'The Runaways' Get Their Biopic, So How About These Other Bands?

This Friday, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning will hit the big screen as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie in a dramatized telling of classic girl-rock band, The Runaways. I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet, but I hear that's it pretty good, and mostly Fanning's show. It's opening in limited release this weekend so not everyone will be able to catch it, but I intend to.

The Runaways certainly aren't the first band to get a biopic, nor will they be the last. So I'd like to now submit a few others for Hollywood's approval, bands and/or musicians with fascinating stories that could and should be done great justice with a big screen telling.

Grateful Dead
So what if I'm letting my freak flag fly with this pick? The Grateful Dead offer a fascinating story, from their early roots in San Francisco's 1960s scene all the way through to the '80s and '90s, when fans followed them around in legion. They saw deaths, hiatuses, multiple lineup changes, trend-setting attitudes towards fan tapings and concert sound systems... frankly, I think the reason there's never been a Dead biopic is that no one's ever been able to figure out a way to capably cram the full story into a two-hour running time. Doesn't mean it shouldn't happen though. A Jerry Garcia biopic is already in the works, but that one is said to cover the singer/songwriter/guitarist's early, pre-Dead years.

Pink Floyd
Last '60s throwback, I promise. But right alongside the Dead in terms of film-worthy retrospectives is British psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd. Their legacy is one that permeates pop culture even today, as recently as last year's Internet-only Flaming Lips cover of "Dark Side of the Moon." Floyd have a history replete with band infighting, rampant drug use and mental instability. It would make for quite the story though, like the Dead, the real challenge here is fitting it all into the space of a single film. Perhaps HBO should turn to a band biopic for their next high-profile miniseries....

Pixies
The Pixies were one of the earliest purveyors of music that would come to form the soundtrack for the '90s alternative movement. They laid down the stepping stones for what bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam would carry onwards, after the band had broken up in the early '90s. Frankly, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a Pixies biopic. Whenever '90s alternative music takes off again in the public consciousness, someone will inevitably turn to one of the bands that started it all so their story can be forever immortalized in film.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
The term "hip hop" is said to originate with Keith Cowboy, a member of the Furious Five. True or not, it sure would make for a compelling movie moment. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were around at the start of it all, forming in New York City in the late '70s. As a group, they last for just five years and released only two albums during that time. Yet such was their impact on the music industry that they become the first rap artists to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2007.

Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley's is one of many -- too many -- tragic stories in the music industry. The singer/songwriter worked as a hired gun guitarist in his early career before moving to New York City in 1990. He was active playing through most of the decade, first just around clubs in Manhattan. For all his talents, Buckley steered clear of working in the recording industry, holding out until he was finally convinced to sign with Columbia. The relationship produced a single album, "Grace," which would be Buckley's only release. In 1997, after he moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work on his second album, this promising and talented young musician drowned in the Mississippi River.

Who else/what other bands would you like to see given the biopic treatment?

Tags dakota fanning, Kristen-Stewart, the runaways