Successful bands with the shittest name

[DrGreggles]

Does anyone remember the band 'A'?

Their popularity never really survived into the internet age for some reason...

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Does anyone remember the band 'A'?

Their popularity never really survived into the internet age for some reason...

Yes. I remember.

"The old folks are losers, they can't work computers..."

[Misspent Boners]

Does anyone remember the band 'A'?

Their popularity never really survived into the internet age for some reason...

A with their song Nothing...its genuinely seems like an exercise into the void

[Jockice]

Does anyone remember the band 'A'?

Their popularity never really survived into the internet age for some reason...

Co.uk became huge though.

[DrGreggles]

A with their song Nothing...its genuinely seems like an exercise into the void

At least they were successful in one thing!

I can imagine their thought process though:
"We'll be the first band on the shelf in record shops!"
"Yeah, and that's how everyone will always search for music! Brilliant idea!"

[non capisco]

One of their singles was also called 'Bad Idea'. Do you know what, 'A'? I think you might be right!!!!!

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Clearly better remembered than expected.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Boyzone

BoysSoCool would have been better. Or Chestnuts.*





*I'm watching 15 Storeys High later, you see if I don't.

I maintain that 15 storeys is one of the best sitcoms ever made. I don't care who disagrees.

Candlebox. Ok Seattle rock band but by god what a shite name.

[non capisco]

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Oooh, you're 'ard.

[purlieu]

"Coldplay" always seemed like a particularly uninspiring name too.

Does it reference something? Because it's always struck me as one of the strangest band names. What the fuck does it mean? Cold. Play. Cold... play.
On very early demos they were The Coldplay, which makes even less sense to me.

A are the epitome of pre-internet band names. Much like Chvrches being the opposite, with the v only being present so they're Googleable.


Wolf Alice. There was a run of bands with Wolf in the name for quite a while, and thankfully it stopped. Then Wolf Alice came along with the worst of the lot. I think their second album is great, but the name is really bad.
Pure Bathing Culture. I only checked them out because I wanted to find out if I disliked the music as much as the name. (I didn't. Their debut is glorious.)

I mean...what is a good band name? They are all essentially pretty shit.

Wire.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I will usually defend most things they do to the death but James is a really commercially unhelpful, potentially confusing and stupid name.

However the fact they were eventually successful, christ, massive even, might open up the prospect that names don't really fucking matter. U2 ffs. U2. U2.

U2.

YOU TOO MATE

u2.

[non capisco]

Wire is an ace band name, agreed. Always loved Faith No More (originally Faith No Man, which is shit) and The Dead Kennedys. And The Residents, The Replacements, Rocket From The Tombs (unceremoniously ripped off by my fave raves Rocket From The Crypt, for shame, lads!), Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Birthday Party AND The Bad Seeds. Those are all some excellent band names.

My current favourite new band are choosing to call themselves Viagra Boys. It's been hard to convince people to chuck an ear their way. When you hear them it fits though. They sound like a sweat soaked idiot having heart palpitations after necking a load of off-brand dick pills. IN A GOOD WAY.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine

Drive-By Truckers

My Bloody Valentine

(All tremendous bands, to be clear. But off-putting names they should have reconsidered.)

[Dr Syntax Head]

I like the name my bloody valentine but when I mention them people think I'm talking about bullet for my valentine

[Dr Syntax Head]

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Oooh, you're 'ard.

Already mentioned them but to be fair they took it from the wild ones movie. Agree, terrible band name though

[Sebastian Cobb]

[Dewt]

Imagine Dragons ffs

May as well be called "Etsy Mason Jar"

[Dewt]

Does it reference something? Because it's always struck me as one of the strangest band names. What the fuck does it mean? Cold. Play. Cold... play.
On very early demos they were The Coldplay, which makes even less sense to me.

It would be really good for an ambient techno group

[Cuntbeaks]

Get cape. Wear cape. Fly

The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band

Pavement

Suede

[idunnosomename]

funnily enough i was just about to suggest Death Cab For Cutie

[boki]

Does it reference something? Because it's always struck me as one of the strangest band names. What the fuck does it mean? Cold. Play. Cold... play.

I can't help but think of the 'Cold Shit Action' sign in the background during the sex episode of Brass Eye. It's hard to imagine a more plausible explanation.

[Dewt]

Get cape. Wear cape. Fly

It's the Ready Player One-style band names that I hate the most.

[sutin]

Crywank.

[Sherman Krank]

Back in the days when I listened to Radio 1, Mark & Lard would often point out that you can't have a puddle of mud anyway in reference to their shit name.
It's either a muddy pudde or just some mud.

It's not 'mud' it's 'Mudd' which was the name the singer gave to a snowman he made as a child.
Mudd was his only friend and it broke his little heart when the weather improved and Mudd melted.
Eventually he grew up and formed a mediocre rock band but he never forgot the terrible fate that befell poor Mudd.



(Just went to wikipedia to see what the real story was and it seems they were almost called Pile Of Shit.)

My current favourite new band are choosing to call themselves Viagra Boys. It's been hard to convince people to chuck an ear their way. When you hear them it fits though. They sound like a sweat soaked idiot having heart palpitations after necking a load of off-brand dick pills. IN A GOOD WAY.

I stumbled across them on youtube recently and assumed their name was a play on Vengaboys but Viagra because they're quite old.

[SteveDave]

Good Band Names

The Velvet Underground
Depeche Mode
The Flaming Lips
Pink Floyd
MGMT
Elton John

Bad Band Names

The Dave Matthews Band
Muse
The Despicable Miles Kane

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Keith Sweat.


Granted it's his birth name but for fuck's sake mate haven't you heard of stage names? For start he has one of the shittest first names ever conceived and add to that a bodily secretion surname and you have crap name dynamite.

[checkoutgirl]

And of course, any band whose name is a sentence. Or a string of words

Bring Me The Horizon annoys me but for some reason I'm okay with The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

[thecuriousorange]

I can imagine their thought process though:
"We'll be the first band on the shelf in record shops!"

I wonder if that's how the record label came up with the boyband name A1. There are loads of taxi companies called things like "A1 Cabs", so they hopefully appear top in the Yellow Pages.

[Enrico Palazzo]

Strapping Young Lad.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Bring Me The Horizon annoys me but for some reason I'm okay with The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Probably bias because I'm a massive BJM fan but I like it. Came from a conversation between band members or something