what does "toad the wet sprocket" mean and how would I search for it here?

[ScottHaneda]

well, I tried searching the board on “toad the wet sprocket” but the silly thing tells me “wet” is too short a word, so I tried a wildcard (*) and it barfed as well. Silly Silly board…AAR watching Futurama, they said something along the lines of toad the wet sprocket where I got the idea toad is a verb, as if you can toad something, anyway, I know there is a band with the name, now I must know what it means…thanks

[Doc_Nickel]

“Toad the Wet Sprocket” was essentially a ‘throwaway’ band name mentioned once in an audio-only Monty Python sketch.

I’m all but certain the name was a random conglomeration the writer of the sketch threw together because it sounded silly, much like one of the original names for the soon-to-be Python troupe, which was “Owl Stretching Time”.

The sketch was probably written in the early seventies.

[yabob]

The band snitched their name from a Monty Python routine (or perhaps from another Eric Idle bit which predated MP). Since the sketch (both with MP and the earlier one) involved Idle using it as a band name, we now just have to wonder how Idle happened to connect the neccesary random synapses to come up with stuff like this:

Wordlab - the best free naming resource for company and product names and...

As for searching for it, “wet” may be too short, but “toad” and “sprocket” in combination are bound to limit you mostly to relevent hits without having to supply the entire phrase.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

I hate when the Board slows to a crawl and dumps my perfectly good first post and allows others to sneak in ahead of me.

Well, you get the post anyway.

Toad the Wet Sprocket was originally coined for a Monty Python routine (on the record “Monty Python’s Contractual Obligation Album” rather than the tv show) that involved a great many funny band names. A real world band then copped the name for its own use.

The complete transcript of the routine is available here.

If you wanted to search just on this board, why not try just using “toad” and “sprocket”? You’re not likely to come up with any other hits than the ones you want.

[yabob]

In case you’re interested in the really obscure, Idle’s earlier use was with “Rutland Weekend Television”:

http://www.pythonet.org/rwt/rwtguide.html

Opening titles roll, but are quickly interrupted by titles for “The Old Gay Whistle Test” (parody of “The Old Grey Whistle Test,” Bob Harris’ late-60s-early-70s rock-music review program). A cockeyed Bob Harris is played here by Eric Idle, who speaks in a perpetually-stoned gee-whizper. Wow. He previews the trends and introduces the studio group, “Toad the Wet Sprocket.” (Back then Eric wrote that name to be so ridiculous no band would use it! Ha!) They resemble Fleetwood Mac and don’t move a lot.