10 Hilarious Music-Themed Satires

With The Naked Gun reboot surpassing all expectations, the Scary Movie franchise returning from the dead, and even a Spaceballs sequel in the works, Hollywood appears to be in the midst of an unlikely parody movie revival. But for those who prefer their rapid-fire laughfests a little more tuneful, then Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is undoubtedly the must-watch. To celebrate the hapless metal heroes getting back together for one last show, here’s a look at 10 other great musical spoofs.

1. The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (1978)
2. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
3. Fear of a Black Hat (1993)
4. Dill Scallion (1999)
5. Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
6. A Mighty Wind (2003)
7. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
8. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
9. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
10. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (1978)

Long before Danny Boyle’s Yesterday envisioned a world in which The Beatles didn’t exist, The Rutles operated on a similar plane. Formed by Neil Innes—whose Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band had their only hit single (“I’m the Urban Spaceman”) produced by Paul McCartney—and Monty Python favorite Eric Idle, the spoof outfit debuted on sketch show Rutland Weekend Television in 1975. Three years later, they graduated to the big screen in a biopic which suspiciously mirrored the life story of the original Fab Four.

Boasting songs parodying “Help” (“Ouch!”), “Penny Lane” (“Doubleback Alley”), and “I Am the Walrus” (“Piggy in the Middle”), All You Need is Cash also came complete with one almighty seal of approval: Not only did George Harrison grant access to footage that would later appear in the documentary series The Beatles Anthology for inspiration, he also made a cameo as an oblivious TV interviewer.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

The undisputed daddy of the musical parody, mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap was the brainchild of director Rob Reiner and its stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, a trio now famed for their skewerings of the business called “show.” The film—which was inspired by hagiographic documentaries like The Band’s The Last Waltz—kickstarted Reiner’s remarkable ’80s run and brought the worlds of comedy and rock together like nothing before. In fact, it was so acutely observed that many real-life metalheads believed it was a genuine doc, and the phrase Spinal Tap has since become shorthand for any band undone by their own hubris. From the accidentally miniscule recreation of Stonehenge to the amplifier knob that turns “up to 11,” every set-piece, every line, and every heavy duty metal pastiche zings in an almost entirely improvised affair, which—unlike the band’s flop album Smell the Glove—is all-killer, no-filler.

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Fear of a Black Hat (1993)

Fear of a Black Hat, helmed by Chappelle’s Show regular Rusty Cundieff, lampoons the macho posturings of the gangster rap scene. It follows a sociologist who is observing the trials and tribulations of a hardcore hip-hop outfit blatantly modeled on N.W.A. (one member is named Ice Cold and there’s a track called “F*** the Security Guards”) for her thesis. But everyone from Spike Lee to Vanilla Ice also get it in the neck in this no-holds barred takedown where DJs scratch with their butts and songs with titles like “Booty Juice” are judged as astute social commentaries. Though Fear of a Black Hat grossed only a fraction of Chris Rock’s starrier and similarly themed CB4, which arrived just two months later, it’s by far the superior send-up.

Dill Scallion (1999)

Despite an impressive cast—including Henry Winkler as a controlling producer, Jason Priestley as a pompous A-lister, and Lauren Graham as a scheming muse—plus original music from Sheryl Crow and in-on-the-joke cameos from LeAnn Rimes and Willie Nelson, Dill Scallion has been largely forgotten about since its 1999 release.

In this Nashville-does-Spinal Tap mockumentary, a pre-Twilight Billy Burke plays a small-town bus driver who is catapulted to CMT fame via an infectious (if slightly inappropriate) number called “I Discovered Love at a Relative Gathering,” as well as an accidental dance craze (The Scallion Shuffle) that requires him to repeatedly injure his own foot. Low hanging fruit it may be, but the few who got their hands on the straight-to-VHS affair were probably pleasantly surprised by its goofy charms.

Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

Yes, Josie and the Pussycats featured a hilarious boyband spoof song called “Backdoor Lover” (“Some people use the front door, but that’s never been my way/Just ’cause I slip in backdoors/Well, that doesn’t make me … hey!”). But with Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and Babyface on songwriting duties—and Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley providing the vocals for a lip synching Rachael Leigh Cook—the rest of its soundtrack plays things convincingly straight.

Instead, the humor largely derives from its clever mockery of the music industry itself, presenting it as an oppressive regime (any acts who question all the dastardly plans mysteriously “disappear”) designed to brainwash impressionable teens and maintain the consumerist status quo. Entirely misunderstood at the time, the comic book adaptation has thankfully been reevaluated as a sharp, satirical, and increasingly prescient display of girl power.

A Mighty Wind (2003)

Nearly a quarter-century after first sending up the world of heavy metal with Spinal Tap, Guest, Shearer, and McKean shifted their comedic lens to the Greenwich Village folk revival of the early 1960s. This time around, however, Guest and co. conjure up three equally ridiculous outfits for a reunion show to memorialize the scene’s most prominent producer: a Kingston Trio-esque troupe who take their work incredibly seriously; a former folk duo and couple who had a bad break up; and a happy-clappy “neuftet” featuring an ex-porn star and witch.

As you’d expect, the musical pastiches are immaculate—the protest song title track even won a Grammy—and castmembers Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, and Jennifer Coolidge all gamely commit to the lampooning, which is affectionate and empathetic in style. Indeed, A Mighty Wind is not only the sweetest-sounding musical parody, it’s the sweetest, period. 

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Arriving in the wake of Ray (2004) and Walk the Line (2005), the cult classic Walk Hard masterfully pokes fun at those rise-and-fall biopics blatantly designed with an Academy Award in mind. John C. Reilly—showing off both his own voice and skills on the guitar—makes you believe Dewey Cox really is a tragedy-stricken rock ’n’ roller, whether he’s going “smellblind” after accidentally slicing his young brother in half, tripping on LSD with The Beatles (Paul Rudd’s Scouse accent is a sound to behold), or trying in vain to musically direct a goat.

The songs, mostly written by Dan Bern and Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers, are pitch-perfect: Highlights include the Bob Dylan-aping “There’s a Change a Happenin’ (I Can Feel It)” and “Beautiful Ride,” an on-stage swansong that helps imbue the unashamedly daft affair with an unexpected gravitas.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Having stolen the show on Saturday Night Live for the best part of a decade, musical comedy trio The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer) finally made that tricky leap from the comic institution to the big screen satirizing the absurdities of modern pop. Luckily, Never Stop Never Stopping proved to be more Wayne’s World than A Night at the Roxbury.

They play The Style Boyz, a hugely successful pop-rap outfit torn apart when Samberg’s ego-fueled frontman Conner4Real makes a bid for solo stardom. While his debut album Thriller, Also enjoys Justin Timberlake-esque success, his vanity project follow-up leaves him signing dodgy deals with home appliance firms and suffering wardrobe malfunctions even more revealing than Janet Jackson’s. Of course, Conner soon learns the power of three, but not before he’s beefed with everyone from Martin Sheen to Mariah Carey in a cameo-stacked laughfest that’s smart and silly in equal measure. 

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

The general response when Will Ferrell announced he’d be starring in a comedy based on the Eurovision Song Contest was skepticism: Would an American, particularly a funnyman not exactly known for his subtlety, really be able to grasp the ins and outs of a cultural institution from across the pond? But the former SNLer, who became enamored by Eurovision’s weird and wonderful joys since being converted by his Swedish wife Vivica in the late ’90s, proved to be the perfect man for the job.

Both Ferrell and Rachel McAdams (who based her accent on Björk’s) are clearly having a blast playing a will they/won’t they Icelandic duo chosen to represent their country via boat-exploding default. From giant hamster wheels to a parade of recent winners (Conchita Wurst! Loreen!), there are Eurovision easter eggs galore throughout this wild caper, which recognizes all the ridiculousness and wholeheartedly embraces it anyway. Undoubtedly more douze than nul points. (And good luck getting “Jaja Ding Dong” out of your head!) 

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Remember when Madonna dated “Weird Al” Yankovic just to make him parody her hit song “Like a Virgin”? Or when the latter killed Pablo Escobar after breaking into the Colombian drug lord’s compound to rescue the Queen of Pop? Or when he came up with an entirely original song named “Eat It” after consuming LSD-laced guacamole?

Of course, none of the events portrayed in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story actually happened. They’re simply figments of his warped imagination, brought to life by a brilliantly gung-ho Daniel Radcliffe—almost unrecognizable sporting the parodist’s trademark curls, glasses, and mustache—in an “alternative” retelling of Weird Al’s life story. Co-written by the funnyman himself, Weird first originated as a spoof trailer back in 2010 before the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman inspired him to make the real thing. Winner of the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, the Roku original proved to be worth the wait.