Great / rubbish band names

First topic message reminder :

There are some stupid band names out there - and some band names that are so bad they're actually great. What are the stupidest / most brilliant band names you've heard?

Here's one for starters. They were around in the '90s and I've never heard a note of music by them: Raging Speedhorn.

Yes that's what I said. Hugh not Lou.

Unless Lou Reed is now singing "Take a Walk on the Clydeside"

Fair play - I misread your post.

Pet Shop Boys

Apology accepted

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:Anal C*nt. Says it all really.

Super Band

They're really not...

BALTIMORA wrote:

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:Anal C*nt. Says it all really.

Super Band

They're really not...

I disagree

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:Anal C*nt. Says it all really.

Super Band

They're really not...

I disagree

Have you heard them? Best bit is the song titles.

Funkadelic isn't a great band name. But they were a great band nonetheless.

BALTIMORA wrote:

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:

Dicey Reilly wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:Anal C*nt. Says it all really.

Super Band

They're really not...

I disagree

Have you heard them? Best bit is the song titles.

Granted their earlier Noisecore stuff was rubbish but they got there in the end

RIP Seth Putnam

Just poor band names (in my opinion):

Phish
Babyshambles
Lisa Lisa
Tompaulin (sic)
Hard-Fi
Will.I.Am
Black Eyed Peas
The Egg
The Academy Is...
Coldplay
Staind (sic)
Godspeed You Black Emperor!
KC and the Sunshine Band
Hybrid Theory
Alien Ant Farm
Pretty Girls Make Graves
The Twang (they should've dropped "The")
Bone Thugs N Harmony
The Goo Goo Dolls
Chumbawamba
Mott The Hoople
Mushroomhead
Wet Wet Wet

Alien Ant Farm were gash. Gash.

Cari wrote:Just poor band names (in my opinion):

Phish
Babyshambles
Lisa Lisa
Tompaulin (sic)
Hard-Fi
Will.I.Am
Black Eyed Peas
The Egg
The Academy Is...
Coldplay
Staind (sic)
Godspeed You Black Emperor!
KC and the Sunshine Band
Hybrid Theory
Alien Ant Farm
Pretty Girls Make Graves
The Twang (they should've dropped "The")
Bone Thugs N Harmony
The Goo Goo Dolls
Chumbawamba
Mott The Hoople
Mushroomhead
Wet Wet Wet

I like that name and band!

Each to their own Hobo. Poor name doesn't necessarily mean poor music - as we've seen already. I think some bands let themselves down with a rubbish name actually.

I can never decide if Red Hot Chili Peppers is a good name or not

I quite like that Demon.

Three things make a bad band name:

1. Pointless misspelling of words - classic example - substituting an S with a Z.
2. Using meaningless initials like EYC, EMF etc which aren't familiar to the general public - are you just being lazy or deliberately vague?
3. Using words that elsewhere are fine, but just sound crap for a pop/rock band e.g. Arctic Monkeys.

its all very subjective though isnt it?

For example (and picking with the two star crossed lovers in mind Mrs Electric Cari), The Smiths sounds boring. The Manic Street Preachers is unusual.

But of course there are some that are just wrong. Will.I.Am indeed.....

Cari wrote:I quite like that Demon.

Three things make a bad band name:

1. Pointless misspelling of words - classic example - substituting an S with a Z.
2. Using meaningless initials like EYC, EMF etc which aren't familiar to the general public - are you just being lazy or deliberately vague?
3. Using words that elsewhere are fine, but just sound crap for a pop/rock band e.g. Arctic Monkeys.

I always thought it was Epsom Mother Funkers

KLF

WTF?

Funny you say that Adam - I didn't listen to The Smiths for ages because they sounded crap Then they turned out to be one of my favourite bands.

Glas a du wrote:KLF

WTF?

Better still, they were sometimes credited as the JAMMs!

(Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu)

The Travelling Wilburys

Crazy name, crazy amount of talent.

To be honest, I tend to sneer at bands with "The" at the beginning.

there were some classic bands with initials:

elo
elp
omd
fyc
nkotb....maybe not!

As for fave band names.

Iron maiden
zz top
gin blossoms
matchbox20

There's an advert banner on this site for "The Phoenix Foundation"

That's a crap name.

Electric Six - now that's a name!

Mumford and Son/sons. Crap name, sounds like a furniture moving company and the music is awful tawdry MOR pish.

BALTIMORA wrote:Mumford and Son/sons. Crap name, sounds like a furniture moving company and the music is awful tawdry MOR pish.

Agreed. I hate that name and the band.

Electric Demon wrote:To be honest, I tend to sneer at bands with "The" at the beginning.

So you definitely don't like The The

Oh and I can't stand Mumford & Sons as a band name. Sounds like a frigging butchers shop!

Actually, The The is a cool name - because I assume it is itself a sneer at bands who's names start with "the". Unless of course its not. Then I need to re-assess how I feel about it.

Electric Demon wrote:To be honest, I tend to sneer at bands with "The" at the beginning.

You're missing out on a hell of a lot of good bands that way - but some stinkers too, in fairness.

And you mentioned the Phoenix Foundation: they're a band from New Zealand and their last album is really good.

It's annoying when bands give themselves a name that you don't know how to pronounce (Husker Du, with the umlauts) or is just plain meaningless: I remember reading about a band called (hed)pe - that's pretentious as hell.

Lucky that's like Therapy? putting the question mark at the end of their name. Why?

Oh and I don't like The Temper Trap - silly name for a band.

Yeah, I liked that one song that the Temper Trap had but it's a rubbish name.

Anyone got any other faves?

I like these...either because they're just good to say or because a lot of thought went into it (or appears that way):

Bivouac
Manic Street Preachers
Cold War Kids
War Paint
Gorkys Zygotic Monkey
The Fratellis
Kenicke
The Happy Mondays
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Bee Gees
Snot
Crass
Five Iron Frenzy
Nine Inch Nails

Here are some names I've never liked:


Green Day
Supertramp
The The
Take That
Garbage (literally rubbish name but a great band!)
Curiosity Killed the Cat
ABC
Spandau Ballet
Blur
Kajagoogoo
Blancmange
Duran Duran
Cast
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Echo and the Bunnymen
The La's
Haircut 100
Plan B
Wheatus
Weezer



Some I do like include:

Def Leppard
Terrorvision
Paradise Lost
Nirvana
Guns 'n' Roses
Faith No More
Queensryche
Judas Priest
Cheap Trick
Dire Straits
Depeche Mode
Status Quo
Dream Theater
Pantera
Tears for Fears
Metallica
Primal Scream
The Wildhearts

I like Cheap Trick, that's a good name for a band; Def Leppard falls foul of Cari's pointless misspelling rule and Terrorvision is a lousy pun.

I think Tears for Fears is an awful name for a band.

Some other ones I don't like:

Sneaker Pimps.
Olive - inappropriate for a band name.
Kinobe - not everyone knows how to pronounce it.
I Monster.
Chapterhouse.
Blind Mr Jones - it is the name of a band not a person...
Ver Vlads.
Oblman - not misspelt although it looks like it.
Telescopes.

Lucky - agree on Tears For Fears - I think they took it from a novel. Just goes to show what sounds good in a book, doesn't transfer well to pop stardom!

Wasn't there a band called Gay Dad?

(Someone might have already said it)

Simon and Garfunkel. That has to be a made up name.

There was a band called Gay Dad. The NME loved them but they weren't great at all. It wasn't the first time they'd fallen in love with a band with more style than substance.

Remember 'Love your Money' by Daisy Chainsaw? Silly name for a band but quite an earworm of a song!

they were like Transvision Vamp from memory. All together now:

love, love, love , love all your money....

Transvision Vamp's not a bad name for a band.

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - "ah-ah isn't it a lovely day? My patio's on fire..."

Super Furry Animals used to be called Ffa Coffi Pawb. Literally everybody's coffee beans, aurally Flip off to everyone.

Another Welsh band called themselves Mynediad am Ddim - Admission Free - just to urine off concert promoters.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I like Cheap Trick, that's a good name for a band; Def Leppard falls foul of Cari's pointless misspelling rule and Terrorvision is a lousy pun.

I think Tears for Fears is an awful name for a band.

Its not a rule of mine and I say Def Leppard is a great name...as is Motley Crue. Deaf Leopard, however, would've been an awful band name.

Also Terrorvision isn't a pun...its wordplay, which is quite different (puns are bad jokes which don't necessarily rely on mis-spelling).

Okay then, Terrorvision is lousy wordplay.

I remember Melodymaker took Gorky's Zygotic Mynci to Moscow to interview them in Gorky Park. It was only on the plane home that the band admitted they'd meant 'gawky' rather than Gorky, but had misspelt it.

My favourite Welsh band names are Anhrefn (chaos), Llwybr Llaethog (Milky Way) and Tystion (Witness) - they're just better to say than the English words.

Oh and I really dislike Florence and The Machine as a band name. It's just cack.

Do "The Machine" actually exist - or is it just Florence with a bit of a kooky name? Is it a band or a solo artist? I've never been able to tell, and couldn't tell on X Factor last night either

Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine)[1] is the recording name of English musician Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her voice. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock and soul.[2][3] The band's music received praise across the music media, especially from the BBC, before they gained mainstream success. Specifically, the BBC played a large part in their rise to prominence by promoting Florence and the Machine as part of BBC Introducing.

Its still a pants name

gorky's zygotic mynci