# Nonsensical band names through the decades
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 4, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334 "2006-08-04T15:16:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/1 "2006-08-04T15:16:18Z")
This thread is inspired by two events: the sighting of a car plastered with bumper stickers for indy bands, exactly zero of which I’ve heard of; and the increasing amount of spam popping up on message boards from “street teamers” promoting bands they’re fans of. The names of the bands all seem quite random, making no sense, but they all seem distinctly modern.
Nonsensical band names are nothing new; they’ve been popular since the 1960s, and there’s been a lot of threads on the SDMB that make fun of them.
This isn’t one of them.
I’m going to throw a random name of a non-existent band out there; Angst Blossom. If I heard that name, I would assume it’s a contemporary emo band. Same thing with most of the thread names and word combinations that Dopers have called out “band name!” for, like:
_Butt Fairies
The Definite Article
Sub-Primal Cut of Pork
Veeder Sane
Lost Merkin
The Traveling Silverfish
Hitler’s Mustache
13 Minute Blackout
People Who Hew
Juicy Poop
Steel Cut Oatmeal
Toads Like To Be Stroked
Primaquine and the Negros_
Here’s the names of some _real_ local bands in the Cleveland area.
_Chief Network
80HD
Anomaly
Free Sample Tuesday
Illusion Sequence
Lounge Kitty
Murder by Midnight
Salt The Wound
Steve’s Big Zipper
This Is Exploding
Those Left Behind
Victory By Default_
There’s a lot that’s formulaic about 1950s and 1960s-era band names, like the “[name of artist] and [name of group]” title; Dion and the Belmonts, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Shep and the Limelites, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and so on, ad nauseaum. Still, there were plenty of nonsensical band names out there during the time. When I hear them, though, they sound old and dated, like that nonsensical combination somehow seems old-fashioned compared to the nonsensical combination of a more contemporary band.
To avoid any bias from familiarity – that is, the fact I know the Rolling Stones and The Who have been around for ages – I searched for, and found, a Web site with names of [1960s and 1970s-era local bands](http://www.oldkc.com/kcbands_bands_vintage.htm) that I never heard of. Here’s some of the names:
_Deuce
Cocky Fox
Cinnamon Trolley
Changing Times
Bartok’s Mountain
Backwood Memory
Limousine
Midnight Flyer
Morning Star
Mystic Number National Bank
Neon Blue
Next Exit
Next of Kin_
For some reason, the names of the unknown contemporary nonsensically named bands just sound … well, _newer_ in some way, compared to the older bands with equally nonsensical names. There’s a few names that could pass muster today, but I just can’t picture a band with the name of “Midnight Flyer” playing in a club today, or a band with a name like “Free Sample Tuesday” opening for Blondie, The New York Dolls, ELO or Jimi Hendrix - hell, not even a 1990s-era band like Nirvana or Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I’m wondering … **why?** What is it about a new band name that makes it sound new, even though it follows the same formula as an older band name?
There also seems to be a difference between older and newer band names that start with “The”. Consider contemporary “The [name]” bands from KC
_The Disasters
The Famed
The Setbacks
The Secret Club
The Spook Lights
The Epics
The Farewells_
Early local/unknown “The [name]” bands from Kansas City:
_The Bygones
The Organtones
The Chandeliers
The Castaways
The Breakers
The Escorts
The Esquires
The Emeralds_
Again, the 1950s/1960s unknown “The [something]” names sound old-fashioned, while the new "The [something] names sound modern. I just can’t picture a band named “The Setbacks” playing the hop at Pleasant Valley High School, or “The Organtones” playing to a crowd of emaciated kids wearing ironic t-shirts. Why?
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/2 "2006-08-04T15:25:39Z")
Here’s one from prehistory…1935:
[Ralph Bennett and His Seven Aces (All Eleven Of 'Em)](http://www.ancientfaces.com/popup.php?path=AT%2FAT_541_21150.jpg&frame=0)
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### Author:  [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/3 "2006-08-04T20:55:06Z")
Toad the Wet Sprocket
> **[Toad the Wet Sprocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_the_Wet_Sprocket)**
>
> Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss, who stopped touring in 2017 and left the band in 2020. Guss was replaced by drummer Josh Daubin, who had been supporting them as their drummer on recent tours. They had chart success in the 1990s with singles that included "Walk on the Ocean", "All I Want...
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### Author:  [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/4 "2006-08-04T22:12:59Z")
One of my old favorites was **Mott the Hoople** with _All the Young Dudes_.
There was also [? and the Mysterians](http://www.answers.com/%3F%20and%20the%20Mysterians) with _96 Tears_
And how 'bout [Procol Harum](http://www.answers.com/topic/procol-harum) with **A Whiter Shade of Pale**
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### Author:  [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/5 "2006-08-04T22:22:09Z")
Take “Veeder Sane” and “Lost Merkin”: one is a play on “wiedersehn” and the other is a way to spell how some people would pronounce “lost American.” Those names hide very conventional songwriting concepts-i.e. goodbye and wandering- in what at first seems to be gibberish. And that kind of hidden puzzle meshes well with all the “free your mind,” “question everything,” “fuck the system” kinds of themes that are staples in popular music.
And if that’s true, then band names would reflect whatever exemplifies those themes in popular culture, or their antitheses in the establishment. From your list of Cleveland bands, “Free Sample Tuesday” could be interpreted as mocking consumer culture, for example, and that seems fitting considering how increasingly common huge national chains seem to have become over the last ten or fifteen years. Victory by Default brings to mind this silly military post-cold war PR language we have coming out of press conferences. Your list from the 60’s and 70’s have names that strike me as being particularly new-age or folk-oriented, like “Morning Star,” maybe. Changing Times might even have been a Dylan reference, intended or otherwise.
Those are just a couple examples, though. There are some that don’t seem to fit the pattern: a name like “Next of Kin” looks like it could go right with that list of current local bands, even though it’s from 30+ years ago. I wouldn’t mind going on, but the day is winding down and I’m suddenly finding myself pretty drowsy (time to start thinking about dinner).
And my contribution: System of a Down. I love 'em, but what the fuck is _A_ down, and why does it have a system?
Thoughts?
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### Author:  [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/6 "2006-08-04T22:58:23Z")
\*Ladies and gentlemen. Give it up for [**Disturbed Furniture**.\*](http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/PD)
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/7 "2006-08-04T23:13:14Z")
**God Speed you Black Emperor** is a great band, but wtf with the name.
**Squirrel Nut Zippers** is just random words, isn’t it? Well no it’s an oldfashioned candy, still…
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/8 "2006-08-04T23:56:34Z")
My band will either be “Tenor Munsky” (from my kid’s baby-talk) or “Black Sperm of the Puppet Master”.
Neither will feature Herman Menderchunck.
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### Author:  [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/9 "2006-08-05T01:37:32Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> 80HD
I don’t know if knowing makes the name sound any more sensible, but I think these guys were making a play on words from ADHD, which may or may not play to the sort of music they performed.
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### Author:  [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/10 "2006-08-05T02:26:52Z")
I was always rather fond of the name [Adios Pantalones](http://www.angelfire.com/music4/adiospants/). It’s not entirely nonsensical, but pretty damn close. Sure, there are many happy times when one wishes to disrobe, but one usually doesn’t announce their intentions with a “Godspeed, oh trousers!”, or something to that effect.
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### Author:  [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/11 "2006-08-05T02:28:27Z")
**Thirty Odd Foot of Grunt** always puzzled me, but I guess they’re **The Ordinary Fear of God** now.
**Margot and the Nuclear So-and-so’s** is one of my favorite band names out of the bands I listen to. Same for **Neko Case and Her Boyfriends**.
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### Author:  [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/12 "2006-08-05T05:06:00Z")
I’m still waiting for someone to use **Toxic Shock Robot** from one of the [best threads ever.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51270&highlight=toxic+shock+robot)
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### Author:  [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/13 "2006-08-05T05:18:13Z")
I’m partial to the late 70s band [Crispy Ambulance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispy_ambulance).
The early 80s band [Freur](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freur) didn’t even have a name - just a symbol - until their record company forced them to come up with one. Take that, Prince!
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/14 "2006-08-05T05:22:47Z")
Strawberry Alarm Clock
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### Author:  [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonsensical-band-names-through-the-decades/367334/15 "2006-08-05T06:48:45Z")
I’ll see your **Strawberry Alarm Clock**
and raise you a **Chocolate Watch Band**
and a **Vanilla Fudge**
Then Bear Family Records can do a joint box set of the three band’s respective works and call it…
Wait for it…
NEAPOLITAN
Thankyou, thankyou. I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your server