What not to call a band

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 09:05 AM

My mate Arthur & me are both getting on a bit & became
Arthur Itis and the Plastic Hips

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 10:18 AM

In the current US political climate, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to name a band "Truck Fump".

It's not a bad name, but you'd be risking bodily harm if one of the more rabid supporters of a certain future ex-president should get the joke.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 01:38 PM

Ugly Abbotts!!!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 07:48 PM

There was (maybe still is?) a band in the Glasgow area called 'Willie and the Hand Jive'. I used to be amazed when I saw posters /adverts for them in pubs and other venues -- must be my impure mind!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: llareggyb
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 07:59 PM

With a nod to the Two Ronnies, *don't* call your band "What's yours"
My brother played in a group called "Sound of Silence" Now that's not so much bad as lame, lame, lame. He wanted the name to be "Brick Window" - now there's a *good* name!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: eftifino
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 11:00 PM

There was a Melbourne group in the '80s called:

Farmers Union Creole Kings

But they had to change it when the folk saw the bass drum!

I personally like Peter Sellars' satirical:

Turk Thrust and the Y-Fronts.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,DeanofRochester
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 01:02 AM

I loved Giles Smith's book Lost in Music, when he played in a band in Essex called 'Pony'. They got loads of gigs in Essex, but whenever they tried to get a gig in London, were just laughed at.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Tom Mycock
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 03:05 AM

I play guitar and sing, and I've a friend who does likewise, whose surname is Balls. We have often joked about doing a musical collaboration, Mycock & Balls.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: BobL
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 03:18 AM

Local duo Novak & Goode briefly contemplated becoming a trio, Steele Novak & Goode.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: TheSnail
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 08:49 AM

The Omega 3
Excellent band but impossible to Google for.

Following the chemistry references, there used to be a band here in Sussex called Maxwell's Demon which is a thermodynamics reference but a good name without knowing that.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Mo the caller
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 09:43 AM

A Google friendly name is important. So it needs to be obvious how you spell it, and not bring lots of unrelated results.
Friends had a group called after an old song "Mirie it is "
They had someone ring up and ask for Merryitis - like some illness where you can't stop laughing I suppose.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Howard Jones
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 10:48 AM

To answer Mo's original question, there is a Scottish country dance group for the LGBT+ community in Manchester called the Gay Gordons, so it could be them. Seems like a good name to me. Not too hard to Google if you give it a few more clues - "gay gordons folk dance manchester" finds them top of the list.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 10:54 AM

A friend of mine started a band called Snotty Stones and the Turdbenders. This was in the late 60s - Well before punk :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 05:13 PM

Back in the early 1980's, I tried to get a musician friend of mine to start a mock-punk band that would feature the lead singer disemboweling himself onstage. (I do theatrical and special effects makeup.)

The band's name? Captain Colitis and the Running Sores.

Sadly, the band never got off the ground, but I still occasionally find myself thinking back to "Oh, what might have been..."

Definitely a concept that was before its time!


Jay

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 10:32 PM

On the other hand...

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 05:17 AM

Australian folkie Martin Pearson formed a trio called The MP3. Try finding them on Google!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 08:03 AM

Suffering from a complete lack of inspiration, we were called BWNN (the Band With No Name)...

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Hagman
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 04:34 AM

A very succesful long-running band down here in Oz was/is Weddings, Parties, Anything...

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Eddie1 (Cookie lost forever)
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 06:30 AM

Back in the 60s there was a band in the Edinburgh area called "Late Licence" cause they reckoned their name on a poster ensured a good -sized audience. I used to sing with a guy called Bill under the name "Edible Pear"!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Will Fly
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 06:52 AM

My favourite (real band) name is Robert Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders.

A friend of mine once played in a jug band called King Edward's Easy Scrapers.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Jack Campin
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 09:17 AM

Not an obvious choice of name given that "The band's first performance was in 1988 at Putnam's mother's house in front of some family members, namely his mother, his two little brothers and his grandmother, as well as some of his mother's friends"...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:12 AM

There seem to be quite a few functions bands called "Got It Covered" - hard to know if you're booking the one you thought.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 10:15 AM

Some more real names:
A band in Falkirk that call themselves "The Lazy Boys of Banknock" (Banknock being a place near Falkirk).
A band that used to play at Loanhead Festival - The Betty Swallocks band (think about it!)
And "Celtic Corrections".
And in tribute to "The Silly Sisters" my friend and I call ourselves "The Crazy Cousins".

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Tradsinger
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 07:47 PM

There's a group of aging rockers in this area called "The Shy Teds".

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 11:02 AM

A band's name should tell you that it's a band. Shy Teds, Crazy Cousins, Cheap Serenaders are all okay names, because they let us know that humans are involved.

It's bad when you can't tell whether the name denotes a band, a song, an album or a venue. Mirie it is, MP3, Weddings Parties Anything - those names are too precious and don't help get gigs and make money.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: sleepyjon
Date: 17 Feb 17 - 05:10 AM

Tried to get some friends to go out as "Perry Stolsis and the Motions" but for some reason they didn't go for it - ?

SJ

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Stanron
Date: 19 Feb 17 - 07:24 AM

The Well Oiled Machine?

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Merritt
Date: 16 Mar 17 - 04:52 PM

Well, I've pitched Day-Old Donuts as a band name any number of times and so far never had anyone agree with me that it's just an awesome name. So, based on that experience, I guess it's what not to call a band.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 17 - 07:16 AM

"Gig cancelled"

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Severn
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 07:05 AM

Then there was our old Bluegrass band, named The Sheep Mountain Boys after a country boy's first love affair......

And I was part of a Gospel Quartet down in Georgia that, somehow, nobody ever took seriously.....

And there was a holiday caroling group from India called the Mhari Krishmas that used to sing at airports before 911.......

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Severn
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 07:08 AM

Whoops! That aforementioned Gospel Group from Georgia was called The Macon Believers......

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 06:36 AM

I am surprised no-one has suggested:

the Trump Pets

The Orange-a-Tans

the White Hearse

I see a theme arising............

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 08:23 AM

I play and call in the Aqueduct Ceilidh Band. On our big bass drum we have written The Adequate Ceilidh Band and have a picture of a rather well known viaduct. It creates a talking point at gigs - check out our website to see a pic.

We also went through a band name choosing with a kind of South London theme and came up with

Eltham John, Catford Stevens, Jonah Lewisham and Deptford Leopard

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Snuffy
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 12:28 PM

The Hackney Martians has to be one of the best names ever actually used.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST,Biffo
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 05:34 PM

My album was goan to be "See inlay card for details"

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 05:17 AM

Hackney Martians LOL

what about the "Pinner 4"?
"Bow & Harrow Brigade" ?
"Waltham Stoics"
"Harringay Gordons"
"Theydon Boys"
"Wool Itch Jumpers"
"Epsom Psalters"
"Feltham Hall"
"Shirley Knot"

And avoid, at all costs, any mention of Cockfosters

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 10:51 AM

There was a bit of craze for cowpunk and pub bluegrass here in North London a few years back. One of the bands this spawned was called Banjovi. Genius!

I also have very fond memories of Psycho Ceilidh, who used to play a Finsbury Park pub every Sunday afternoon. They did a great version of Lou Reed's Vicious, which went like this:

You're savage,
You hit me with a cabbage,
Three times a week on average!
Baby, you're so savage.

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 06:28 PM

There used to be a band around Portsmouth, NH called Jiggle The Handle.

Linn

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 08:45 PM

We play in Edinburgh about 6 times a year, and rebelled against being called a band, as it seemed too exclusive, so came to a mathematical solution - we are the Cafe Ceilidh X-tet (where X = any number), so anyone can come along and join in!

Subject: RE: What not to call a band
From: Mo the caller
Date: 21 Mar 17 - 09:26 AM

I like that one. Not a "what not to call" at all.