# When did band names start to get weird? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927 "2011-10-17T16:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/41 "2011-10-18T14:12:36Z")
> [@11811](#): > > Actually, the 182 was added because there was another band named Blink, so it probably was chosen at random. I know that, and it doesn’t mean they picked the number at random. I don’t know for sure it it refers to the movie Turk 182, but it’s at least possible. And damn this thread for making me talk about this band. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/42 "2011-10-18T14:15:26Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I wonder how many times people have seen Ian Anderson and yell, “Hey, Jethro!” Or referred to Robert Plant as “Led”. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/43 "2011-10-18T14:19:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > While Jerry may have gotten the name from a dictionary, he found a definition of “grateful dead”, not by picking 2 random words. That definition was “the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial.” I’d always assumed the name had something to do with nuclear war. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/44 "2011-10-18T20:37:42Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Well, not in my opinion. I love their music and don’t find it juvenile, but the name of the band is a toy car. > > Do you find their music juvenile? Now that you mention it, perhaps “juvenile” is not the right word. “Lightweight” is more like it. I just thought the “number” thing fit them because nearly all the “number” bands are also lightweight IMO\*, if more “juvenile” than Matchbox 20. - Which isn’t to say I dislike the number bands too horribly much, in fact nearly all the “number” bands I like one, (and usually only one), song from, MB20 included. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/45 "2011-10-18T20:57:56Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I wonder how many times people have seen Ian Anderson and yell, “Hey, Jethro!” I’ve heard Anderson talk about that, actually. He says it’s either amusing or annoying, depending on the tone. If he’s walking by, and someone yells, “Hey Tull, come over here, man,” he’ll get ticked off and keep walking. On the other hand, he’s had kids approach him saying “Mr. Tull, may I have your autograph,” and he finds that rather sweet. He used to find it hilarious when people would see him in public with his wife and address HER respectfully as “Mrs. Tull.” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/46 "2011-10-18T22:07:35Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Now that you mention it, perhaps “juvenile” is not the right word. “Lightweight” is more like it. I just thought the “number” thing fit them because nearly all the “number” bands are also lightweight IMO\*, if more “juvenile” than Matchbox 20. > > - Which isn’t to say I dislike the number bands too horribly much, in fact nearly all the “number” bands I like one, (and usually only one), song from, MB20 included. Ah, thanks for responding. After I posted, I was afraid I came across as snarky. I love the music from MB20 and Rob Thomas. Most of this music absolutely sings to my soul. Hand me down, Soul, Argue, Damn…all of these songs are almost orgasmic for me. 🙂 But I do hate the name. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/47 "2011-10-18T22:19:02Z")
> [@11811](#): > > Actually, the 182 was added because there was another band named Blink, so it probably was chosen at random. The 182 in Blink-182 is said to refer to the number of times the word “fuck” is uttered in Scarface (they were off by the little bit, the actual count is 207). > [@Koxinga](#): > > I’ve heard that Darius Rucker doesn’t like to be called “Hootie,” but “Hootie and the Blowfish” is a weird name to pick if he’s opposed to that. That’s because he was never “Hootie.” The band is named after two friends of theirs, “Hootie” and “The Blowfish.” ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/48 "2011-10-18T22:49:32Z")
Harry Reser’s Cliquot Club Eskimos (1920s)? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/49 "2011-10-18T23:00:00Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > Harry Reser’s Cliquot Club Eskimos (1920s)? I mentioned a bunch of 1920s band names back in post no. 4, but everyone seems obsessed with post-60s bands. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/50 "2011-10-18T23:48:40Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > There’s the 1930s Spike Jones and his City Slickers… My mother-in-law always used to refer to them as “Spike Jones and His Awful Band.” 😃 There’s “The Firehouse Five Plus Two”, from the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/51 "2011-10-19T00:43:51Z")
A partial list (what I can remember) from _The Book of Rock Lists_, bands of the psychedelic era: **Africa Creeps Up and Up Bubble Puppy It’s a Beautiful Day Jesus Christ and the Nailknockers The Charging Tyrannosaurus of Despair Ultimate Spinach Uncut Balloon** Yowza. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/52 "2011-10-19T15:46:55Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I mentioned a bunch of 1920s band names back in post no. 4, but everyone seems obsessed with post-60s bands. _WHAT_ kind of band name did you mention? Was it a 1920’s Band Name? And, just to continue the obscure SDMB rituals: > [@](#): > > 1967: Bands started calling themselves **The Adjective Adjective Something**. Band Name! Sorry, could _not_ resist… ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/53 "2011-10-19T19:07:22Z")
Straight answer to the OP: I’m going to go with the majority and say, in general, the psychedelic era ushered in the most weird/creative band names. The punk era took that to the nth degree. Not long ago, I was wondering why so many bands have “black” in the name. (Black Keys, Black Lips, Black Kids… there’s so many more.) Then I realized that a lot of bands have colors in the band name these days. After exhausting my Google Fu, I managed to collect a list of something like 75 bands – actively playing out and recording right now – with a color in the band name. That’s a whole other thread though. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/54 "2011-10-19T23:49:50Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Or referred to Robert Plant as “Led”. Oh, and by the way, which one’s Pink? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/55 "2011-10-20T00:38:14Z")
I ‘ve told this one before, but in the “Glitter Rock Era”, my bandmates and I used to practice in my parents’ basement, sometimes, for dress rehearsals, in full regalia: platform heels, shoulder-length hair, lipstick and mascara with eyeshadow (Our girlfriends taught us how to put it on). One afternoon, my Dad came walking through in his boxer shorts (he worked nights), just as we all asked ourselves what we should call the band? He said, “Why don’t y’all call yourselves ‘Scum Of The Earth’? That’s what you queers are!” Instant band name. Thanks! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![NGC2024](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@NGC2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NGC2024)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/56 "2011-10-20T01:39:49Z")
I don’t know the answer to the question posed by the OP, but I have to consider “Hoobastank” the apex (nadir, maybe?) of the trend. I wouldn’t listen on principle. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/57 "2011-10-20T04:37:11Z")
One of the worst band names ever as far as I’m concerned, but I don’t know what trend it’s part of. And speaking of bad band names, that reminds me that my neighbor wanted to call his first band Genocide. He said they changed their minds after someone told them what Genocide meant. I’m not sure why they wanted it as a name if they didn’t know what it meant- maybe they knew and someone had the sense to point out that it made them sound like a white supremacist band. Anyway, even though they were mostly doing Ozzy covers at that point, they felt like Genocide would be in bad taste. I don’t remember what name they wound up with. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/58 "2011-10-20T05:12:28Z")
A “weird” band name today is one that contains no words and/or uses non-alphanumeric characters (sometimes exclusively). The oldest band name I can think of in this tradition is **!!!** , who according to Wikipedia formed in 1996 (though their first album came out in 2001). It’s currently common in the [witch house/drag](http://www.expatriarch.com/2010/05/trying-to-define-witch-house-can-be-a-real-drag/) scene. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/59 "2011-10-20T15:26:57Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I’ve heard that Darius Rucker doesn’t like to be called “Hootie,” but “Hootie and the Blowfish” is a weird name to pick if he’s opposed to that. Likewise, Debbie Harry didn’t like being called ‘Blondie’, either. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/60 "2011-10-20T15:40:54Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > A “weird” band name today is one that contains no words and/or uses non-alphanumeric characters (sometimes exclusively). The oldest band name I can think of in this tradition is **!!!** , who according to Wikipedia formed in 1996 (though their first album came out in 2001). It’s currently common in the [witch house/drag](http://www.expatriarch.com/2010/05/trying-to-define-witch-house-can-be-a-real-drag/) scene. ? and the Mysterians (formed 1962) was mentioned upthread, and hell, how about Prince’s “unpronounceable symbol” phase? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927.md?page=4)