Remember back in the early days of FTTW when we did the Top 100 Punk Songs and then the Best Punk Albums? Well, we had a lot of fun with that and we decided to run something like that again, but on a permanent kind of basis.

Welcome to the newest new thing at Faster Than The World - The Almost Final Countdown.

TAFC is a new column that will appear almost every day. Basically, it's a continuing series of countdowns, lists, and things that have numbers on them and tell you what's the best and worst of something. Like that.

What will happen is this: On Monday, the new category will be announced. The editors (or two of the four editors) will have their picks up for the category, so we start you out with either the first 10 or 20 of the list.

See here for the rest of the rules and regulations and stuff

Think of us a VH1 without the ubiquitous presence of Ian Michael Black.

Sounds like fun, right? Not too confusing or anything? Good, because we are ready to roll on to Day 2 of this week's list.

TOP 50 FICTIONAL BANDS

I bet you didn't know just how many there are.

Yesterday two of the FTTW made their picks. Like we said yesterday, it's your job to use the comments to help us come up with the other bands to round out the list. Then, on Sunday we'll put up a poll of all 50 to determine the numero uno, king of the hill, top of the crop, etc., etc., etc.

You guys did a great job coming up with some bands yesterday. There's still room for more.

Ready to do it again?

Baby Huey is next in line.

11. Spinal Tap
I almost considered not putting this band on there, considering they actually did put out quite a few albums. However, with songs like "Break Like the Wind" they're one of my favorite bands, real or no.

12. Dethklok
DO YOU FOLKS LIKE COFFEE? This band is blacker than the blackest black. Times infinity. The best part is they actually got real metal people (Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield from Metallica, Warrel Dane of Nevermore, King Diamond, Corpsegrinder Fisher from Cannibal Corpse, and more) to be on the show, to lend creedence to a totally kickass cartoon.

13. Everybody Gets Laid (the band from PCU)
They were gonna call themselves Naugahyde Windpipe, for chrissakes. That alone put them on my list. But the fact that Megan Ward was in the band clinched it. She makes me feel funny in my boy parts.

14. Crucial Taunt (Cassandra's band from the Wayne's World series)
Tia Carrere is hot in purple lingerie, plays a mean bass, and their cover of Ballroom Blitz is absoultely zang.

15. Coq Roq (the band from the Burger King Chicken Fries ad campaign)
Ignoring the fact that the song in the commercial was actually kinda catchy, any band that pisses off Slipknot is OK by me.

The Finn's picks:

16. The Rutles – The Rutles were not the Beatles. Let’s just clear that up right now. Granted, the two bands had a few similarities. The mop top haircuts. The catchy melodies and turning of phrase. But no, they were not the Beatles. The band was originally formed when Ron Nasty and Dirk McQuickly joined up with Stig O’Hara as a trio. The trio performed well enough together but finally found the integral fourth piece when they discovered Barrington Womble hiding in their van. They made us fall in love with them on their self titled album, firmly established their pop dominance with “Let It Rut” and took us on a strange psychedelic journey in “Sergent Rutter’s Only Darts Club Band”. They continued their atmospheric rise to success only to have it all go bad by the time “Let It Rot” was released. But Rutlemania will always be alive and well in our hearts and our minds.

17. Gidget and the Gories – You all remember Gidget. The cute, sweet all American girl from the surfing capital of the world ? Little did you know that she had a dark side. For a short time, she fronted a psychedelic band (and very spooky) band called The Gories. It all started because Gidget was trying to inspire a little self confidence in her friend Larue. So, the two of them joined a folk band and convinced the rest of the members in the band to try out for a spot on a TV show. Right before they were supposed to audition, Gidget shows up in white face and heavy eyeliner and announces that the band has gone spooky. The rest of the band loves the look, but no Larue, so they decide to kick her out. Gidget is furious and demands that they ask Larue back or she won’t perform with them any more. So, The Gories drop them both, work the audition and get the gig. And Gidget learns a hard lesson about friendship.

18. The Banana Splits – The Banana Splits lived in Hocus Pocus Park, a giant amusement park that was consistently under siege by the evil Sour Grape Bunch. They drove six wheeled dune buggies, ran around and bumped into each other quite a bit. But they weren’t well known for their security skills. They were also the greatest cartoon introducing band of all time. The band consisted of Fleegle (a beagle), Drooper (a lion), Snorky (an elephant) and Bingo (a gorilla) who made some of the most fun music ever. The theme song alone will get stuck in your head for days.

19. Sonic Death Monkey – It’s the world’s loss that this would be supergroups’ only live performance was captured on celluloid and attributed to “Barry Jive and the Uptown Five” instead of their original and so much cooler band name. Barry’s soulful rendition of “Let’s Get It On” can move a grown man to tears and can strip the clothes off the most chaste of women. Unfortunately, after their first and only public performance was completed, the band changed their name to Kathleen Turner Overdrive and went on to change folk music history.

20. CB4 – The hardest hitting gangsta rap group ever is called CB4. Comprised of M.C. Gusto (Albert Brown), Dead Mike (Euripides Smalls) and Stab Master Arson (Otis), this was the hardest of the hardcore rap scene. The group was formed in prison (Cell Block 4) and went on to rule the charts with such hits as “Straight Outta Low Cash” and “Sweat From My Balls”. What they say is true. You may hear them once, but you’ll never forget them. This is not "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The rest of the week will be your nominations up here until we round out the top 50 and get ready for the big vote.

So this is all up to you. Have fun with it.

Here's The Dickies doing the Banana Splits theme song: (download)

(If you didn't see yesterday's, check the comments for all the bands that were nominated on that thread)

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