Rock Stars on Miami Vice in 1986

Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas as ‘Crockett and Tubbs’ on “Miami Vice” 

One way to test if you really knew the 1980s was if you had heard of the hit TV series, “Miami Vice.” Even if, like me, you rarely watched the show, you couldn’t help from bumping into it one place or another. The show was everywhere. Hell, it even inspired a brief fashion craze as young men, (not me), wanted to look like the stars of the show. Note: the antagonist character in the film, “The Wedding Singer,” was accurately portrayed. In the second season of the show, (1985-6), many rock stars made guests appearances on the show. Another reason why it was so popular. These are some of them:

Ted Nugent

Ted played a deranged assassin on the show, probably very fitting for him

The Power Station

Fiona

Fiona played a prostitute who falls in love with Tubbs

Glenn Frey

Leonard Cohen

Only Gene Simmons from KISS made an appearance on the show

Suicidal Tendencies

While I can’t confirm it, I was told there was a brief scene in one episode where Suicidal Tendencies was in a bar playing “Institutionalized”

Frank Zappa

One of the few episodes I did watch. Frank playing the role of a drugs baron

Other musicians who appeared on Miami Vice include:

Sheena Easton (she was on several times)

Phil Collins

Willie Nelson

Miles Davis

Frankie Valli

Little Richard

But not Steve Lukather!

An excerpt from Frank Zappa’s appearance

The big question is: Would “Miami Vice” have been so successful if these great rock stars hadn’t appeared on it? For some, it did make it worth watching and I might have watched it more if the likes of Dee Snider and Ronnie James Dio had made guest appearances.

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