When Reginald Dwight changed his name to Elton John, he certainly improved his first-impression prospects, but he was still lagging way behind some guys - like Scrapper Blackwell, or instance:-
Regardless of their music, which artists (or bands) had a name so cool that you thought "I gotta listen to this guy/girl/band" ?
I've always heard the music before I've heard the band name or names of band members. I hear the music and then look into the band or artist if I like what I've heard by them.
The only exception I can think of at this moment, is one time when I was in a record shop back in 1976 and was browsing the LP's and came across the Ramones debut album. I hadn't heard of the band or their music, but I took a chance and bought the LP based on the cover picture of the band and the titles of the songs on the album. A reckless gamble which paid off big-time.
When I was in college I checked out the band Bongripper because of their name, though their album title "Satan Worshipping Doom" did give me some idea of what they would sound like. It was mostly the name though, haha.
I still think 'Manic Street Preachers' is a kickass band name:
'Massive Attack' is also a great name, especially in juxtaposition with the kind of music they make:
No one ever invented a better band name than My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. Although Death Grips also rules. And Twisted Sister too, although it has never compelled me to check out their music
Some pretty good band names here: I think my favourite so far is
Manic Street Preachers. Clearly, dark or satanic names are the most popular, but this one is from a more innocent time:-
In advance, I wanted to like
String Driven Thing because they sounded like a low-key, clever, possibly acoustic band. When I saw them at a festival in the early 70s, they were ok, but imo they should have made more out of their not-so-common-back-then violin - which is to say they should've had more material like this track, Heartfeeder:
Good to see that you're still around, Marie! This one's for you:
Someone more edgey, and popular in the late 70s, lead singer
Poly Styrene made a great choice for her stage name.
.
While we're on the subject of band names, I've talked about my old bands on here a bit, but I never said the names. My college band was called Or Lack Thereof, which was already a hilariously smarmy hipsterish name, but it made things really funny on the show flyers we'd make. They would be like (names of the other bands changed for comedic effect):
Metallica
Or Lack Thereof
AC/DC
So were Metallica playing or not? It was confusing if the second billing was a band or just saying the above band might not be there, haha.
At any rate, it was a better name than my high school industrial metal band, which was called Suicide Pollution.
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Aug 01, 2023, 03:35 PMWhile we're on the subject of band names, I've talked about my old bands on here a bit, but I never said the names. My college band was called Or Lack Thereof, which was already a hilariously smarmy hipsterish name, but it made things really funny on the show flyers we'd make. They would be like (names of the other bands changed for comedic effect):
Metallica
Or Lack Thereof
AC/DC
So were Metallica playing or not? It was confusing if the second billing was a band or just saying the above band might not be there, haha.
At any rate, it was a better name than my high school industrial metal band, which was called Suicide Pollution.
Reminded me of 'And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead', who were actually a pretty good band:
Haha yeah, I do like that band too.
At least we weren't as pretentious as Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, or whatever they called themselves on any given week.
Haha! "Or Lack Thereof" is brilliant, Mrs. Waffles !
Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Aug 01, 2023, 04:11 PMHaha yeah, I do like that band too.
At least we weren't as pretentious as Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, or whatever they called themselves on any given week.
Real missed opportunity with that band name that you didn't make covering The Fall's "And Therein..." a live staple.
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Aug 01, 2023, 03:28 PMGood to see that you're still around, Marie! This one's for you:
Someone more edgey, and popular in the late 70s, lead singer Poly Styrene made a great choice for her stage name.
.
ah yes and X-ray Spex is a fantastic name too
Richard Cheese.
Of course band names are carefully thought about and chosen, while some artist names are just given to them by other people:
Eric Slowhand Clapton doesn't sound bad, although it was a rather artificial invention that never quite stuck. The Boss doesn't show much invention from Springsteen roadies, while lesser-known but better names, imo, are Duster Bennet and Keef Hartley.
Also, how could we forget, various Magic Band members, chief among them, in terms of name, Antenae Jimmy Semens, Zoot Horn Rollo, and Winged Eel Fingerling
I (also) love Poly Styrene as an artist name 🙂
Some that I like:
- The 13th Floor Elevators
- Bratmobile
- King Crimson
- New York Dolls
- Siouxsie and the Banshees
- The Future Sound of London
- Nick Cave (& also The Bad Seeds)
- Rage Against the Machine
- Samla Mammas Manna
- Squirrel Nut Zippers
- Suzanne Vega
- The Raincoats
- The Residents
- The Sisters of Mercy
- The Slits
- Television
- The Velvet Underground
Some names I don't like:
- 10cc
- Culture Club
- Foo Fighters
- Guano Apes
- Kingston Wall
- The Mamas & the Papas
- Neutral Milk Hotel
- Porcupine Tree
- Snarky Puppy
- Sting
- System of a Down
- The Edge
- Wet Wet Wet
Sorry for mentioning so many. Once I started, it was hard to stop 😄
I do think Siouxsie and the Banshees deserve a special mention. It's such a great name along with Siouxsie Sioux.
oh yes how could I forget about Bratmobile
Bikini Kill is also great for that matter
I like the band a lot, but I agree, "Neutral Milk Hotel" is an absolutely terrible name. It sounds kinda gross even just saying it.
And I don't like "Snarky Puppy" either, in addition to sounding a bit obnoxious, it always makes me think people are talking about Skinny Puppy, whose music I like better.
So I'm definitely with you 100% on both of those.
Yes!
And 10cc. So boring.
The Edge? It just sounds pretentious!
Quote from: Guybrush on Aug 08, 2023, 12:42 AMI (also) love Poly Styrene as an artist name 🙂
Some that I like:
- The 13th Floor Elevators
- Bratmobile
- King Crimson
- New York Dolls
- Siouxsie and the Banshees
- The Future Sound of London
- Nick Cave (& also The Bad Seeds)
- Rage Against the Machine
- Samla Mammas Manna
- Squirrel Nut Zippers
- Suzanne Vega
- The Raincoats
- The Residents
- The Sisters of Mercy
- The Slits
- Television
- The Velvet Underground
Some names I don't like:
- 10cc
- Culture Club
- Foo Fighters
- Guano Apes
- Kingston Wall
- The Mamas & the Papas
- Neutral Milk Hotel
- Porcupine Tree
- Snarky Puppy
- Sting
- System of a Down
- The Edge
- Wet Wet Wet
Sorry for mentioning so many. Once I started, it was hard to stop 😄
I do think Siouxsie and the Banshees deserve a special mention. It's such a great name along with Siouxsie Sioux.
That's a whole bunch of names, Guybrush! I agree most with your list of "dislikes", as some are really weak.
Yeah, the minute you say it to yourself, you realize that
Siouxsie Sioux is just brilliant!
Back in the early 60s, bands liked to go for short, clever names, and two of the best names were snapped up by
The Who and
Yes.
In the psychedelic era, there were some cool, wacky juxtapositions like
Iron Butterfly that made you think, "Wow! Imagine if that were a thing!". More recently, someone who failed to come up with a decent juxtaposition like that is the guy who calls himself
Fatboy Slim. That's a big name fail imo.
And how about the punk stage names? Have they stood the test of time well? For it's OTT outrageousness I think
Rat Scabies is my favourite. It's a lot more memorable than the name he was born with: Christopher Millar, who grew up in genteel Kingston Upon Thames:
(https://i2-prod.getsurrey.co.uk/incoming/article27127186.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/0_Kingston-Marketplace-1.jpg)