The Rocklopedia Fakebandica

T. Mike Childs. St. Martin's Griffin, $17.99 (243pp) ISBN 978-0-312-32944-0

Based on a Web site that Information Week called ""one of the most refreshing online wastes of time since the birth of the Web,"" this volume by comedian Childs lists hundreds of singers and bands that existed only in movies or on TV. Thus there's Agar, the genetically bred boy band featured in a Saturday Night Live skit; Sueleen Gay, the waitress hoping to be a country star in Robert Altman's brilliant Nashville; Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate, the soul ensemble from Coming to America (Eddie Murphy played a ""disturbingly fey"" Randy Watson, in addition to the starring role); and Johnny Zhivago, the singer featured on a record-shop top-10 board in A Clockwork Orange. Cross-referenced, illustrated and giddily inane, this is fine bathroom reading for diehard pop culture fans.

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