And if you do, you're better off than me because, once again, current events have got me so flummoxed I can't for the life of me come up with a new version of the obligatory jokes about my Oriental manual catharsis supervisor Fah Lo Suee I used to do as intros to Weekend Listomania.
Oh well, I guess we'll have to move directly to business. To wit:
BEST OR WORST POST-ELVIS GROUP OR SOLO ARTISTS' NAME!!!
By which we mean, of course, made up names, although if you care to nominate somebody's cool real-life handle -- like, say, Ersel Hickey -- I'll cut you some slack, rule-wise. But let's be honest -- most bands and/or solo acts spend more time coming up with a smart-ass moniker than they do honing their initial songwriting and performance skills.
And my Totally Top of My Head Top Six is:
6. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
The only band name I ever laughed out loud at the first time I read it. Don't care for their music, but I must admit to a sneaking affection for their splendidly-yclept lead screamer Lydia Lunch.
5. The Angry Samoans
Those guys were a rock critic's band, if memory serves (guitarist "Metal Mike" Saunders was a fanzine notable, right?). In any case, the name itself derives from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which makes it cool kind of by definition.
4. The Dead Kennedys
I always liked these guys, including their politics, and thought they were really funny, but that said I always found the name offensive.
3. The Butthole Surfers
See above, except I always found the name amusing.
2. The Floor Models
Oh come on -- you had to know I was gonna sneak those guys in there somewhere.
And the all-time coolest nom de rock of all time, it's not even a contest is...
1. The Rolling Stones
Seriously -- it's perfect. And I gotta say, had those guys named themselves after a different Chicago blues song -- as The Pretty Things, say -- I don't think they would have had remotely the same career they've actually had.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
[h/t Marshall Chapman for the title joke]
14 comments:
The Weasels. Describes them perfectly. Really perfectly. I mean really really really perfectly.
Captain Al
1/I always thought that Elvis Costello and the Imposters was a cool moniker - not only is his real name not Elvis, it is not Costello either - and those guys are not really imposters, they are the actual band
2/Utopia's "Deface the Music" had a cool title and concept, and I really like the back cover photo of them titled "outstanding in their field"
https://tinyurl.com/intheirfield
Great bands, terrible names:
The Swimming Pool Q’s
Art Bears
The Beatles
Heh.
Pansy Division
3 Teens Kill 4 No Motive. You couldn't walk five feet in the East Village in the early 80's without seeing their posters or stencils on lamp posts.
Oh god, I remember them. Hilarious.
Back in the staunch anti-commie days, Gang of Four was a bold name choice for a band.
When I was in Teaneck High School (Steve’s Alma mater too) in 1964 and everyone was forming their bands, there was a friend of mine there named Dan Drapp. I BEGGED him to start a band called “Dan Drapp and the Drips”. He said he would only if I agreed to be the head drip. I declined.
We started the Weasels instead.
Jai Guru Dave
…where I indeed became the head drip.
You wear it well, my friend.
In the late 1970s, there was a great bar covers band working the LA suburban area called Snotty Scotty and the Hankies. They did a great unhinged version of White Punks on Dope.
Love it!!!!
Weird Names:
$27 Snap on Face
Rubber Chicken Rebellion (From Peekskill, NY in the late 1960's)
Cody Jarrett
Ephemeral
You can tell I like the goofy names!
And Names I loved!
Jefferson Airplane
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Grateful Dead
(They were great at naming bands in San Francisco)
X
Buffalo Springfield (or as I nicknamed them to myself)
"Buffalo Beanbag"
Steve:
What was the name of the viking band that The Hounds played with: Cyd Arthur?
What was their name if I'm incorrect?
I may keep this up all day!
Captain Al
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