April 2003 Tooned in, Turned On The History of Animated Rock Bands With the unexpected commercial and critical success of Gorillaz, the idea of a fictional and animated rock group was taken to levels previously unexplored. Collaborators Damon Albarn (Blur) and Jamie Hewlitt ("Tank Girl"), who refer to themselves as the ones who "discovered" rather than "created" the two-dimensional band of misfits, were fed up with the sorry state of the current music scene and the prefab schlock that rules the airwaves. Out of this frustration came Gorillaz, who were, essentially, born to wage war against the evils of mainstream pop music. And the results are pretty remarkable: not only is "Gorillaz" one of the best albums of the past few years, but it proves that manufactured music doesn't have to lack substance. However groundbreaking Gorillaz may be in their sound or their purpose, they are not the first cartoon to find it's way onto the airwaves (Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Archies both had hit records in their day). As popular music started to reach a progressively younger audience in the 60's, entertainment companies wanted to capture some of the energy (and of course, some of the money) of this phenomenon in any way possible. Even animation studios jumped on the bandwagon in an attempt to raise their hipness quotient. As a result, series like The Flintstones and The Jetsons started to add music guests to their roster. Other shows were built around new characters, like The Impossibles, who fought crime as well as rocked out in a band (as you will see, this theme would become quite popular). The tables were turned when the Beatles got the pen and ink treatment in their own weekly cartoon, starting yet another trend that would continue through the years with the likes of The Jackson Five, The Osmonds, and New Kids on the Block. By the time the 70's rolled around, music segments were finding their way into an overwhelming number of animated favorites. Some ended up classics (like Scooby Doo) while others were short-lived (do you remember "Mission: Magic"?). But every last one had a hippy trippy soundtrack. In 1995, pop stars paid homage to the shows they grew up watching and came together to create "Saturday Morning", a CD of songs that appeared in various animated series. Everyone from Matthew Sweet ("Scooby Doo, Where Are You?") to the Ramones ("Spider- Man") to the Butthole Surfers ("Underdog") contributed material for the collection, cementing the idea that cartoons can be cool.