Who Are You?
Had Abbott and Costello ever done a comedy routine about rock n roll bands it they probably would have name-dropped Pete Townshend’s gang.
Abbott: "Who’re you listening to these days?"
Costello: "I’m listening to The Who"
Abbott: "Yes, that’s what I’m asking, who?"
Costello: "That’s right."
Abbott: "What?"
Costello: "No, The Who? - that’s the band I’m listening to" … and
so on. At least I’ve sort of imagined it that way as a spin-off of the
Who’s on first routine (well, if Who’s on first then Keith Moon must be
playing baseball).
Simply because this lost comedy occasionally plays out in my
imagination when I listen to Baba O’Reilly, I’ve always loved the
band’s name. The moniker also spawned album titles (Who’s Next) and songs (Who Are You?).
Of course, this begs the question - What are the greatest band
names ever (and the worst)? Some of the criteria that factor into my
evaluation are:
-Does it sound cool? Examples: Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull
-Does it suggest something about the band? Example: Guided by
Voices. I truly believe Robert Pollard has multiple muses. The guy
has more hooks than a furniture store. Also: Barenaked Ladies. They
lure you in with the promise of a good time and that’s exactly what
they deliver.
-Can you make cool acronyms out of it: Example: Well, to use the
same band, GBV (Guided by Voices). AC/DC doesn’t count. DMB - I admit
Dave Matthews Band as the name of a band is terrible, but initials
sound nice enough. BNL see above.
- "The" bands are only so-so names (exceptions: The Who, The Band,
The Kinks) The Beatles, for all their splendour, had a pretty lame
band name.
- Bands with numbers in their names: I generally think of these as
unimaginative. The random selection of a number becomes a device.
What the heck is a Sum 41 or a Blink 182 anyways?
- Band names that try too hard: Death Cab for Cute, yecch.
There must be a million other trivial points I could bring up, but I’ve gone on long enough.
I hate to repeat myself, but I can’t not post this link:
Strong Bad on Band Names
Comment by Bryce I — December 21, 2004 @ 10:04 pm
And a Christmas take on Abbott and Costello.
Comment by Bryce I — December 21, 2004 @ 10:10 pm
As for band names:
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and Bachman-Turner Overdrive — you get nice acronyms out of these: ELP and BTO. Plus, when Palmer left and Powell joined, ELP could keep the initials.
Blue Oyster Cult — meets the “Does it suggest something about the band?” criterion for me.
Worst band names:
Strawberry Alarm Clock — famous for one of the worst song titles ever: “Incense and Peppermints”
The Guess Who — cute, but to what end?
New Kids on the Block — Hard to say, and gives rise to one of the ugliest acronyms ever: NKOTB
Comment by Bryce I — December 21, 2004 @ 10:15 pm
Most of those bands names that try to hard annoy me, too, but there’s a few that I think are genius:
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire
Biblical Proof of UFO’s
Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Rocket From the Crypt
The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Good band names with numbers in them:
10,000 Maniacs
13th Floor Elevators
35007 (”loose” backwards and upside down)
Some of my favorite band names:
Mammoth Volume
Mars Volta
The Melvins
Old Man Gloom
Screaming Trees
Shudder to Think
REO Speedealer
Three Inches of Blood
Weedeater
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 21, 2004 @ 10:23 pm
Sometimes you can tell that a band is doomed to mediocrity by its name alone. Goo Goo Dolls? Matchbox Twenty? Jesus Jones? Sorry, guys.
Comment by Steve Evans — December 21, 2004 @ 10:35 pm
p.s. Dallin, I altered your post a little…
Comment by Steve Evans — December 21, 2004 @ 10:35 pm
Oh, and names that really suit the band’s sound:
Big Black
High on Fire
Mudhoney
And another band name that tries too hard that I love:
These Arms Are Snakes
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 21, 2004 @ 10:57 pm
Good call on the Godspeed you Black Emperor. That is one of my favorites. Some more “The” band names I find uninspired:
The Police
The Doors
The Cars
and I agree on The Guess Who - always hated that one.
My disappointment stems from the fact that I like these bands music - which brings up another question: which bands have names that are not representative of the quality of their musical output? The Beatles are A-1 on that list. Classic tunes, weak band name. Worst current band name: Hoobastank.
Comment by Dallin I — December 22, 2004 @ 12:14 am
One I really like is American Music Club. I think it is a perfect fit for the band, their sound and personality. AMC aren’t bad initials.
Comment by Dallin I — December 22, 2004 @ 12:16 am
I like the name Traveling Wilburys.
Comment by danithew — December 22, 2004 @ 9:09 am
I’m having trouble coming up with good bands that have horrible names. I know there must be a ton.
Does anyone know where Pink Floyd got their name?
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 22, 2004 @ 12:06 pm
The name “Pink Floyd” comes from the first names of jazz musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
You need to start a whole new thread on converting Who’s on First to a rock and roll setting. Besides the Who, you can work in Yes, the Guess Who, U2, Roxy Music, and the Band. Tiny Toon Adventures actually did something like this, but I don’t have the dialogue.
Incidentally, was anybody else disappointed back in 1981 when neither Time nor Newsweek ran with obvious headline announcing that Hu Yaobang had become Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party?
Coolest name? How about the Subdudes?
Comment by Last_lemming — December 22, 2004 @ 3:32 pm
REO Speedealer is the coolest name.
Of course, they got threatened with a lawsuit by REO Speedwagon, and had to drop the REO. Now they’re just Speedealer.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 22, 2004 @ 3:35 pm
I think “The” names can be great: The Stooges, The Jam, The Clash. More names I really like: Cat Power, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Golden Smog, Moldy Peaches. For me, good music/bad names would include Badly Drawn Boy, Hella, and Quasi. Belle and Sebastian is a band name that really fits the music: precious and overthought.
Comment by Greg — December 22, 2004 @ 3:44 pm
It’s important not to get to overwrought in your band names. Jamiroquai needs to work on the name.
Comment by Steve Evans — December 22, 2004 @ 3:49 pm
mortgage rates http://www.mortgagerates-x.com
Comment by mortgage rates — September 26, 2005 @ 9:55 pm
some of my favourite bandnames:
Crime & The City Solution
Stone Temple Pilots
Strawberry Switchblade
13th Floor Elevators
Einstürzende Neubauten
Comment by derteo — July 29, 2006 @ 8:46 am