Let's just be honest. Calling a group the "Best Cartoon Band" sounds like it's about as complimentary as singling out a group of guys for being a "Winning Movie Sports Team". But it's actually not. Some of the names on this list have created lasting effects on not only our hearts and minds but on the history of popular culture. Their success has rivaled, and at times, surpassed the sales of real bands that, you know, exist. From sorta great to the single greatest, these cartoon bands are all better than most of their peers, and they deserve to be honored.
So, without further ado, here are the greatest cartoon bands in the history of both bands and cartoons.
#5. Sonic Underground (Sonic Underground)
Gotta go fast. Sonic and the crew have had many adventures, perhaps the strangest being when they started a band to combat a post apocalyptic world. The story goes like this: Sonic’s mother was a queen and was overthrown by the evil Dr. Robotnik. The exiled queen escaped with her three children: Sonia, Manic, and Sonic and left them with foster families. Yeah, Sonic has a brother and sister. The three of them also had medallions that turned into instruments to help them fight evil. Forget the super speed and all that, fast guitar playing trumps all in the face of evil. The whole idea lasted a season and true Sonic fans don’t consider it canon, but the music remains the reason why people even talk about it today. To be honest, the songs can't compete with the best of the best here, but they kept a show relevant. Plus, it’s Sonic; so, it deserves a little love.
#4. Josie And The Pussycats (Josie And The Pussycats)
Long tails and ears for hats. If you followed up the title with the that statement, than you need no explanation as to why the ladies made this list. Originally based off of an Archie comic, three girls wearing cat costumes and their friends were one of the few Scooby Doo clones to actually have a decent run on television. Josie and the Pussycats was also the first Saturday morning cartoon to have a regularly appearing African-American character. They had six good years before cancellation, and let’s not forget the film in 2001 that came BEFORE Scooby hit the big screen a year later. Sure the film sucked, but it’s more respect than Jabber Jaw ever got with this second rate band.
#3. The Archies (Archie's Comedy Hour)
Yeah, I know were travelling further down the rabbit hole with this one, as many of you may never have known Archie was anything other than a comic. Today, Archie is still around making news in some form or another, but his legacy extends far beyond Riverdale High School. In 1969, The Archie Comedy Hour premiered a song written for the show that would spread like wildfire throughout the world. It was called "Sugar, Sugar", and it was written specifically for the cartoon band to perform. It eventually became a number one hit in several countries for several weeks straight. The song still plays today on many classic oldies stations and has been featured in several films that have nothing to do with Archie at all.
#2. Dethklok (Metalocalypse)
In 2006, Brendon Small created a fictional world in which there was one death metal band the entire world was obsessed with. Nathan Explosion, Toki Wartooth, Skwisgar Skwigelf, Pickles the Drummer, and William Murderface Murderface Murderface together formed Dethklok and took every last human by storm. Using music created for the show, Small released Dethklok’s first album The Dethalbum. It debuted at number 22 in the Billboard Hot 100, topping many contemporary metal bands album sales at the time. Since then, they’ve churned out three more successful albums, won a couple awards and toured around the nation with many successful acts in the metal world. Pretty impressive considering the whole thing is a parody of its fans. Then again, the metal community can be pretty self deprecating; So, maybe it’s genius.
#1. The Beets (Doug)
Say what you will about its placement on the list, if you were a fan of Doug in the 90’s, you were a fan of The Beets. No, they didn’t have a number one hit worldwide, and no they didn’t sell several commercially successful albums, but what this Beatles meets The Who meets Blue Oyster Cult hybrid did was create many anthems that 90’s kids still hum to this day. "I Need More Allowance" and "Shout Your Lungs Out" were classics in their own respect, but one hit stands on their shoulders as the best cartoon song of all time. "Killer Tofu" should have been a number one hit but was too ahead of its times. To this day if you told me the band who created The Beets were on tour, I would go see them. Most underrated, and definitely the top cartoon band of all time.
