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Band names you love...and the ones you hate
I was listening to a song this morning and started to think about the lyrics. If you recall, a few months ago I admitted to rarely ever listening to them, so it was an achievement of sorts that I paid attention. The song was "Bakersfield Bound" written by Chris Hillman and Steve Hill and it started off like this:
I was the youngest boy in a family of four
We lived in Oklahoma, the wind whistled through our door
We scratched out a living in the dirt and the clay
I never will forget it until my dying day
Pretty simple and straight forward, but it hooked me into listening carefully even though I know the story of the dust bowl migration and I've heard this particular song at least a hundred times before. Performed by Chris and his longtime partner Herb Pedersen under their own names instead of the Desert Rose Band, my mind started to wander and wonder.
Does anyone here recall a British sort-of-progressive rock band called Barclay James Harvest? I had three or four of their albums in the seventies and I bought them not so much for the music but because I loved the name of the band and thought that the album cover art was very tasteful. They did a clever (or so it seemed to be at the time) song called "Titles" where the lyrics came from Beatle songs. Went something like this:
The long and winding road that leads to your door
Here comes the sun it's alright people shout for more
But were you trying to deceive telling me
All you need is love to succeed
Across the universe one after nine 'o' nine
I got a feeling for you blue and I feel fine
I tried so hard to make believe that I'd see
All you need is love to succeed
CHORUS:
Lady Madonna let it be
Something in the way you moved me yesterday
All you need is love so they say
So not exactly the greatest thing in the world, but along with the melody, instrumentation and harmonies it was different enough to make you want to check it out. And given the seventies, it wasn't disco or Styx, so it stood out on FM (remember that?) radio. The other thing is...the band had a great name.
It seems that within this particular genre of music called Americana we could use some help coming up with better names. Does anyone have any idea how many bands have the word "brothers" in it? From the Louvins to the Burritos to Hacienda and Avett. And of course there are "boys", "sisters" and "family" that also seem a bit overused. I know there's a tradition and all, but in this modern world don't we want to get just a tiny bit more creative?
As I peruse the iTunes folder, it seems like the best names these days go to indie artists with a gentle sound. For example, Red Heart The Ticker sounds so pretty to my ears as does Eighteenth Day of May and eastmountainsouth. And I like any names that tie into nature...like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Matt Joe Gow and The Dead Leaves or The Pines. Play-on-words are fun...such as the Wailin' Jennys or the Little Willies (although I don't think I'd much want to play in the latter one).
I think Barclay James Harvest would have made a great name for an Americana band today. Or maybe some of the other seventies bands like McGuiness Flint or McKendree Spring for instance. Lothar and The Hand People has a good home made acoustic feel to it and I always liked Albion Country Band as a name, but it was not about this country but that other one over there. And Rowan and Grisman's Earth Opera should never have been retired because it too, along with Sea Train, sounds pretty salt of the earth to my ears.
So that's what's on my mind this morning...band names. Got a favorite one to share? Or one you absolutely hate?
I'll start it off with a few of my own:
Like: Wrinkle Neck Mules, Among The Ashes and Oak, Autumn Defense, Winterpills, Sun Kil Moon, Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Be Good Tanyas.
Don't like much: Anything with "string band" in the name or just the artist's name preceded by "the" and followed by "band", single words that evoke nothing about the music (Gourds, Sadies, Thorns) and any name using a predatory bird such as a hawk or an eagle.
I was the youngest boy in a family of four
We lived in Oklahoma, the wind whistled through our door
We scratched out a living in the dirt and the clay
I never will forget it until my dying day
Pretty simple and straight forward, but it hooked me into listening carefully even though I know the story of the dust bowl migration and I've heard this particular song at least a hundred times before. Performed by Chris and his longtime partner Herb Pedersen under their own names instead of the Desert Rose Band, my mind started to wander and wonder.
Does anyone here recall a British sort-of-progressive rock band called Barclay James Harvest? I had three or four of their albums in the seventies and I bought them not so much for the music but because I loved the name of the band and thought that the album cover art was very tasteful. They did a clever (or so it seemed to be at the time) song called "Titles" where the lyrics came from Beatle songs. Went something like this:
The long and winding road that leads to your door
Here comes the sun it's alright people shout for more
But were you trying to deceive telling me
All you need is love to succeed
Across the universe one after nine 'o' nine
I got a feeling for you blue and I feel fine
I tried so hard to make believe that I'd see
All you need is love to succeed
CHORUS:
Lady Madonna let it be
Something in the way you moved me yesterday
All you need is love so they say
So not exactly the greatest thing in the world, but along with the melody, instrumentation and harmonies it was different enough to make you want to check it out. And given the seventies, it wasn't disco or Styx, so it stood out on FM (remember that?) radio. The other thing is...the band had a great name.
It seems that within this particular genre of music called Americana we could use some help coming up with better names. Does anyone have any idea how many bands have the word "brothers" in it? From the Louvins to the Burritos to Hacienda and Avett. And of course there are "boys", "sisters" and "family" that also seem a bit overused. I know there's a tradition and all, but in this modern world don't we want to get just a tiny bit more creative?
As I peruse the iTunes folder, it seems like the best names these days go to indie artists with a gentle sound. For example, Red Heart The Ticker sounds so pretty to my ears as does Eighteenth Day of May and eastmountainsouth. And I like any names that tie into nature...like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Matt Joe Gow and The Dead Leaves or The Pines. Play-on-words are fun...such as the Wailin' Jennys or the Little Willies (although I don't think I'd much want to play in the latter one).
I think Barclay James Harvest would have made a great name for an Americana band today. Or maybe some of the other seventies bands like McGuiness Flint or McKendree Spring for instance. Lothar and The Hand People has a good home made acoustic feel to it and I always liked Albion Country Band as a name, but it was not about this country but that other one over there. And Rowan and Grisman's Earth Opera should never have been retired because it too, along with Sea Train, sounds pretty salt of the earth to my ears.
So that's what's on my mind this morning...band names. Got a favorite one to share? Or one you absolutely hate?
I'll start it off with a few of my own:
Like: Wrinkle Neck Mules, Among The Ashes and Oak, Autumn Defense, Winterpills, Sun Kil Moon, Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Be Good Tanyas.
Don't like much: Anything with "string band" in the name or just the artist's name preceded by "the" and followed by "band", single words that evoke nothing about the music (Gourds, Sadies, Thorns) and any name using a predatory bird such as a hawk or an eagle.
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Comment by Jeff Fuller on March 9, 2010 at 5:57pm
- Never heard the band but I always thought the name was funny. The Swimming Pool Cues. The ones I don't like are any name that sounds like some kind of bodily fluid. Those are just creepy.
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Comment by Dan Gjelten on March 9, 2010 at 7:01pm - Leftover Salmon
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Comment by hyperbolium.com on March 9, 2010 at 8:05pm - I think they were actually "The Swimming Pool Q's," an Atlanta-based new wave band who played with more of a progressive-rock than pop sound. I remember programming their debut album The Deep End quite heavily on college radio. The lead track, "Little Misfit," got many spins.
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Comment by Alan Wagman on March 10, 2010 at 5:56am
- Twi The Humble Feather. The Apples in Stereo. Bad Livers (great double entendre!). Brightblack Morning Light. Chappaquiddick Skyline. Continental Drifters. Explosions In The Sky. Great Lake Swimmers. Guided By Voices.
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Comment by Rudyjeep on March 12, 2010 at 5:16am
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There was another post a while back about nicknames and I have a whole bunch (having gone through the same exercise with some friends). Here are some of my favorite band names.
Pianosaurus - a NY band that played entirely on children instruments. They where named after a toy piano for kids. I saw them at the old Ritz and they destroy all their instruments at the end of the show.
? and the Mysterians
Texas Terri and the Stiff ones
Smegma - an all girl punk band
Sit and Spin
and two "fake bands" from TV shows
Red River Unger and the Saddle Sores from the Odd Couple
Happy Kyne and the Mirth Makers from Fernwood Tonight
I too also love Brian Jonestown Massacre
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Comment by Lance Norris on March 16, 2010 at 5:04am
- Kathleen Turner Overdrive
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Comment by david knishkowy on March 16, 2010 at 5:48am
- a band out of S.F. in the late 1990s-early 2000s: The Ass Baboons of Venus; also, that country favorite, Broken Wind.
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Comment by bobdunny on March 16, 2010 at 10:54am - i think the grunge scene had some great band names. pearl jam, alice in chains, soundgarden, smashing pumpkins, screaming trees, red hot chili peppers, mudhoney. . . americana band names i like lately: the devil makes three, ha ha tonka, split lip rayfield.
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Comment by Philbillie on March 16, 2010 at 4:59pm -
One of my old faves: a now defunct '90's all-girl punk band from SF called "Squat"
or howzabout...Chocolate Overcoat, Jefferson Slave Ship, Popsmear, Anus Presley...I could go on
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Comment by AmyJeaux on March 17, 2010 at 2:59pm - In the category of "love the band, hate the name:" The Deep Vibration
Comment
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Created by No Depression Feb 17, 2009 at 9:06pm. Last updated by No Depression Jun 24.
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