Hope Against Hope

Status: Fake Band
image A new band called Hope Against Hope managed to cultivate an enthusiastic online fanbase, and leveraged this popularity into an invitation from Alan McGee (a music industry exec famous for discovering Oasis) to play at the trendy Death Disco club.
What neither Hope Against Hope's fans nor Alan McGee knew was that the band was fake. It didn't exist. So how did they all get fooled? Simple. Because although the band wasn't real, it did have a myspace profile. The Independent reports on the hoax:
The set-up was simple. Q magazine persuaded the office work experience student and two of his mates to pose as the ironically named Hope Against Hope. With their Fred Perry shirts and skinny jeans, the band certainly looked the part. A "rough" demo was supplied, courtesy of a musician friend, and the results downloaded on to the website. Within four weeks, Hope Against Hope had not only built a devoted fan base but convinced the music guru Alan McGee, one-time member of Tony Blair's Creative Industry Taskforce, discoverer of Oasis and manager of the Libertines, to sign them up for his ultra-trendy Death Disco club.
The Guardian also reports on the hoax, focusing on how the old practice of artificially creating "buzz" has now extended into cyberspace. (Well, people have been using the web to generate publicity for as long as it's been around, so it's really nothing new.) What I've concluded from this Hope Against Hope hoax is that Hippo Eats Dwarf obviously needs a myspace profile. Or better yet, I should create a profile for Hilda, the hippo who swallowed the dwarf.

Entertainment

Posted on Fri Jun 23, 2006


Comments

So basically this is the last straw. I've been trying to market my music for 5 years on the net and this hoax proves I must really suck. Oh, well.
Posted by OriginalSim  on  Fri Jun 23, 2006  at  11:26 AM
I don't see what is worth getting grumbly about--or what is even particularly fake. There were songs on the page that someone had written and recorded. Just because the people in the picture didn't play them I see no reason to freak out. If I had happend upon them and liked them, I wouldn't feel embarassed for liking it when it came out that they didn't record the songs. Someone did. At that point you are saying that the image is more important than the music--I think the opposite of what you hope to say. I never got it when people got mad at Milli Vanilli--you buy music for music, not the pictures of those that play it.

It would be different if the buzz had been built on word of mouth only--no songs at all. That would be proof that the machine was out of control. But there was music that people liked I guess.

Shit, people like the Shaggs.
Posted by dcnahm  on  Fri Jun 23, 2006  at  02:31 PM
Those songs sucked anyways...
Posted by Josh  on  Fri Jun 23, 2006  at  08:37 PM
Alex, now that you mention it, Hippo Eats Dwarf would make a GREAT name for a band. Get right on that, willya?

I can see why Hope Against Hope went to the Top of the Pops. Just LOOK at that promotional photo. Three too-hip-to-be-happy young, reasonably attractive guys, staring off into space in that "we're FAR too cool to look at the camera or smile" way so popular with today's young pop idols. They couldn't NOT be a hit!
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  01:12 AM
I'm an editor in Wikipedia and every day number of garage bands try to publisize themselves through it. One sure sign of an non-notable band is that it has only MySpace presence. I remember marking bands like these for deletion numerous times. And I just checked - Hope Against Hope does not have a WP article.

However, if the industry professionals were fooled, what does this say about them?
Posted by VL  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  02:00 AM
One word: EMO.
Posted by Soldant  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  02:07 AM
Hippo Eats Dwarf as a band would indeed be great! Let's make the MoH homies into the new cyber Village People!

Oh, I can see Boo and Charyb play-backing "In the Navy!" so well!!!!
:lol:
Posted by LaMa  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  04:35 AM
There already is a band called Hippo Eats Dwarf. But I don't think they have a myspace profile:

http://hippoeatsdwarf.orcon.net.nz/news.htm
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  09:06 AM
Then lets call it Dwarf Eats Hippo...
Posted by LaMa  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  10:34 AM
I feel these two need a MySpace and a contract too:

Zlad....
Posted by LaMa  on  Sat Jun 24, 2006  at  05:31 PM
How DARE someone else form a band called Hippo Eats Dwarf without consulting with me? Another million-dollar idea stolen out from under me. Curses, foil the luck!
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Sun Jun 25, 2006  at  01:14 AM
Yea baby, this is what I love. People are turning in to mindless droids, ceasing to think for themselves. They like what the media tells them to like. This only seriously drives that point home. A new popular band! Wow, I _MUST_ like them!
Posted by Bill  on  Mon Jun 26, 2006  at  04:59 AM
Thanx a lot for the very interesting info. It's like a breath of fresh air for fans, suffocated with massive pop attack:) Want to compile perfect playlists? 'http://arabic-mp3.org/I always try to follow the recent news and find many worthy things:)
Posted by AMY  on  Mon Feb 19, 2007  at  04:30 AM
Hippo Eats Dwarf? Haha, what a name.
Posted by Banks, Rachel  on  Sun Feb 15, 2009  at  02:16 PM
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