# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/61 "2011-10-20T15:48:26Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Likewise, Debbie Harry didn’t like being called ‘Blondie’, either. Well tough darts for her. If you are in a band called Blondie and you’re the front-woman and you bleach your hair, wth do you expect? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/62 "2011-10-20T15:56:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Ink Spots – 1935. Perhaps descriptive, but definitely whimsical. > > Sons of the Pioneers – 1934. [The Skillet Lickers](http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/) – 1926 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/63 "2011-10-20T16:03:49Z")
[Pappy O’Daniel and the Light Crust Doughboys, 1931.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Crust_Doughboys) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/64 "2011-10-20T16:07:12Z")
Oops. [The Skillet Lickers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillet_Lickers) – 1926. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/65 "2011-10-20T16:24:16Z")
I noticed Butthole Surfers. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/66 "2011-10-21T02:59:29Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > One of the groups I drummed for during my high-school days had the name, “The Lighthouse Tavern”. _That_ was a weird name. Hey, I was a _cook_ at The Lighthouse Tavern here in my town many years ago 😃 Nowadays it’s just called The Lighthouse, and it’s no longer a tavern - it’s a Christian place that feeds and ministers to the homeless and other needy people. Let’s see … I honestly thought “Ben Folds Five” was a “sentence name”, like “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”. I thought, “what does Ben fold five _of_?” Why oh why did he leave off the “The”? I decided when I was a teenager, after hearing all those horror stories about “satanic” bands in the '80s, that it was a bad idea to name your band with a single, four-letter word. Four-letter names are too easy to turn into evil acronyms: KISS: Knights (or Kids) In Satan’s Service RUSH: ReUnite Satan’s House ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/67 "2011-10-21T13:05:02Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Let’s see … I honestly thought “Ben Folds Five” was a “sentence name”, like “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”. I thought, “what does Ben fold five _of_?” Why oh why did he leave off the “The”? And why were there only **three** of them? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/68 "2011-10-21T16:41:25Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I mentioned a bunch of 1920s band names back in post no. 4, but everyone seems obsessed with post-60s bands. Getting slightly more modern, how about Enoch Light and the Light Brigade? Lesw Brown and His Band of Renown? Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd? (in all three incarnations) ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/69 "2011-10-22T16:53:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The band is Radiohead. They named themselves after a Talking Heads song called Radio Head. It’s on the True Stories album/soundtrack. [This is the movie version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvYHmCMAqLQ) > The Beatles named themselves in tribute to Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets. Just to add onto **Marley 23’s** answer: I came across the term “radio head” when reading about avionics a few years ago. Apparently, it’s the part with all the buttons and dials that is installed in aircraft cockpits to allow the pilot to operate the radio. The rest of the (often heavy) radio components are sometimes installed in other parts of the plane and are linked to the radio head by wires. I assume separating the components helps with weight/balance and cooling issues, and for easier access for repairs. I’m not a mechanic, though. Here’s a [sample link](http://l1011project.blogspot.com/2011/06/avionics-bending-gables-radio-head.html) to an article about radio heads. ---
**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 22, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/70 "2011-10-22T17:14:42Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > And why were there only **three** of them? In case you’re not attempting a whoosh… They originally were Ben Folds Three, for about four seconds. Folds decided that Ben Folds Five sounded better and that’s the name they went with. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/71 "2011-10-22T17:29:07Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Just to add onto **Marley 23’s** answer: I came across the term “radio head” when reading about avionics a few years ago. Apparently, it’s the part with all the buttons and dials that is installed in aircraft cockpits to allow the pilot to operate the radio. The rest of the (often heavy) radio components are sometimes installed in other parts of the plane and are linked to the radio head by wires. I assume separating the components helps with weight/balance and cooling issues, and for easier access for repairs. I’m not a mechanic, though. Same thing with guitar amps. The “amp head” has all the knobs and contains all the electronic components, and is sometimes separate from the “cabinet”, which is where the speakers are. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-band-names-start-to-get-weird/599927/72 "2011-10-22T20:26:56Z")
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