# Name your favorite musical artists A-Z **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112 "2017-01-14T15:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/1 "2017-01-14T15:57:38Z")
(Boldly stealing from [Panache45](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19919891&posted=1#post19919891)) Name your favorite musical artist for each letter of the alphabet. There are rules: 1. Articles (a, an, the) are not considered. This is to prevent you from citing Rush under R and The Rolling Stones under T. If you have mad love for both of these groups, you gotsta choose one. 2. Surnames of individuals only (unless the artist – Adele, for example – goes by first name only). This is to prevent you from using B for Billy Joel, E for Elton John, and reserving your J for Tom Jones. 3. You can change your list at any time by re-posting (and explaining your revision). My list: Aerosmith Beatles Costello, Elvis Dylan, Bob Eminem Fleetwood Mac Gordon, Robert Harrison, George INXS Jethro Tull Kinks Lennon, John Mitchell, Joni Nirvana Orbison, Roy Prine, John Queen Rolling Stones Simon, Paul Talking Heads U2 Velvet Underground White, Jack XTC Young, Neil Zombies ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/2 "2017-01-14T16:40:46Z")
I’ll play. A - Allman Bros. B - Beatles C - Camel D - Dale, Dick E - Eagles\* F - Fleetwood Mac (original version) G - Genesis H - Hackett, Steve I - INXS\* J - Jackson, Joe (not Shoeless ;)) K - Kansas L - Little Feat M - Marley, Bob N - Nektar O - Old 97s P - Phish Q - Queen R - Rush S - Supertramp T - Thompson, Richard U - Uriah Heep V - Vaughan, Stevie Ray W - Wilco X - XTC\* Y - Yes Z - Zappa, Frank - - these are the only E, I, and X in my collection and I only have one album of each, so I guess by default they are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/3 "2017-01-14T17:25:46Z")
Before I finalize my answers, a couple of questions: 1. Is “The Alan Parsons Project” filed under A or P? 2. Can we have an additional category for band names that begin with a number? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/4 "2017-01-14T17:43:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Before I finalize my answers, a couple of questions: > > 1. Is “The Alan Parsons Project” filed under A or P? > 2. Can we have an additional category for band names that begin with a number? 1. Alan Parsons Project would be A, as that is the name of the band. 2. I actually thought of that after I posted the OP. Sure, go ahead. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/5 "2017-01-14T17:48:07Z")
Let’s see what I can come up with: A- Alice In Chains B- Beatles C- Clash D- Dandy Warhols E- English Beat F- Fluke G- Gorillaz H- Human League I- Ice-T J- Joywave K- Kula Shaker L- Love and Rockets M- Morphine N- New Order O- Oingo Boingo P- Pixies Q- Queen R- Rolling Stones S- Spinal Tap 🙂 T- Talking Heads U- U2 V- Vaughn, Stevie Ray W- Wolfgang Press X- X Y- Yes Z- Zager and Evans (?) this one is a big miss for me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/6 "2017-01-14T18:07:06Z")
A - Agalloch B - Kate Bush C - The Church D - Dead Can Dance E - Echo & The Bunnymen F - Fields Of The Nephilim G - Peter Gabriel H - Hüsker Dü I - The Innocence Mission J - Elton John K - King Crimson L - Led Zeppelin M - Tie, Loreena McKennitt & The Moody Blues [sue me, cannot separate] N - Nightwish O - Oasis P - Porcupine Tree Q - Queen R - Ride S - Simple Minds T - The Teardrop Explodes U - U2 V - The Verve W - The Who X - XTC Y - Yes Z - Zappa, Frank ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/7 "2017-01-14T18:14:20Z")
George Antheil Johann Sebastian Bach Frederic Chopin Claude Debussy Sir Edward Elgar Cesar Franck Charles Tomlinson Griffes Franz Joseph Haydn Charles Ives Leos Janacek Ernst Krenek Gyorgy Ligeti Gustav Mahler Carl Nielsen Carl Orff Sergei Prokofiev Johann Joachim Quantz Max Reger Karol Szymanowski Georg Philip Telemann Benjamin Carl Unseld Ralph Vaughan Williams Richard Wagner Iannis Xenakis Theophile Ysaye Alexander von Zemlinsky Phoo. Maybe I’ll come back later and do my jazz list. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/8 "2017-01-14T18:35:14Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > M - Tie, Loreena McKennitt & The Moody Blues [sue me, cannot separate] Counting only Loreena McKennitt since she was first mentioned. Subpoena is in the mail. mmm ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/9 "2017-01-14T19:04:05Z")
Allman Brothers Band Bonzo Dog Band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band Miles Davis Dave Edmunds Free Grateful Dead Hot Tuna It’s a Beautiful Day Spike Jones Kak The Lehrer Moody Blues Laura Nyro Phil Ochs Pink Floyd Queen Rolling Stones Soft Machine Traffic United States of America (from a thin crowd; U2 is obvious, but I only like their early stuff, and I don’t know much about Uriah Heep) The Ventures The Who XTC Yardbirds Frank Zappa ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/10 "2017-01-14T19:25:25Z")
# - The 77s A - The Alan Parsons Project B - The Beatles {sorry, other B’s} C - Elvis Costello D - Daniel Amos E - Electric Light Orchestra F - Fleetwood Mac {barely beating out Fountains of Wayne} G - Gin Blossoms {several G’s are pretty good, none are great} H - Mark Heard I - Indigo Girls {out of slim pickings} J - Billy Joel {not as many J’s to choose from as I thought there would be} K - The Kinks L - Lost Dogs M - Madness {narrowly edging out the Moody Blues} N - Nena {another surprisingly weak letter} O - The Ocean Blue P - Sam Phillips Q - Queen {of course} R - REO Speedwagon {guilty pleasure from my youth, since there are no R’s I’m really enthusiastic about} S - Something Fierce {the 1980s Minnesota band} T - Trip Shakespeare {coming in just ahead of They Might Be Giants} U - Utopia V - Vampire Weekend W - Stevie Wonder X - XTC Y - Weird Al Yankovic Z - The Zombies {default choice} ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/11 "2017-01-14T20:16:27Z")
Alabama Shakes Big Black (sorry, Black Sabbath and Bowie) The Cramps Dick Dale Ed Hall (band name, not a person’s name) The Flaming Lips The Gories Jimi Hendrix Iron Maiden Joy Division The Kinks Lyle Lovett The Melvins NOMEANSNO The Oblivians Pink Floyd Queens of the Stone Age Ramones Sonic Youth T. Rex Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats The Velvet Underground Link Wray X (sic) The Yardbirds ZZ Top ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/12 "2017-01-14T21:33:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Laura Nyro So where the hell do YOU disappear to every time I try to start a “Laura is a genius and I want to bear her children oh my god _New York Tendaberry_ oh my god oh god” thread, and it drops to the bottom of the page and dies within a day because nobody but you and I know who Laura is anymore? Back me up, bro, we Nyrovians got to stay proud and loud. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/13 "2017-01-14T21:43:42Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > So where the hell do YOU disappear to every time I try to start a “Laura is a genius and I want to bear her children oh my god _New York Tendaberry_ oh my god oh god” thread, and it drops to the bottom of the page and dies within a day because nobody but you and I know who Laura is anymore? > > Back me up, bro, we Nyrovians got to stay proud and loud. I struggled a bit with N and settled on Nirvana. Laura did not occur to me. Tell me two LN songs to go listen to and I may revise. mmm ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/14 "2017-01-14T21:46:05Z")
No U or X… Alabama Byrds Chad Mitchell Trio Durham, Judith Everly Brothers First Aid Kit Gill, Vince Harris, Emmylou Ian and Sylvia Jennings, Waylon Kristofferson, Kris Lobo Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Nelson, Ricky Oak Ridge Boys Paxton, Tom Quantz, Johann Joachim Rieu, Andre Seekers Three Dog Night U Vivaldi, Antonio Wynette, Tammy X Yoakam, Dwight Zydeco, Buckwheat ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/15 "2017-01-14T22:01:26Z")
Aphex Twin Buzzcocks Cocteau Twins Daft Punk Echo and the Bunnymen The Fall - can’t think of one I like Husker Du Iggy Pop and The Stooges (iffy, I know) Joy Division Killing Joke Leftfield Massive Attack New Order The Orb Portishead (literally tossed a coin on this one - Pixies) - can’t think of one I like The Rolling Stones The Smiths Television Underworld The Velvet Underground Waterboys The XX Neil Young The Zombies ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/16 "2017-01-14T22:07:06Z")
Animals Beatles Ray Charles Dr. Dre Eminem Aretha Franklin Marvin Gaye Jimi Hendrix INXS Michael Jackson **Kesha** John Lennon Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Nirvana Offspring Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Queen Rolling Stones Snoop Dogg Temptations U2 Van Halen Stevie Wonder X - \*_see below_ “Weird Al” Yankovic Zombies \*I don’t have any favorite X artists. Therefore, I am changing the name of the Pointer Sisters to the Xointer Sisters. They were my favorite artists that didn’t make my list. The tightest race was for O. I easily could have picked Outkast over The Offspring. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/17 "2017-01-14T23:31:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I struggled a bit with N and settled on Nirvana. Laura did not occur to me. Tell me two LN songs to go listen to and I may revise. Off the top of my head, I’d say two of my favorites are “Save the Country” (1969) and "Timer (1968). No wait! “Sweet Blindness” and “Captain for Dark Mornings” ! NO! “Stoney End” and “Emmie” ! Of course, EVERYBODY loves “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Eli’s Comin’”… Ah, crap. It’s really hard to choose. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/18 "2017-01-14T23:48:35Z")
A: Ayreon B: Black Sabbath C: The Cure D: Dream Theater E: Emerson, Lake & Palmer F: Fates Warning G: Genesis H: Hawkwind I: Iron Maiden J: Jethro Tull K: Killing Joke L: Lacuna Coil M: Motorhead N: Stevie Nicks O: Opeth P: Porcupine Tree Q: Queen R: Rush S: Slayer T: Devin Townsend U: U2 V: VoiVod W: The Who X: X-Japan Y: Yes Z: ZZ Top Z was a filler, the rest were easy. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/19 "2017-01-15T00:44:12Z")
Henry “Red” Allen Chet Baker Benny Carter Kenny Dorham Gil Evans Tommy Flanagan Stan Getz Johnny Hodges Lee Konitz Steve Lacy Thelonious Monk Fats Navarro O Charlie Parker Ike Quebec Sonny Rollins Zoot Sims Lennie Tristano U Joe Venuti Ben Webster X Lester Young Joe Zawinul DAMN. Cannot come up with O, U, or X. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112/20 "2017-01-15T00:46:00Z")
…and I missed “J.” Let’s go with J.J. Johnson, because I’m short on trombone players. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-favorite-musical-artists-a-z/777112.md?page=2)