not going to be an Academy Award winning performance, but just a pleasant appearance in the movie that adds to the story and gets a cheap pop from the audience.
If you've not seen these movies then what I'm about to talk about might be considered a "spoiler". Any who, lets take a look at a few of my favorite movies and the musicians who appeared as themselves.
As Himself: Alice Cooper
In: "Waynes World"
I must of seen this movie a half dozen times in the theatre when I was in junior high school. Wayne and Garth get free tickets to see Alice Cooper in Milwaukee. They arrive backstage to find a very distinguished and overly proper Cooper hanging out backstage. He gives a history of the city of Milwaukee and teaches us the original pronunciation of the city as "Mil-a-walk-kay". Meyers and Carvey semi-ignore this and continue to bow to the rock legend and Cooper plays right along. It's a short and sweet cameo, but really helped establish the characters a little more and gave a new generation a chance to see Cooper do his thing.
As Themselves: Aerosmith
In: "Waynes World 2"
This is where the idea for the column came. It was early and I turned on the TV to have some background noise as I worked on the computer. I love me some Waynes World so it was all good. I zoned in and out of the movie I've seen probably close to a hundred times as the duration dwindled down. The big finale was the big "Waynestock" concert and none of the bands were showing up. Then out of nowhere, Aerosmith saves the day and gets on stage to rock out as we get to the end of the movie. They performed "Shut up and Dance" and looked really good. Not in THAT way, but in a healthy way. This wasn't a big life changing cameo, but it was complimentary and more than welcomed to an already great movie.
As Himself: Will Smith
In: "Jersey Girl"
I'm a nerdy filmmaker. Of course I'm going to love me some Kevin Smith movies. This one was outside of the normal "Jay and Bob" spectrum and for that reason it was shit on by many people. The story of the movie goes that the main character's wife dies during birth and he has to give up his career as a PR guru in order to be there for her and raise his daughter. If you don't know it's coming, the cameo of Will Smith in this movie is a huge surprise and laugh. He sits with the lead character in a waiting room and shares a great conversation about family and career. I don't know if the conversation was written the way it was said, but it not only added to the movie but made this viewer appreciate Smith(both of them) that much more.
As Himself: David Bowie
In: "Zoolander"
When two male models are going to have a walk- off you can only count on one man to justly judge the competition and that is "The Thin White Duke". I wasn't a huge fan of this movie when it first came out, but as time went on I've grown to enjoy it more and more. A big part of the reason is the cameo appearances by so many stars that "play along". The inclusion of Bowie as the judge was great. Luckily, Ben Stiller still wrote the scene without having a clue if Bowie would accept the role or not. If not I'm not sure if I'd of given the movie that much of a chance.
As Himself: Bruce Springsteen
In: "High Fidelity"
If you call yourself a music snob and haven't seen this movie then you're in denial about your status. Along with the great musical touches and rambles, the movie is about Rob (John Cusack) is dealing with all of his past relationships in order to be able to move forward. At one point his problems are getting to him so badly in bed that he "dreams" or "hallucinates" that "The Boss" is right there sitting next to him. Apparently they originally wanted Bob Dylan, but Bruce came in and rocked better than I think Dylan would of. He gives him some words of advice and that's pretty much it. It's not a cameo where he then gets on stage and performs, but just there to help Cusack put things into perspective in a comfortable manner.
As Himself: Wayne Newton
In: "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation"
This movie is often disregarded because of the original "Vacation", "Christmas Vacation", and to a lesser extent "European Vacation" being so great. Whenever I go to the casino with friends I'll just about always make a Nick Papageorgio reference that is often left unheard. I am not a fan of Wayne Newton's music. It's not a personal thing because I normally enjoy seeing the man make appearances and find him entertaining. His role in Vegas Vacation was exactly what I like about him. He's over the top and for some reason I'll never get is appealing to women. The way he seduces and comes on to "Ellen Griswold" is great. What makes it work is that he is the exact opposite of "Clark"(Chevy Chase) in pretty much every way. Wayne is not the reason to watch this great movie, but he sure as hell helps make the ride that much enjoyable.
As Himself: George Clinton
In: "PCU"
I forgot I owned this movie and recently dusted it off to show a friend. Not only is this movie underrated and underappreciated, but it also has an awesome cameo from the "Godfather of Funk" George Clinton. When Jon Favreau's character gets stoned, misses his concert, and doesn't come through on getting booze for the big party he's bummed out. He is asked by a weird multi-color haired man directions to the concert he was going to and ends up getting a ride out of the deal. Little did he know that it was George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars. What I enjoyed about this cameo was that it was so casual. It wasn't like a "Look! It's George Clinton!", but more like "all this stuff is going on and oh yea… over there is George Clinton". They would go on to perform at the party and help save the day.
These were just a few of my picks. Obviously this only the tip of the iceberg for musicians starring "as themselves". We didn't even touch base on television shows like "Curb Your Enthusiasm"(notably Alanis Morissette), "Seinfeld"(notably Bette Midler), or even "The Simpsons" (notably EVERYONE). We didn't look at the Saturday Night Live sketches that many musicians appeared as themselves. And of course there's about a million more movie appearances that could have been listed.
What are some of YOUR favorite musician cameos?
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